This little unit gives me more information about my rides, and my body's reaction to my rides, than I ever thought I needed. Reading it all while riding can be dangerous to your health, but viewing it later on your phone or PC, is informative and definitely safer. I especially like that the activity screens (pages?) can be individually created and modified by me, and I'm still modifying them for me after each ride. On the other hand, I'm still wondering about the "elevation" data, even after resetting manually, and the "calories" calculations that don't match my other devices. I'm still learning how the "navigation" features work, and how to follow the maps, but having a clear compass display is surprisingly helpful.
This unit replaced my Edge 830 that served me well for many miles and years. The increased battery life (40hrs) is critical to me since I ride many randonneuring events that include overnight and multi-day rides. I am a fan of the touchscreen on the 830, except when it rains! While I have not used this one in the rain yet, the ability to switch to the side buttons should be helpful. The screen and unit is slightly larger, but still fits nicely between my aero bars. The screen and software upgrades are great, especially the climbing page and workout pages.
Lastly, when connected to my Garmin Connect I was able to transfer all my existing rider information and profiles automatically and the whole set-up process took less that 2 mins and I was ready to ride!
I use this for training, gravel riding and road riding. The touch screen, increased memory and battery life are major improvements and the screen setup is better although that could have been made to be updated via laptop rather than on the device. Unfortunately, there are still some maddening Garmin software quirks such as when device is sync'd to a laptop, it locks up and must be hard reset to to work again. it also maintains a menu system that can only be described as archaic.
It seems Garmin is finally getting better at managing devices as a whole. Settings from previous unit are applied like getting a new phone. The management of maps is much easier, but storage is still too limited. I do like the climb pro for all hills not just when you are on a route. I do not know if I would have bought one just for the sake of it, I liked my 830. But it was a few years old and the new units battery lasts so much longer. I never had issues with the touch screen only on the 830 but it is nice that this one has both touch screen and buttons.
I purchased this as on upgrade to the older 520 model. The 840 works really well and provides a lot of useful data while riding and post ride. Works well with my AXS Power Meter and nice to track both heart rate and power real time while riding. Only negative, this could be I have something set wrong, is that when connected to my Garmin headlight it would run the headlight on full power and drain the headlight battery in two hours. Not a huge issue for me. I disconnected the headlight and now it stays on daylight flash mode and last up to eight hours. Nice upgrade, solid GPS and works well with connected devices except maybe the headlight.
It's one of the highest ranked for good reason. Can't go wrong with this. Smallish size but big enough too.
Positives: Compact to 830 much improved connectivity with iPhone. Screen sensitivity much improved. Climb pro is a huge plus. Battery life is much better. Combo of buttons and touch screen is very nice upgrade.
For the negatives/reason for 4stars: Lap time resets every hour. There is a numeral in the corner of the field that designates 1st ,2nd, etc hour. Took a while to figure that out despite calls to Garmin tech support.
Power drops to zeros while pedaling for 5 seconds or so. Makes overall power lower than actual. Garmin sending a replacement unit due to this issue.
I use the 840 for both trainer rides and outdoor rides. Use of the touch screen required getting familiar but the capabilities of this unit are exceptional. Connection to all sensors is much more robust and satellite routing is spot on. Swiping / selecting profiles is quick and easy and available data screen choices exceeds previous versions.
I bought this computer to replace my 530 edge that died after 3 years. I'm a roadie riding 150-200 miles a week. I love this computer. It was way more features that I need or use but a great computer overall. Didn't think that I needed touch screen ... wrong! Glad I got that feature. Integrates perfectly with my Varia headlight and rear radar light.
I had always used Garmin, but 16 months ago I went with the new Hammerhead Karoo 2. Well that unit simply died. Hammerhead customer service sucks. So I did some research and decided on the new Garmin 840 that easily integrated with the new Shimano Di2 with no additional widgets. I hate the whole set-up process with new computers, but I dinged on a couple youtube videos and this thing was a breeze. It ain't cheap but it is an awesome computer.
The new UI would take some time to get used to but I like added feature of workout suggestion and detours in one click. Overall I'm very pleased with upgrade.
I�ve had three or four previous versions. This is the first 800 series. Simply the best. Smooth functioning, great touch screen that works even in the rain. Great mapping capabilities. Solid product all around.
I came from a Wahoo ELEMNT Bolt v1 which is great, but suffered from poor elevation readings. Have a Garmin watch and wanted to try the Garmin cycling computers. The 840 is must better computer: Easy to use and customize, better accuracy, and touch screen! Would recommend this to anyone.
More intuitive than previous versions. Faster than previous versions. Still has the issue where the altimeter/elevation calculator does work in the rain. Navigation still a bit wonky, especially on re-routing. Sporadic connectivity with my Garmin headlight, sometimes it connects, sometimes it doesn�t. All in all an upgrade, but Garmin still has some bugs to work out.
