Customer reviews from Garmin
Garmin - Edge 1040 Solar 3.5" Bike GPS with Built-In Bluetooth - Black
Average customer rating
4.4
(316 Reviews)
Rating breakdown 316 reviews
5 Stars
228
4 Stars
36
3 Stars
23
2 Stars
17
1 Star
12
Customer Reviews for Garmin - Edge 1040 Solar 3.5" Bike GPS with Built-In Bluetooth - Black
Customer Rating
5
Incredible battery life!
on September 23, 2024
Posted by: michael L
This has been an absolute game changer for my ultra endurance bikepacking races or multiple days on the bike away from steady charging. At first I thought maybe the solar feature was a gimmick, not at all it allowed me to run my computer for 6days straight without the need to charge it. My one recommendation to any would be buyer is to figure out what features you need and what ones you don't that way you could possibly save some coin by buying the 840 or 540.
Written by a customer while visiting Garmin
Customer Rating
3
2100Km using the 1040 Solar
on September 19, 2024
Posted by: JMF00
I wish Garmin would hire some of Apple's engineers to make everything smoother. Even after 21 days of using it every day, I have yet to naturally find what I need when I need it. The interface is not intuitive. For ex, you have to go into the profile to change Navigation parameters, but there is another navigation folder under settings with other parameters. Being in the software business, I can tell Garmin never tested its UI with actual consumers. Also, the Re-routing on the GPS is not advanced and gets annoying very quickly, trying to make you turn instead of recalculating that you are on a perfectly fine parallel road. Instead, it asks you to turn around when the straight road ahead is the best path forward. The GPS on your phone is a lot smarter. I used Komoot to prepare the itinerary. I had to reinstall multiple times as it lost connection. Garmin Connect is also clunky, and would not synced for the life of me. I had to reinstall it to fix it. Probably the most frustrating is that, once you start a synced itinerary, it is impossible to sync an updated course from Komoot. You have to stop, save your work and sync up your device and start a new work-out. If you already covered 3 miles, they now belong to a separate work-out when you sync with Strava (where work-outs cannot be combined). All in all, when you compare using your phone with the Edge 1040, you feel like going back 15 years... On the positive, it has a great battery, UI can be customized nicely and is fairly lightweight. It's just not up to par for the price.
Written by a customer while visiting Garmin
Customer Rating
4
Nice to have.
on September 13, 2024
Posted by: bumble
I bought this so that I don't get lost in Germany (where I'm living). So far it has been nice but, since I don't wear glasses when I'm riding, the directions are hard to see. I'm aware that it will give voice directions but, WHY didn't they just put a speaker on the device that can be heard???
Written by a customer while visiting Garmin
Customer Rating
5
love it
on September 10, 2024
Posted by: weav
Its been 1 month. This was an upgrade from the 1030 which I am alternating. So far after 2 weeks of use with 8 rides (300 miles-50%battery life remaining) I have not charged it after the initial charge upon receipt of the unit. The solar works pretty well. The features are the same as the 1030. The screen seems larger and easier to read. I purchased the extra battery with out front holder which I love. The holder comes with the battery, but the regular units can be changed out by unscrewing 2 screws. Both units lock into place instead of the usual twist and turn mechanism. The battery hangs on the underside of the holder. Sorry I didn't take a photo. With the extra battery I don't expect to plug in charge the solar for several more weeks. I have a 450mile ride upcoming in NC and feel confident I wont have to charge during the 7 days, even w/out the external battery. I also have the solar Fenix 7 and I dont charge but 1x/month or 3 weeks.
Written by a customer while visiting Garmin
Customer Rating
4
A Mixed Bag
on September 8, 2024
Posted by: ajlacombe
I moved from the Garmin Edge 1030 to the 1040 Solar, and was in the Edge 1000 prior to this - just for background. I really like the display for numbers versus the 1030 - Garmin has done a nice job with putting out easy to read numbers of a great size
As far as the solar - I am getting 1% battery per hour in bright sunlight with no clouds and navigating - that is not worth much. Without navigating I am getting maybe 2% per hour.
The battery is not very good IMO as well - Based on shorter rides, this unit will not make 10 hours which is disappointing with actual battery life versus claims that I have seen - there is no way this will go 40 hours from my experience on shorter rides
The frustrating thing is that the display is darker due to the solar panel
The bottom line for me is that the display is great, the numbers look great, but the battery life is nowhere near the claimed numbers, which has been my experience with the 1000 and 1030. With those units I have taken them on 24 hour rides where I have had to have a backup battery. This was supposed to get past that, but has not
Written by a customer while visiting Garmin
Customer Rating
5
Big Screen and Big Battery Life
on September 5, 2024
Posted by: Anonymous
This has been great for exploring new routes. Love/hate knowing what my climbs are all about. Solar screen really extends battery between charges.
Written by a customer while visiting Garmin
Customer Rating
5
Battle tested on a 6 day/5 night mountain bike packing trip
on August 26, 2024
Posted by: Anonymous
I recently switched to the 1040 solar in preparation for a long bike packing trip called Aquarius Trail. It's a rugged 6 day / 5 night mountain bike adventure where you are exposed to just about everything a trip like this can throw at you.
I love the bigger touch screen which came in handy as I needed different ride data like current climb metric, upcoming climbs so I could plan my effort and not burn through too many matches before the end of each stage.
The solar was especially important to keep the unit charged and running. I charged the unit only once, not because it needed it but because I'm used to having to charge a G 530 ever few days after long rides that last several hours. This thing just kept on running!
The only thing that was a bit irritating was how the touch screen gets manipulated by the rain. We were rained on for two days. On day one of the rainy rides, my settings got all screwed up because I failed to lock the screen before the ride. I learned from my mistakes and had a much better experience on the second rainy day.
This unit has all the goods. I use it for my long century road rides with a different ride profile because road biking had it's own kind of data to keep an eye on.
Totally recommend this device if you are needing a new one or looking to upgrade.
Written by a customer while visiting Garmin
Customer Rating
2
Another Garmin that breaks in bad weather
on August 12, 2024
Posted by: Mochno
Unfortunately after 520,530 even 1040 is yet another Garmin, that after couple months - climbing (300 000m a year) will stop measuring properly altitude, climbs and you can just RMA. They will always send you new one - until warranty expires. I did at minimum 5 RMAs so far. It is pain. Maybe 1050 will be different. Wahoo never have a problem.
Written by a customer while visiting Garmin