Garmin Edge 800 - Review
With its large screen and full colour display, the Edge 800 brings a new level of geekiness to your handlebars. Designed to be a well balanced, cycling-specific GPS unit, the 800 was the first model to bring touchscreen technology to a bike-specific GPS with a large touchscreen display that measures 3.6cm wide x 5.5cm tall cm. With a focus on navigation, the 800 features a built-in base map that shows major roads and cities, while additional microSD™ cards loaded with region-specific maps that display streets or topo maps. Navigation is done by selecting a destination and following the turn-by-turn prompts and track on the screen. The Edge 800 also gives users all the useful data of a traditional cycling computer, allowing them to track distance, speed, location and elevation change. It can even be paired with additional accessories like a heart rate monitor, speed/cadence sensor or compatible power meter to really maximize your lust for data. All data is easily uploaded via the included USB cord and pairs with both Macs and PCs via Garmin's connect software. If you are looking to upload to other programs like Strava or MapMyRide, an additional downloadable plugin allows for quick and easy uploads to your choice of program. With a claimed 15 hour battery life on the rechargeable Li-Ion battery, the 800 can store up to 180 hours of history and up to 200 waypoints. It is available in black/white and black/blue, and includes a variety of bar or stem mounting options. MSRP: $449 USD www.garmin.com
![Garmin Edge 800 Review]()
Pinkbike's Take:
The Garmin Edge 800 is available from Mountain Equipment Co-op in Canada: www.mec.ca
A large colour touchscreen display makes the 800 very visible and intuitive out on the trail. We used the Barfly handlebar mount flipped backwards to keep it out of harms way.
Pinkbike's Take:
 | Getting the 800 up and running was pretty simple, and anyone who can run their television's PVR won't have any trouble. It powers up quickly and then begins an initial search for satellite signal, a step that took some time in certain areas but was rather quick in others - this will depend on direct access to open sky. Once a signal was found, though, the 800 does a good job holding a relatively consistent signal, even in dense tree cover. Moving through the display options on the unit is done via the touchscreen, as are most other commands. We did like the touchscreen, but on the trail, with gloves on our hands, it was pretty cumbersome more often than not. After the initial trial period we stopped scrolling through display options during a ride due to the touchscreen. Without gloves, we found the touchscreen to be more user friendly, offering an array of information and display options. The unit recorded tons of great data that easily uploaded to Garmin's Connect software or third-party software like Strava. We uploaded most of our data to Strava, which detected when the Garmin was plugged in, making the process very straightforward. Navigation was the key element to our interest in the 800 - it's nice to navigate unfamiliar terrain while traveling around in search of new trails. When plugged in using the included USB cable, uploading GPX files to the 800 is as easy as dragging and dropping the files into a folder on the unit. Detailed maps are available from Garmin, and colour maps provide turn by turn directions to a specific destination or provide a guideline in unfamiliar areas. This feature was nice when we planned ahead and made the effort to download data to plan rides, but on most daily outings we rarely used the navigation feature. Battery life on the 800 is claimed to last 15 hours, which is pretty close to accurate depending on which features you are using on the unit. We were between 13 and 14 hours of battery life during constant use, which we found to be sufficient for our needs. Non-stop use left the Edge 800 in surprisingly good shape, although we did spot some scratching on the screen after a few months so we ended up stashing it in a spare glasses bag when it wasn't on the bike. At $449 USD, the Edge 800 provides an amazing amount of navigational information and useful data. Pair it with some of the optional accessories like the heart rate strap or a power meter and it can become a helpful training tool. Riders looking to navigate new terrain or routes will find the mapping on the 800 easy to follow and well done, although its touchscreen can be hard to use wearing gloves. We'll admit that while we don't find ourselves grabbing the 800 for every ride, it is a great tool for the job and provides data-driven riders with extensive information. If you like to track rides and mileage and are looking for the next level, the Edge 800 is a great choice. Not worried about numbers and navigation? Then the Edge 800 probably isn't the upgrade for you. - Jordan Carr |
The Garmin Edge 800 is available from Mountain Equipment Co-op in Canada: www.mec.ca
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Member since Aug 7, 2013
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Ray is basically the guru for all things tech, and his in depth reviews are the best you can basically find on the internet.
If your phone has a battery issue buy a solar panel! Don't waste time and money with this crap.
It doubles as music player and I can switch to the pdf reader and read the the local trail guide.
It has a poor gps with no barometric sensor but it never failed me, it always manages to get a lock on the sats in less than 20 seconds.
Garmins are also waterproof which is always a bonus for an outdoor sport, so you can keep your phone nice and dry and safe and fully charged in your pack, just incase something bad were to happen.
But to say "Why spend your money on this crap" is a bit silly. Why spend your money on anything? It's like the people that think dropper posts are a waste of money, yeah, if money is really short then you wouldn't splash out on these gadgets, but if you can stretch to it and it gives you extra enjoyment then why not? Sure, you could probably get away with just using your phone, but there are many reasons why a Garmin is better for a bike ride, £300 worth of reasons? I'm not so sure, but if you can afford it then I'd say probably yes, worth it.
After my 50 miler the battery in my 810 was still around 60%.
It's not for everyone. If you really have no use for it, then don't buy it. It has it's place though. For my use, smartphones aren't enough!
IMHO these devices are becoming more and more redundant - even if you are doing serious treks into the mountains, in which case you should be buying a dedicated gps nav device from an outdoor shop. My advice is just use your smartphone - there are a ton of very useful apps on the market that do a better job than this device.
my experience was:
a) bulky (on or off the handlebars - it would slip when i took rough downhill sections)
b) hard to configure (getting the output on the screen to look the way i liked it was not easy, and would arbitrarily shift back to default on a regular basis
c) not rugged (usb port rusted out so it wouldn't charge properly or transfer data, and the screen scratched - you're telling me after 500 bucks I gotta spend more for a case?
d) battery life deteriorated significantly over time - and eventually would not charge because of problems associated with c).
i've stopped using all devices for about six months now, and am relying on my smartphone and I've been pretty happy with the results. for long rides i find im prepared ahead of time anyway with a map, so there isn't much a garmin will add to the experience outside of tracking stats, but again, i could be wrong.
My non tech savy mother could be shown how to change the display and get it right first time. It's a piece of pie.
I've stacked plenty of times and got it covered in nice British mud. Still going strong. And no scratches to report. Maybe the above stem position helps here.
Not had any major bother with battery, I tend to get 2-3 rides between charges. It's certainly WAY better than any smartphone with GPS running.
That and as I said in reply to someone else smartphone gps accuracy specs are way lower than a dedicated device.
But, each to their own. I love my 800, piece of pie to use more reliable than my 5S (last few rides where I ran smartphone alongside the 800 the phone lost Gps mid route and had to cycle flight mode, but would've lost a tonne of route data) and load maps to. Navigation instructions are handy. The cadence and hrm addons are great for training if you're into that.
The garmin battery is far superior to smartphones too, enable gps on an iPhone/android device and you can almost watch the level drop.
The garmin is water and shock (and crash!) proof too.
Since maps were offline and I use it only as a tracker (screen off), battery life was very good, enough for 8h at least, maybe more.
HRM was possible with a bluetooth BLE strap (polar H7).
Now I switched to a garmin dakota 20, 100 bucks refurbished one (ie, like new, only box differs). Screen is puny, it's a little big but sensitivity/precision is way better, altitude tracking is better (auto correction) but spiky on regular basis. I use mainly osm maps and raster rendered maps (both free). HRM strap is a noname ANT+ one, better than the polar.
I keep my phone on my bag with raster maps, this way I can look at them with HD screen. But I prefer to have the dakota on the bar. It saved me quite some time when track diseappeared in the alpine meadows.