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I just rode the entire Cape Loop in Baja on one charge! That bright Mexican sun kept my 1040 going for 7 days!

You don't have to use the Garmin Connect app to sync routes. Once you've linked RWGPS to Garmin Connect, you just pin a route in RWGPS, it will sync to Garmin Connect behind the scenes and then (assuming you've connected your Garmin to your wifi) it will grab any pinned routes for you. I use this method to dump routes onto the Garmin before I leave home. Another trick is to use your phones Mobile Hotspot and add that hotspot to your Garmin - this way you can be out in the field and pin a route and it will sync with the Garmin (assuming you have mobile internet) without having to bother with Connect or Bluetooth. I've done this during tours when plans have changed.

At this point I think the pros over my hammer head don’t outweigh the cons! Thanks for the review Neil!

Thx for the review. I am a heavy user of the 1040 solar and have not had any issues with it. The battery life is so good I am very happy with it.

Great review, I’m in need of a new computer and this has been high on my list. Coming from Wahoo, I can’t believe how poorly Garmin still organizes their UX. I think the biggest mistake Wahoo made (for consumers at least) is losing sight of the business they helped revolutionize with really great UX design and functionality. I feel like they could have kept pushing the whole industry further into better and better usability and rid Garmin of their bad habits.

Even a small 5000mAh power bank will run this device for a two-three week trip, no need to buy the expensive Garmin battery pack. Charging while riding, no problem.

I use the Edge 1040 Solar in Seattle. Between northern latitude, over-cast skies, trees, and more the solar function is mostly useless 9+ months of the year. Overall I love it, but if I had to choose again I'd go without solar since it's not effective for my usage.

I've been using an 840 solar since last May. It has been very reliable. In NE France May/June it gave me 3.5 days between charges, about 30 minutes a day. In late September I was in the Spanish pyranees, not so much life, more like 2 days between charges. I like it. Climb pro did some very odd things though.

Nice review for us gear junkies. I like to keep things simple. I have a goalzero notebook solar panel on my rear rack to charge up a battery pack. This will charge 2 phones and my Wahoo Roam. I don't need or want all the bells and whistles of the Garmin. And besides, the Wahoo is 12% more areo than the Garmin.😂

Like you, my wife and I have not run Garmins for 5ish years. She bought a 530 and it was really quite nice, but I wanted solar... So I now have had a 540 solar for about 6 months. I agree the user interface is frustrating and pretty illogical. And nothing like the 530 interface. everything else you've said rings true to me too.

I just upgraded from my garmin edge 500. After lots of research I decided on the Wahoo elemnt Roam V2.

Best Garmin solar device is instinct 2. In summer months I don't have to charge it at all. It doesn't have maps same as Garmin edge, but it is amazing watch for multi sport.

Started with Edge 500, upgraded to the Edge 800, then the Edge 1000. Yeah, Garmin got me. 😃 I upgraded to the 1040 solar about a year ago and love it. Living in ColoRADo, the solar is very beneficial! ☀️☀️ But like you, the unit has way more features and functionality than I need for bikepacking. I definitely like being able to go multiple days without having to charge it though. The 500\800 series solar units would suffice for most of my needs but they weren’t available at the time of purchase.

Been using my 1040 solar for about a year now and quite enjoy it and all its functionality. My only gripe is creating route to a location on the go can be difficult, i wish you could choose one to three options instead of whatever it thought was best. I really enjoy the 5 + day battery life.

I can’t speak for the solar but I have the 540 and it’s got all I need for bikepacking, navigation, and tracking. I don’t need all the fancy stuff or touchscreen. If all the solar does is help with battery (which is already really solid on the 540) I would just get that and save a few hundred rather than the 1040 solar. It’s also a lot slimmer and lighter

I have the 1040 Solar and it has been one of the best purchases. I only have to plug it in once, maybe twice a month.

Nice review! Putting the solar feature to the side , would you go with the 1040 or Roam V2?

Nice review. I find garmin way too expensive for any of their units. I use Lezyne mega, 48hr battery life, with my phone and carry an extra battery. Pair it with komoot and you have an easy interface that works well. Cheap and easy to use.

I have one, it works.

My 1030 Plus gets at least 24hrs while navigating a lumpy 400k road route in Wales, showing the map most of the time, low (10%) screen brightness in the day and visible (back lit) at night. I never pair my Garmins with phones but it was talking to a powermeter the whole time. My older 1030 on my partner's bike doesn't last near that long and would need battery saving and/or battery pack to add charge. Both of these are better than the 1000 which I often had to charge on the go.

thanks for the great review from a bike trip perspective... I am no power user and have no trouble bringing an extra power bank on my trips so I could not justify the cost. I do think I would like the larger size over my Wahoo Roam II though, bouncing down dirt roads I find myself squinting to see messages and navigation (having 51 year old eyes isn't helping either)

Thanks for the review. The slight battery extension could be a use case for some, not having to carry solar/battery/dynamo to charge and keep it subjectively simple. Hell, some people still use paper maps!

Hmmm.... based on this review, it seems that running a small stand-alone solar panel feeding a battery bank (or a rotating pair if one is in frequent daily use) and/or a generator hub would be a more reliable and useful source of supplemental power on a trip longer than a week.

Glad they exist but not for me, value wise, yet. Also, the temp being so off is a deal breaker. I like knowing ambient temps.

After yet another Elemnt Bolt de-bonding the buttons I reluctantly bought an 840 solar. The device itself feels better made than the Wahoo units. For my purposes, which is your standard 1-2-3hr rides down here in South Australia, the battery runtime is just awesome. I don't think I have charged the darn thing in a week or two. But I wholeheartedly agree on all things user interface and app ... It's messy, hard to navigate and it took me some time to set up the right data screens so that I don't have to interact with it much. That said, the Garmin app now makes things a lot easier.

Hey there. Thanks for the indepth review. Are you doing a "Rigs of" for Atlas 2024?

9:00 in an activity for the solar to work? I have touched coding before and this to me sounds quite bizarre. I can understand if the device has to be turned on, but it also has to be in an activity?

Keeping the Garmin stuff updated really shows off the great feature of the Wahoo devices - wireless updating. The firmware can be updated without an app. The routes can be downloaded without an app (have to be pinned in RWGPS just like Garmin, but done automatically). The only thing I can't do without the app is update the maps, but again, it's done wirelessly. That's definitely something that's keeping me out of the Garmin ecosystem. Powerful units, horrible UX.

So in a bikepacking race situation would you use the 1040 or an Etrex w/ lithium batts?

Every time I see the price tags for these things, I wonder what they offer that a smartphone doesn't. I'm pretty sure that some Chinese phone with a 10Ah battery + a 30x30cm solar panel that you just strap flat to one of your bags would end up being cheaper, and the result would be enough power generation and storage to never need to charge, even in winter (unless you literally ride at night). And because most people already have a phone and would already be taking it with them, just get that solar panel and you're set.

I did buy it 2 months ago used it in winter weather so only gained 5min max on 4-5hrs rides I did mainly buy it because my 1030 was end of live :) after 4 years and 55000km it randomly restarts 3-4 times in long rides :( and the USB C is a heaven.... because the 1030 charges slow on my dynamo while bikepacking, my SON dynamo with forumlader makes more power then the old unit can handel, USD C is much beter so I can also charge my phone/drone beter on long trips and so. This summer Im finishing the GDMBR from Lima rance and doing the Baja direct after it. So I hopes it give me good solar charge while riding..... Funny that you noticed that Its not charging while inactive .... bummer :( I tried putting it in the sun to see homuch it charges but its in standby not charging LOL :(

I use a (very outdated) garmin edge 810 and use it for just loading tracks on there for navigation. But it's similar to gopro imo, they have great material but the software can be so goddamn confusing. I think I will take a look elsewhere tho for my next head unit

I would never go back to the smaller screens. I've gone from 800 (still going) to 810 (total crap) to 1000 (better but water ingress issue and eventual power button failure) to the 1030 (better but screen was dim) to the 1030 Plus (definitely the best and most stable unit). I'd like the extra battery life and USB-C of the 1040 but don't want to have to deal with Garmin beta testing its UI on users again.

Seems like a stand-alone solar panel and/or battery pack would be more effective and more flexible.

That 10-40c operating range is true insanity.

As for routes. I have a 1030 and just make them on the GPS.

My solar charging stopped when i put it in the direct sunlight when stopped. Best to keep moving to cool the unit down.

Now for the real question... how do you use a Garmin🤔

It pretty much confirms that until solar can charge it during day it is still a gimmick and caring power bank which can be loaded from hub dynamo is still better.

😊

get the 1040 its far better. solar has washed out colors and screen. in uk i had to turn brightness to 100% just like you at 4:02 ?? you can clearly see how dim it is on full brightness giving just over 20 hours run time and the gains with the solar panel was awful uk weather sent it back got a 1040 far better

anyone use one of Garmin'a solar watches on long trips instead of a head unit like this? like the Fenix? I'm not sure it matters which model, I think they've done solar versions of most of their watches... the effectiveness of the solar should scale directly with the screen size, although if it's on your wrist, you wouldn't want to be pointing your wrist at all different funny angles trying to charge it. I'm more curious about what GPS use with a watch is like.

Poop Pant 4.0?

Mother Nature has gone insane here in the Northeast and for whatever reason Western Pennsylvania is like a magnet for the stream or flow of every front of wet weather in the Eastern part of the Country. It's like we are the new UK. In the last year on average we only get one day a week when the skies are clear. No need to have any solar tech in this region. I bought the new 840 not long ago but did not choose the solar.

Garmin Edge devices are generally made and used by Road, Gravel, Mountain and even Track or Virtual cyclists. For bike packing they are complete overkill.

tldr yes it works

Maybe a new gen top tier eTrex will be dropped soon.

So you trusted the inner device solar measurements? Hmm... That's like trusting your car computer what is the consumption. It's pretty naive. That's not a true test. More realistic test would be to compare 2 units, 1040 without Solar and 1040 Solar...

They make these things that you already own and have to carry with you anyway...save 750 bucks. They're called "smartphones".