New Garmin Edge 540 and Edge 840, all the details

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As I indicated last weekToday the Garmin Edge 540 and Edge 840 are made official without any changes to what I had already announced, but perhaps with some clarification regarding those new features I was telling you about.

This new generation brings the features of the Edge 1040 introduced last year, plus some new features of its own (which will obviously also come to the 1040). The difference between the Edge 540 and the Edge 840? The method of control, because while in the Edge 540 all the handling is through buttons, the Edge 840 also adds a touch screen.

But there is one thing different with respect to the previous models, the Edge 840 does not dispense with buttons but adds them to its touch control. Undoubtedly the biggest novelty is ClimbPro for any route (i.e., it is no longer necessary to load a route) and the possibility of buying both models in a solar-charged version. But let's take a look at the complete list of new features.

Buy Garmin Edge 540

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Buy Garmin Edge 840

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New Garmin Edge 540 and Edge 840

The new features of these Garmin Edge 540 and Garmin Edge 840 come in both hardware and software. It is, in short, a smaller and non-touchscreen version of the Garmin Edge 1040 presented almost a year ago, and makes an important qualitative leap with respect to the Edge 530 and Edge 830.

When you see it on the handlebars, you will have a hard time differentiating it from previous models.

Although there is one detail that will give it away and that is that it has grown slightly, both in width and height, mainly to make room for solar charging.

• Edge 540/840 and Edge 540/840 Solar versions available
• Same 2.6″ screen size.
• 7 control buttons on both models, but the Edge 840 also adds a touchscreen display
• It grows to 57.8×85.1mm (from 50×82 of the Edge 530/830). Thickness is virtually the same, just 0.4mm thinner in the new model.
• It increases the weight to 80 grams (85 grams for the solar-charged model). The Edge 530 weighed 75.8 grams.
• At last USB-C charging connector that also offers faster charging
• Autonomy of up to 26 hours in the normal versions and up to 32 hours in the Edge 540 Solar and Edge 840 Solar.
• Up to 42 hours in power saving mode (60 hours Edge 540 Solar / Edge 840 Solar). The Edge 530 offered 20 hours of autonomy, so we have a minimum increase of 30%.
• Multiband satellite reception
• SatIQ function, in which the device automatically selects the best satellite configuration at any given moment
• Revamped user interface, similar to that of Edge 1040
• Configuration via cell phone
• Connect IQ store directly on the device, with the possibility to update items via WiFi
• ClimbPro on any output, without having any loaded route
• Power Guide, allows you to create a power strategy for a given navigation route (something similar to what BestBikeSplit offers). Inherited from the Edge 1040
• Suggestion of training sessions based on competitions or events scheduled in the calendar, as in the FR255 and FR955, to focus the fitness peak on a specific day
• Stamina function, an algorithm that allows you to manage your effort during a full ride by indicating your remaining energy. Very similar to what Xert.
• Classification as a cyclist, in which the computer will give information about what type of cyclist you are based on power and heart rate data for at least one week (climber, time trial, sprinter, etc.), highlighting strengths/weaknesses
• 16GB of internal memory in the Edge 540, 32GB in the Edge 840.
• Edge 540 price: $399 for Garmin Edge 540, $499 for Garmin Edge 540 Solar
• Edge 840 price: £499 for Garmin Edge 840, £599 for Garmin Edge 840 Solar

Differences between the Garmin Edge 540 and Garmin Edge 840

There are very few differences between the Edge 540 and the Edge 840, being practically centered on the touch screen of the top model. That touchscreen will be useful if you're going to be doing a lot of navigation; it allows you to scroll around the map, zoom in and out, tap to navigate to that point... anything you need to interact with in the middle of an outing will be much more convenient on the Edge 840.

But remember that what makes this Edge 840 different from the Edge 830 is that in this case we do have control buttons, while in the Edge 820 (and earlier) to have the touch screen Garmin had eliminated that option.

Therefore the recommendation is to opt for the Edge 840 if you are going to do a lot of navigation, being able to stay perfectly in the Edge 540 if your interaction with the computer is going to be very reduced. Because unlike the previous models, in the new podrás already do the configuration of screens and other details comfortably through the phone. A

Additionally, the top model has twice as much storage space, because while the Edge 540 makes do with 16GB of memory, we have up to 32GB of memory in the Edge 840. Unlike the Edge 1040, however, the solar-charged versions do not offer more storage.

Of course, if you're interested in route navigation, and given the prices involved, perhaps the smartest option is to go straight for the larger screen of the Edge 1040.

ClimbPro is the highlight

Now podemos have information of the climbs in any output, even if you do not have a route loaded. Previously to have the information of each climb it was necessary that we had loaded a route, so that ClimbPro knew where we were going.

But it did not show anything even if we were climbing a port and that was the only possible way. Now it is no longer necessary because the device will show us the information of the climb we are doing at that moment automatically.

To start with, Garmin has added a new widget called Climb Explore. As its name suggests, what it does is to show you a series of climbs near your location, as if they were Strava segments. We can change different settings such as difficulty, duration, distance, etc; that way we can customize which climbs you are interested in.

On screen what we will see is exactly the same as in the past when we had loaded a route, but remember that the advantage of this new ClimbPro is that it is not necessary to have loaded the route.

One thing I miss is that ClimbPro is only available as a page by itself. That is, we cannot use ClimbPro data fields on other pages. For example, add in any data page a field that reports the remaining climbing distance that ClimbPro has automatically detected, and that poder display it next to our power, FC, etc. pages.

I think it is the most interesting feature of the new models and, if you are a user of any of the previous models, the one that will lead you to make the decision to renew your device. But it is not the only one, both Stamina and Power Guide can be other good reasons.

Stamina has been present in Garmin devices for some time now. It will tell you how much energy you have left, so you can figure out if you're going to finish your ride or if you're going to have to "call the tow truck". Power Guide debuted with the Edge 1040 and goes a step further than Stamina.

This is a power plan set for a specific course, but obviously being a power plan you will need to have a potentiometer. In Garmin Connect (web or app) you will select a route, weight, type of bike and terrain.

And based on your FTP, power targets will be set for the different sections. These targets go by GPS location, not by time, so don't worry if you are ahead or behind the estimated target time.

Obviously it is something interesting if you are doing a ride on your own or if it is a non-draft competition, because as you ride in a peloton the power targets and the actual power will differ tremendously.

Review Garmin Edge 540 and Garmin Edge 840

I think in this version the Edge 840 has fallen into no man's land. For price it sits very close to the Edge 1040 but without the larger screen. And since Garmin has improved the configuration of the device through the mobile app, the touch screen no longer adds so much to the use of the device unless you are going to do route navigation.

Which brings us back to square one again. If you're going to need touchscreen because you plan to navigate a lot of routes, then you'll find the larger screen of the 1040 more interesting where you'll see those routes better. Regarding the Edge 540, on paper it's interesting, but it has too high a starting price. It is not complicated to find the Edge 530 around 200€ (exactly half the price) and the competition is also tight.

Wahoo offers its Bolt V2 for considerably less money and Hammerhead's Karoo 2 is at similar prices, although it is true that they are not directly comparable. But I still have one thing left to test, and that is to see how the new user interface behaves without a touchscreen. Recall that it comes from the Edge 1040, and in that case there was no additional button as there is on the Edge 840.

I want to see how Garmin has adapted it (if at all) and how easy or difficult it is to get around the new menu with the exclusive button control. As for solar charging... Personally I would forget about it. We start from frankly good autonomy data, with diversity of possibilities when configuring energy saving modes and the autonomy is not brutally superior.

And that's the only thing that makes the €100 difference. Moreover, the Edge 540 Solar at the same price as the basic Edge 840 I think makes no sense. I'd rather benefit from the touchscreen and not the solar charging.

And with that... thanks for reading!