Article by Jeff Valliere
Garmin Edge 1050 ($699.99) and Varia UT800 Smart Headlight ($99.99)
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Incredibly bright AMOLED screen
- Accuracy
- Improved user interface (intuitive and FAST)
- Bell/Speaker
- Navigation features and ease
- Electronic groupset integration
- Sensor compatibility
- Safety features (including Varia radar/light integrated ecosystem)
- Battery life (considering the brightness level of the screen)
- Price ($699 is a lot, but when considering the price of Fenix/Epix and even Enduro watches, can be considered a really good value).
Cons:
- No operational buttons (like on the 840)
- Battery life (which I also listed as a pro for most users, multi day long distance riders will see this as a con)
Introduction:
The 1050 is Garmin’s latest flagship GPS cycling computer, featuring an all new bright and vivid 3.5” AMOLED display with 480x800 pixel resolution, a built in speaker, bike bell and a host of other software updates over the Edge 1040/840/540.
Having very recently reviewed the Edge 840, I can say that the 1050 is a HUGE upgrade and advantage over any of their transflective display models, not just the bump in screen size from the 840 (2.6” to 3.5”), which IS a big difference, but the AMOLED display makes a night and day difference in my ability to easily read in all light conditions.
The bell is also a super nifty feature, where you can activate by touching a button on the screen, or, even better yet, can be triggered by remote shifter buttons).
Of course, like the other Edge units, the 1050 has every training, fitness, navigation and modern bike sports tech feature that you can imagine, as well as the very best GPS accuracy, Smart features and Sensor compatibility.
While battery life takes a significant hit compared to the Edge 1040/1040 Solar (less than half), I personally find that to be a fair trade for my day to day riding (though it could be a concern for those who ride multi day bikepacking tours or the like). I am easily able to get about a week of riding (4 rides per week of 2-3 hours) without having to charge and even then it is still not much less than 50%.
Features/Specs:
Operation:
The Edge 1050 is touchscreen only, with the exception an on/off button, a start/stop button and the lap button. That said, the 1050 is easy to operate, with a large 3.5” screen, where functions and buttons on the screen are large and intuitive.
When wearing fingerless gloves or thin touch compatible gloves, it is easy to swipe through screens and menus on the go while riding, adjust settings and such. I would however recommend learning and memorizing the functionality and operations at home and not as you are riding, which can be a distraction and dangerous.
Even with moderately thick gloves, I can easily perform basic touch screen functions while on the go, but not all of my gloves are touch compatible, so I do wish the 1050 had operational buttons on the sides, such as the Edge 840 (but this is a minor complaint).
In lieu of not having buttons on the unit however, if you happen to have an electronic groupset, you can sync with it and perform basic operation through remote buttons. I have a Shimano GRX Di2 2x12 groupset on my gravel bike and I have set up one of the hood buttons to scroll through the screens and the other one to activate the bell. I pretty much use this method of operation exclusively, as I would much rather keep my hands on the bars when riding on dirt roads and off road. If you do not have electronic shifting like Di2 for example, you can buy a Varia Remote for $49.99 to mount on your bars that will essentially do the same.
GPS Accuracy: The 1050 features Multi Band GNSS technology and provides impeccable GPS accuracy, which I find to be spot on with what I consider the benchmark Fenix 8. In side by side comparisons, the GPS track for both units have lined up perfectly with one another, as well as to my track on road or trail. The screenshots below show how closely and accurately both the Edge 1050 (purple) and the Fenix 8 (blue) track.
Track comparisons and graphs by DCRainmaker Analyzer
Altimeter:
The 1050 has a barometric altimeter that has the option to auto calibrate. I find it to be super reliably accurate, much more so than any of my watches that drift and require regular attention. The graphs below shows the Fenix 8 and Edge 1050 to be very close over the course of a recent ride with many ups and down.
Maps/Navigation:
One of my favorite features of the Edge 1050, is the ability to navigate in an easy and reliable way with turn by turn directions that are verbalized through the speaker. You can either preload or designate a course ahead of time, or you can randomly select a course with variables of type of ride and distance for example and the Edge will calculate a route for you.
The maps are quite detailed with roads, trails, features and topography. The large screen and crisp AMOLED display make the maps much more easy to read and navigate from compared to the 840 that I found difficult to decipher when on the go. Additionally, now with a built in speaker, you can rely upon navigational verbal prompts to indicate upcoming turns and such.
Screen:
The 3.5” screen is the same size as the Edge 1040’s, but the big story here of course is the magnificent vivid AMOLED display with resolution of 480x800 pixels and 1,000 nits of brightness. I found the 840 to be good in direct sun, but struggled when in shady areas and on early morning rides before sunrise.
The AMOLED screen is so bright and vivid, all of the data fields, menus, icons, graphs and maps really pop and are easy to read. The best description of transitioning from the 840 with transflective to the 1050 with AMOLED is like going from a 19” black and white TV to a 70” flat panel with OLED 4K. It is difficult to capture the brilliance in photos, but the screen is really easy to read in even the brightest direct sunshine and at any viewing angle. I keep the 1050 adjusted to auto brightness, which does a perfect job dimming or increasing output exactly as needed. You can of course override this feature and set it to however bright you want, but the auto seems to make most sense from a battery/usability perspective.
Side by side you can see the difference in clarity and readability when compared to the 840 to the right..
Again, outside in direct sun, the 1050 is far superior.
Data Fields/Configurability:
The data fields are very easy to adjust, even on the fly if you need to, just by long pressing and selecting which field you wish to display.
The font and size of the digits are quite large, easy to read and you can configure the order and layout as you wish, how many screens, etc…
Even with 8 data fields as I have in the screenshot below, the data is very legible, the font large and crisp. You can also configure the data fields from within the Garmin Connect app.
Mounting:
The 1050 comes with two different types of mounts, a flush out front mount to position the unit forward of the stem as well as a more tidy, lightweight standard mount that can easily mount on a handlebar or stem. Also included are a bunch of different shims and adapters to fit just about any size conventional bar/stem. Additionally, underneath the out front mount is also an interface to lock on the Garmin Varia UT800 headlight (more on that later).
Battery Life/Charging:
Garmin claims a battery life of 20 hours and I am finding that to be accurate. While I have not run the battery down all of the way, I am easily able to get about a week of riding (4 rides per week of 2-3 hours) without having to charge and even then it is still not much less than 50%. Charging is easy with a USB-C charging cable/port (cable included), so no surprises there. The chart below illustrates how the battery life is affected in different modes.
User Interface:
The user interface has been updated and much improved, where I find it to be very easy to use and transition to with just a little practice. Controls are much more intuitive than the previous interface found on the Edge 840.
From the home screen, swipe left or right to select an activity, or choose from Training, Navigation or the main Menu, swipe up to get to widgets that you can also customize (add/delete as necessary or reorder). Response is fast with a super quick processor, essentially instantaneous without delays.
Very reminiscent of widgets on the Fenix 8, the 1050 also provides a wide range of widgets to add and order as you please.
From a sports activity screen, tap the screen quickly to bring up the Hazard, Home or Bell options.
To activate the bell, then just tap the bell button (or, if you have it synced to Di2, just tap the button on lever or satellite shifter you have designated to activate. As basic as the bell feature may be, it is genius and is honestly one of my favorite features on the 1050, as it is so handy, especially on a road or gravel bike where mounting a bell is neither convenient or streamlined.
Additionally, anyone complaining about the added weight of the 1050 (161 grams), you are saving weight on a bell at least! The bell is loud and has a nice sharp ding to it, alerting the majority of pedestrians to your presence (though some are so spaced out in their own little headphone World, no bell or “on your left” will do the job).
You can also quickly and easily mark a hazard, to put it out there to the public to warn other riders. This almost instantly is reported to Garmin connect via your phone connection (provided you are in cell range) and is then available to other riders in the area. If you do not want the alerts, the notifications can be turned off in activity settings.
Di2/Electronic Shifting Connectivity:
Having recently upgraded to Shimano’s latest GRX 2x12 Di2 (review here) group on my gravel bike, I was quite excited to sync up the Di2 with the 1050.
I was most excited to be able remotely use the bell by designating one of the small buttons on the brake hoods to activate and the other button to scroll through the screens without having to take a hand off the bars. I also really like being able to designate a field on my data screen to show which gear I am in, which saves me from having to look down and back at my cassette to confirm that I really have no more granny gear remaining. I also have an entire data screen that shows gear combo, gear ratio and battery levels of the primary Di2 battery and the remote shifter batteries.
GroupRide: While I have not been able to test this feature (as it is somewhat rare that I ride with others, especially a group and I received the 1050 late in my riding season), it looks like a great feature, allowing you to stay connected on group rides with in ride messaging, live locations and incident detection alerts, as well as friendly competition with in ride leaderboards for climbs and post ride awards.
Safety/Varia:
The 1050 is packed with safety features such as livetrack, incident detection, assistance, etc…., which give peace of mind if something bad were to happen (though all of that is dependent upon having cell reception and when I go off the grid, so to speak, or even if reception is spotty, I bring along the inReach, that conveniently syncs with the 1050).
One of my favorite aspects of the Garmin ecosystem is the Varia RTL515 rear radar (review here) and UT800 smart headlamp combination, which adds a great level of comfort and awareness for yourself as well as making yourself visible to passing motorists.
The Varia RTL515 has a very bright flashing LED light to make yourself very visible from quite a distance and a built in radar that shows approaching cars on the 1050 screen, as well as an audible alert that is broadcast through the speaker iif the 1050.
If you ride with headphones, you can sync them with the Garmin Varia app and get additional in ear alerts to approaching cars. This has been a complete game changer for me. My road riding is quite limited, but I do ride my gravel bike on roads occasionally to get from one path or trail to the next or quiet dirt roads in the foothills/mountains, so it is great to have that alert and anticipate a passing vehicle.
When a car approaches, the beeping and flash on the screen is hard to ignore. The red dot in the upper right is me, the white dot below is the approaching car.
The UT800 Smart Headlamp boasts 800 watts of steady beam or flashing mode for night time navigation and daytime visibility, all of which can also be controlled from the 1050.
Conclusions/Recommendations:
The Edge 1050 is far and away the ultimate bike computer on the market, with the highest level of accuracy, with every feature available under the sun, integrations, sensors, health/fitness tracking, training metrics, you name it.
The AMOLED screen is spectacularly bright and crisp in all conditions, it is so easy to read and pleasing to look at.
The user interface is a huge boost as well, as it is easy to navigate through the operational features, setting and menus, even when on the go.
The vivid screen combined with the audible alerts improve the navigational/mapping greatly and the touch screen is easy to zoom and pan the map.
Those who are into long distance ultra multi day sort of riding may not be excited about battery life, but at least for my purposes, it is more than a fair trade and not a big deal to charge the unit every week or two (I like keeping it topped off and not having any surprises). If you are looking for better battery life though, consider the 1040 or 1040 solar, which has just about everything the 1050 has aside from the speaker/bell and the AMOLED (software updates and features are trickling down from the 1050 to the 1040, 840, 540).
If I could come up with one complaint, or better said, room for improvement would be to have the option of buttons on the side to operate as on the 840 which I find to be very handy. If the 1050 is within your budget and ultra battery life is not a concern, then I cannot recommend the 1050 enough.
Bike computers have come a long way!
Garmin Varia UT800 Smart Headlamp ($99.99)
The Garmin Varia UT800 Smart Headlamp is the perfect compliment to the Garmin Edge/Varia Radar ecosystem, offering an impressive 800 lumens of warm hued light with up to 6 hours of battery life on low and 25 hours in day flash mode. It syncs up with any Garmin Edge computer and can be controlled from the screen and there is even an “Auto” mode you can select, where the light will adjust automatically depending upon your speed and ride profile.
The UT800 comes with a front mount where the Edge clicks in on top and the light attaches to the bottom, which is a super clean setup, freeing up room on the bars for more hand positions, as well as for my Di2 satellite shifters. You can also angle the light up or down at will. You can either buy the UT800 with the front mount as I have, or, you can select with a helmet mount kit.
From the screen on the Edge, you can select any of the modes, or toggle to automatic. You can also easily cycle through the modes manually with the single button on the side of the light. Either way, it is really easy to use.
The brightness of the UT800 is impressive. The low and medium settings are sufficient for slower speeds and the high setting projects an impressive beam that I have not been able to exceed by going too fast.
The hue is warm vs. the stark white light of some other lights, which is especially helpful on trails to enhance contrast and definition (plus it is just easier on the eyes). The majority of my riding in the dark begins an hour or so before sunrise, so knowing it will be light soon, I just default to the brightest setting, but the auto mode is really convenient for varied speeds and terrain. On all of my day rides, whether I am on the streets or bike paths, I will use the day flash mode to be certain cars and other cyclists/pedestrians see me coming, it is soooo bright and attention getting, you would need to be really out of it to not notice.
Conclusions: The UT800 is a must have add on for your Garmin ecosystem, as it adds an element of safety to any ride and is perfect for those pre-dawn starts or getting caught out after sunset. For more dedicated night rides of longer duration, one might consider a brighter light with longer battery life, but for most riders most of the time, the UT800 is a great option.
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Jeff Valliere has been around bikes his entire life, as a toddler following his dad to bike races and bike shops, BMX racing as a kid, working in bike shops as a mechanic for 14+ years (10 at U-Bikes in Boulder where he met John) and racing as a professional road cyclist for several years. Jeff no longer races, but still loves to ride as he introduces his daughters to the joys of cycling. In addition to being obsessed with cycling, he runs mountains daily and has been reviewing running shoes/gear/tech for RoadTrailRun since 2015 and for other publications/companies since 2005.
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