Do Solar Charging GPS Units Work? - Garmin Edge 1040 Solar Review

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The Garmin Edge 1040 Solar is one of Garmin’s new head units with solar charging capabilities, and Neil has been using one for over a year now. In this video, he shares all the details bikepackers need to know, including some surprising real-world battery run-time findings.
This video was supported by Salsa Cycles , what's your Adventure By Bike? Learn more here: www.salsacycles.com/salsa/adv...
Outline:
intro: 0:00
Specs: 1:29
Garmin Solar: 2:27
Real World Tests: 5:01
Saving Battery: 8:20
GPS, Routes, Maps: 9:26
Random features: 11:44
Final Thoughts: 13:16
Related Links:
Queens Ransom Route: bikepacking.com/routes/queens...
Sage and Saddles Route: bikepacking.com/routes/sage-a...
Coconino Route: bikepacking.com/routes/bikepa...
Buy the 1040 Solar via REI: bit.ly/3RLNggk
Do you enjoy our videos, routes, and articles? Help sustain this resource by joining the Bikepacking Collective: bikepacking.com/join/?...
#bikepacking #pedalfurther #garmin
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::About The Host::
Neil Beltchenko ( / neil_beltchenko )
Geometry: 150lbs, 5'9.5", 32" inseam, +2.5" Ape index

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13 июл 2024

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Комментарии : 80

@BIKEPACKINGcom 6 месяцев назад

This video was supported by Salsa Cycles , what's your Adventure By Bike? Learn more here: www.salsacycles.com/salsa/adventure-by-bike?.com&

@duzer 6 месяцев назад

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

@BIKEPACKINGcom 6 месяцев назад

Thanks for the note Ryan, looked like an awesome trip!

@firsthippy 6 месяцев назад

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.

@_MPP_ 6 месяцев назад

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.

@yutiros5174 6 месяцев назад

I feel like the ideal setup would be to charge your external battery with a dynamo hub during the day, and then top up your devices (bike computer/cellphone) during the night.

@nockee 6 месяцев назад

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.

@JustMikeH 6 месяцев назад

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.

@tracerxrider 6 месяцев назад

I'm in Portland. I went with the regular 1040. If I still lived in AZ, I would go solar.

@clubstew 6 месяцев назад

I'm in the same area and regret the extra money for solar in my Edge 840 Solar. I have an Instinct Solar I use on hikes, backpacking, etc., and solar makes a huge difference: 8 hours gained in just as couple hours. Great for multi-day GPS tracking. Different power requirements, certainly.

@slowwerthensnot 6 месяцев назад

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

@whiteryanc 6 месяцев назад

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.

@BIKEPACKINGcom 6 месяцев назад

Yeah, they were on to something for sure, I wonder if they were handcuffed by finances. Give me the beauty of the Karoo 2, the simplicity and app of Wahoo, with the large run times of the Solar 1040.

@whiteryanc 6 месяцев назад

@@BIKEPACKINGcom I think they handcuffed themselves by shifting focus largely to trainers/indoor bikes (which I think is lucrative…far more than computers).

@matthiaslastname9019 6 месяцев назад

@@BIKEPACKINGcomAmen, brother! Hammerhead seems to be in the best position to come up with something like this if only they got over what I presume is just a stupid management policy because technically it can't be hard: to get rid of the cloud-only route upload and add it to the app they already have.

6 месяцев назад

@@BIKEPACKINGcom Well, the beauty (and usability) of the Karoo 2 is at odds with a great battery life as that stems from using Android instead of a custom, tailor-made operating system. Android does a lot of things for the developers, so it's a lot easier to create more usable software with it but then it does a lot of things so it uses more battery. What they got really wrong is putting in a small battery. A 5000mAh (so double the size) battery wouldn't have made much of a difference in the overall device size or weight.

@garethblake7374 6 месяцев назад

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.

@alethearobinson8132 6 месяцев назад

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.😂

@hodgo1981 6 месяцев назад

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.

@Stewburner771 6 месяцев назад

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

@wanderbybike 6 месяцев назад

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.

@NewPolishScientist 6 месяцев назад

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.

@d1nicoya 6 месяцев назад

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

@ellerybice3787 6 месяцев назад

I have one, it works.

@ethanherxmedia 6 месяцев назад

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

@BIKEPACKINGcom 6 месяцев назад

yeah, I would love to get my hands on the 540 and 840 Solar and see how long run times are. Have you been able to use it on a 5 day trip or similar?

@ethanherxmedia 6 месяцев назад

@@BIKEPACKINGcom so I’ve been able to get about 2.5/3 days with a little left over on the non solar version, so I’d imagine you could probably on the solar you could probably get 3.5-5 days worth , especially if you’re not doing 7 hour days like I was

@TheJoePavlik 6 месяцев назад

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.

@firsthippy 6 месяцев назад

I was 12k from home the other day and rather than follow my planned route thought I'd see if my 1030 Plus could get me back any quicker. It plotted a 82km route! Haha pass.

@tracerxrider 6 месяцев назад

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!

@calebsemibold 6 месяцев назад

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.

@firsthippy 6 месяцев назад

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.

@MrRay645 6 месяцев назад

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)

@BIKEPACKINGcom 6 месяцев назад

I think you would really enjoy the large screen, I sure did. The 1040 non-solar is worth consideration.

@markfenwick5441 6 месяцев назад

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

@kayzinti4452 6 месяцев назад

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.

@ultimatist 6 месяцев назад

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.

@GeekonaBike 6 месяцев назад

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

@sangriastudios 6 месяцев назад

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.

@petererbse6253 6 месяцев назад

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

@pascaladl 6 месяцев назад

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.

@paulverweij6348 6 месяцев назад

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 :(

@mkenyon7429 6 месяцев назад

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

@mexicansuperkiller 6 месяцев назад

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

@BIKEPACKINGcom 6 месяцев назад

Thanks for the comment. I think the hottest temps I used it in was mid 90s or so at 4000 feet, and had no issues, but i did read about some of this on the forums.

@subliminalfreedom 6 месяцев назад

😊

@firsthippy 6 месяцев назад

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.

@SonnyDarvishzadeh 6 месяцев назад

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?

@matthiaslastname9019 6 месяцев назад

Sounds quite insane indeed. Charging circuitry is usually completely separate from the CPU so there shouldn't even be a reason to keep it turned on. Not that you wouldn't usually have it on during daylight hours anyway but still...

@kidsafe Месяц назад

My 840 Solar can charge via solar when it is completely off. The solar charging is always on. Yesterday I gained 3% charge between 4:30pm and sunset at 8:30pm just by leaning it against the side on my house pointed toward the sun.

@teddgram 6 месяцев назад

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.

@PedalPowerAdventures 6 месяцев назад

The Garmin does all of the things you just mentioned, Neil was not totally correct in his review. It does wireless firmware updates and routes automatically show up on the device after you pin a route on RWGPS. You don't need the connect IQ app or plug into computer. It could not be any easier.

@andrewmcalister3462 6 месяцев назад

@@PedalPowerAdventuresI agree - I regularly get wireless updates on my 1040.

@256shadesofgrey 6 месяцев назад

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.

@kayzinti4452 6 месяцев назад

Usually, the main advantage over a power-hungry cell phone is lower energy consumption for that isolated task. I'm with you in thinking that using independent sources of power (solar/gen-hub/"borrowed" outlets) to keep the phone in juice is the likely cheaper and certainly more versatile way to go.

@dragonflyseven474 6 месяцев назад

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

@norgtube 6 месяцев назад

That 10-40c operating range is true insanity.

@BIKEPACKINGcom 6 месяцев назад

They state it can work in colder temps in their manual, but in my findings, it dose a very bad job in cold temps, and found this range to be more accurate, at least on the cold end. I have not tested it in 40c or 104F degree temps.

@andrewmcalister3462 6 месяцев назад

Just to clarify, the device operating range is -20C to +60C. It is the solar charging range that is more restrictive at 0C to 45C - the software shuts down charging outside this range to prevent battery damage, but the device itself still functions.

@IvanTriedReallyHard 6 месяцев назад

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

@better.better 6 месяцев назад

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.

@andrewmcalister3462 6 месяцев назад

Functionality wise, it does just fine. I use an Epix 2 for mapping while running and hiking, but the screen is just too small for use while cycling - this may be a function of my ageing eyes, and YMMV. A dedicated head unit on an out-front mount is so much easier to see. While your watch may not be at an optimal angle for sun, a watch will charge throughout the day, not just when you are recording an activity. I get more contorted turning my wrist to read a watch while cycling, than trying to position for optimal sun.

@piotrmielnik1404 6 месяцев назад

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.

@ehyouman 6 месяцев назад

tldr yes it works

@charlesmansplaining 6 месяцев назад

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.

@manfrommontreal 4 месяца назад

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.

@topbanana4013 Месяц назад

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

@James-gx7sk 6 месяцев назад

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

@BIKEPACKINGcom 6 месяцев назад

Would love something that builds off the Etrex Solar. Say a... 32x Solar, that would be awesome!

@James-gx7sk 6 месяцев назад

@@BIKEPACKINGcom I’m happy with AA’s unless they can maintain the same eTrex solar battery life with the 32x feature set.

@chadhartley 6 месяцев назад

Poop Pant 4.0?

@BIKEPACKINGcom 6 месяцев назад

Juuuuuuuust a little sneak peek into my life.

@TeoSluga 6 месяцев назад

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...

@topbanana4013 Месяц назад

and the 1040 leaves the solar behind. the screen is awful on solar washed out you need full brightness set as in the video here look how dim it is on 100% brightness 4:02 and that drains the battery by a big margin losing over 10 hours. sent mine back changed for 1040 literally after 1 use i was straining to see the screen. for something that is very much over priced i would expect richer colors instead of a cheap looking dim screen its a massive con and all these reviewers are not telling you this main issue

@odinata 6 месяцев назад

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

@grumpy-dad3701 6 месяцев назад

With a decent battery pack you dont need much else.

@whiteryanc 6 месяцев назад

Have you never had a device break, or otherwise lose functionality for some unfixable reason? Would be a shame if you dropped and smashed your phone out in the backcountry and were SOL. This is a useful account of the specific solar functionality/performance and not a video seeking to answer “Should I ride with a GPS or just my phone!?”. No one said you HAVE to buy this, you’re welcome to do what works for you. Quit being a goober with nonsense comments like this.