Garmin Edge 1050 review: A flagship bike computer designed for the future, but it needs finessing

How about the software features?

Practically all of the Edge 1040’s features are present on the Edge 1050.

Garmin has updated the user interface, which – along with the processor upgrade – is intended to make better use of the updated screen while improving general usability and responsiveness.

The brand also says it has updated its algorithms to more quickly and accurately present data in real time – ClimbPro’s live data accuracy has been targeted specifically, for example.

Routes can now be created on the device (including overlays to help identify specific features, such as unpaved paths), while maps can also be updated over WiFi.

A GroupRide feature has evolved from GroupTrack, offering live incident detection, group climb leaderboards and post-ride awards among your grouped cohort.

You can also notify other (compatible) Garmin Edge users of a hazard on your route, which will then be shared via a notification to those riders if they happen upon the same location.

It’s worth noting Garmin has rolled almost all of these features out to Edge 540, 840 and 1040 computers (and a few to the Edge Explore 2) via firmware updates, though – they aren’t unique to the Edge 1050.

The bell, Garmin Pay function and new user interface are the notable exceptions, given these rely on the hardware updates present in the Edge 1050.

That said, the GroupRide and hazard-awareness features rely heavily on crowd-sourcing data – there’s little point posting a hazard if there’s no one else to warn, for example, or hosting a GroupRide if you’re riding alone, or with only a few people.

Garmin is right that these features will work better if more people are using them.

User interface

In use, the Edge 1050’s user experience is a small improvement on the Edge 1040 (and other 40-series units), principally because it’s faster.

Responses to screen presses are near-immediate, as is scrolling and navigating through the menus and sub-menus. The screen also appears to have a quicker refresh rate.

The broad design of the menus remains the same, save for the odd move of a function, so anyone upgrading to an Edge 1050 from an earlier device shouldn’t feel lost.

There’s little to choose between the Edge 1050 and the Hammerhead Karoo 3 in terms of usability, but I’d argue Garmin’s software and interface are a little more polished and marginally more responsive.

I also found the Edge 1050’s setup procedure easy, although this is influenced by familiarity – I’ve more experience with Garmin and have a Garmin Connect account and app, through which I could import settings from existing units.

The screen is certainly the brightest ever installed on a Garmin Edge unit and it’s capable of presenting information clearly on the brightest days.

I noticed reflections flashing over the screen surface when under dappled tree cover, but this isn’t unusual for bike computers.

The new speaker also means the familiar bleeps of Garmin devices are no more – these have been replaced by a softer array of beeps and bongs.

While the Edge 1040’s sounds were tempered slightly compared to older Edge devices, they were still fairly aggressive.

The new sounds aren’t as cutting, but they’re far more pleasant to hear.

Importantly, they’re still distinct enough from ambient noise to be noticeable when riding – with the exception of loud traffic, which occasionally drowned out notifications, even on their loudest setting. You can also opt for spoken notifications.

Garmin offers a selection of the world’s most-spoken languages, some dialects and the ability to choose between a ‘male’ and ‘female’ voice. This all works fine, but the voices are slightly robotic, and pronunciation isn’t flawless.

The two buttons on the bottom of the unit offer a tactile ‘click’ feedback when pushed, but the power button is less positive. A more certain click, as on the Edge 1040, would be preferable.

Aside from this, the computer performs the basics as one would hope – it picks up satellites quickly (in everything but a built-up multi-storey city environment, where it understandably takes a little longer to ‘see’ one), so recording a ride is a simple case of pressing start, pressing stop and saving it.

It’s worth noting I experienced a system lockout 18 minutes into one test ride, after which the unit became completely unresponsive.

Garmin advised me to hard reboot the device, which was a successful remedy – my ride had recorded fully in the background and I’ve not had an issue since.

Garmin couldn’t confirm the source of the freeze, but suspects it was a software issue on my specific unit, because it “hadn’t been reported by other users”.

Of course, the Edge 1050 hasn’t been in the wild for long, so time will tell if this ends up a wider problem to be addressed.

Mapping and navigation

Navigation is as easy as it has ever been.

The maps are clear and detailed, and a small improvement over the Edge 1040. The detail and clarity are comparable with the Hammerhead Karoo 3, which also impresses.

Tracking around a map is easy and responsive, although it’s one of the areas in which the Edge 1050 is still laggy – you can zoom out or drag to a different location and the device takes a moment or two to load the parts of the map it wasn’t previously displaying.

Given the maps are pre-downloaded, this is a slight nuisance.

Once loaded, the Edge 1050 screen’s extra real estate makes things appear less congested, but I’ve had little difficulty with mapping on smaller units such as the Edge 830 in the past.

On the other hand, the larger screen means you can zoom in further, for a more detailed look at a road or trail, yet still retain important contextual information such as upcoming turns.

GPS tracking accuracy has proven to be dependable when viewing files uploaded through Garmin Connect and on to Strava. I’ve had no GPS dropouts, even when the screen on my test unit froze – all ride data was still recorded and saved.

The ability to create a route from the Edge 1050 isn’t an unqualified success, though – it’s fiddly and takes time to plot waypoints accurately, so as not to accidentally position them just off the road or trail.

I was able to create one of my known 50km test loops in the device, with no mistakes, in close to 15 minutes. On a computer, though, it’s typically a 2-3 minute job to create the same route and sync it to a device.

Of course, this feature is great if you need to plan a route somewhere while you’re out in the sticks – but otherwise, I’ll stick to using a computer.

The ‘take me home’ function has been improved, however. I found the fastest route selection was suitable and it didn’t obstinately take me on tiny backroads in favour of a well-trodden path (and didn’t stubbornly disagree for too long if I chose to ignore it).

You can also choose to return the way you came, as before, and this works as expected.

New hazard and GroupRide features

The new hazard and GroupRide features have potential, but only if more riders use them.

This mainly affects the hazard notification function – I haven’t come across a single one laid by someone else while testing the Edge 1050. Perhaps this shouldn’t come as a surprise – Garmin doesn’t have Google-rivalling numbers of compatible Edge computer users to ‘feed the machine’.

However, I have laid two hazard warnings out myself and each has been uploaded impressively quickly and remained for subsequent rides.

As I approached one, I got a small notification with a distance-to-go box on-screen. I was also asked to confirm or deny that the hazard was still present, much like with navigating on Google Maps.

Garmin says it will update its assessment algorithms as more riders use the system. This means how long a hazard will remain in the system without active user approval or disapproval, and what split of votes it considers to be a critical mass to keep it live, is largely set to be tweaked as time goes on.

One would assume that as more people use it, and others with compatible devices receive notifications and are made aware of its existence, more will engage with it.

In theory, the benefits are clear, although – as a UK-based rider – the cynic in me wonders how long it might be before every road is littered with pothole notifications.

Likewise, for the more social elements of the GroupRide functionality, how many people use it will ultimately dictate how successful it is.

This is a problem if, inevitably, riders are using computers from different brands.

If Garmin, Wahoo, Hammerhead and others could collaborate to allow such features to work cross-platform their value would naturally increase, although I won’t hold my breath for that.

In the absence of fellow riders using the features, I trialled the functionality between my Edge 1050 and Edge 1040 computers – it works as advertised, although setting up a GroupRide session is a convoluted process – as demonstrated by Garmin’s YouTube tutorial.

Although not new, the ability to send messages and have them flash up on everyone’s devices (subject to each rider also having a phone with a data connection) is undoubtedly handy in a number of scenarios.

Competing with others on a climb will certainly appeal to some, although given how varied riders’ individual strengths can be, I’m not sure how motivating some will find it if there’s a clear pecking order that sees the same riders ‘rise to the top’ and ‘take up the rear’ time and again.

The post-ride awards are a fun addition, but little more.

A few words on the bell

If a noisy freehub or a few words aren’t enough to alert people to your presence, the bell sound may help attract attention.

Accessing it from the device takes two presses – one to raise the menu and another to press the bell icon.

A single press would be better – if I were to use a bell, it’s likely it would be a quick decision without time to bring up and press the on-screen button with a hand inevitably off the handlebars.

This feature can be programmed to a Shimano Di2 or SRAM AXS button, which is handy, but stops you using that button for other purposes.