I bought this to replace an Edge 830, which I was very disappointed with, as I have been with all my Garmin units, starting way back with my 500. The problem is Garmin doesn't support older units; once a newer version comes out, forget getting bugs fixed on the old one. And maybe there is a reason for that (older hardware can't handle it), but of course they sold the old ones with the claim that all the prior problems were fixed.
Example: phone connectivity was supposed to be fixed on the 830 (from the 810), but it was as random as before, never stayed connected/paired whatever. And the claim for the new 540 is the same; so far, it actually does stay paired, so maybe it is fixed? But the point is, it may be fixed now on the 540, but they are never going to fix the 830 or 810. And that is sad for the cost.
The 540 is clearly faster; that was a big problem with the old units, as they just seemed to crawl in map updates, even to the point of having the graphic hang up at critical points. And don't confuse it by route following or some other computation; it will screw it up. But the 540 seems fast enough that I haven't noticed a problem.
Of course, that leads to my major gripe, an unannounced change from the 830: they removed the perspective map view, which is essential for seeing both near and far. You know, like every car navigation system (made by Garmin) can do. I am really disappointed here.
I deliberately didn't get the touch-screen of the 840 because I had it on the 830 and it was terrible. Not worth it. I still touch things, only to realize the buttons have to be used, but overall I prefer buttons. If they could make a touch screen work in the rain, winter, etc, maybe I will change my mind, but I won't believe it if they claim so. They claimed all that before, and they lied.
Yes the newer climb pro and other new features are incrementally better. At least when a turn comes up on a climb now, I get the intersection image so I can make the correct turn. That was a big flaw in the old one. But most of the other new stuff is less impressive, like training plans and "connected" features.
I know this sounds a little negative, but I am a grumpy old man. This ranks as a positive review in my book.
Upgraded from my 530 after 4+ years. I'm pretty much purely a fitness and training user and rarely use the maps. It has been a welcome upgrade for a number of small reasons. The screen is brighter, easier to read, and more responsive. USB-C charging seems faster and is definitely easier to use. And there are several features for power, climbing, and stamina that are either new, or were so buried on the 530 that I never found them. Transferring my sensors via Garmin Connect was automatic, and wi-fi connectivity is exponentially improved. Bottom line is that this is a much more polished platform than the 530 and for me it was well worth the upgrade.
On board bike computer for road and gravel cycling. Route tracking, climb pro.
The ease of set up surprised me. Nearly all my setups from my existing Garmin 530 transferred quickly. Was expecting to take quite a bit of time to transfer settings, but even the power meters and HRM devices transferred automatically.
This is my 3rd Garmin bike PC. Needed to upgrade from 5-year old Edge 520. Buttons were disintegrating, falling out, and frequently losing connectivity with cadence sensor & heart rate monitory on Garmin Venu 2 Plus watch. Didn't want to spend a lot of $, as use Bike PC for principally for display of data, and rely upon Garmin watch to upload ride data to Strava. Edge 540 fit the bill. Not too expensive. Meets all my requirements. Still learning to use new functions.
Larger screen is very nice. Easier to read. It's been a challenge to learn exactly how to use the seven different buttons (don't have touch screen which for me is probably a good thing!). Frequent software updates occasionally delays the start of my rides. But the features during rides (warnings about roundabouts, climbs, PR comparisons, segments, etc.) are great! I still have a lot to learn about additional functionality like downloading routes, creating segments, gear, etc. Looking forward to getting to know my Edge 540 even better.
Bought this unit on sale. So it ticked the box on value. I was looking at a lightweight GPS unit and easy functionality. This unit doesn't have a touch screen which took time to get use to. If I had it to do over again, I would buy the touch screen version. But, I'm not complaining.
The Edge 540 replaced my 520 which suffered an unfortunate MTB death. With the 540 Garmin fixed all things I hated about the 520 including battery life, user interface, random shutdowns, bad buttons and readability. I recommend the 540 without reservation.
Right now I'm only using the basic functions, but I am extremely happy. The dashboard that I set up has 10 key indicators that I monitor regularly during my rides. I plan on riding in some nearby cities in the near future and will explore the map features at that time.
I really enjoy the map function when doing a new route, it is easy to read and is clear during tricky intersections.
Primary use is road cycling.
Easy to sync with other Garmin devices.
The start / stop button is a little too easy to bump while scrolling.
Wonderful, no complaints
I had the Edge 530 for the last 3 years and was happy with it. When the 540 went on sale I replaced my wife's 130 with the 530 and have been enjoying the added functionality of the Edge 540.
