GARMIN EDGE 1030

£499.99 › Garmin’s flagship GPS bike computer

PACKED WITH FEATURES AND CONNECTIVITY, the Edge 1030 replaced the Edge 1000, bringing the top-of-the-range device in line with the Edge 820’s clean, modern aesthetic.

The most noticeable feature of the Edge 1030 is the new 3.5in screen, which occupies most of the face of the device. The 1030 will display up to 10 fields per page of data, and you can customise things to your heart’s content, adding or taking away pages and fields to create your ideal display. The touchscreen works with (some) gloves, and in the rain.

Layouts are profile-specific, and by default, there are Road, Mountain and Indoor ones. There’s nothing to stop you creating your own; you might want a more stripped down data display for races, with only power and distance on show, whereas touring would demand a completely different set of metrics.

The interface is for the most part fairly easy to navigate, but finding specific settings can be a bit of a head scratcher as Garmin’s logic isn’t always completely intuitive. To initiate a ride, select your preferred ‘activity profile’, and press the start button on the bottom of the device.

To switch between screens of data and/or maps, you swipe sideways, and to access ‘widgets’, including essential stuff such as settings, plus add-on options such as weather, you swipe down.

Navigation with the Edge 1030 is about as advanced as you can get with a dedicated bike computer, with detailed maps, proper turn-byturn instructions and warnings for sharp bends. You can load courses onto it or use the Course Creator to plan routes on the fly, letting the device suggest the best way to get between your chosen locations. If you’re a real free spirit, selecting ‘round-trip course’, a compass direction and an approximate distance

The most feature-packed GPS computer on the market

will generate a selection of routes for you to try. While it’s capable, interacting with the 1030’s mapping still feels clunky compared to firing up Google Maps on your phone. Connectivity is a huge part of the Edge 1030 package. In addition to ANT+ sensors, the 1030 will connect to WiFi for data transfer purposes, and pairing with a phone using Bluetooth unlocks a wealth of features. LiveTrack, GroupTrack and Incident Detection, which sends an alert to emergenct contacts, are carry-overs from the Edge 820, while rider-to-rider messaging is new. The battery has seen an increase in capacity from the Edge 1000’s 1100mAh to 1900mAh. Our testers have found battery life near the claimed 20 hours to be achievable but as ever, the features you have activated and the amount of screen-on time play a big part.