Garmin has just announced the latest iterations of its popular Edge computers, the 530 and 830, boasting new dynamic performance insights, cycling safety features, improved mapping and an extended claimed battery life.
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Garmin Edge 530 and 830 key features
At first glance, the computers are quite similar both in form factor and features. However, the big difference between the two is that the 830 includes a touchscreen, while the 530 is operated with buttons. Both have a 2.6in high-res colour display.
Garmin claims the battery life is up to 20 hours on the new units, and both are compatible with the brand’s Charge Power Pack, which should bump it up to 40 hours.
Garmin has continued its Trailforks integration and will come preloaded with trails in more than 80 countries around the world. Garmin says you’ll be able to view the trails in detail from the new computers, and when you stop to catch your breath, Foresight mode will automatically display upcoming forks in the trail.
The new 530 and 830 also have a host of new MTB metrics, such as jump count, jump distance and hang time. It now also features 'Grit', a new metric that rates the difficulty of a ride using GPS, elevation and accelerometer data, and Flow, which measures how smoothly you descend a given trail.
Both models also come with the Garmin Cycle Maps preloaded, to allow for turn-by-turn directions and alerts to upcoming sharp corners.
The navigation features utilise a Strava Heatmap-esque routing system, which will take you on roads and trails that have received the most traffic from fellow riders and thus are likely the most bike-friendly.
With the touchscreen, the 830 allows you to create routes and courses directly on the device — you’ll still need a computer or phone with the 530.
Both new computers include oodles of the deep training metrics you’d expect from a high-end GPS head unit, but now also see what Garmin is calling Climb Pro, which automatically shows how much further the climb you're slogging up is. It also shows whether or not it kicks up at the end just to spite your legs. The computers will also provide reminders to eat and drink too.
Garmin has also upped the Edge 530 and Edge 830's chops as a training tool, with the new computers analysing the previous four weeks of riding in terms of low aerobic, high aerobic and anaerobic efforts to evaluate how balanced your training has been, and let you know you probably need to climb more.
The new head units will also calculate your power curve if you’re using compatible sensors like the brand's new Speed and Candace 2 sensors.
Also carried through is the group messaging, group tracking Varia integration and incident detection — a feature we’re hoping Garmin has spent the time to get right this time around.
There’s also a new pin-protected bike-alarm feature, which will light up your smartphone if somebody starts messing with your bike while you go for a coffee.
Both head units will also have access to the connect IQ store, allowing you to download free apps, widgets and data fields like AccuWeather MinuteCast, Yelp, Strava Summit, Komoot or Wikiloc.
The Edge 530 and 830 will be available next month, with prices ranging from £259 /$299 / AU$TBC to £429 / $499 / AU$TBC depending on model and bundle.