The well-known big brother of the Edge family has been updated, and the leading brand in the cycle computer market now presents the new Garmin Edge 1050. The most powerful device in the cycling range now incorporates this model with a renewed design, relevant improvements in terms of navigation and performance, and new features for the community.

Just a few days ago, we had the opportunity to attend the official Garmin presentation organized in Barcelona for a small media group. The representatives of the American brand explained all the specifications and functionalities of the device, allowing us to try it in the first person.

First impressions

When you see the 1050 for the first time, its new design catches your attention. Now, the device has a more octagonal appearance and includes some metal finishing touches, which provide an extra degree of quality and robustness to a product correctly tagged as premium.

The back side has also been improved with an easily replaceable anchoring system. If the device breaks, users can repair it themselves without sending it to the brand’s official support service.

After pressing the power button, you’ll be greeted by the new liquid crystal screen with a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels, a standout feature of this model. The display’s brightness is consistently good, even in direct sunlight, ensuring you can read the data comfortably. The new interface enhances your user experience, making navigation between menus a breeze. While it may require a slight adaptation for users used to previous models, the user-friendly design will quickly get you up to speed.

The Edge 1050 has an internal memory of 64 GB and an autonomy of 20 hours in demanding use, with all the most common sensors connected and using navigation. In battery-saving mode, it can last up to 60 hours. This long battery life is a testament to the product’s reliability, ensuring it won’t disappoint you during your longest rides.

We would like to make a special mention of the tiny speaker that the 1050 incorporates. It will be helpful if we want to receive audio support during navigation or certain notifications that you can configure.

Finally, we want to point out that while the Garmin Edge 1040 family counts on a 1040+ version with solar charging, this option is not currently considered for the 1050.

Better performance and navigation

Moving on to the performance side, it is worth highlighting a substantial improvement in processor speed, faster than its predecessor, the Edge 1040. This gives us enhanced speed when moving between maps, using applications, and, of course, greater fluidity for the touch screen.

Navigation is one of the points where we find the most new features and improvements. To summarize some of them, we would like to start with the new functionality that allows us to identify the type of terrain we are riding on, enabling us to know if it is a tarmac or an off-road segment. This feature applies when planning a route (which we can do directly from the device) and while following a track stored on the device.

Community notifications are another exciting feature of the Edge 1050. While Garmin has been pushing for some time to promote more engagement among its users platform, now, with this model, we have the option of notifying hazard alerts such as obstacles on the road, wild and dangerous animals, unexpected potholes, or others. These reports are saved on the company’s servers, and from that moment on, they will appear on the devices of all cyclists who pass through that same point. Initially, this option would only be available for the new Edge, but we have confirmed that the 1040 will also have an update that gives access to it.

Following on with the navigation improvements, we would also highlight the improvement in the route library, where we can now apply filters and sorting to find the route we are looking for more easily and quickly. We will also have the option to navigate directly to a location previously shared with us or use the bell function to warn of our presence or alert of danger.

For those most addicted to Strava, the new 1050 has an improved version of segment tracking that includes more data. It allows the user to have more control of the start and finish and additional information.

Community and safety

In addition to some community-related features explained in previous paragraphs, there are other minor improvements to mention.

It’s a fact that Garmin is working hard to grow the community and increase user engagement. That is why, in this model, they have incorporated more functions into their already well-known Group Ride. Organizing challenges among your group and seeing the results is possibly one of the most notable novelties and one that will generate the most movement among users.

On the other hand, and from a more cyclist safety aspect, we can receive notifications if a member of the Group Ride stops due to an emergency.

After testing

We would lie to our readers if we said that we didn’t like the new Garmin 1050. Although we have to admit that we are not big fans of devices of these dimensions, we are looking at a very good cycle computer and, without a doubt, a perfect option for those cyclists who consider navigation to be very important or those who are looking for better screen resolution and in full color.