Garmin Edge 840 Long-Term Review

When it comes to my tours and photo assignments, one thing I can't do without anymore is my Garmin Edge. Because of all the useful tools in my bicycle drawer, the Garmin Edge 840 is not only the most versatile, but also one of the most helpful in case of emergency.
This is due to the incredible range of functions and the now excellent mapping material that is available right out of the box and can be accessed at any time without hassle - including elevation data, mountain classifications, and route planning.

As a first-generation Garmin user (looking at you, Edge 500) and regular user of the Epix and Instinct watches, I thought nothing from the Garmin GPS universe could surprise me anymore. But with the Edge 840, Garmin has done just that - with a mix of highly specialized functions for bikers on one hand, and the refreshingly modern and simplified user interface on the other.
I would like to share a few of my highlights along with the experiences of the last few months in my report.

The first positive surprise concerns a point that has been criticized for years. Never before has it been so easy to set up a new Garmin device. Using a QR code, the Edge can be paired with Garmin Connect on a mobile phone. After that, you are immediately asked whether you want to transfer the activity profiles and sensors from another device (e.g., the previous model).
I do both, and just a few seconds later, the new 840 is essentially the same as my old 530. If you want to change a particular data field, activity profile, or certain pages, it's very easy to do via the touchscreen - or remotely through Garmin Connect on the mobile phone.

This is important because the configurability of Garmin devices has always been very high, and the Edge 840 continues this tradition. Just the different map views, from shading, level of detail, classic, MTB, or high contrast... to the map display of segments and elevation profiles - it can make you dizzy.
The additional and quite clear configuration via Garmin Connect makes things a bit easier.

The first and for me most important app on the Garmin is Komoot. After all, I plan most of my tours and adventures through this platform.
Here, too, the pairing works with a simple code, without the need for entering email addresses or complex passwords. That's exactly how it should work, and in the end, the entire initialization and setup of the Edge 840 only takes a few nerve-sparing minutes. No comparison to previous installations!

Before purchasing, like most people, I was faced with the decision: Edge 540 or 840, with or without solar? After some research, my choice fell fairly clearly on the 840 without solar for the following reasons:
For me, the operation via buttons is important, but unlike its predecessor, where you had to choose between touchscreen or buttons, the 840 offers the best of both worlds. It seems that during the development of the menus and operability, the touchscreen functionality was given priority, but everything really works both ways, either directly via the display or via the control buttons. Apart from the price and the marginally brighter display, there's actually no reason to opt for the 540 anymore.

On the subject of solar, the experiences of various colleagues also match my own assessment. Having worn a Garmin solar watch on my wrist before, I know: With simple, relatively power-saving watches like the Garmin Instinct Crossover, the solar exposure can be enough in power-saving mode to operate the watch virtually indefinitely; at least it significantly extends the battery life. However, with the Edge 840, the energy required is so high that the solar version, with full sun exposure over hours, only extends the total battery life by a few percentage points. Therefore, for me personally, the 840 without solar is the best choice.

An absolute highlight for me now are the pre-installed Garmin maps. In the past, outstanding map material was often something you had to go through free third-party providers like openmtbmap or openfietsmap to get, but the currently pre-installed Garmin maps leave little to be desired.

The Edge 840 and its peers now have top-notch map material including contour lines along with elevation data. This allows for precise elevation calibration at the start of a new activity on one hand, and on the other hand also previews including elevation gain for unknown climbs in the vicinity or at any location on the map - and that's Europe-wide (routing-enabled cycling map for Europe and Trailforks are pre-installed with purchases in Europe).

The map can be supplemented with all kinds of information. You can choose between 3 display modes (Standard, High-Contrast, and MTB) if desired, overlay a 3D shading, display climbs (category HC and 1-5), color-code streets and paths by popularity, mark busy roads (red dashed) or display segments.
New with the Edge 840 is the option to display up to 4 (previously 2) data fields on the map screen. Thanks to newly designed menus, accessing most settings is now context-related and largely where one would intuitively expect them; in my eyes not quite perfect yet, but a significant improvement over the previous models.

However, the real highlight is the information drawn from the map data, which by now allows for quite solid routing (from MTB to Gravel to Road cycling) and also provides very accurate elevation profiles, with which you can quite well estimate what to expect on the rest of the route - which brings us to the next point.

Last week, I went out to take photos with NoPain. A little afternoon spin, not too far away from the office near Ternitz was the plan. Unfortunately, at the original starting point, we couldn't find a suitable photo spot, which leads us directly to Plan B. So, we cross the S6 on our way towards Türkensturz and park our car in a bend after Gramatl, feeling like somewhere in the middle of nowhere.
Bikes unloaded, rolling downhill and a few hundred meters further, the Edge 840 shows me a category 2 climb on the display. A little more than 400 meters of elevation gain fits perfectly into our photo-hunting scheme.

What follows is a marvelous climb over a lonely asphalt lane. First through a forest with autumnal colors, then a fantastic view towards Wiener Neustadt, bordered by Seebenstein Castle on one side and Anninger, Lindkogel, and Hohe Wand on the other.
On the Garmin display, I can see the remaining elevation gain next to my current position, as long as we continue following this climb.

At the end of the climb, it starts to drizzle slightly. The dance of the clouds around us bodes nothing good. So, we decide to end the shoot and return to the car by the fastest route. "Back to the start" on the Garmin 840 means not "the same way", but the shortest route.
As expected, it's basically downhill according to the Garmin, and we follow - as so often - the purple line on the display. The descent also offers a few views into the wonderful autumn landscape as a highlight, some nice bends, and at the end a little gravel passage that spits us out right in the bend in the middle of nowhere, where our car is parked. Our small, fine, perfect round was complete!

The photos above are from the adventure that we would not have experienced without Climb Pro. In short: Magnificent views, simple and spontaneous route planning on the device with an ideal completion thanks to the "Back to Start" function.

The text provided is an HTML iframe embed code for a tour from the website Komoot and is not in German or any language that needs to be translated. It is a code snippet used to embed a map or tour from the Komoot platform into a webpage. Therefore, the text should be left as it is.