Wahoo Elemnt and Garmin Edge bike computers are deservedly popular and they dominate the market, despite the competition offered by brands such as Hammerhead and Bryton.
When it comes to which bike computer you should choose from these brands, there are several things to consider.
Garmin has a larger range of products catering to different riders’ needs and budgets, but Wahoo has several advantages, including added extras and a refined interface.
In this guide, we take you through the details and features that make Garmin and Wahoo head units some of the best bike computers and how to choose the right one for you.
Wahoo Elemnt vs Garmin Edge ranges
Although it’s slimmed down its range of Edge computers recently, Garmin still offers six models. That starts with the compact, relatively inexpensive Edge 130 Plus. It has a monochrome screen and is controlled via five buttons on its sides and bottom edge.
Move up the range and the Garmin Edge 540 is larger and has a colour screen, although it’s still button-controlled. The Edge 840 is the same size and has the same functionality as the Edge 540 but has a touchscreen, while the Edge Explore 2 has a slightly larger touchscreen and majors on mapping and navigation. The larger-format Garmin Edge 1040, along with the Edge 540 and 840, all offer optional solar charging to extend battery life.
Although it doesn't have a solar charging option, the Garmin Edge 1050 has a more vivid colour touchscreen and adds other new functionality.
Wahoo now offers three Elemnt computers. The Elemnt Bolt and the Elemnt Roam have both been updated since their launches, adding more memory and more colours, among a range of changes. They’re both mid-sized non-touchscreen colour computers controlled by an array of six buttons – three on the face and three on the sides of the computer’s body.
As well as the screen, Wahoo includes one array of LED lights on the Elemnt Bolt and two on the Elemnt Roam. These can be programmed to display different information, including your heart rate zone or information about upcoming turns if you’re following a route.
The most recent addition to the range is the Wahoo Elemnt Ace. It's a much larger computer – in fact, with a 3.8-inch touchscreen, it's larger than any of Garmin's offerings – and includes a wind sensor to measure your headwind or tailwind when riding.
If you're deciding whether to buy the Garmin Edge 1050 or the Wahoo Elemnt Ace, Ashley Quinlan has compared the two flagship computers in a head to head.
Battery life
Garmin’s battery life depends on the model; the smallest Edge 130 Plus has a claimed 12-hour run time.
The Edge 1040 is available with solar charging – like the Garmin Fenix 7 Sapphire Solar smartwatch – to increase battery life, with a claimed seven-day run time on a single charge when topped up by eight hours a day of riding in daylight.
With the Edge 1050, Garmin has relinquished its quest for ever-longer battery life. It has a claimed 20 hours runtime.
The Wahoo computers cover the middle ground, with the Elemnt Roam having a 17-hour quoted battery life and the Elemnt Bolt 15 hours, while the Elemnt Ace will last for a claimed 30 hours.
How much do Garmin and Wahoo computers cost?
Garmin’s Edge computers have a wide spread of prices, from the £170 / $200 Edge 130 Plus up to the £650 / $700 Edge 1050.
The Wahoo Elemnt computers cover a narrower range. The Elemnt Bolt costs £250 / $280, the Elemnt Roam is slightly larger and costs £350 / $400 and the Elemnt Ace is priced at £550 / $600.
Mounting and extras
Wahoo scores on its mounts for the Elemnt range. The computers come with a forward mount with half-turn engagement. The mounts integrate with the computers cleanly, making for a smooth, aero appearance.
Most Garmin computers have a plastic half-turn forward mount, as well as a bar-top mount secured by two rubber straps as standard. Its mounts are not quite as sleekly integrated with the base of the computer as Wahoo's.
Garmin and Wahoo computers support ANT+ and BLE connectivity, while all models from both brands, except the Edge 130 Plus, have built-in Wi-Fi, so you can upload rides to apps without having to link them to your smartphone.
Configuring Wahoo and Garmin computers
Although Garmin has upped its game on setup and configuration, Wahoo still wins out on tight integration with its smartphone app. This enables you to set up and customise pretty much everything via the app rather than on the device itself, although that’s still an option. You can also port your configuration over if you buy a new Wahoo computer.
Garmin is catching up with an easy phone-based setup and can move your data over from an older Garmin device too. There is also phone-app control of some settings, but it’s not as easy as with Wahoo’s app and you still need to use fiddly on-device menus to customise many features on some of its computers.
Wahoo and Garmin features
All Garmin computers include a basemap, with the exceptions of the entry-level Garmin 130 Plus, which just has a breadcrumb trail to follow. Garmin also gives you heatmaps to map out cycle-friendly routes to follow.
The Elemnt computers come with maps too. Wahoo has now enhanced its basemaps, with more features shown and improved use of colour. They’re now a closer match to Garmin’s maps, which include street names and mark wooded areas and other features. The Elemnt Ace uses its larger screen to show greater map detail with more colours than the Elemnt Bolt and Roam.
The majority of Garmin's and Wahoo's computers now give you dual-band GPS reception, with the only exception the Garmin Edge 130 Plus. This improves positional accuracy, particularly if riding under tree cover or in urban environments.
There's a range of memory size, with top-spec computers from both brands now offering 64GB, enabling you to store plenty of ride data and map data for multiple regions. On devices with smaller memory, you may find you need to delete map files to add a new one if you move between areas, for a training camp, for example.
There are other novel features in the Elemnt computers, including public route sharing, which enables you to broadcast route files to nearby Wahoo computer users, avoiding the need to email files if you want to share a route.
In other respects, Garmin and Wahoo match each other feature-for-feature, with items such as climb profiles, live tracking (although this is due for delivery in early 2025 for the Wahoo Elemnt Ace), radar support and on-device workouts.
The two brands also enable you to configure the data you see as you ride. You’ll get more data fields per screen on the Garmin Edge 1040 and 1050, but fewer on the Edge 130 Plus.
With Garmin, the screen data fields are fixed once you start to ride, but Wahoo's Perfect Zoom feature allows you to increase or decrease the number of fields displayed while you are riding, cropping off lower priority data.
Garmin and Wahoo computers give you plenty of workout stats via their respective phone apps. Garmin Connect is particularly full-featured, giving you loads of stats on training effect and other metrics, whereas the Wahoo app covers the basics unless you subscribe to Wahoo X.
In both cases, you can set up an automatic sync through to Strava, TrainingPeaks or other fitness apps if you want more analysis. You can also link the computers to Komoot for routes and to create a log of your activities.
With its Kickr smart trainer range, Wahoo has good functionality for trainer control, although that is matched by Garmin. Both brands also offer you tight integration into their training environments, Wahoo X and Garmin Connect respectively.
Which one is better, Wahoo or Garmin?
For a long time, Garmin’s bike computers led the field regarding navigation and the depth of features available, from training insights to third-party app integration.
However, the second generation of Elemnt bike computers sees Wahoo keep pace with Garmin, offering many of the same features while continuing to build on its easy integration with your smartphone and other Wahoo devices.
Although not fully delivered at launch in December 2024, the third-generation Wahoo Elemnt Ace will offer a similar function set, plus its new Wahoo Wind Dynamics headwind analysis.
Out of the two brands, Garmin remains the better bet if you need extended battery life. In the middle of its range, Garmin is also a good choice if you want a touchscreen, although bear in mind that this can be difficult to use in the wet, off-road or if you are wearing thick gloves. You can also operate its touchscreen computers using buttons though.
Wahoo’s smaller devices are button-operated, making them better for wet conditions, but they can require a lot of button-mashing to get through the menus, as a result. The Elemnt Ace offers a choice between a touchscreen and buttons, and its unit-top main buttons are easier to use than Garmin's unit-side buttons.
When it comes to price, Garmin has a larger range of bike computers, providing options at different price points. However, Wahoo's computers are up to £100 / $100 lower-priced than Garmin's for comparable units.
Garmin provides many training features for free, whereas you will have to pay for a Wahoo X subscription to unlock certain features if you purchase an Elemnt computer.
Ultimately, whether you consider Garmin or Wahoo to be better will come down to the functionality you desire and where you’re willing to spend your money.
If you want a computer that will work for long adventures, while providing plenty of training tools and data to delve into, Garmin might be the best bet for you.
If training features and long battery life aren’t your first priority and you want a computer that is easy and intuitive to use straight out of the box, Wahoo provides plenty of value for money. You may, however, end up spending more money on a subscription in the future.
