Garmin Edge 840 Review
The Garmin Edge 830 has been my go-to mountain bike computer for the past 4 years, and it has served me well…very well! I really like the clarity of the screen, its size and the fact that it’s a touch-screen display. So I was very excited about getting my hands on the new Edge 840 and putting it through its paces, which I’ve been doing for 2 months. In this blog I’ll hit the main features I use for mountain biking and gravel riding.
On the outside, the notable changes are additional buttons (more on that later) and a USB-C charging port (in my book a very welcomed change from the USB micro B found on the older Edge 830). If you look closely, you’ll see small screws on the tabs on the back of the unit. This allows these tabs, which lock the device in the Garmin mounts, to be replaced if damaged. Nice. And there are still contacts on these tabs to attach an external battery for those riders who spend more hours in the saddle than non-riders would ever think possible.
Finally….USB-C!
The unit is powered on by the familiar top left power button on the side of the unit. From a software perspective, the first thing I noticed was how easy it was to set up the Edge 840. Just like modern phones that transfer apps to a new phone from the cloud, the Edge 840, after pairing with my iPhone 14 Pro Max (which was a breeze), brought over all my activity profiles. It also paired all of the sensors I had paired with my Edge 830 and Edge 1030 Plus: heart rate monitor, speed sensor, Varia radar and Garmin Rally pedals.
A new UI makes the home screen more usable and customizable. On this screen there is a daily suggested workout section, navigation section with a compass, training section, ride history section, text notification section, weather data and an event calendar. The home screen is easily editable by tapping on the Edit icon at the bottom, which allows you to add, delete and rearrange the sections.
The new UI includes an editable home screen with very useful info.
The Edge 840, as mentioned earlier, has additional buttons, so it can be operated by touch screen and by using the buttons. The latter is great if you are using thick gloves, or if you don’t want to smear your screen with dirt or sweat. By the way, the older 530 and the new 540 are buttons only. I personally like having the option of touch screen and buttons that exist on the 840. On left side, below the power button are two scroll buttons. On the top right side is the selection button, and below that is a back button. At the bottom of the unit are the familiar play/pause button on the right and the lap button on the bottom left, as found on most other Garmin bike computers. I find myself using the touch screen the majority of the time. Some functions are interchangeably easy between both buttons and touch screen. Other functions, like moving around the map and zooming the map, are much easier with the touch screen. The function I do most with the buttons is moving between data screens while riding. It’s very easy to do so just by hitting the scroll buttons on the left.
The 840 is adds button control to the touch screen capabilities. On the right side are a selection button and a back button.
The left side contains a power button and 2 scroll buttons.
Like most Garmin bike computers, the bottom contains a lap button and the play/pause button.
Data fields on the screen are what makes a cycling computer so useful. You can arrange layouts and add fields in almost indefinite configurations. Like the Edge 830, you can hold a data field to edit it (even while riding) and either swap it with another one or change it on the fly to another field by tapping it again. I like how there are now symbols on the 840 data fields like a heart in the heart rate field and a power symbol in the power field. It makes spotting these on the screen much easier; this is very welcomed when pushing hard in an interval.
Fields on the Edge 840 can be swapped and edited on the fly simply by long-pressing the field.
The Edge 840 is at home on a mountain bike and a drop-bar bike. I really like the symbols in some of the fields, like the Heart Rate field and the Power field.. It helps you spot these quickly when doing hard efforts.
I really like the size of the Five series (520, 530, 540) and the Eight series (820, 830, 840) Garmin units. They are not too big for mountain biking and not too small for road/gravel riding. It’s personal preference of course, but for me it’s the do-it-all size if you ride both mountain bikes and drop-bar bikes. While the fields aren’t quite as big as units like the 1030 and 1040, I find the screen big enough for my gravel rides, where I use a map to navigate pre-planned courses.
In case you’re new to Garmin bike computers, I’ll mention that you can receive text notifications on the unit, assuming it’s paired with your phone using the Garmin Connect app. With Android phones you can respond to messages with pre-saved canned messages (like “Almost home”, “Yes”, “No”, “Riding…can’t respond now”...or anything else you desire). Apple’s iOS software prevents this, so if you have an iPhone you’re limited to just reading your messages on the 840.
Back to navigation. One thing that’s really cool is being able to search for things like bike shops, breweries, convenient stores, restrooms, trail heads and a host of other locations. You can even tap the search icon and type in the name of a location. This uses the power of Garmin maps to navigate to the destinations. This is a newly-added feature that will be very useful in certain situations.
Taking advantage of its incredible mapping tech, Garmin has added a feature to the Edge 840 that allows you to search and navigate to all kinds of landmarks and locations.
A welcomed upgrade in my opinion is the ability to modify data screens from the phone app. I can do this with my Fenix 7 watch, and now can do this with the Edge 840. Although not difficult on the unit itself (which is how it had to be done on the 830), I find it easier to do on the phone app.
On the Edge 840 you can now edit data fields from the phone app.
As with other Garmin bike computers, you can pull down from the top of the screen to access glances such as weather, notifications, Garmin Varia settings (the Varia is a radar that detects cars coming from behind) and device settings.
The Climb Pro feature has been improved in the Edge 840. Climb Pro predicts an up-coming climb and lets you know how far you have until the summit, how much elevation gain remains in the climb and the average remaining gradient. The upgrade to this feature is that you no longer have to be following a pre-loaded course. The Edge 840 will predict a climb on the road you’re on and show the upcoming climb. So not only does this little unit have maps already loaded, it also has climb data from climbs all over the nation. Mind-blowing if you ask me!
The Edge 840 I have is the Solar version, which is $100 more than the non-solar version. This means there is literally a solar panel around the outside of the screen. This uses the power of the sun to extend battery life during a ride, assuming you’re riding in sunny conditions. And it does work. On a recent ride that lasted over four hours, I used only 14% battery, and I had three sensors paired (sensors use more of the Garmin’s battery). There is a data screen (shown in the photo below) that allows you to see how much sun the unit has received on your ride and how much batter time has been added. I’ll mention that the solar feature will only charge the unit a percentage or two if the device is left out in the sun for a few hours. So it’s not really intended to replace charging it with a power source.
The version I have the solar version, a $100 upgrade. It uses the power of the sun to extend battery life.
In summary, the new Garmin Edge 840 has some really nice improvements. USB-C charging, although long overdue, is very welcomed. The new UI has a more modern and useful feel. More customization can be done through the phone app. One of my favorite new features is being able to search for and navigate to a host of locations using Garmin’s vast mapping technology. After four years with my Edge 830, I’m looking forward to my upcoming years of adventure using the 840! Thanks for ready, and don’t stop exploring!
