Today Garmin has rolled out two new bike GPS computers, the Edge 20 and Edge 25. These products add to what has seemed to be a near monthly (or more) cadence of new products from the company within the fitness realm. For example the recent Vector2 announcement, and then VIRB X/XE, as well as the Forerunner 225. Let alone the recent shipping of Epix and just before that the Vivoactive, Fenix3 and Vivofit2. It’s busy times for sure.
The Edge 20 and Edge 25 are basically replacements for the Edge 200 unit introduced some years ago. That was a budget GPS bike computer that offered basic GPS distance, speed, and route recording. It however lacked ANT+ sensor connectivity or any way to connect/sync with your cell phone. With these new products, Garmin focuses on those areas.
This product is in many ways designed to stem the tide of budget bike GPS computers chewing into what was previously Garmin’s turf. Companies like Cateye (with the Strada Smart), Lezyne, and Wahoo (RFLKT/RFLKT+) have been weighing in with new units that for many riders offer the baseline required functionality at the right price. But before we get into too much analysis, let’s talk specs.
The Feature Overview:
As noted, there are two units being announced today. Both units are identical from a size standpoint, each being roughly bigger than a quarter (length/width). Or basically, just big enough to contain the quarter-turn mount that sits under it.
Both bike computers have much the same basic functionality, which includes:
– GPS speed and distance
– GPS based recording of route for online access later
– Course navigation (with courses created on Garmin Connect)
– Two customizable data pages (up to three data fields per page)
– Goal based workouts (i.e. time/distance/calories)
– Personal Records (i.e. longest ride)
– 8hr Battery life
– IPX7 waterproofing
– Weight of 0.9oz (25g)
– GLONASS capable GPS
– Garmin quarter-turn mount (compatible with 3rd party mounts)
It’s the internals that differ though between the two units. With the Edge 25 you gain Bluetooth Smart and ANT+ connectivity. This means you can sync with your phone for downloading rides and courses, while also connecting to ANT+ sensors. Whereas the Edge 20 doesn’t have either of those options, so if you want to download from it – you’ll have to do so via USB to your computer.
Things the Edge 25 has that the Edge 20 doesn’t (for the extra $40):
– ANT+ sensor connectivity (ANT+ Speed-only, Cadence-only, Speed/Cadence Combo, Heart Rate)
– Bluetooth Smart phone connectivity (for syncing completed activities/courses)
– Additional heart rate data page (HR BPM + HR Zone)
– Ability to create/set heart rate alerts
– Ability to track distance/speed indoors using ANT+ sensors
Again, same external size as the Edge 25, just slightly different hardware internally (they add the communication chip). And both units have almost the same software, with only slight differences for the communication pieces.
These units are NOT meant to replace the Edge 500/510/810 or other higher end product lines. Instead, they’re designed to replace and compete with that lower-end bike computer segment. That said, for many rides the Edge 25 might actually be that perfect replacement. Especially for those that don’t care about a ton of details during the ride itself, but rather just want the basics during the ride on an easy to read bike computer.
To give you a quick run-through of how the units act and feel, I’ve put together this first look video:
As you can see, the navigation is super-easy to use and the interface fairly intuitive. In many ways, it’s almost identical to that seen on the Forerunner 10 & Forerunner 15 product lines.
A Closer Look at the Edge 20/25:
As we dive into the units, you’ll see that physically the two are very small. In fact, they aren’t really much bigger than the quarter-turn mount they sit on. On both sides of the unit are two buttons:
These buttons have the following functions:
Upper left: Backlight
Lower left: Selecting Back, Lap button
Upper right: Select (Enter)
Lower right: Down (changing page/selection)
There are no other buttons, and the unit is not touchscreen. Despite being rather simplistic, the layout works reasonably well, though I didn’t get to test it yet with heavier winter gloves to see if perhaps the buttons are too close together.
The Edge 20/25 both include the ability to get breadcrumb style navigation of courses. These courses can be downloaded to the unit via either USB or in the case of the Edge 25, Bluetooth Smart from your phone:
Additionally, the Edge 20/25 also supports prompting of Garmin Connect segments (not Strava segments).
As noted earlier, only the Edge 25 (not the Edge 20) supports Bluetooth Smart connectivity to your phone. That connectivity allows you to upload completed activities immediately to Garmin Connect. From there they can automatically sync to 3rd party sites like Strava, TrainingPeaks, Sport Tracks, and others via Auto Sync. For example, usually it only takes a few seconds to show-up on Strava.
The phone connectivity on the Edge 25 also enables Live Tracking, just like most of Garmin’s other recent fitness devices. This means you can share your exact location – including ANT+ sensor data such as heart rate and cadence – with all your BFF’s on the interwebs.
And lastly on the Edge 25, it supports text and call notifications – letting you know that your BFF-stalking friend is also texting you incessantly. Of course, this requires your phone be on your body (back jersey pocket is your best bet). This can be enabled/disabled as you see fit.
Note that on the Bluetooth front, it will NOT connect to Bluetooth sensors – only instead with your Bluetooth Smart capable phone for data sync.
When it comes to ride data field display, you’ve got the following:
Data Page 1: Customizable with three metrics
Data Page 2: Customizable with two metrics
Data Page 3: Heart Rate (BPM) & Heart Rate Zone (Edge 25 only)
Time Screen: Shows time/date
As for the metrics you can select, they are as follows:
Metrics available: Time, Distance, Speed, Average Speed, Calories, Cadence (Edge 25 only), Total Ascent (Ascent uses GPS elevation fields, neither unit has a barometric altimeter)
You can see an example of the three data fields below, and then below that the two-data field page:
With the Edge 25 and a heart rate strap you can create a HR alert for a specific zone, or a specific high/low heart rate value:
And on both the Edge 20/25 units you can create time/distance/calorie goals that will have you focus on completing those workouts against that goal:
Upon completing your ride, both units will show you information related to PR’s, such as longest ride, or fastest 40K ride. This is similar to most other Garmin units made in the last few years.
From a settings standpoint, you can change the language as well as change it from miles to kilometers (or vice versa).
And you’ve also got the ability to configure Auto Pause (ideal for city riding), Auto Scroll (just automatically changes your data fields every few seconds), and then Automatic Laps.
One caveat on Automatic Laps though is that you can only specify one of three options: Off, 1 Mile/Kilometer, 5 Miles/Kilometers. Whereas most other Garmin products allow you to tweak that a bit more. Though, in my experience when using Auto Lap, I can’t remember the last time I didn’t just use the 1 Mile/Kilometer option.
And of course, you can still do manual laps as well (my personal favorite). All of this lap information will appear on Garmin Connect afterwards (as well as in the .FIT files that can be consumed by any 3rd party application).
Finally, before we move onto the next section, here’s a semi-random gallery of photos I took of the Edge 20/25 units:
The easiest way to tell the difference between the Edge 20 and Edge 25, is that the Edge 25 has white buttons.
Also, for those curious about sizing – here’s a look at the current Edge lineup.
From left to right: Edge 20/25, Edge 200/500, Edge 510, Edge 800/810/Touring, Edge 1000. Note that the ones I separated with a “/” mean that those units share the same exterior shell.
Product Comparisons Tool:
I’ve added both the Garmin Edge 20 & Edge 25 into the product comparison database here on the site. This allows you to mix and match the units against various competitive units to see which features are offered. For the purposes of the below, I’ve compared the Edge 20/25 against the Garmin Edge 200, as well as the newer Polar M450 bike units – since it’s in the same ballpark price-wise.
Remember again that you can mix and match products as you see fit, using the product comparison tool.
Summary:
The Edge 20 and Edge 25 are interesting little products. For Garmin’s part, they are clearly trying to go after the ‘size is king’ market (but in a smaller is better kinda way) here. And that’ll likely appeal to many riders, especially those who are not historically into bike tech, but are willing to plunk down $129-$169USD. For them, these products will hit the mark, especially with Garmin’s fairly strong Garmin Connect platform offering for that rider segment.
However, with that said, I’d note that from a value standpoint, Polar has once against scooped Garmin here. Their recently announced Polar M450 GPS bike computer (at $169 as well) is a heck of a lot more feature-deep than the Garmin Edge 25. Sure, Garmin has Live Tracking and super-basic course navigation support, but Polar has way more options when it comes to downloading workouts, back to start function, deeper sensor support, intervals, let alone display size and significant display field customization. But again, the Polar unit is FAR bigger than the Edge 20/25, so if size is your primary concern, it’s going to be hard to get a more compact cycling GPS than the Garmin Edge 20/25. Of course, by most accounts the M450 is still perfectly normal size-wise.
One of the ways Garmin has been able to ‘fend’ off lower-priced offerings from Cateye and others is Garmin’s integration into the web platform side (Garmin Connect). Additionally, in general the Garmin has a much cleaner solution from a user interface standpoint, whereas the Cateye Strada Smart can be a bit finicky. I haven’t spent much time with the new Lezyne GPS offerings, so that could be different there.
The Edge 20/25 is planned to be available almost immediately, so in the same timeframe as the ‘July’ date for the Polar M450.
With that – feel free to drop any questions below, and I’d be happy to try and get them answered. Thanks for reading!
Updated Note: You can now pre-order the Edge 20 and Edge 25 from Clever Training. Doing so helps support the site a bundle (and saves you a bundle) when you use the DCR/CT VIP program with them too!
Great idea by Garmin, an excellent replacement to the 200 however the lack of Bluetooth sensors will keep me away. I use RFLKT now and would like to get away from relying on my phones battery but am not going to invest in new sensors to make it happen. Oh well, maybe next time. Still love the RFLKT though.
Interesting note… Most argue about missing ANT+ being a big deal because of sensors, but I hadn’t personally considered the other side of the coin (people with BT sensors only). I suppose it is because:
-ANT came first and likely has much more “sensor proliferation” at this point
-BT only sport sensors (ones that don’t do ANT as well) are becoming more rare. Thus they didn’t have such a large purchasing window (came out later, have since been replaced by dual)
-Given the cost of Power Meters specifically, replacement of ANT+ sensors is very costly. Replacing BT sensors is not necessarily a “drop in the bucket” but it is likely more affordable at this point (a HR sensor and Speed/Cadence?)
In any case I’d love to see everyone support both protocols for flexibility, but in this scenario I can see Garmin sticking it out with ANT for now — I’m hopeful they will change their mind eventually :)
I guess this exact scenario is where that’s most common. Someone who quite rightly assumes a mobile should do the job and buys a BTLE sensor, and then finds that it sucks the battery dry when doing activities (or the phone drowns…). I’d agree the opposite is far more common so I’m not convinced Garmin need to change anything just yet. In the long run, they may want to change all their sensors to BTLE to work with other devices since Garmin sell a lot of kooky sensors for things like boats and planes as well as things like chirp and tempe.
Also, can we clarify if the Edge 20 is capable of linking with ANT+ speed/cadence sensors? The writeup says it can’t, but the product comparison chart says it can.
The real question is, could you mount it in the 920XT QR strap and have a really weird watch :) Presumably it’d be sideways though as the bike ones are always 90 degrees off of the watch mounts.
I’ve already written to Garmin customer support lamenting the short battery life. I wish that electronic gizmo manufacturers would turn down their design smallinators a bit in favor of more battery capacity. (I like my Samsung Galaxy S6, but I wish it was twice as thick so I could hang on to it, and the thicker part was filled with battery.) In my email to them, I asked about the mid-activity charge and pointed out that it would be a very useful thing. Hopefully it already supports this, but if not, maybe they’ll figure out a way to allow it.
As for charging the device mid-ride. The External Power Pack that we sell may be your best option to extend the life of the Edge 25 during an all day ride. You can find the External Power Pack on our website from the link below.
Basically, you could either charge the power pack fully before you leave for a ride or use the solar panel charger it comes with to continue charging the power pack. Once you’re running short on the battery for the Edge device then you would simply plug the fully charged power pack into the Edge, using the Edge charging cradle. You could continue to have the timer on the Edge running and could see all your training pages as normal while the device is charging. The downside to this is you wouldn’t be able to have the Edge on the bike mount while it’s charging since the charging cradle would be on it. A fully charged power pack should give you enough extra battery life to use for a full day ride.
Seems one could MacGyver a solution: epoxy the charging cradle to the quarter-turn mount, use zip ties to hold the charging cable to the bike, and store the battery in a wedge pack under the saddle :)
If I’m out that long, I’ll be taking a break. I’ll be content to bring a small USB battery that I’ll just use for the half-hour or so I’m stopping for lunch. That should be enough to bring it to the end of the day. I’m also strongly considering some of the Polar offerings in this category because of this limitation. I must say that I’m frustrated with gizmo manufacturers in general. There’s a blind charge towards the tiny without any thought that there might actually be a small enough. I like my Samsung Galaxy S6, but the darn thing is too thin to handle easily. I’d be happier if it were bigger, with the new volume filled with battery. I think the same concept follows here. I bet if the battery were twice the capacity, the thing would only be 5mm taller.
I first got really excited about this device – at last a decently sized Garmin that will sync through your phone.
Then they spoil it. The manual here link to static.garmincdn.com says you need to put it in a charging cradle to charge it. So unless you take the charging cable and cradle with you, then you can’t charge it on the go as it doesn’t have a standard microUSB port. Given that the 8 hour battery life won’t be enough for some of my rides and there’s basically no way to top it up, it means the device however good the features are – is useless.
I emailed Garmin too and they have mentioned that it can be charged but I cannot charge it while it is mounted. If I keep it in a saddle bag; then the gps may be obstructed. While I love the tiny form factor; the 8 hour battery is really a downer.
Perhaps Garmin didn’t figure that their least expensive entry level product would be for someone who expects to do primarily 8-hour-plus rides. I guess they’re just crazy.
8 HR battery life? My first Garmin 25 would barely last 2 hours when set to GLONASS. So I contacted Garmin and they replaced it with a new unit. Imagine my surprise when the new unit also only lasted 2 hours. Folks should also be awate of the fact that this unit tends to lose the signal in forested areas. And as far as elevation accuracy…I am always happy to learn that I climbed a mountain rather than a molehill…but I tend to worry when the Garmin 25 tells me I am below sea level because I live on the coast of Maine. In short the elevation feature of this unit is basically very unreliable.
I’m pondering a review, but to be honest I’ve gotten so little interest from readers (I think 2-3 e-mails since the product was announced, and another half a dozen from the company themselves).
Interesting Ray, I was thinking about suggesting you to have a look at the Lezynes and (especially) the Cateye Padrone Smart… Really tired of waiting an update to Edge500 (the real deal for years, but very obsolete for quite some time as well)
Then you can add me to your list of people interested in the lezyne gps line :)
On paper they (the Lezyne gps) seem to better fit my needs than the new Edge 20/25 but I would very much appreciate your views on it. Your reviews are so thorough, it’s a pleasure reading them.
I would appreciate a review of the Super GPS when it comes out. It’s what I was considering for a long while before Garmin announced the 25 – which I’ve now all but ruled out anyway.
I’m *very* interested in the Lezyne Power/Pro offering, as well! Seems like a far more reasonable screen size for displaying multiple metrics with text/call info than the Edge 25’s screen. I have BT4/ANT+ sensors on the way (Wahoo TICKR and RPM), but would sure love to have some realtime data. I was interested in the RFLKT+ device, but have been put off by reported issues with the device, by reported issues with the Wahoo app’s ride tracking feature & Android support, and by Strava officially refusing to expand RFLKT support by adding basic screen customization, etc.
Since the Wahoo sensors are dual standard, I’m wondering if I might be better off with Lezyne’s Pro — wondering if keeping the sensors on ANT+ and the GPS-to-phone connection on BT4 might reduce interference and reduce dropped connections.
You can add me to the list of interested for the Lezyne, specifically the Super GPS. I’ve been waiting for stock of those to hit Canada since their first announcement. The Garmin 25 is very tempting, but I think the no-bluetooth-sensors kills it for me. Would love to hear your review of the Lezyne units though and be able to compare them side by side on your site. Thanks!
Lezyne is worth considering for 1 main reason – 22 hour claimed batty life. I’m giving the Power GPS a go (no need for Ant+) I’m after a cheap device so I don’t need my iPhone to last the day, but device will still display texts and incoming calls. Review would have been good, guess I’ll see…
After reading i have two questions:
a) How does Course navigation look /work
b) Can you override/select GPS or ANT+ Speed or are both saved (if available) after seeing current Fenix 3 gps results ANT+ speed sensor will give better results for some MTB tracks.
@Bart In GPS mode, Garmin records only the cadence half of a speed/cadence sensor. In Indoor mode (i.e. on a trainer) it will record both speed and cadence sensor data.
Maybe the 20/25 is different, but no Garmin device I know of that can use a speed sensor uses GPS for speed/distance when there’s a sensor available. The sensor is more accurate, and gives you “3D” for free.
I have a Fenix3, and I am wondering if ANT+ captors can be connected simultaneously to two products.
Here is my idea: when doing a Triathlon, I would like to use the Edge 25 to display all metrics from the bike sensor and HRM, but of course, both still need to be paired with my Fenix as well.
Would that work?
Yeah, ANT+ will talk to anyone and everyone at the same time. For a recent triathlon I used a FR620 for the swim, an Edge 1000 for the bike and then the FR620 again for the run and it all worked with the same HRM (obviously not in the water though)
Hi Stef
I’ll add a +1 confirmation on the sensors.For races I use a Fenix 3 in ‘Triathlon’ activity and an Edge 500 on my bike. Both units pick up ANT signals from my Speed Cadence and HR strap
That’s one of the biggest drawbacks to BT sensors. They are one to one connection. With BT you can’t have your edge and FR picking up HR at the same time.
910 for the entire race on my arm for the triathlon with a 500 on my bike. Use the 500 so I never have to glance to my arm while riding. Share Ant+ HR and cadence sensors across both. Great setup that I use on every ride/race
I believe they already do. I know the 920XT does if you follow a course from Garmin Connect. (I don’t have a Fenix, but I thought I saw someone else make a comment that segments showed up on downloaded courses.) It does not do it for courses created with RideWithGPS and converted with Jawa RTW tool. But that is somewhat expected as I believe the segments are embedded within the course FIT file from Garmin. Which probably means that an enterprising individual could embed Strava segments into a course FIT file.
Perfect!!
If only batterylife could be a bit longer (10-12 hours), this is just not enough for one long day like Otztaler Radmarathon, Marmotte, etc.
But I like the size, easyness, ANT+, etc!!
I’m not sure if this is a thing with bike computers, but is charging on the go (while an activity is running) a possibility? That would (potentially) extend the battery life for people who are concerned about that.
Because “The ANT+ Alliance is organized by Dynastream Innovations Inc, a subsidiary of Garmin Ltd.” — it would be bad business to support both. Not saying it’s right, but it’s just why.
Jim, if you don’t mind me asking what scenario are you thinking of? If you have BTLE sensors already for another bike computer then you couldn’t connect them to this at the same time anyway. If you want to use your phone at the same time it’s the same story. Dual connect sensors are common, but the only useful way to use a sensor for multiple devices is Ant+. In fact, in all these discussions, there is exactly one benefit for each technology:
Ant+ can do broadcast to multiple devices
BTLE is built in to phones.
Most people don’t care about connecting to phones if they are investing enough to be bothered what it connects to such as a power meter since the head unit is peanuts in comparison. That IMHO makes Ant+ the clear winner right now.
In addition to everything Lusty said, adding the ability to receive BTLE data would require adding a second BTLE radio to the device. In the BTLE world there are two roles: ‘central’ and ‘peripheral’. The Edge 25 has ‘peripheral’ to talk to the phone. Again, like Lusty said, BTLE is very phone centric.
I suspect that there are combo chipsets that do both. But from Garmin’s perspective, why would you support a competitor when ANT+ is still on top. No doubt one day BTLE will take over based on cell phone compatibility … but no yet.
Software limitation (on the Edge 25, a hardware limitation on the Edge 20). The chipset they would use would support 8 concurrent channels (one channel per sensor).
Bummer on the choice, a number of people I know use a small computer (Edge500 usually) on the bike for Tris just as a backup or easier to see display from their multisport watch. This would be PERFECT for that I’d think.
That’s a cute and minimal unit, I think many will like that. Maybe not your readers, but everyday people who just want to have speed and record their ride.
By the way, there is a mistake :
“Things the Edge 25 has that the Edge 20 doesn’t (for the extra $30)” -> it should be 40$
I understand why Power support is omitted, but I think they’re missing out on a decent amount of sales due to that decision. I have a 510 and use it for all Road rides. But I would also love one of these 25s for my CX bike. I rarely look at my 510 during a CX race and having a nice small unit that can record things but stay out of the way would be awesome.
Plus 1 on this. This would be perfect for my tri bike and I’d order one today, if only it would record and display power. I have a 910xt but I don’t have a “bike” only unit and I’ve been looking for one. Guess I’ll keep looking.
I’m in the same boat as Clark as I’m also using a 910xt to record the bike section of the tri so I just need to see how I’m going.
I’ve been looking at the Giant Neos and Bontrager Node. They show power, HR & cadence on Ant+
The main problem I have with these units is how they display the information, if they had customisable display they’d be fantastic units – but for £40/$65 it’s something I’d be willing to live with
The Edge 20 & 25 are really disappointing in terms of price vs feature and not something i’ll be buying
Thanks Ray. Am I correct in concluding that I can NOT display power if I am using an ant+ (e.g., Garmin Vector) power meter? That’s a deal breaker. 3 fields would be plenty for a race, but Power information is critical.
Fail. I suppose they do not want to cannibalize their upper end models, but I’d be happy to own both. I own a 1000 and would have bought a 25 to use for racing only. Without a power field, however, I’m a lost sale.
Leaving an expensive head unit on my bike in transition always makes me anxious. I’m on the market for a cheap racing-only computer but with no Power, this unit is out.
The thought of having a 920XT quick-release itself mid-swim scares me even more so I guess I’ll keep searching.
Although at the moment I’m using a 310XT for exactly this purpose; which does everything the Edge 25 does except for bluetooth/smart functions I think… Also the 310XT is $30 cheaper than the edge 25!
If the unit already supports Ant+, is there any reason why it can’t do Ant+ power? Or are they just crippling this to force you to buy the more expensive Edge 500?
The other is this device is incredibly small in size. For the battery life, supporting both GPS protocals, AND bluetooth.
There is probably CPU and/or firmware limits when hardware gets this compact.
not the case this is just the same size as many of the watches, its basically a watch without a strap, not supporting power meters is a stupid decision. If you can run the software to decode the ANT+ signals for spd/cad/hr adding the extra part for power isn’t actually going to do much to CPU usage
Wear the QR strap on your wrist. Put the 920 in your swim cap. Press start through the cap at the gun (or crossing the mat.) T1, move it to the bike mount. T2, move it to your wrist.
@H M
Actually, power meter can add quite a bit of CPU usage. If they provide various average power settings, that’s a lot more work than just showing current raw Ant data value. Additionally, if they also add NP, TSS, IF, those are “complex” calculations as well. You could argue that they could just display raw power, and record it. But people will still complain that there’s no 3 sec average, or 30 sec average or whatever they wanted.
(I’ve noticed that my 920XT battery does not last nearly as long when cycling with a power meter compared to running. Like half as long.)
This slippery slope argument makes little sense. Forget training metrics: this is a KISS unit. 3 sec power has virtually no computational cost and just displaying that would be sufficient. Store LR balance and pedal dynamics in the FIT but don’t display it. I’m not sure how communicating with a power meter compares with a speed sensor or HR strap. I’ve not noticed loss of capacity in my Edge 500.
In general, I agree (as you can see I hint at in the summary), that the pricing on these units is off. I was mostly waiting for my in-depth review to discuss that in more detail. In part because I think it’s only fair that I get a bit of time with them (multiple rides) before I make such a statement. I get the size is awesome, but still, it’s overpriced compared to other offerings.
If I were in charge of them though, here’s what I would have done:
Edge 20: $99 price point. They’re competing against sub-$80 devices and $1 apps, so the sub-$100 price point would have been spot-on due to the higher/cleaner integration at the Garmin Connect level, which people value. So $99 is a fair compromise given the higher quality of the Garmin web platform over others. Keep the unit as-is otherwise.
Edge 25: $129 price point. But add in power recording and ability to show either 3s or 10s power. No TSS/NP/etc… But record everything at 1s, so you could do that after the fact. Makes it the ideal TT unit, plus a spot-on unit for recording random commuting rides with a bike that happens to also be your regular bike (common for many people). Battery and all that is perfectly fine as-is.
The $169 price point is silly in my opinion, especially without power.
The pricing is disappointingly high given the competition. In addition, I’m also looking for a small, simple unit (something akin to an Edge500) specifically for racing. I only use a handful of metrics, but 3sec power is one of them – I want to know if I’m going to blow up in that break or not! :-)
With a lack of power readings, the Edge25 is already out of the running… :-(
Thx Ray, good news; I want something small like this, but with all the Edge500 characteristics(barometric altimeter first of all). How many time I have to wait again?
Surprised they didn’t build power meter capability into the 25. Based on how many riders, especially triathletes, rely on power think that is going keep sales from taking off. I would love one if it read power, just so I could leave my 910 on my wrist!
It’s a shame the Edge 25 doesn’t support power. I wonder if that’s a technical or marketing constraint?
Day to day I use the Edge 1000 for training, and a very early Edge 500; whose battery is failing, for racing. The Edge 25 would have made an excellent replacement.
I’d guess marketing for sure. It has ant+ capability. I’m an optimist… Perhaps Garmin will see the light and a future software update will “solve” the issue.
I’m looking for a unit this size that displays 3 metrics for use diring the bike portion of a triathlon: cadence, power, Di2 gear selection. Both of these technically could, but Garmin chose not to include power and Di2. So no sale for me.
I agree, if Garmin added Di2 display this would be an excellent device.
However, I think the SCIO ANT+ cycle computer would give you cadence, power and Di2 gear info. It’s a bit “clunky” in use, you can’t have auto-scrolling for example, but might be worth a look for your needs.
Ray it always impresses me that you review all these devices that clearly don’t fit with your own requirements in just as much detail and enthusiasm as you do with stuff you might use long term. It also surprises me how much time I spend reading these reviews on your site when I clearly won’t need to buy one of these to go next to the various other toys you made me buy :)
The lack of ability to show power is a huge mistake by Garmin. As noted above, I’d love to have a 25 for racing or using on my TT bike, rather than the 1000 that I own. As noted before, without a power field, however, I’m a lost sale. Garmin, fix it with a firmware update and I’m in for a 25!!!
Same for me on the power meter support. It would be ideal for tri racing if that were the case, but as it is, it’s a no-go. Surely it is just a software limitation, so I’m hoping if enough people post messages like those that are already becoming a dominant theme in the comments section, Garmin might rectify in the future.
Having said that, it’s still nearly double the price of what I got my 500 for in the Black Friday sales, so it’s hardly “cheap”, even if the 500 is old tech and this is brand new.
With the Edge 510/810 it’s a hardware limitation, as those do not have BT4.0 chipsets in them but rather legacy BT chipsets. This means that they can’t leverage the iOS/Android notification centers to get notifications through the standard channel.
Not really. I’m not aware of any $20 bike computer that allows you to download where you went afterwards or the stats. Or can direct you on a course. Or can connect to wireless sensors, etc…
Now one could (attempt) to make the argument you get all that from a $1-2 app. Which is true. But then you’ve got to sort through adding a mount for your phone to your handlebars, which has it’s own set of tradeoffs.
I may have exaggerated a bit but I think you know what I mean. Especially the 20 model, which costs around 100$ more than basic computers, but only has some basic GPS functions over the basic generic computers (neither can pair/display any advanced sensor data like HR, Cad, …).
The 25 seems much better, but compared to its rivals (Polar for ex.) appears the have very little and hard to read screen. Garmin has some top notch computers (510, 810, 1000), I even have one (and couldn’t be happier, minus some FW issues), but this just seems like a desperate attempt to fill the gap in the market Garmin has neglected in the past and let competition take over.
Beyond the mount there is a lot of cost for a waterproof casing and extra battery life. 8 hours for a cyclocomputer is functional but not great. You’ll get far less with a cell phone.
Yet the OP is correct that these devices should be less expensive. Cheers to competition in an area which used to be Garmin only.
Using one of these, would I be able to create a route on Google Earth (or download a file from Singletracks, for example), convert it to the appropriate filetype (.gpx, I believe), upload it to the device, and then follow the track/route? A couple of articles I read say yes, but the Garmin site says “0”, under “Routes.”
I haven’t been able to get my Edge 20 to read a gpx file and I haven’t been able to open a gpx file in Garmin Connect. I also found that dropping a gpx file in the NEWFILES folder did not work. What I have resorted to is converting the gpx file to a fit file and then dropping it directly into the COURSES folder of the Edge 20. To do the conversion, I used this page: link to gpsies.com;?language=en
I only started cycling last year and did not want to invest too much in a GPS computer. I ended up buying a runner’s product – the FR15 watch with HR strap for 179 euros. I get cadence from a very simple wired computer – though of course it is not recorded. This Edge 25 looks interesting in adding cadence at a lower price point in the Edge series (I have zero interest in power capture). I love that it has the same type of connection as the watches – much safer than mini USB in my view, but am reserved about the battery life. I’d willingly trade a slightly bulkier body for longer life. The biggest issue will be price. On the European/French Garmin site the 25 with HR strap is listed at 199 euros. Adding the magnet less cadence and speed sensors is another 69 euros… taking the total for adding cadence to 268 euros… I also don’t like that you apparently can’t configure HR data with other fields on a page. This is also a weakness on the FR15.
As a criterium racer (short 1-2 km courses) i use Auto-Lap “Marking Laps by Position” on my Edge 500 .
So i hope there will be soon a successor of the Edge 500 with WiFi, Bluetooth and longer Battery live. The 8 hours of this model are too little. With only 8 hours you can not go on a 200 km ride.
I have a couple of question and if you guys could help me I’d be very grateful. I currently run with my phone and record my activities with strava. I’ll be moving to Groningen in two of months and I intend to start road cycling. Do you think the edge 25 could be a good alternative for cycling and running? What are the best alternatives for both activities in the 150-200 euros range with HRM?
And lastly on the Edge 25, it supports text and call notifications
Can someone describe how this actually works? And how useful is it?
As it’s just (?) ‘notifications’, I presume you are not seeing the contents of a text message on the head unit, correct? That would be vaguely useful so the buddy you’ve just dropped can SMS you to says he’s had a puncture and you don’t need to get your phone out of your jersey pocket.
If not the content of the SMS, are you even aware of the type (SMS v E-mail) and the sender?
Lets you know who is calling or texting which helps you decide if you can ignore it. Probably also has the first couple words of a text. I found it surprisingly useful on my FR920.
I’d say that:
– rflkt+ has barometric altimeter (which is a must have if you mean to use Strava: you will otherwise end to be disappointed by the lack of the feature on your device, not the service)
– not compatible with Bluetooth sensors. Rflkt+ just reflects the phone, which picks them up, and bridges ant+ so it got you covered whatever the case
– it lacks support to power meters. Rflkt+ grabs them up.
– the 25 is self contained so you don’t have to carry your phone.
– the edge has integrated navigation, you can download your routes to it, rflkt+ has it only via a third party app (few dollars).
– it can show/alert segments. Just Garmin’s of course. Which someone may find useful but I know nobody who use them. Everybody here uses Strava’s.
I currently use a Node 2.1, simple and easy does what I need and since my next purchase is a power meter the Node will read it and has a barometer altimeter too! I don’t think these units have a Odometer function where it can use the speed sensor and wheel size to calc speed correct? It could be a decent option to not use GPS and use Odo mode if battery issue would be an issue. Anyway close but no cigar, I was excited to read about it but note quite there.
Hi Ray,
The Edge 25 seems like an awesome product! It basically has all the “essential” functions in a tiny package that I can put right between the aerobars (I use them a couple inches apart).
The fact that it includes live tracking is the kicker really.
However….. One request for you, Ray:
I use a Lumia 920 Windows Phone, and a growing number of my friends use it as well.
Can you use your internal secret Garmin contacts to understand why Garmin refuses to make the Garmin Connect Mobile for Windows Phone?
They don’t answer questions on it or just deflect the issue in Garmin forums or support requests…..
It’s something they’re considering. But as they’ll note – and as I can confirm – it makes up only 1-2% of users. For example, for DCRAINMAKER.COM here for the last 30 days, Windows Phone mobile OS usage is at only 2.5% of total mobile users. It’s incredibly hard to justify the cost of development without additional external funding (read: Microsoft adding money into the pot, as all mobile OS companies do to support big name development).
Do you know if it has a “Time of Day” field? We organise a lot of rides based on Garmin time as that ensures no-one can blame their watch being wrong :)
Wow, this begs the question, if Garmin and Lezyne can build “good” gps computers for $160, how much money are they making on the the $300 and $400 units.
I get having computers at every price point, but a race to the bottom nobody wins. Garmin really need to compete with the PC8 now.
I also will never understand, why they make the screens so small, they need to go as far as the can to the edge of the device. You have have a football game in the wasted space on these and the 920…
Odd, how does Garmin (i.e. an Edge 1000) not compete with the PC8? Or, put differently, how on earth does one say that the PC8 competes at all (as offered today)?
I thought the PC8 screen had better resolution, but I was wrong, I will say from all the pix the PC8 screen looks a lot better…
All from what I can see/find the PC8 has more info on the screen. Doesn’t the PC8 record powermeter data faster then every second?
What I was trying to say and didn’t say at all is that if Garmin is going to race to the bottom, they should also race to the top, and while the the 1000 might have more “features” I am not sure that it’s really a pro bike tool.
That said, I think that over time the Vector team, will help push Gamin in to that niche market.
C
PS I would rather look at the PC8 all day than the 1000, the 1000 is ugly. : ) wasted space and bad use of color makes it look like a 3rd grade adobe flash web pages.
Add me to the list of those interested in a review of the lezyne units. The top end model looks to be even more full featured than the Garmin for not much more.
I have an ANT+ speed/cadence sensor that is built into my bike (giant) which renders the polar units useless to me… It’s really to bad they didn’t add it.
Below is an email I sent to Ray on 6/5/2014. I wanted to supply input to Garmin for a future bottom tier Edge device. It looks like they actually listened to much of it, or it just worked out to be the logical progression of the lower end of the Edge line.
Ray,
Thanks for the response. If the opportunity ever presents itself to give input to Garmin on an Edge 200 replacement device (future Edge 210?), here’s my $0.02 based on the pricepoint and target audience of low cost, keep it simple…
1. Keep the same size and form factor as the Edge 200/500. May as well keep the same case, screen size, screen resolution, and pushbuttons to keep the cost down where it is now.
2. Add Bluetooth connectivity, but only for wireless data syncing with Garmin Connect Mobile. A simple alert for the number of missed texts or phone calls would be really nice for long training rides when your significant other is trying to reach you. But no weather forecasts, weather alerts, or other Bluetooth functionality found in higher level devices.
3. Add ANT+ Speed Sensor ONLY. This would allow accurate speed data with GPS signal loss (indoor training, tunnels, dense forest, canyon, etc.). Heart rate and cadence would be nice, but would require additonal screen fields and complexity that has previously been outside the scope of this basic entry level device. Adding heart rate would allow for much more accurate calorie data. Power data is definitely outside the scope of this level device.
4. Barometric Altitude Sensor instead of current GPS altitude for improved accuracy.
5. Optional – GLONASS for additional satellites to reduce loss of satellite signal and therefore improve overall gps ride data accuracy. I don’t understand why the Edge 810 was not given GLONASS but the 510 was??? It doesn’t appear that the Edge Touring models got it either.
These changes would keep the device just as basic and simple to use as it is today, but help it keep up with the cycling gps competition from Timex and Magellan. The only added complexity for the user would be during the initial setup for syncing with Garmin Connect Mobile over Bluetooth, and also the initial setup of the ANT+ speed sensor. Once these are setup, the usage should be the same as it is now on the Edge 200. The ride data fields displayed and stored would be the same as the Edge 200. Just with improved accuracy, along with the ability to train indoors and upload the ride data over your mobile phone after the ride.
This is a fair offering … I would say to Garmin … make both units cheaper!
Now on the upper end, when the 25 is offering text message updates I have to wonder how long it will be until there are updates in the 200, 500 and 510.
200/500 – merge into one unit (400?). Add GLONASS, Livetrack, text message display and music controls. Use the higher contrast display (B&W) and boost battery life. Add touchscreen support. Support all modern ANT+ protocols.
510 (515?) – Again … add text message support, music controls. Improve the quality of the screen INCREASE the battery life. Add phone based navigation on demand. Connect IQ screens for various audio players like Stitcher, Pandora, etc…
In general … Livetrack
Add (OK) pings to Live Track as well as an emergency button (can be screen based). Livetrack should function more like a SPOT since that’s what most of us use if for anyway. Livetrack notifications should be TEXT based or social media based. Nobody really checks there email much anymore.
If Garmin can’t add more value to their products, they need to lower the prices. I’m on “team Garmin” right now with an Edge 510 and a VivoActive (coming from Vivofit) and three sets of sensors. It makes sense for me to keep my products “in the family” but Polar and others are nibbling at their heels and I would not be surprised if Fitbit jumped into the cycling head unit game at some point. Garmin needs to up their game.
What’s a SPOT? I use live track as a second option for my wife to see where I am, the first being via the iPhone’s Find My Husband app.
As for using social media and sms text to notify for live track: I don’t supply mobile numbers to many places, to stop the spam messages and calls, and I don’t do social media (such as FaceAche). The email approach works well for me. However, I realise that others have different needs and so wouldn’t suggest that what works for me is the only way. Though I don’t see how using social media to advertise your house is empty is a good thing.
As for music control, I don’t know of any in my group that listens to music when riding on the road/trail but then may be some people that do. On the turbo I have my phone to hand but it is used to to start a playlist.
The only feature I can see that I miss is alerts from my phone being displayed. My wife has a VivoSmart and finds this useful, so having this on the 810 would save those ‘I sent to a text’ conversations as I come back in the home.
As a minimal package, the Edge 25 looks to be pretty well spec’d for general cycling. Plus less exposed on an MTB.
SPOT is a satellite based notification system. If you have decent cell coverage wherever you ride a cell phone with live track is generally better. But if you often go out of cell coverage, like here in Bend OR, it’s the most reliable way to give a live track of where you’ve been. It actually sends a very simple message via satellite including your location and one of 3 simple text messages. But it has no way of knowing if it was actually received by the satellite. In tree cover, the messages often don’t get received. It tries to send the location every 2 to 5 minutes depending on your annual plan.
I see, thanks for the explanation. Could probably do with that here in parts of the UK (the cell network drops out round here and we’re about 30 miles from London).
Newb question – new to bike riding. I have the Garmin 620 paired with a speed/cadence bike sensor. What benefit would I gain by getting the Edge 25? Would I use the Edge 25 paired with the speed/cadence sensor and not use my watch?
No, though doubt they’d spend the money on the extra chipset. I typically don’t take apart products when I only have it on short-term loan.
That said, once they start shipping, the units are cheap enough I probably will for fun (meaning, cheap enough that if/when I accidentally destroy it taking it apart, I’m not horribly upset).
I noticed a simple error in the comparison chart: in the article, you note the Edge 25 as having Bluetooth sync support, but the comparison chart shows it as only having USB data sync capabilities.
I like that the lap button is lower-left, just as with my FR15. When I try to click off a lap on my Edge 500, I end up changing the data page; worse, when I try to change the data page, I accidentally click off a lap.
All the complaints about lack of power meter support yet no complaints about lack of weight scale support? ;)
If you want power then that is what the 5×0 is for. This is so they can have a cheap head unit so don’t understand why you think they would undermine sales of the 510
Ok, make it an in between size of edge 25 and edge 500. Give it barometric alti, power meter support and minimum 10 hour battery. Charge $225 and I’m onboard with buying that one.
Eli: The Edge 500 was a fantastic race day GPS in 2009. It’s 2015, and the 500 has been abandoned for firmware updates.
Garmin seems so obsessed with bloatware devices they fail to see the market for simpler/smaller/lighter like this. If this thing had power and an altimeter it would sell like crazy, even with the small battery, because the vast majority of races are in the 1-4 hour range, well within its capacity even discounting 8 hours as optimistic.
the 500 is still my unit of choice, but it’s very long in the tooth by electronic standards.
1: Can it display time(ie 12/24 Clock time) on the main screen? I couldnt tell from the video if it had that option. I just picked up the Edge 200 and wont display time on main page which is a bummer to me.
2:Do you have to display three data lines or can you select only 2 and then have bigger font?
3:For the notifications: does it display the email/text or tell you who called or just notifiy you that you got a mssg etc.
Thx, and thx for the speedy writeup!!
Hi DC,
Going out on a limb here…were you ever able to test how the text/phone call notifications were displayed on the device?
Garmin support has given me some underwhelming responses without any real good info…
thx
I just bought the Edge 25 (software version 3.0.0), and it has a separate clock page you can switch to, but does not let you configure the clock as one of the data fields alongside speed/distance, the (only) “time” option there is ride time. I find this rather annoying.
How fast/quickly does it connect to Satellite/GPS?
My edge 500 is painfully slow and would be interested to know how the Edge 25 compares.
Also, is the tracking more accurate than the Edge 500? I use mine for MTB and often times it fails to ‘match’ STRAVA segments and thereby doesn’t register a segment time. Is the Edge 25 better at this?
Can anyone comment on the GPS accuracy? I bought a 510 which I used as a road biker and had great GPS accuracy. However, I’ve moved and now mostly mountain bike. The 510 was damaged and I’m looking for a replacement unit that doesn’t cost the same as a 510. The 200 had issues being accurate on twisty mountain bike trails that made me shy away from purchasing it. These little units caught my eye, but I’m guessing they have a “cheaper” version of GPS, similar to the 200 that won’t make them suitable for my needs. Any comments?
So basically a 310xt (with QR kit) for more money and with less features (except mobile uploading), released 4? years later.
I find it amazing that Garmin releases units that other than including more radios seem to do less. The 310xt has a longer battery, better waterproofing and I can customize the data pages how I like. Really don’t get the point of limiting the screen setup.
Also not sure the slightly larger form factor is an issue on a bike.
Of course, but a FR310XT is much larger and isn’t a ‘one-stop’ solution (you still have to buy the extra kit). And, on the mobile uploading/sync/call/text notification features – some value those.
It’s not about being the most full featured device – that isn’t what they are after here.
I’d be interested to know how the altitude accuracy works out. With the GLONASS/GPS support (I assume simultaneously) the horizontal accuracy will be better (I’ve found this to be very true with phones), so I think the altitude accuracy should be better than just GPS. Not sure how it compares to the barometric altimeter accuracy though. I find the “steps” in the altitude on my edge800 to be too big to provide useful gradient data.
On the other hand smaller footprint = smaller antenna and that will hurt accuracy. The 500 is fine with accuracy as long as it’s not confused by reflections or occluded satellites. GLONASS should reduce the occlusion problem and hopefully improved algorithms reduce the anomalous displacements associated with reflections which tend to plague the 500 in hilly, wooded, or urban terrain.
Smart Recording? What a waste. I though I finally found the computer I’ve been waiting for. But this is a deal breaker for sure. Might need to email Garmin and confirm this. Why offer the ability to upload the data if it’s basically useless. I could do without power meter but this is a software issue that shouldn’t be there. Maybe they are doing it to conserve battery, if so I’d much rather have it be slightly bigger/heavier to have a larger battery.
I stupidly hit buy seeing this unit and assuming it would be perfect for MTB as all I want is a small unit to show time and distance then download to Strava and with glosnass as well as gps I thought would be great. However NO rubbish as anything less than 1 second recording on mountain bike trails is pointless. It’ll give you strava KOM’s all over the place with it guessing you could pass through a tricky section at the average speed you managed on the straight before but I want honest results thanks and this doesn’t give them.
Hello Ray i was just looking at your review and i was thinking that in this price range, maybe it will worth it to compare it with tom tom multisport for example don’t you think??
Hi DC Rainmaker,
I just got my first Garmin GPS Nuvi 42LM for my car and now looking for GPS for my bike. I love to read your depth review of Garmin Edge 20 & Edge 25 and i think should go with Edge 25. However the price at $169 i think its too expensive comparing to my current Nuvi LM42 that cheaper than this. Is there any other model with basic functionality that you recommended for bike?
The answer depends on what you want out of it. For example, Nuvi’s do map based routing, but they don’t record trips (not officially, anyway) and they certainly don’t connect with fitness sensors. Are you looking for something to route for you and display maps, or for something to record GPS tracks/fitness sensors? A cycling GPS that will display maps and route like a Nuvi will cost you more than an Edge 25.
Aha, good point Paul. Nuvi don’t record trips, i just realize this now. Sorry for my typical thinking that looking for a device that will do anything, i forget that specific features will require more component/cost. Thanks for prompt reply.
Can this unit display anything in the 3 data fields?
I’d like to set it up to read speed, cadence, and HR. That’d be perfect. From reading the review though it looks like maybe the timer is always going to be taking up one data field.
Between the Polar M450 and the Edge 25 at about the same price it’s a tough call.
If Polar reinstated their out in front mount or if K Edge started making Polar mounts it’d be an easier choice.
I contacted K Edge and they have no plans to make a Polar mount. Odd since all it’d require is a plastic insert for the aluminum bar mount…
Like Casquito this is my most important consideration. The way it’s written in your article, it looks like speed, distance, and HR cannot be shown together in the 3 data-field screen. If not, I will be buying the Polar M450, though I don’t really want to due to the size as my primary use will be mountain biking and inevitable crashing means inevitable damage, or flying off the bars. The latter particularly seems much less likely with such a small device like the Garmin 25 here.
The charging on the go problem might be ok if the design of the charging cradle is sensible as in it has a USB connector on the unit itself which you can swap out for different length wires.
Any details on the charging cradle? As this is where the device lives or dies IMO
As far as I know, every current Garmin device that can detect a “speed” sensor always uses the sensor in preference to GPS. If the sensor is there, speed/distance is always computed from the wheel revolutions reported by the sensor. GPS is used only to calibrate the sensor (set the wheel circumference). If you’ve manually set the wheel circumference, GPS Is never used for speed/distance unless the sensor fails (and it takes some time for the head unit to notice the failure).
The only real advantage of the combo sensor is that it’s just one device. On my bikes with the separate Garmin speed and cadence sensors, I have to wake the sensors up individually. On the bike remaining with the combo GSC-10, all I have to do is spin the cranks to get both sensors working. The disadvantage of the combo sensor is the magnets that can get misaligned/lost.
I am using the garmin combo sensor currently with garmin 610. When looking at rides on GarminConnect the speeds appear to be from GPS, because the speeds are unreasonably high. Look at this ride (max speed 150km/h): link to connect.garmin.com
Because of these unrealistic speeds I assumed the speed were from GPS and not wheel sensor.
There are really great tools, and I am buying it. Recently one of my bikes was stolen with Edge 810 on it. After year of using it I realized I don’t need that fancy map stuff, I never used it at all, neither routing nor training partner. So I would go probably for Edge510 and was also considering Forerunner15, just for saving gps rides and being able to put it on connect.garmin.com. But this Edge25 is even more sexy and bringing everything I was looking for – compact size, simple menu, at least 3 data lines per screen, ANT+ and bluetooth connectivity. I can just unbox it and put on the gps holder (left from my Edge810 on my other bike), HR strap is still with me so just basic pairing and I am ready to go. After making a little research on the web yesterday, I cancelled my order for Forerunner15 which had to do the similar job now I want from Edge25. I hope it’ll be shipped during July as I am used to record every ride I do. Great news for me.
The Edge 25 might be the unit for someone who wants the live tracking function in a small form factor, providing the link between the unit and your phone is 100% reliable.
Hi Ray
Is there a list of available data fields for these units?
I looked on the Garmin site and no luck.
I am presuming usual suspects, except previously mentioned Power missing.
I saw Ascent mentioned in a screen shot, so I suppose , Elevation, Ascent, Descent and % Grade is there??
Looking for a simple Edge for my wife’s bike; but she would miss the simple pleasures like looking at the grade, or guessing how many more metres are still to climb . No power means a gap for my bike though, —although the form factor (SMALL!) is very appealing.
Cheers
I emailed garmin cust support and they werent the most helpful likely b/c its a new device but they said that if you get called: the phone number will show up on the device
It will only notify you that a text has come. They said it wont display any of the text. I asked them for screen shots of what it would look like but they dont have any…
Is it possible that Garmin adds 1-sec recording, or is it battery life issue?
I hope they didn`t add this feauture for marketing reasons.
In case of battery life I`d like to see stem mount with chargeable posibility (ideal solution – something like k-edge stem mount with battery in head tube)
Shame about the short battery life, otherwise I would have bought one. 8 hours is not enough for a long day ride, or a week of commuting. I’m sure they could double the battery life while only making it slightly thicker and heavier.
Most of the time I just want a device to display speed, distance, time, heart rate, so something small and simple would be great.
Could also be useful in addition to a bigger GPS. eg using an Etrex or Edge 800 to display maps, while you use the Edge 25 to display speed. And recording a backup GPS track.
I didnt realize the lezyne mini is available already.
It claims 10hrs of battery life.
Not sure how much different than the garmin 20 other than lezyne being slight bigger form factor and slight more $$.
Surprisingly, the display on the 20 has more area.
Ray, you mention the auto lap feature is limited, is it possible to auto lap based on GPS start/lap position like on the 510? The 25 would be ideal for XC/Road racing, I don’t need to see a load of data but I’m terrible at counting laps!!!
Agree with some of the other comments here. If it could do 1 second recording and ANT+ power data was collected, this would be my go to unit. It’s not like I’m analyzing power data during the ride, so a smaller size makes sense. A little more battery life would be nice too, but not essential. As it is, I’ll keep my 2x 500s.
This is the GPS i have always been waiting for, simple info small, light only one thing do you think with future updates of the edge 20/25 you could get more data fields? The ones which would be handy is time of day, so would temp but I don’t think they have provisions for this.
it isn’t accurate, in fact its hopeless for the likes of Strava – 1 second recording is what this unit needs. I have an 800 and this 25, the 25 unless I can find a way of making it record at 1 second intervals will be going on eBay. 1 second recording of the 800 v’s Smart on this unit, if I use the strava compare function on a segment, the 800’s data runs smoothly, the 25’s does huge jumps often the last jump passing way out of the segment so resulting in falsely fast times.
I would gladly pay $100 more for this device if it could pair to, log data from, and display ANT+ power data. I do not like bulky, hard to see, color touch screen offerings like the edge 5xx.
Hey DC, I just ordered this 25.
Quick question. Once I Bluetooth pair the unit ,will it stay paired or do I have to paired on my OS phone it every time I start a ride?
Hi, DC!
Thank for yet again wonderful article! I have a question to you.
I have ordered a new Canyon bike so I wonder if I need to upgrade my current GPS-gear as well. I used to do mostly running so now I want to include bike as well. At the moment I use Sigma BC 1606L DTS on my current bike (bought it ages ago at my pre-GPS times) as well as Garmin FR 610 (my current running/biking watch) on Garmin handlebar mount.
With a new bike, should I keep/upgrade my FR 610? Should I go for EDGE? Being able to see the actual map seems like a really nice. On the other hand FR 610 has “take me home” feature in case I get lost. A part from actual map EDGE 25 seems to have most of the features that I might need (at the moment at least), but I think my FR610 can do the same (and even more). Also I’m afraid that features of 25 will soon be not enough. Price tag is rather high as well. Can you, as an athlete and a tech person, give me any advice? Should I stuck to FR610 or should I go for EDGE? Is there any point to invest in EDGE 1000 or if there something in between (like 520 or 810)?
My goal is to “get into cycling”, start commuting to work instead of taking a car as well as participating in some local cycle club events as well as century bike rides. Long term goal – 300km race that is being held in Sweden (Vätternrunda)
Guys, I just got the Edge 25. I also have the 1000 and want to do a head to head test to compare Strava segment results between the two devices, with the 1000 set up for 1-sec recording and the 25 at its sole Smart Recording setting. I’m already setup for my 1000 to connect with Garmin Connect and then to Strava, but I am not quite sure how I should set up my still-in-the-box Edge 25 so that I can compare the segment data from the 25 and the 1000 in Strava. I’ll be testing them dcrainmaker-style by attaching both of them on my handlebar and try them out on singletrack (yes, I’m a mountain biker). But I’m not sure if I can get the two separate sets of data on Strava if I register(?) my 25 to the same Garmin Connect account as my 1000. Any suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks.
For example, should I set up another account with Garmin Connect and also another account with Strava? Or if the 25 is registered with my existing Garmin Connect account – which will automatically upload to my Strava account – then will I still get two sets of data for the same ride on Strava? Much thanks.
By the way, I have Garmin’s speed sensor on my front axle, and as I understand that speed sensor’s output should be receivable by both 1000 and 25 at the same time.
My rides are just one-hour rides so I don’t have much of an opportunity to do a longer test. But I’m attaching a picture of 1000 with 1-sec recording on the left and 25 on the right with smart recording. Both using gps and glosnass. I’m not going for any KOM, but when I look at the redlines on the map, the smart recording is a lot more smoothed out and even misses some curves in the trail. The 25 has 8 segments which are 1-4 seconds longer than the 1000 and the 25 has three segments which are shorter by 2 seconds, and 3 segments are the same, when comparing only the short segments (excluding the first listed segment). Generally, 25 will make you look slower than you are as the data from the 25 makes strava think that you are traveling on a straight line. My thought is that if you use 25 all the time, then perhaps it’s ok, but once you start using multiple devices (1000 for training and 25 for racing), then the timings from both devices are not really comparable, with the 25 making you look slower than you are. But If you’re going in straight lines – which may be more typical for road cycling – then my guess is that the timing differential with smart recording will be less.
Also, the 1000 is connected to the Garmin speed sensor and the 25 is not. For the life of me, I could not get the 25 to talk to the speed sensor on the front hub.
Can someone talk a bit more about the turn by turn functionality? I’m not looking to ditch my 910xt yet, but I want turn by turn on the bars. Is the turn by turn the same broken feature ast on the 200/500/910xt or does it actually work and work well? Is there a limited number of points? If I create a course using Garmin connect will it actually show “turn right” “turn left”. I am looking for something to let me do century+ routes solo without a ziplock bag cue sheet clipped to my handle bars. Thanks so much.
I have a road bike and mountain bike. I was thinking of getting this as it looks easy to transfer from bike to bike, if I buy an extra mount. What I’m more concerned about is this quarter turn mount…is it enough to keep the computer ON the mountain bike and not fall off on the first bump in the road?
Looks like it doesn’t have any hole for a lanyard?
Some of the other Edge models do – its useful to loop the lanyard around the handlebars, just in case.
Ray, love your site and the work you do.
My question: Just got the Edge 25 (from Clever) and tried to pair with a GSC-10, which I thought was ANT+. I have trolled the ANT+ website ( and others) to see if they, the edge 25 and GSC-10 are compatible and I can find nothing that they will talk to each other. I can’t get them to talk. do you know if they are compatible?
if not my bike is a trek – Duo Trap S – will this work on the Edge 25? (if I need to upgrade)- again as the Edge is so new nothing is updated to say what will work with what. Thanks!
I am a moron. Evidently while it was pairing with the HR monitor last night it paired up with the speed/cadence sensor as well, the Edge asked if I wanted to pair with devices, I assumed it was the HR monitor only. If all else fails – go for a ride ;)…. What is disturbing the Garmin folks said it was not compatible – here is the kicker. The Support person said it was because the GSC-10 used magnetic sensors vs the accelerometer based sensors on the newer one. I said to that; Are they not both ANT+? – He had no answer. In anycase, I can say without a doubt the GSC-10 WILL pair with the Edge 25. Also the phone notifications are Awesome – love that! Now I do not have to stop and check my phone for missed calls!
Ok. I’m a bit new to this stuff. I guess it won’t pair because it was already paired inadvertently. It does look like the GSC-10 will pair with the Edge 25, as the indicators show up in the ride mode, go off after a timeout, then go on again when I spin the wheel or cranks. It is magic!
Yeah, I’m finding that the Edge 25 is a bit finicky when it comes to pairing. Not sure why, I’ll have to do some poking. It eventually does pair (or paired and doesn’t bother to tell you). Minor annoyance, but still an annoyance.
Been having a devil of a time getting my new Edge 25 to pair with a Duotrap. I can get Duotrap on phone, I can pair Edge with HRM – just not the DuoTrap.
Solved it and got it paired. Turned out it was already paired but I didn’t see the message it was paired (a quick flash) and it won’t re-pair with a sensor it’s already paired with or tell you it’s already paired.
The description table says these devices are not designed for running. Does this mean that I cannot put it in in my pocket during my runs as an alternative to wrist watches? That would be great because of small size and no more sweaty wrists.
Thanks for the review, only one thing i would like to know, is it possible to use the edge 25 on multiple bikes (read with different sensors)? For exemple a speed sensor on one bike and a speed and cadance sensor on the other.
Thanks for the write up DC. Looks like a great little unit with just the right amount of information for me.
One question regarding the battery time. Is it possible to extend the run time by using the unit in indoor mode and disabling the gps and Bluetooth? I’d be happy to take speed off of the wheel if it bought me a few more hours when I need it.
After a bit of reading it looks like the new 2016 model has been released that now supports a power meter. This may solve a problem for a few people here.
Shame that it won’t pick up Bluetooth smart. I’d love to use it with the Suunto Amit 3 watch and heart rate monitor. With the small display a quick glance at the wrist for heart rate and barometric altitude may not be a big deal though.
Yes, you could definitely disable GPS and use indoor mode. My guess is that would dramatically increase battery life – probably by 2-4x, but not sure exactly.
Note to anyone looking to buy this computer… this review (and the Garmin documentation) leaves out a rather important detail! You cannot add Current HR and HR Zone as a viewable data field, you can only set min/max HR Zone alerts. That’s dumb. I was hoping to have a simple computer that let me view distance, time and HR Zone as fields but it can’t even do that. Additionally you can’t even view the time of day while you’re riding, only on the main menu (whilst not recording)
Stuuuupid design Garmin. I was really hoping you’d have gotten it right by now. I’m returning my Edge 25 immediately…
Yes – as pointed out all this info can be viewed. Two pages of ride data (your choice of three items on each page – speed, distance, cadence, etc), a page with HR and HR “zone”, and time. You can cycle through all 4 pages of info.
I was pretty disappointed to find that I could not view, on a single data page, HR and elapsed time. I plan to use this on the cross bike, and those are the two data fields I’d like to glance at during a ‘cross race while my eyeballs bleed…… Scrolling through multiple pages doesn’t cut it. I’m hoping this might be resolved through future software updates …..
Garmin relies on a simple bodily indication to take care of this problem: You can just put the ‘time elapsed’ page on the device… the bleeding eyeballs indicate that your HR is in the highest zone.
Can HR be added to one of the screens though, or will it just start to show up in the rotation? I need just elapsed time, distance, and HRM in a single non-rotating screen. Difficult to find out if this is possible without maybe buying, test, and returning if not. Thanks for your help.
I was quite keen on this unit but the posts about the accuracy of the GPS concerns me, will it atleast be more accurate than just using my Samsung Galaxy S3 mini and strava app?
How about importing routes in the Edge 25? I would like to import a .gpx or .tcx file from fietsnet.be or whatever, without recreating it manually on the Garmin website. Any limitation in terms of waypoints or no problem to foresee with a <200km ride? Thanks !
Only 8 hours battery life??? That will go down over time and in colder weather as well and will likely be 6 or 7. That will not last me for a weekend away without the nuisance of carrying a battery pack. I’ll stick with my Edge 200 (which is still on sale for the same price as this 20, or less).
I like the size and that it has a time page, but that’s about it.
Ive bought a 25, it won’t save my customised data fields and they reset everytime it is shut down… Also loses its pairing with the HR and Cadence sensors (also Garmin) – anyone else experienced similar? I suspect I have a dud unit.
Simon – This doesn’t sound like your problem, but I learned that when you sync with Garmin Connect (by USB) it will set your data fields to what you have in Garmin Connect. So you have to change them there, or it will reset each time it syncs to what’s in GC.
Thank Drewguy – I can’t find the field settings in Garmin connect – all other settings I have set in there, HR zones, Weight etc have stored just fine. This could be the issue if there is something not reading into connect properly, but the user data fields just aren’t showing up in there..
I have emailed Garmin Support, hopefully I’ll get a response. It might just need a full reset after the software update.
Is anyone else having an issue with the Edge 25 uploading activities as runs rather than as a ride? It only appears to happen when syncing with the Android app, and not when syncing via USB.
It’s incredible annoying, as I then have to change the runs to rides in strava, which doesn’t then show any achievements trophies, or add the totals to the monthly challenges.
I’ve emailed support, and am waiting to hear back from them.
Twitter support’s reply was to simply change the activity after I’d uploaded it.
Nathan,
Did you figure out a solution to this problem yet? I bought this unit for Strava so for these accomplishments not to show up, is a major bummer.
Thanks
Nice unit! I have the 25 and it’s OK.
+ easy to use, very clear display
– none
Would like to have (at current SW rel 2.50)
zoom on “do course” map and trackback on “basic” rides
I have the 25 just a few days but facing exact the same issues. A ride will be upload as run and the settings will not be safed once the 25 was switched off and on. I’m wondring hiw this could be happen at a unit which costs 200€ and it makes me currently not happy at all. Does anyone has any experience about how long it will take till a new firmware. I’m thinking about to send it back and may wait for the Polar m450.
I have the same issue as Nathan and Michael on the 25 plus another annoyance I was wondering if anyone else was facing and/or had managed to solve: all of my modifications to what’s shown in the 2 data screens as well as their scrolling setting, lapping parameters, and even paring to my duotrap are lost the unit powers down and therefore have to be reset before each ride.
After having set off for a ride a few times only to realize that I had to stop and change the settings, I now do so pre-ride but I’d be glad if anyone has found a was to make these settings stick from one time to the next.
Thanks,
François
Software update 2.6, is quite challenging. First off it will wipe your unit as new. I found you need to adjust your settings in Garmin connect (modern view under devices) then sync. Otherwise you will have to keep re-adjusting your unit, a real pain. After I set my adjustments in Garmin connect and synced, the unit “remembers” your settings. I did find Garmin added a 3rd data field on screen 2 – nice! After this update my bluetooth quit working to my phone. after some cuss words, I turned BT on on my phone, went to the Garmin mobile app and added a device. Although my device was showing, I added it anyway; and then boom! connected! This software update is painful.
I was able to add a third data field on Screen 2 previously. The default set up seemed to have only two, but at least if you configured that field on Garmin Connect you were able to add three fields.
I just bought the Edge 25 for XC mtn bike racing- I have gone for several long test rides with the Edge 25 and my usual iphone5 running Strava. BOTH devices showed horrible GPS gaps, as long straight lines. I rode one large trail three times and both devices did not register any of the segments of the trail for any of the three laps. Somehow the two devices must be interfering with each other. The few times that both devices did record I had inconsistent timings- sometimes a segment was a little faster or slower with the Edge 25.
Is there any chance that Garmin could upgrade the GPS sampling rate with a software patch? Otherwise this device is useless for me.
Has anyone else experienced this sort of GPS device conflict? It makes no sense to me. Surely both devices just receive and record the signals. How could they interfere with each other?
Not clear what kind of MTB trail it was, but if there are trees, both devices could have the same problems.
I did recently have an oddity where my Garmin 25 auto-paused while I was peddling along. I was under a tree canopy, so thought maybe the GPS lost signal, but it makes no sense because it’s also paired with a speed and cadence sensor that should have been providing data. Of course, maybe I should look at the speed/cadence sensor as the culprit.
Never seen GPS conflict. I’ve been using the 20/25 units next to 4-6 other GPS units on my handlebars without issue. What you can see though is blockage if it’s placed in a bad spot (i.e. in your jersey pocket in some cases with gels/wrappers around it).
Maybe they should open-source their firmware code so that more competent programmers can work on it. But I doubt if the device has enough memory to store per-second sampled data. Obviously bad engineering by Garmin. 5MB of space for a device in 2015!
My experience with pairing the sensor is the same as others, i.e. there is a very brief message that pops up when it’s paired successfully. If you happen not to be paying attention to the screen, you can easily miss it and think the pairing was unsuccessful.
If you’ve purchased a speed sensor to go with your Garmin Edge 25, you might be interested in this: the calibration of the speed sensor is automatic but you never get any message that a calibration is taking place or was successfully completed. If you want to calibrate it again for a different wheel/tire/bike, you’ll need to delete the sensor and pair the Edge 25 with the other sensor. If you’re thinking of using the Edge 25 on different bikes, well, keep in mind that it pairs with only ONE cadence sensor and ONE speed sensor. You’ll have to move the sensors to your other bike or delete and repair your 25 to the other sensors. What a pain. I inquired Garmin about this and got confirmation here:
“The Edge 25 will calibrate automatically as the Edge 1000 does by measuring revolutions to measured GPS distance. Unfortunately, it will not alert you. You are able to re-calibrate the sensor under the sensor settings options – you will be able to remove and re-add the sensor from there and it should calibrate for you automatically. You are able to delete sensors from the sensor pool by selecting the desired sensor and pressing ‘Remove sensor.’ Unfortunately, you are only able to have one bike profile per Edge 25 unit.”
You won’t find this information in the user manual or in online descriptions that this is how the unit works. So, if you want to use the unit on several bikes, you’ll either have to go through the trouble of delete/add or don’t use a speed sensor on your other bike and rely just on the GPS derived data.
Can anyone say about the battery life of eight or more hours. In the web there are some different informations, in some posts there are 8 hours in other 10 hours?!
Couple complaints about this device.
Smart Notifications are bad. Only flashes for few seconds and then gone for good. The device wont even prompt you that one is even there. Poof…just gone. This goes for calls as well. They will still be on phone however, so when u get done you can see all the notifications you may have missed
Does anyone’s make a buzzing/winding noise when held to ear? I can hear a noise about 12 inches out and definitely closer. None of my other devices made this noise. Seems somewhat unusual this day and age. I reached out to Garmin about this and havent heard anything even though I sent sound clips and device files.
Pros: great screen size for size of device, light weight, battery decent.
Can anyone with this device, and latest firmware, confirm if a single screen on the device can be configured to have elapsed time, distance, and heart-rate? For MTB racing these are all I need but on one continuous screen, I can’t wait for a cycle rotation. Thanks!
By default you can’t, but there is a method now described on http://www.edge25.net how you can tweak you display to have BPM on the same screen as the other metrics
Hi, Understand that this device won’t give Power Meter information, but would it be capable to connect to Garmin Vector just for the cadence?
thanks
alex
I see that text message notifications works for you, for me, only call phone notifications works, I have an iPhone 5S with latest iOS and garmin connect versions and Garmin fw 2.70 and you ? thanks for this information.
Exploring segment use in this dude. found, as the instructions state, the only way you can utilize Garmin segment notification is using an uploaded course. And doing said course. I have found the notification useful; The unit will let you know when a segment is approaching, and how long it took you to complete. About what one can expect from this price point. I am OK with that, if I wanted more I would have got the Edge 520.
Ray,
I am a Strava Premium person and have stared my routes and am using the Strava segments on Garmin connect. I do not see the (strava) segments show up in Garmin connect when I build a route. So, if I have Strava Premium and the segments show up on My Garmin Connect Dashboard page, why will they not show up when I build a route? OR is it that they just don’t; and I have to rebuild the segment in Garmin connect… to use on my Edge 25? Thanks!… I guess if I am getting all Strava crazy I just should get the 510 or 520 :)
As it turns out I could not get the Strava segments to “be seen” when building a garmin course; So, I took matters into my own hands: A few Land Sharks and a couple of hours building segments in garmin (after viewing satellite info from Strava) I duplicated Strava segments in Garmin connect. I then created new courses where the segments cross, and Boom! there you have it.. I made about 6 courses with the segments I hit the most. then uploaded to the Edge 25. so, now I can pick a course with the segments that I think I will roll across in any given ride around town. Remember the edge 25 will tell you (only while doing a course) “segment approaching” ; “Segment start”; and “segment finish”, with the current elapsed time for that segment you just completed. FYI you do not have to strictly follow the course per se. I rode with the intentions of going “off course” then back on course to hit my one segments. The Edge told me I was off course, then back on course (when I got back) then my segment warnings popped up just fine. Not too much screwing around to get segment alerts. Just a note the guy I was riding with had a 510 and he had WAY more info on the segment….I may have to upgrade ;)
Have you had issues pairing your Garmin Edge 25 with Bontrager’s Duotrap S? It seems that it would want to pair. Any suggestions? I don’t have an issue pairing the DuotrapS with higher end Garmin computers such as the Edge 520.
Kate – There’s some discussion up-thread. I had a bad experience as well, but it turns out that the Edge 25 flashes oh-so-briefly that it is paired that I was unaware it actually had paired. When you search after that it keeps searching and provides no mention it’s already paired. You can try to reset the device in order to clear out the paired sensors and then try again – this is what I did and realized the “paired” message flashed so quickly I had missed it the first time.
1) Does it track your elevation? It says there’s no altimeter, so when you upload to strava will the ride show zero elevation gain? Or is an altimeter just used to show your current elevation? I don’t need to know my current elevation, but I would like to see the elevation profile afterwards.
2) Since it is a cheaper GPS, will the GPS be accurate through tree cover (ex. when mountain biking)? I know my iPhone shows that I rode somewhere I didn’t, and doesn’t pick up some strava segments.
3) Will any HR monitor/strap be able to connect with the 25?
4) I’d like to confirm that I will be able to upload rides to strava afterwards.
1) The GPS provides altitude. In addition,Garmin Connect (and I think Strava) will do “altitude correction” to adjust for known altitudes of roads. You can definitely see a profile of your ride, and it will calculate how much you’ve climbed during your ride for instant results.
3) ANT+ yes
4) Not directly, but you can sync via Garmin Connect. Uploads to Garmin Connect and then it pushes/pulls it to Strava.
Has anyone figured out how to get heart rate and time to display on the same page? I can’t do intervals if I can’t see the 2 together which makes this a waste for me?
Thanks
No – currently there are three info screens. The first 2 can include time, speed, distance, avg. speed, amount of climb, cadence, and maybe a couple others. The third screen has heart rate. The fourth (or first) is the home screen, including the current time.
I have Garmin Edge 20 and Cyclemeter Pro, an App for I phone which cost about $5 per year. Totally disappointed with Edge 20. In comparison Edge 20 provides extremely limited data at huge extra cost and the maps of rides from Edge 20 on my Mac are basically useless whereas Cyclemeter are great. I feel so ripped off!!!! I use the Edge 20 as an accurate speedo, thats about it!! Never again will I purchase a product because of an assumption of quality because of brand name! Hopefully Garmin might be able to improve with a soft ware update?
Seems it can stuffed inside the swim cap and supplement the Garmin Swim as a open water GPS monitor from its size and waterproofness. The GPS record should be better than the swim/run watches. Can it be tested that way?
I wouldn’t see any issues with doing that technically speaking. The only concern I’d have is that it’s honestly super easy to drop into the water and never find again – given the size. Having dropped my share of GPS watches from swimcaps into the water, most of the time I can relatively easily find them again since watches tend to sink slower and be more visible.
Also – you can often find the FR10 and FR15 for sub-$90 these days (heck, even saw some for $50 the other day at clearance). Could just snip the bands off and get the same result for cheaper.
I own one of these and it does have a real time altimeter although when you hook it up to a PC you find out that it was about give or take 50-100 feet off.
Broken record here.
Does anyone else’s 25 make a buzzing noise that u can hear about 8-12″ from ear ?
Felix chimed in but no one else…
Trying to gather some info prior to returning if needed.
It just seems like this day in age w solid state drives etc, no buzzing should be allowed. Ha ha. Jf
Updated to ‘new and improved’ Garmin connect 3.0 and now I can’t get smart notifications on my edge 25. It says its paired but texts/calls not getting thru to device. Anyone else have this issue?
I’m up to date on all software. Running android 4.4.
Worked fine until new Garmin app installed. Damn.
Has there been an upgrade on the Edge 20 where you can display the instantaneous Elevation in one of the field yet? I bought one for my father in law for xmas as he wanted to see elevation (and potentially % grade) so I need to know if I should return it.
Hi,
Can I confirm that there is no way to view ‘current lap’ time on any of the data screens during a ride? That would be a deal breaker for me. Everything else looks great!
I’ve been using the Edge 25 for a few months now and it’s giving me everything I need and nothing that i don’t. Only small quibble is the often extended wait for it to lock in satellites – I’ve taken to turning it on before I get dressed for riding. I also occasionally use it for running – easy enough to go into Strava later and change the activity from “ride” to “run”.
Hello, have a problem as tested 2 Edge 20:01 25 to make this conclusion, the satellite signal is weaker than its Egde 500,510,520 brothers, etc. because its signal at low speed on hills in trilhasse loses, or in places of dense forest, single tracks or average speeds of 4-7 km / h +/- or even pushing the bike to the signal without scoring nothing, and takes to return.
And I compared it with other Garmin models both installed on my bike and in biking friends to hand the exact circumstances and speed.
And with that Mileage and end time altitude is always lower than the actual number because the periods of lack of reading.
Excellent review. The comments about battery life have convinced me to stay with my 200. And, btw, the 200 is course following capable by uploading gpx/tcx files to the new files folder. Totally undocumented by farming but very well covered on other websites and works brilliantly.
How much memory does it have for recording rides, with GPS tracks? The specifications say “History: up to 10 rides”, which seems rather limited.
What happens if you record more than 10 rides? Do old rides get overwritten automatically?
Or is it like the Forerunner watches, which can record many more activities, but only display the last 10 on the watch?
How can you get distance to record on indoor riding from the edge 25? I know that it comes with a cadence sensor but does that mean that you have to purchase a separate speed sensor for the unit in order to get indoor distances recorded on your connect or strava?
Hi, do you know if it is possible to transfer a course (that you have previously created in Garmin connect for example) direct from a smart phone to an Edge 25? Thanks!
I successfully transfered courses created on bikemap.net by putting the gpx file on the Edge 25 (Newfiles folder). With courses created on Garmin connect is working as well.
Great article. Thanks for that.
I have to questions:
is it possible to charge device while navigating and whether it’s possible to navigate and have speed/cadence displayed.
I would also very much like to know about whether it can be used while riding and whether the charging cradle would be secure on a bike! It seems like the Edge 25 does everything I need, but I occasionally do longer rides, so I’m worried about battery life.
This Edge 25 would replace a RFLKT with RWGPS, which would be a great solution if the damned RFLKT would just connect reliably to my phone!
Is the 25 only able to have one bike profile? I was thinking to get this unit so that I could use it on a road bike and a mtb, with both bikes having their own speed/cadence sensor.
Hi, thanks for the review. That’s awesome.
Do you guys know what happens if you follow a route loaded on the Edge25 and miss a turn… Does it calculate an alternative route??
Shrewd marketing, making sure no user is really 100% satisfied and ups the Edge 25 asap to a higher price category..
The HRM function, being the major added value vs the Edge 20, cannot be displayed at the same time as elapsed time, speed, cadence, distance. Anyone who’s using HRM is probably using at least one of these functions during the ride and while initially it may not seem essential to have it on the same screen (“Well, the option’s there, isn’t it?”), after a while it becomes plain annoying to have to switch between screens.
Has anyone tried one of Garmins Wrist mounts to use this while running? Not sure if it would work, Ive never seen one of the wrist straps in person. So I am not sure if it can be viewed with a clean angle…
Yup, you can use the one from the older quick release kits (a bit smaller than the newer ones). The only downside is that you can’t show ‘pace’, just ‘speed’.
Haha…I did see that but I also saw this sweet video that someone put together. They used the original handlebar mount coupled to a velcro wrist strap…it looks totally do able…looks pretty secure also. Its justanother option I guess. link to youtube.com
Agree that you get speed only… which is a drawback.
On the first two pages of the Edge 25 (version 3.0 firmware) you can show up to 3 stats EXCEPT for you Heart Rate. This can only be shown on page 3!!!! Don’t know why, but if HR is important to you, you might want to give it a miss.
The Edge 25 does not support a “sensor pool” for multiple sensors. When new sensors are used, they will have to be paired first and will replace the previous sensor of that type.
The HR/HR Zone page is separate and cannot be mixed, it is it’s own separate page and the HR field cannot be added to the other pages.
Bummer, really want to like this device, it’s just a wee bit short of what I need.
Thanks for passing this info along . . . I can understand the first limitation (whether or not I like it). The second one just seems bizarre – how hard is it to program software that would show heart rate on another screen. That has to be a trivial programming issue.
While I wish they would, I feel at this point if they were going to do it, they would have already done so. Certainly plenty of folks asking for it. :-/
I was seduced by the small compact size of the Edge 25. I made sure to update the software to the latest version, 3.00 i think was the last update. However, I ran into the same accuracy issue while on MTB trails. I didn’t think it would be as big an issue when compared to my smart phone, which is what i normally use. However, my phone is far more accurate than the Edge 25.
I posted my disappointing experience on my blog, including the differences in trail accuracy and time/speed measurements compared to Strava on my Android phone – link to emerald-mtb.com
Does the Edge 25 fit on the Garmin 910XT wrist watch strap? I appears to attach the same way…would it be overly bulky or would that integrate okay? I am looking to use the Edge 25 for trail running as well as cycling…
Thanks!
Kfer
I just purchased one of these, based upon this review and that is only costs $70 more than the head unit for the rear light/radar unit, which I hope to get and integrate with this. This is my first cyclo-computer, so the following could simply be user-error (I hope):
I can’t get it to pair with my Wahoo SC ANT+ speed/cadence sensor, regardless of what I try. (I am on firmware version 3.0).
I can’t get a “route” from RideWithGPS into the Edge 25 as a “course” (or into Garmin Connect as anything other than an activity).
wgscott: I used this procedure to get a map from RWGPS to Garmin Connect, but I don’t yet have an Edge 25, so I can’t tell you if it loads correctly. link to ridewithgps.zendesk.com
Could someone with an Edge 25 let me know (A) whether it can be used while charging, and (B) whether the charging cradle would hold it securely if it were zip-tied to a stem (or attached some other way) for an occasional long bike ride?
Thanks for that. I got up to Step 11 but can’t figure out how to save as a course (the menu I get doesn’t offer that as an option).
I just tried my Edge 25 while plugged into its USB cradle/charger, and it looks like it will work. (If I can find an iPhone backup battery, I will give it a more meaningful test). The ride started, and immediately paused, since I wasn’t moving.
Sorry, it works perfectly fine outside of Safari (Mac OS X). I switched to Vivaldi (new browser) and all the problems evaporated. Thanks very much for posting these instructions.
Thanks for the info! That might help me pull the trigger on the Edge 25. The procedure for importing from RWGPS seems a bit kludgy, but it’s better than nothing, I guess.
Have you found the navigation works decently well for you? I’m finding wildly divergent opinions on that, but with the turn notifications, it seems like it ought to be sufficient for anyplace where roads aren’t very very dense?
I haven’t tried it yet. I only did my first ride (12 mile local loop) a couple of hours ago. Given what little I know, I think if I really wanted to rely on it for navigation, I would find myself wanting something like the 520 instead. Since this is my first GPS, my opinion isn’t likely to be anything close to definitive.
Hai,
i have an edge 25, all works perfectle including pairing with sensors and smartphones. but the problem is when i finished my ride and save the activity, i can’t upload to strava, either from mobile or from website, neither automatic (seamlessly) nor by upload saved file. everytime i try, the strava support says that my saved file is not an activity but a course, and my file is incompatible to upload to strava (my file is in .FIT).
why is that happening? is edge 25 is not compatible with strava? i know that is not compatible with strava segments but in strava activity record?
The Garmin 25 is a nice cycle GPS but at this time just not great for my racing. A little more control over the display would convince me otherwise.
At my age I depend on my Cycle computer to keep pace where it needs to be. Waiting for the display to show the data needed takes my attention away from the task of racing for too long.
I depend on Heart rate, cadence and speed most of all. If this could be all on one screen and seen with just a quick glance, the Edge 25 would be close to perfect for me. I do also miss the grade display. Sometimes a false flat burns too many matches before my brain catches on as to why so much effort with no results.
I will keep my Edge 500 when on the road and the 25 for under the trees.
I tried the Edge 25 hoping for the improvement with GPS signals (I have one 500 that rarely knows where it is)
The small profile and of course low weight was also a high point.
Next on my list will be the Edge 520, the Polar 450 or the Wahoo Element (When the reviews get better)
I did two rest rides, one with auto pause on and another with it off. With auto pause OFF the GPS distance matches perfectly with wheel diameter sensor. When I switch it on in a city ride total distance is 15% shorter – it auto pauses sometimes when I’m still at 10 km/h ! I guess this would be solved by a speed sensor?
Yeah, it’s a core reason I never use auto-pause in accuracy testing. The challenge is the threshold point. Stuff below the threshold point simply disappears.
After a few updates I can’t import courses anymore (uploading the fit or pgx file to the newfiles folder).
Anyone else is having this problem to? Maybe somebody has a solution?
Thanks
Just wondering at what speed the auto pause reactivates. I plan to use the 25 in my swim cap to record OWS as all wrist mounted units seem to be unreliable. I found that auto pause activated, but did not deactivate.
I know I can just turn it off, but wondered at what speed it re enables.
many thanks,
psc
I was going to ask if Garmin was planning on adding power support or an ‘upgraded’ version since the 25 has been out a year, but it appears you’ve answered a similar question recently. Too bad :(
However, I have a second question. Two commenters have stated that you can only add one set of sensors to the Edge 25. Can you confirm that this is true. If so, that’s a pretty big turn-off in my book. Really don’t want to delete/add sensors every time I want to swap bikes!
I’m using the Edge 25 for some time now for commuting, but it has 1 annoying missing feature the Edge 1000 does have.
When I arrive at work, with the Edge 1000 I can stop the ride and turn off the device. In the evening I can start the device and resume the trip. So the battery is as I turned it of in the morning.
With the Edge 25 this isn’t possible. I have to save the trip and turn the device off and start a new trip back home.
If I use the autopause the battery is dead after 8 hours.
Does anyone having the same problem?
‘Upgraded’ from the Garmin Edge 200, that never missed a bit and ample battery time.
Knowing the battery time issue, went for this anyway for the phone connectivity and Ant+
There are some small issues, such as backlight, auto pause control and the enablement of distance alerts (only 5miles through laps). Short of expect this given the control on the 200 unit.
Big issues are:
_Speed/cadence lost of connect during ride screws up the GPS (Bontrager Ant+). Makes the use of duo devices unreliable. Garmin yet to fix.
-Resume after shutdown, just saves ride and have to start again
-Phone notifications have been hit and miss, and non existent since upgrade to 3.30. This is on Win10 phone
Seeing as a lot of these features are in the older 200, and the additional was a reason to upgrade I’m kinda hacked off. May have to find a 500!
Come on Garmin, sort it out. How do you expect people to further buy your products if you can’t get the entry level stuff to function to a very basic level!
“it will NOT connect to Bluetooth sensors – only instead with your Bluetooth…”
Sorry, but I didn’t get it. Can I connect my bluetooth HR sensor anyway or not?
Multiple sensor question… Can you use the garmin magnet less speed and cadence sensors on one bike and then something like the bontrager duotrap which is a combined speed/cadence? Does that get around the multiple sensor issue? In other words, does the edge 25 have options for speed sensor, cadence sensor, speed/cadence sensor (I think my edge 500 listed the sensor pairing screen this way)
Beware that Garmin states that heart rate is a feature but the unit cannot be set up to display heart rate on the same page as speed, cadence or any other metric.
As a result any cyclist that wishes to display the most basic of information on a single page cannot do so.
I suppose that Garmin expects the rider to switch pages to view heart rate and then switch pages again to view and then repeat, and repeat.
Speaking with Garmin they said the only work around was to use auto scroll. Having used Garmin’s products since 2006 none have had this limitation and I will let the reader decide why Garmin chose to limit the unit in this way.
Setup is also complicated by the unit not listing heart rate as a data field. When installing the unit I started by configuring the screen and no heart rate field was listed. I checked the on line manual which said how to add a field but no heart rate listed as an option at that location. Only after much frustration digging through all the menu options on the unit, giving up and linking a heart rate strap did a “heart rate display page” appear. Heart rate still not listed as a data field.
Why make it frustrating for Garmin customers? Heart rate is a basic metric that has been around for decades and should be well supported. It is really disappointing that they made this unit so unusable. I honestly wonder what are they thinking here.
My wife & I love our 920xts for training, tris and training ( including pratice tris ) with power but during Tri …
I ride by feel without distractions – no gizmos
My wife however wants cadence/avr speed/ & BPM. no power yet ( were older age groupers)
so for during the Tris I ordered her an edge 25. for her bike info during the ride & use the 920 on her wrist to collect all legs & to monitor during the run.
Unless Im mistaking this unit will not work for that . It ( unlike our 920s )requires her desired data fields to be rsset during T1 as it defaults back to its standard data field when turned off or waits for the swim to finish.
or I just don’t know how to get it to stay in her selected data fields.
I’m not sure I’m fully understanding the question, but the data fields should stay configured the same way. You have two “pages” of data you can customize as you want and a third page that shows heart rate. What you have on each page should stay the same even after you turn off. You may need to save those setting using the GarminnConnect app but I don’t think so.
Thank you,
I updated from 2.5 to 3.3 on the Garmin up date web page & it now works As you explained. If the wahoo cadence pods will now stay connected She should be happy.
If you ride technical mountain bike courses you will find that “smart recording” on the Edge 25 is unsatisfactory. It misses a lot of little zigs and zags which means that the total distance reported will be low. There is no 1 second recording interval and no plans to add it. Really disappointing for me to find this out on my own. Also, you can set your heart rate zones but Garmin Connect will not show you a distribution of how long you were in each zone for a ride. In both cases Garmin just wants to you pony up more money for features that should be there from the start.
Welcome to the club Starwalker. One look at link to forums.garmin.com and you’ll find that the forum is full of complaints on the Edge 25 as are the comments on this review. You can suggest 1 second recording as an idea link to forums.garmin.com but don’t expect anything concrete. I bet that there is a complaint for each one of Edge 25’s supported features here or elsewhere:
– GPS recording – no per second recording
– Text/ Call notifications – they are hit and miss
– Using the speed sensor while riding outdoors- doesn’t work at all when GPS is enabled.
– Ability to display HR as a data field- not possible officially. link to edge25.net has a workaround.
– Segment prompts are supposed to work for segments created using garmin connect- except they don’t.
– Virtual partner- Advertised feature that doesn’t work at all.
– Support for Varia bike radar and light- I doubt if anyone who only has budget for an Edge 25 would buy a Varia. But I’m willing to bet that if you do, it will not work as advertised.
Buying the Edge 25 is like buying a weighing scale that has all the bells and whistles but fails at the one thing that it is supposed to do – provide accurate weight readings.
I posted in mtbr.com forums where I paired the 25 with the garmin speed sensor (the one that goes over the hub) that is now prioritized for reading speed (over gps), with the last (or second to last) firmware update. Got very accurate readings. Altitude readings were still bad, but the distance readings were very close to Edge 1000 that was mounted on the handlebar simultaneously with the 25 a la dcrainmaker style. Another dude got very good results, too.
So the solution is to give them more money? Anyways, putting that aside, will it connect to both the heart rate sensor (Wahoo) and speed sensor? If so, I might just do that, since I do like the form factor and mine seems to work ok for text notifications, etc. I haven’t seen just the speed sensor sold anywhere yet, though.
Not sure…. The magnetless garmin speed sensor should be widely available in the US i think. Fyi, my test rides were with mostly under trees. Before, the inaccuracy issues arose because even if you had a speed sensor, the device would still take speed readings via gps. But with the firmware upgrade, it’s much more accurate distance-wise as it prioritizes speed reading from speed sensor. The firmware release notes mention that. Not sure if it works with other speed sensors.
Garmin Customer Service told me that I can put 3 data fields on page 2, however, Heart Rate is not one of the allowed fields. Were you able to put HR and cadence on the same page?
I mentioned that you can have 3 data fields on page 2 because the review by DC Rainmaker said 2, which is incorrect. The heart rate information is on page 3 and cannot be put into page 1 or 2.
Yes – you can put up to 3 data fields on each of the first two pages, with HR showing on a third page (as well as zone).
You can also go to edge25.net and customize the data fields with HR among them on the first two pages. It appears when using this tool you don’t get a third page of data, however.
It works well – I have cadence, HR, and speed on the first page.
Hi guys, I have been using the Garmin Edge 25 for about a year now and I absolutely love the device. It is small, lightweight, durable, and has a user friendly, basic function. The only problem I have is the accuracy when it comes to elevation tracking. I have tried it using GLONASS, with out GLONASS, I have tried turning on/off the elevation corrections option, and I have kept it updated with the latest firmware. Does anyone else have this problem? I would like to know if its just a defective unit or if this is a common issue with the 25. Any input would be greatly appreciated.
I have the same issue. I have ridden near sea level a few times when the elevation was showing negative numbers! When I uploaded the ride data the software corrected it and the elevation data and graph were accurate. This I understand is due to the fact the unit gets the data from GPS rather than a built -in altimeter.
I’ve a 25 and far as I’m aware it doesn’t have a barometer so it only gets elevation data from its location on download. So as long as it’s placing you on roads / tracks where you have been that’s as good as it gets.
It uses GPS to determine altitude, which when you download gets corrected for measured elevations on roads.
I actually have the opposite problem – when I go over bridges it will record my altitude based on the ground elevation not the bridge elevation, at least in some circumstances. Overall mine has been pretty accurate as when compared to Strava – both seems to show similar overall elevation gain for rides.
I currently have the Edge 820 which I was hoping to use for both road and mtb as well as indoor but it has a rather stupid setting for auto start/stop being that it does both at 6 mph. Meaning anytime I go under 6 mph up those steep hills or around very sharp switchbacks, it stops recording and it’s fairly slow to start recording again. This is not an issue on the road or for indoors but it has screwed my data pretty good for mtb rides and I’m now searching for another option on the trails. Strapping ym expensive and large phone to ym bike or using manual start/stop isn’t an option as I used to do that and many times I’d forget to start it again when riding with a group that likes to stop more frequently. Does the Edge 25 have this same setting or should I finally abandon Garmin given the myriad of issues for every device?
Why no Power meter connectivity on the Edge 25? do you know of a simple small device with Power capacity.
I would love to have a edge 25 style computer with wattage.
I would certainly appreciate a small devise with basic feature while keeping the data analysis possibility. I see that Cateye have some smart ones but I believe they are not GPS auto dependent. If this feature would be unlocked I would certainly get one right away. Its already HR Ant+ compatible too.
I twas thinking that they would pack the edge 25 with all the edge 500 features. That would have been sweet.
Picked up two of these units for my kids last year and they work perfectly for them while riding, and upload works fine from Garmin Express. One issue i have is that they each have an iPod touch, and I’ve added their Garmin connect account to the iPods, it appears as if the Edge is syncing through Garmin connect, but the activities don’t appear to actually upload. Am I missing something, or will Garmin devices only work on iPhone and not iPod.
Thank you in advance.
Maybe I misunderstood your original question. Is the Edge not uploading data to the phone/iPod, or is the phone/iPod not uploading to the Garmin connect website? Auto upload is for uploading to the website.
If it’s to phone, make sure it’s paired. If so, try repairing. See if the edge shows up in the garmin app. Also check the firmaware and update – one version last year caused sNYC issues.
I just curious if anyone else has found the edge 25 to be constructed from cheese. In less than 12 months I’m on my third replacement, random crashes followed by a refusal to power on. The last failure occurred after a spirited ascent of sa calobra, imagine the joy on my face on noticing the damn thing had crashed.
Have mine for over year now, did more than 10.000 km with it, never had any issues. Only issues I had was that the battery drained at ~8 / 9 hours usage with HR / Cadens / Speed sensors connected, when doing long distance rides. But I guess that’s just something you’d have to live with. Never had any hardware issues or such.
Will the Edge 25 work with a magnet-based ant+ sensor? I would like to use it indoors on a Lemond Revmaster spinner which has a solid flywheel with no hub on which to mount the new magnetless hub sensor. I can glue a magnet to the side of the flywheel for a magnet-based ant+ sensor.
Just purchased the 25. Because I’m a minimalist…I love it.
However, I’m doing an Everesting attempt in June. Each lap is 2.2mi total(up & down).
What would you do?
1) Leave auto lap at 1mi & shorten the climb distance.
2) Push the button manually at the bottom of every repeat… (provided I remain coherent)
or
3) Upgrade or borrow before the event
Hmm…that’s tricky. Since altitude is what matters here, and the unit doesn’t have a baro altimeter, I might look at other options (borrowing would probably be easy).
Other options would allow you to just focus on a total ascent value instead of hoping the math works out. Just my two cents.
You can’t add heart rate toe the first 2 screens you have to toggle back and forth. There is a long blog where people have asked to be able to add HR to the screens. Any update on this as it is a deal breaker for me as I also want to use the 25 indoors with my spinner.
Ok, since I am computer illiterate please walk me through the steps. I changed the fields and downloaded the file to my computer but am completely unsure what to do next. Thanks for all the help. I like the Garmin but really want the heart rate and cadence to show while using the spinner and peloton app.
Juli 2020.
Re “Ant+ sensor added on the edge 25.”
First impression : interesting since I use Ant+ Powertap powermeter rear wheels.
2nd impression
“No power meter sensor support.”
This is the main reason for why I would buy a external (Garmin) cycling ant+ computer because most mobile phone apps don’t support ant+ powermeters anymore.
Unfortunately Garmin forces powermeter users to buy more expensive edge models like the 130 / 530 or 830 .
The edge 25 offers no new features my phone allready has.
So Still looking for a budget entry level ant+ power meter compatible cycling device.
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Great idea by Garmin, an excellent replacement to the 200 however the lack of Bluetooth sensors will keep me away. I use RFLKT now and would like to get away from relying on my phones battery but am not going to invest in new sensors to make it happen. Oh well, maybe next time. Still love the RFLKT though.
Interesting note… Most argue about missing ANT+ being a big deal because of sensors, but I hadn’t personally considered the other side of the coin (people with BT sensors only). I suppose it is because:
-ANT came first and likely has much more “sensor proliferation” at this point
-BT only sport sensors (ones that don’t do ANT as well) are becoming more rare. Thus they didn’t have such a large purchasing window (came out later, have since been replaced by dual)
-Given the cost of Power Meters specifically, replacement of ANT+ sensors is very costly. Replacing BT sensors is not necessarily a “drop in the bucket” but it is likely more affordable at this point (a HR sensor and Speed/Cadence?)
In any case I’d love to see everyone support both protocols for flexibility, but in this scenario I can see Garmin sticking it out with ANT for now — I’m hopeful they will change their mind eventually :)
I guess this exact scenario is where that’s most common. Someone who quite rightly assumes a mobile should do the job and buys a BTLE sensor, and then finds that it sucks the battery dry when doing activities (or the phone drowns…). I’d agree the opposite is far more common so I’m not convinced Garmin need to change anything just yet. In the long run, they may want to change all their sensors to BTLE to work with other devices since Garmin sell a lot of kooky sensors for things like boats and planes as well as things like chirp and tempe.
How is the charging done? Would there be a way to charge it mid-ride for day-long rides?
Also, can we clarify if the Edge 20 is capable of linking with ANT+ speed/cadence sensors? The writeup says it can’t, but the product comparison chart says it can.
Sorry, just a 3AM brainfart on my part – fixed in the table! Thanks!
The specs show that it ships with a charging & data cradle, but not sure if you can charge mid-activity.
…also one of the pictures shows the connectors on the back; superficially not looking very mid-ride-chargeable.
I suppose you could still charge it on long non-race cycle tours but it probably won’t stay on the mount while charging.
Edge 200 is still available from some sellers (clevertraining included) and it has a longer battery life.
The real question is, could you mount it in the 920XT QR strap and have a really weird watch :) Presumably it’d be sideways though as the bike ones are always 90 degrees off of the watch mounts.
I didn’t see how it charges? If it’s USB, I wonder if you had a large backup battery (like say a 5000mah for phones) if you could charge it mid day.
Not to get off track but great review, I still like the look of the polar M450, and I’m in the market, so I’m paying attention.
Yes, it’s capable to connect to a QR strap.
As for charging mid-ride, I’ll find out (though, I’d give it a 98% chance that it won’t work).
I’ve already written to Garmin customer support lamenting the short battery life. I wish that electronic gizmo manufacturers would turn down their design smallinators a bit in favor of more battery capacity. (I like my Samsung Galaxy S6, but I wish it was twice as thick so I could hang on to it, and the thicker part was filled with battery.) In my email to them, I asked about the mid-activity charge and pointed out that it would be a very useful thing. Hopefully it already supports this, but if not, maybe they’ll figure out a way to allow it.
I already received a reply from Garmin:
Seems one could MacGyver a solution: epoxy the charging cradle to the quarter-turn mount, use zip ties to hold the charging cable to the bike, and store the battery in a wedge pack under the saddle :)
If I’m out that long, I’ll be taking a break. I’ll be content to bring a small USB battery that I’ll just use for the half-hour or so I’m stopping for lunch. That should be enough to bring it to the end of the day. I’m also strongly considering some of the Polar offerings in this category because of this limitation. I must say that I’m frustrated with gizmo manufacturers in general. There’s a blind charge towards the tiny without any thought that there might actually be a small enough. I like my Samsung Galaxy S6, but the darn thing is too thin to handle easily. I’d be happier if it were bigger, with the new volume filled with battery. I think the same concept follows here. I bet if the battery were twice the capacity, the thing would only be 5mm taller.
I first got really excited about this device – at last a decently sized Garmin that will sync through your phone.
Then they spoil it. The manual here link to static.garmincdn.com says you need to put it in a charging cradle to charge it. So unless you take the charging cable and cradle with you, then you can’t charge it on the go as it doesn’t have a standard microUSB port. Given that the 8 hour battery life won’t be enough for some of my rides and there’s basically no way to top it up, it means the device however good the features are – is useless.
Nice work Garmin, nice work :(
I’m a bit surprised that Garmin does not offer a mount with an integrated battery to extend battery time.
I emailed Garmin too and they have mentioned that it can be charged but I cannot charge it while it is mounted. If I keep it in a saddle bag; then the gps may be obstructed. While I love the tiny form factor; the 8 hour battery is really a downer.
Perhaps Garmin didn’t figure that their least expensive entry level product would be for someone who expects to do primarily 8-hour-plus rides. I guess they’re just crazy.
8 HR battery life? My first Garmin 25 would barely last 2 hours when set to GLONASS. So I contacted Garmin and they replaced it with a new unit. Imagine my surprise when the new unit also only lasted 2 hours. Folks should also be awate of the fact that this unit tends to lose the signal in forested areas. And as far as elevation accuracy…I am always happy to learn that I climbed a mountain rather than a molehill…but I tend to worry when the Garmin 25 tells me I am below sea level because I live on the coast of Maine. In short the elevation feature of this unit is basically very unreliable.
Hi Ray, you say you have not spent much time with the Lezyne offerings. Will you be doing a review of those, would be great to get your opinion.
I think they already have a basic model for sale. I believe they will be releasing ANT+/Bluetooth models soon or maybe they already have?
I’m pondering a review, but to be honest I’ve gotten so little interest from readers (I think 2-3 e-mails since the product was announced, and another half a dozen from the company themselves).
Interesting Ray, I was thinking about suggesting you to have a look at the Lezynes and (especially) the Cateye Padrone Smart… Really tired of waiting an update to Edge500 (the real deal for years, but very obsolete for quite some time as well)
Then you can add me to your list of people interested in the lezyne gps line :)
On paper they (the Lezyne gps) seem to better fit my needs than the new Edge 20/25 but I would very much appreciate your views on it. Your reviews are so thorough, it’s a pleasure reading them.
I would appreciate a review of the Super GPS when it comes out. It’s what I was considering for a long while before Garmin announced the 25 – which I’ve now all but ruled out anyway.
I would also be interested in a thorough review of the Lezyne GPS units!
I’m *very* interested in the Lezyne Power/Pro offering, as well! Seems like a far more reasonable screen size for displaying multiple metrics with text/call info than the Edge 25’s screen. I have BT4/ANT+ sensors on the way (Wahoo TICKR and RPM), but would sure love to have some realtime data. I was interested in the RFLKT+ device, but have been put off by reported issues with the device, by reported issues with the Wahoo app’s ride tracking feature & Android support, and by Strava officially refusing to expand RFLKT support by adding basic screen customization, etc.
Since the Wahoo sensors are dual standard, I’m wondering if I might be better off with Lezyne’s Pro — wondering if keeping the sensors on ANT+ and the GPS-to-phone connection on BT4 might reduce interference and reduce dropped connections.
A review on the Lezyne Super GPS would be awesome!
You can add me to the list of interested for the Lezyne, specifically the Super GPS. I’ve been waiting for stock of those to hit Canada since their first announcement. The Garmin 25 is very tempting, but I think the no-bluetooth-sensors kills it for me. Would love to hear your review of the Lezyne units though and be able to compare them side by side on your site. Thanks!
Lezyne is worth considering for 1 main reason – 22 hour claimed batty life. I’m giving the Power GPS a go (no need for Ant+) I’m after a cheap device so I don’t need my iPhone to last the day, but device will still display texts and incoming calls. Review would have been good, guess I’ll see…
Count me in as one who would like to hear more feedback on the Lezyne offerings as well, specifically the Power.
As a non-powermeter user, this is quite appealing. Nice way to upgrade to LiveTracking and text/call notifications if you are into that kind of thing.
One question for you, is it definite that they are not equipped with 1-second recording?
After reading i have two questions:
a) How does Course navigation look /work
b) Can you override/select GPS or ANT+ Speed or are both saved (if available) after seeing current Fenix 3 gps results ANT+ speed sensor will give better results for some MTB tracks.
There’s an image of the course navigation screen at 0:22 of Garmin’s YouTube video: link to youtube.com
@Bart In GPS mode, Garmin records only the cadence half of a speed/cadence sensor. In Indoor mode (i.e. on a trainer) it will record both speed and cadence sensor data.
@Anonymous & John
Thanks for both the answers.
Maybe the 20/25 is different, but no Garmin device I know of that can use a speed sensor uses GPS for speed/distance when there’s a sensor available. The sensor is more accurate, and gives you “3D” for free.
course navigation video
link to youtube.com
Sadly, there is no option to zoom in or out on the course. It’s fixed.
Hello Ray.
I have a Fenix3, and I am wondering if ANT+ captors can be connected simultaneously to two products.
Here is my idea: when doing a Triathlon, I would like to use the Edge 25 to display all metrics from the bike sensor and HRM, but of course, both still need to be paired with my Fenix as well.
Would that work?
Thanks
Yeah, ANT+ will talk to anyone and everyone at the same time. For a recent triathlon I used a FR620 for the swim, an Edge 1000 for the bike and then the FR620 again for the run and it all worked with the same HRM (obviously not in the water though)
Thanks a lot for the feedback Henry. Getting one Edge 25 is definitely becoming an option then ;)
Hi Stef
I’ll add a +1 confirmation on the sensors.For races I use a Fenix 3 in ‘Triathlon’ activity and an Edge 500 on my bike. Both units pick up ANT signals from my Speed Cadence and HR strap
Mike
That’s one of the biggest drawbacks to BT sensors. They are one to one connection. With BT you can’t have your edge and FR picking up HR at the same time.
910 for the entire race on my arm for the triathlon with a 500 on my bike. Use the 500 so I never have to glance to my arm while riding. Share Ant+ HR and cadence sensors across both. Great setup that I use on every ride/race
Interesting… “Additionally, the Edge 20/25 also supports prompting of Garmin Connect segments”
When and IF will this will be available also on other Garmin devices? For example 920xt or Fenix3?
I believe they already do. I know the 920XT does if you follow a course from Garmin Connect. (I don’t have a Fenix, but I thought I saw someone else make a comment that segments showed up on downloaded courses.) It does not do it for courses created with RideWithGPS and converted with Jawa RTW tool. But that is somewhat expected as I believe the segments are embedded within the course FIT file from Garmin. Which probably means that an enterprising individual could embed Strava segments into a course FIT file.
Perfect!!
If only batterylife could be a bit longer (10-12 hours), this is just not enough for one long day like Otztaler Radmarathon, Marmotte, etc.
But I like the size, easyness, ANT+, etc!!
I’m not sure if this is a thing with bike computers, but is charging on the go (while an activity is running) a possibility? That would (potentially) extend the battery life for people who are concerned about that.
Matt B, the Edge 200 certainly does, but it already lasts 14hrs.
It can follow courses too, with audible beep at junctions etc.
Oh Garmin, why is dual connectivity such an evil to you?
Because “The ANT+ Alliance is organized by Dynastream Innovations Inc, a subsidiary of Garmin Ltd.” — it would be bad business to support both. Not saying it’s right, but it’s just why.
Jim, if you don’t mind me asking what scenario are you thinking of? If you have BTLE sensors already for another bike computer then you couldn’t connect them to this at the same time anyway. If you want to use your phone at the same time it’s the same story. Dual connect sensors are common, but the only useful way to use a sensor for multiple devices is Ant+. In fact, in all these discussions, there is exactly one benefit for each technology:
Ant+ can do broadcast to multiple devices
BTLE is built in to phones.
Most people don’t care about connecting to phones if they are investing enough to be bothered what it connects to such as a power meter since the head unit is peanuts in comparison. That IMHO makes Ant+ the clear winner right now.
In addition to everything Lusty said, adding the ability to receive BTLE data would require adding a second BTLE radio to the device. In the BTLE world there are two roles: ‘central’ and ‘peripheral’. The Edge 25 has ‘peripheral’ to talk to the phone. Again, like Lusty said, BTLE is very phone centric.
I suspect that there are combo chipsets that do both. But from Garmin’s perspective, why would you support a competitor when ANT+ is still on top. No doubt one day BTLE will take over based on cell phone compatibility … but no yet.
Is the lack of power support a software or hardware limitation?
Software limitation (on the Edge 25, a hardware limitation on the Edge 20). The chipset they would use would support 8 concurrent channels (one channel per sensor).
Bummer on the choice, a number of people I know use a small computer (Edge500 usually) on the bike for Tris just as a backup or easier to see display from their multisport watch. This would be PERFECT for that I’d think.
That’s a cute and minimal unit, I think many will like that. Maybe not your readers, but everyday people who just want to have speed and record their ride.
By the way, there is a mistake :
“Things the Edge 25 has that the Edge 20 doesn’t (for the extra $30)” -> it should be 40$
Thanks, tweaked!
I understand why Power support is omitted, but I think they’re missing out on a decent amount of sales due to that decision. I have a 510 and use it for all Road rides. But I would also love one of these 25s for my CX bike. I rarely look at my 510 during a CX race and having a nice small unit that can record things but stay out of the way would be awesome.
I hear ya. If it included power support then I would buy it in a heart beat to have a smaller unit and phone notifications with activity upload.
Plus 1 on this. This would be perfect for my tri bike and I’d order one today, if only it would record and display power. I have a 910xt but I don’t have a “bike” only unit and I’ve been looking for one. Guess I’ll keep looking.
I’m in the same boat as Clark as I’m also using a 910xt to record the bike section of the tri so I just need to see how I’m going.
I’ve been looking at the Giant Neos and Bontrager Node. They show power, HR & cadence on Ant+
The main problem I have with these units is how they display the information, if they had customisable display they’d be fantastic units – but for £40/$65 it’s something I’d be willing to live with
The Edge 20 & 25 are really disappointing in terms of price vs feature and not something i’ll be buying
Thanks Ray. Am I correct in concluding that I can NOT display power if I am using an ant+ (e.g., Garmin Vector) power meter? That’s a deal breaker. 3 fields would be plenty for a race, but Power information is critical.
Correct, no power meter support.
[extrapolating wildly] So when does the Edge 50 come out? :) [/extrapolating wildly]
Fail. I suppose they do not want to cannibalize their upper end models, but I’d be happy to own both. I own a 1000 and would have bought a 25 to use for racing only. Without a power field, however, I’m a lost sale.
Thanks again for the review.
+1
Leaving an expensive head unit on my bike in transition always makes me anxious. I’m on the market for a cheap racing-only computer but with no Power, this unit is out.
The thought of having a 920XT quick-release itself mid-swim scares me even more so I guess I’ll keep searching.
Me too…
Although at the moment I’m using a 310XT for exactly this purpose; which does everything the Edge 25 does except for bluetooth/smart functions I think… Also the 310XT is $30 cheaper than the edge 25!
Exactly what I was thinking. And an Edge 80 please.
If the unit already supports Ant+, is there any reason why it can’t do Ant+ power? Or are they just crippling this to force you to buy the more expensive Edge 500?
That’s the conspiracy theory way to look at it.
The other is this device is incredibly small in size. For the battery life, supporting both GPS protocals, AND bluetooth.
There is probably CPU and/or firmware limits when hardware gets this compact.
not the case this is just the same size as many of the watches, its basically a watch without a strap, not supporting power meters is a stupid decision. If you can run the software to decode the ANT+ signals for spd/cad/hr adding the extra part for power isn’t actually going to do much to CPU usage
Wear the QR strap on your wrist. Put the 920 in your swim cap. Press start through the cap at the gun (or crossing the mat.) T1, move it to the bike mount. T2, move it to your wrist.
@H M
Actually, power meter can add quite a bit of CPU usage. If they provide various average power settings, that’s a lot more work than just showing current raw Ant data value. Additionally, if they also add NP, TSS, IF, those are “complex” calculations as well. You could argue that they could just display raw power, and record it. But people will still complain that there’s no 3 sec average, or 30 sec average or whatever they wanted.
(I’ve noticed that my 920XT battery does not last nearly as long when cycling with a power meter compared to running. Like half as long.)
This slippery slope argument makes little sense. Forget training metrics: this is a KISS unit. 3 sec power has virtually no computational cost and just displaying that would be sufficient. Store LR balance and pedal dynamics in the FIT but don’t display it. I’m not sure how communicating with a power meter compares with a speed sensor or HR strap. I’ve not noticed loss of capacity in my Edge 500.
Fwiw, here’s my take on the unit pricing/etc…
In general, I agree (as you can see I hint at in the summary), that the pricing on these units is off. I was mostly waiting for my in-depth review to discuss that in more detail. In part because I think it’s only fair that I get a bit of time with them (multiple rides) before I make such a statement. I get the size is awesome, but still, it’s overpriced compared to other offerings.
If I were in charge of them though, here’s what I would have done:
Edge 20: $99 price point. They’re competing against sub-$80 devices and $1 apps, so the sub-$100 price point would have been spot-on due to the higher/cleaner integration at the Garmin Connect level, which people value. So $99 is a fair compromise given the higher quality of the Garmin web platform over others. Keep the unit as-is otherwise.
Edge 25: $129 price point. But add in power recording and ability to show either 3s or 10s power. No TSS/NP/etc… But record everything at 1s, so you could do that after the fact. Makes it the ideal TT unit, plus a spot-on unit for recording random commuting rides with a bike that happens to also be your regular bike (common for many people). Battery and all that is perfectly fine as-is.
The $169 price point is silly in my opinion, especially without power.
Yup – I’d totally agree.
The pricing is disappointingly high given the competition. In addition, I’m also looking for a small, simple unit (something akin to an Edge500) specifically for racing. I only use a handful of metrics, but 3sec power is one of them – I want to know if I’m going to blow up in that break or not! :-)
With a lack of power readings, the Edge25 is already out of the running… :-(
Sadly, a bit of a miss, IMO.
I was thinking the same thing, a 310XT with the quick release kit has a lot of overlap with these and for a similar price.
Thx Ray, good news; I want something small like this, but with all the Edge500 characteristics(barometric altimeter first of all). How many time I have to wait again?
I would’ve also liked to see a barometric altimeter in the 25, I always like to see the current grade as I’m suffering up a climb…
Surprised they didn’t build power meter capability into the 25. Based on how many riders, especially triathletes, rely on power think that is going keep sales from taking off. I would love one if it read power, just so I could leave my 910 on my wrist!
It’s a shame the Edge 25 doesn’t support power. I wonder if that’s a technical or marketing constraint?
Day to day I use the Edge 1000 for training, and a very early Edge 500; whose battery is failing, for racing. The Edge 25 would have made an excellent replacement.
I’d guess marketing for sure. It has ant+ capability. I’m an optimist… Perhaps Garmin will see the light and a future software update will “solve” the issue.
Hello, do you have any notice or rumour for an upgrade of the edge 810 family? thanks
Feature-wise, the Polar looks like a more solid value, at this price range.
It is indeed, if size is no object – then it’s a much better value.
But the Polar won’t do turn by turn courses, which is a real shame now its up against this (and I was planning on getting one).
I’m looking for a unit this size that displays 3 metrics for use diring the bike portion of a triathlon: cadence, power, Di2 gear selection. Both of these technically could, but Garmin chose not to include power and Di2. So no sale for me.
I agree, if Garmin added Di2 display this would be an excellent device.
However, I think the SCIO ANT+ cycle computer would give you cadence, power and Di2 gear info. It’s a bit “clunky” in use, you can’t have auto-scrolling for example, but might be worth a look for your needs.
I agree I think that the addition of Di2 display would put this head and shoulders above the rest of the pack.
Ray it always impresses me that you review all these devices that clearly don’t fit with your own requirements in just as much detail and enthusiasm as you do with stuff you might use long term. It also surprises me how much time I spend reading these reviews on your site when I clearly won’t need to buy one of these to go next to the various other toys you made me buy :)
Great review! 2 questions;
1) Does this have an odometer built in?
2) Can this be set up to more than 1 bike and have odometer for each?
I didn’t see one built in, however, Garmin Connect now has gear tracking, so in theory you could use that and set the bike after the workout.
+1 on the no sale due to lack of power meter support. Otherwise would have loved one of these…
I like! Adds GLONASS and BT iPhone sync, in a compact low cost platform over my Edge500!
Multiple bike profiles? I have 3 programmed into my Edge500 now…???
Profiles are gone these days, just a sensor pool on all the new devices.
Technically (with a bit of hack) it can support Strava segments like the other Garmin devices using this tool:
link to gniza.org
The lack of ability to show power is a huge mistake by Garmin. As noted above, I’d love to have a 25 for racing or using on my TT bike, rather than the 1000 that I own. As noted before, without a power field, however, I’m a lost sale. Garmin, fix it with a firmware update and I’m in for a 25!!!
Typo: First sentence “Today Garmin has rolled two new bike GPS computers, the Edge 20 and Edge 25” I think it is missing an “out”
Good catch. Fixed.
Same for me on the power meter support. It would be ideal for tri racing if that were the case, but as it is, it’s a no-go. Surely it is just a software limitation, so I’m hoping if enough people post messages like those that are already becoming a dominant theme in the comments section, Garmin might rectify in the future.
Having said that, it’s still nearly double the price of what I got my 500 for in the Black Friday sales, so it’s hardly “cheap”, even if the 500 is old tech and this is brand new.
The text/call notifications sounds cool….anyone know if Garmin will be updating software on the current Edge products (510) to add this???
It doesn’t sound like it.
is it a limitation of the device or Garmin not wanting to add the feature so people who want it maybe compelled to upgrade?
With the Edge 510/810 it’s a hardware limitation, as those do not have BT4.0 chipsets in them but rather legacy BT chipsets. This means that they can’t leverage the iOS/Android notification centers to get notifications through the standard channel.
+1 on the lack of power meter support.
I’d buy one just to keep in the jersey pocket for livetracking and so I could upload via BT at the end – use my 800 as the actual head unit.
Very pricy for something with only limited no. of basic functions. You get pretty much the same stuff from 20$ wired computers (-GPS) …
Not really. I’m not aware of any $20 bike computer that allows you to download where you went afterwards or the stats. Or can direct you on a course. Or can connect to wireless sensors, etc…
Now one could (attempt) to make the argument you get all that from a $1-2 app. Which is true. But then you’ve got to sort through adding a mount for your phone to your handlebars, which has it’s own set of tradeoffs.
I may have exaggerated a bit but I think you know what I mean. Especially the 20 model, which costs around 100$ more than basic computers, but only has some basic GPS functions over the basic generic computers (neither can pair/display any advanced sensor data like HR, Cad, …).
The 25 seems much better, but compared to its rivals (Polar for ex.) appears the have very little and hard to read screen. Garmin has some top notch computers (510, 810, 1000), I even have one (and couldn’t be happier, minus some FW issues), but this just seems like a desperate attempt to fill the gap in the market Garmin has neglected in the past and let competition take over.
Beyond the mount there is a lot of cost for a waterproof casing and extra battery life. 8 hours for a cyclocomputer is functional but not great. You’ll get far less with a cell phone.
Yet the OP is correct that these devices should be less expensive. Cheers to competition in an area which used to be Garmin only.
Using one of these, would I be able to create a route on Google Earth (or download a file from Singletracks, for example), convert it to the appropriate filetype (.gpx, I believe), upload it to the device, and then follow the track/route? A couple of articles I read say yes, but the Garmin site says “0”, under “Routes.”
I haven’t been able to get my Edge 20 to read a gpx file and I haven’t been able to open a gpx file in Garmin Connect. I also found that dropping a gpx file in the NEWFILES folder did not work. What I have resorted to is converting the gpx file to a fit file and then dropping it directly into the COURSES folder of the Edge 20. To do the conversion, I used this page:
link to gpsies.com;?language=en
Its good , but all of soft strap garmin not working good …
Most recently produced straps work pretty well (HRM3, HRM-Run, etc…).
I only started cycling last year and did not want to invest too much in a GPS computer. I ended up buying a runner’s product – the FR15 watch with HR strap for 179 euros. I get cadence from a very simple wired computer – though of course it is not recorded. This Edge 25 looks interesting in adding cadence at a lower price point in the Edge series (I have zero interest in power capture). I love that it has the same type of connection as the watches – much safer than mini USB in my view, but am reserved about the battery life. I’d willingly trade a slightly bulkier body for longer life. The biggest issue will be price. On the European/French Garmin site the 25 with HR strap is listed at 199 euros. Adding the magnet less cadence and speed sensors is another 69 euros… taking the total for adding cadence to 268 euros… I also don’t like that you apparently can’t configure HR data with other fields on a page. This is also a weakness on the FR15.
What android app does one need to utilize the real-time tracking/sharing feature on the 25?
Garmin Connect Mobile (on iOS or Android)
Thanks for the review.
As a criterium racer (short 1-2 km courses) i use Auto-Lap “Marking Laps by Position” on my Edge 500 .
So i hope there will be soon a successor of the Edge 500 with WiFi, Bluetooth and longer Battery live. The 8 hours of this model are too little. With only 8 hours you can not go on a 200 km ride.
Great review!
I have a couple of question and if you guys could help me I’d be very grateful. I currently run with my phone and record my activities with strava. I’ll be moving to Groningen in two of months and I intend to start road cycling. Do you think the edge 25 could be a good alternative for cycling and running? What are the best alternatives for both activities in the 150-200 euros range with HRM?
Thank you very much.
And lastly on the Edge 25, it supports text and call notifications
Can someone describe how this actually works? And how useful is it?
As it’s just (?) ‘notifications’, I presume you are not seeing the contents of a text message on the head unit, correct? That would be vaguely useful so the buddy you’ve just dropped can SMS you to says he’s had a puncture and you don’t need to get your phone out of your jersey pocket.
If not the content of the SMS, are you even aware of the type (SMS v E-mail) and the sender?
Lets you know who is calling or texting which helps you decide if you can ignore it. Probably also has the first couple words of a text. I found it surprisingly useful on my FR920.
I’m still somewhat confused at the purpose of this device. How does the Edge 25 compare/compete against the Wahoo RFLKT+?
I’d say that:
– rflkt+ has barometric altimeter (which is a must have if you mean to use Strava: you will otherwise end to be disappointed by the lack of the feature on your device, not the service)
– not compatible with Bluetooth sensors. Rflkt+ just reflects the phone, which picks them up, and bridges ant+ so it got you covered whatever the case
– it lacks support to power meters. Rflkt+ grabs them up.
– the 25 is self contained so you don’t have to carry your phone.
– the edge has integrated navigation, you can download your routes to it, rflkt+ has it only via a third party app (few dollars).
– it can show/alert segments. Just Garmin’s of course. Which someone may find useful but I know nobody who use them. Everybody here uses Strava’s.
I currently use a Node 2.1, simple and easy does what I need and since my next purchase is a power meter the Node will read it and has a barometer altimeter too! I don’t think these units have a Odometer function where it can use the speed sensor and wheel size to calc speed correct? It could be a decent option to not use GPS and use Odo mode if battery issue would be an issue. Anyway close but no cigar, I was excited to read about it but note quite there.
Hi Ray,
The Edge 25 seems like an awesome product! It basically has all the “essential” functions in a tiny package that I can put right between the aerobars (I use them a couple inches apart).
The fact that it includes live tracking is the kicker really.
However….. One request for you, Ray:
I use a Lumia 920 Windows Phone, and a growing number of my friends use it as well.
Can you use your internal secret Garmin contacts to understand why Garmin refuses to make the Garmin Connect Mobile for Windows Phone?
They don’t answer questions on it or just deflect the issue in Garmin forums or support requests…..
Thanks!!
Porto
It’s something they’re considering. But as they’ll note – and as I can confirm – it makes up only 1-2% of users. For example, for DCRAINMAKER.COM here for the last 30 days, Windows Phone mobile OS usage is at only 2.5% of total mobile users. It’s incredibly hard to justify the cost of development without additional external funding (read: Microsoft adding money into the pot, as all mobile OS companies do to support big name development).
Will be interesting to see if they will make use of the new Windows tool to make it easier to more directly run Android or ios code
Do you know if it has a “Time of Day” field? We organise a lot of rides based on Garmin time as that ensures no-one can blame their watch being wrong :)
The first screen (before the two customizable screens) is current date and time. You can see it in the last segment of the video starting about 4:15.
Hi Ray,
Does this imply then that newer versions of the 510 and 810 are on the horizon?
Wow, this begs the question, if Garmin and Lezyne can build “good” gps computers for $160, how much money are they making on the the $300 and $400 units.
I get having computers at every price point, but a race to the bottom nobody wins. Garmin really need to compete with the PC8 now.
I also will never understand, why they make the screens so small, they need to go as far as the can to the edge of the device. You have have a football game in the wasted space on these and the 920…
C
Odd, how does Garmin (i.e. an Edge 1000) not compete with the PC8? Or, put differently, how on earth does one say that the PC8 competes at all (as offered today)?
Hi Ray,
As offered today, you are right.
I thought the PC8 screen had better resolution, but I was wrong, I will say from all the pix the PC8 screen looks a lot better…
All from what I can see/find the PC8 has more info on the screen. Doesn’t the PC8 record powermeter data faster then every second?
What I was trying to say and didn’t say at all is that if Garmin is going to race to the bottom, they should also race to the top, and while the the 1000 might have more “features” I am not sure that it’s really a pro bike tool.
That said, I think that over time the Vector team, will help push Gamin in to that niche market.
C
PS I would rather look at the PC8 all day than the 1000, the 1000 is ugly. : ) wasted space and bad use of color makes it look like a 3rd grade adobe flash web pages.
The mapping on the PC8 isn’t as good though, surely in a “race to the top” this would be a requirement before higher resolution data capture?
Just checked the lezyne site . The mini looks sweet. Wonder when its gonna be out….to bad wont receive notifications…calls/text etc…
Oh and yes, the screens could be bigger for sure…The dead space kills me…
Hey guys,
I was just wondering if anyone had a garmin forerunner 920 XT they could sell me.
Thanks,
Harrison
No 1 second recording. For that reason. Im out.
What a shame.
Thank you Ray! Great news!
I am wondering that so much Edge 200 are on the road so that is worthwile for an update?
The Edge 500 ist nearly 6 years (2009) old and has never been updated. (The 510 is no option because of the bigger size and the same awfull slowness)
So i’m still waiting for an update of the Edge 500…
Just because you don’t like the update doesn’t mean the 510 is not the update of the 500 so you’ll have to hope you’ll like the 510 replacement
Add me to the list of those interested in a review of the lezyne units. The top end model looks to be even more full featured than the Garmin for not much more.
I have an ANT+ speed/cadence sensor that is built into my bike (giant) which renders the polar units useless to me… It’s really to bad they didn’t add it.
Below is an email I sent to Ray on 6/5/2014. I wanted to supply input to Garmin for a future bottom tier Edge device. It looks like they actually listened to much of it, or it just worked out to be the logical progression of the lower end of the Edge line.
Ray,
Thanks for the response. If the opportunity ever presents itself to give input to Garmin on an Edge 200 replacement device (future Edge 210?), here’s my $0.02 based on the pricepoint and target audience of low cost, keep it simple…
1. Keep the same size and form factor as the Edge 200/500. May as well keep the same case, screen size, screen resolution, and pushbuttons to keep the cost down where it is now.
2. Add Bluetooth connectivity, but only for wireless data syncing with Garmin Connect Mobile. A simple alert for the number of missed texts or phone calls would be really nice for long training rides when your significant other is trying to reach you. But no weather forecasts, weather alerts, or other Bluetooth functionality found in higher level devices.
3. Add ANT+ Speed Sensor ONLY. This would allow accurate speed data with GPS signal loss (indoor training, tunnels, dense forest, canyon, etc.). Heart rate and cadence would be nice, but would require additonal screen fields and complexity that has previously been outside the scope of this basic entry level device. Adding heart rate would allow for much more accurate calorie data. Power data is definitely outside the scope of this level device.
4. Barometric Altitude Sensor instead of current GPS altitude for improved accuracy.
5. Optional – GLONASS for additional satellites to reduce loss of satellite signal and therefore improve overall gps ride data accuracy. I don’t understand why the Edge 810 was not given GLONASS but the 510 was??? It doesn’t appear that the Edge Touring models got it either.
These changes would keep the device just as basic and simple to use as it is today, but help it keep up with the cycling gps competition from Timex and Magellan. The only added complexity for the user would be during the initial setup for syncing with Garmin Connect Mobile over Bluetooth, and also the initial setup of the ANT+ speed sensor. Once these are setup, the usage should be the same as it is now on the Edge 200. The ride data fields displayed and stored would be the same as the Edge 200. Just with improved accuracy, along with the ability to train indoors and upload the ride data over your mobile phone after the ride.
Thanks for what you do.
Regards,
Tim
This is a fair offering … I would say to Garmin … make both units cheaper!
Now on the upper end, when the 25 is offering text message updates I have to wonder how long it will be until there are updates in the 200, 500 and 510.
200/500 – merge into one unit (400?). Add GLONASS, Livetrack, text message display and music controls. Use the higher contrast display (B&W) and boost battery life. Add touchscreen support. Support all modern ANT+ protocols.
510 (515?) – Again … add text message support, music controls. Improve the quality of the screen INCREASE the battery life. Add phone based navigation on demand. Connect IQ screens for various audio players like Stitcher, Pandora, etc…
810 (815?) – GLONASS, better screen, longer battery life, music controls (like above).
In general … Livetrack
Add (OK) pings to Live Track as well as an emergency button (can be screen based). Livetrack should function more like a SPOT since that’s what most of us use if for anyway. Livetrack notifications should be TEXT based or social media based. Nobody really checks there email much anymore.
If Garmin can’t add more value to their products, they need to lower the prices. I’m on “team Garmin” right now with an Edge 510 and a VivoActive (coming from Vivofit) and three sets of sensors. It makes sense for me to keep my products “in the family” but Polar and others are nibbling at their heels and I would not be surprised if Fitbit jumped into the cycling head unit game at some point. Garmin needs to up their game.
What’s a SPOT? I use live track as a second option for my wife to see where I am, the first being via the iPhone’s Find My Husband app.
As for using social media and sms text to notify for live track: I don’t supply mobile numbers to many places, to stop the spam messages and calls, and I don’t do social media (such as FaceAche). The email approach works well for me. However, I realise that others have different needs and so wouldn’t suggest that what works for me is the only way. Though I don’t see how using social media to advertise your house is empty is a good thing.
As for music control, I don’t know of any in my group that listens to music when riding on the road/trail but then may be some people that do. On the turbo I have my phone to hand but it is used to to start a playlist.
The only feature I can see that I miss is alerts from my phone being displayed. My wife has a VivoSmart and finds this useful, so having this on the 810 would save those ‘I sent to a text’ conversations as I come back in the home.
As a minimal package, the Edge 25 looks to be pretty well spec’d for general cycling. Plus less exposed on an MTB.
SPOT is a satellite based notification system. If you have decent cell coverage wherever you ride a cell phone with live track is generally better. But if you often go out of cell coverage, like here in Bend OR, it’s the most reliable way to give a live track of where you’ve been. It actually sends a very simple message via satellite including your location and one of 3 simple text messages. But it has no way of knowing if it was actually received by the satellite. In tree cover, the messages often don’t get received. It tries to send the location every 2 to 5 minutes depending on your annual plan.
I see, thanks for the explanation. Could probably do with that here in parts of the UK (the cell network drops out round here and we’re about 30 miles from London).
Newb question – new to bike riding. I have the Garmin 620 paired with a speed/cadence bike sensor. What benefit would I gain by getting the Edge 25? Would I use the Edge 25 paired with the speed/cadence sensor and not use my watch?
Pretty much no benefit except for text/phone alerts.
You write “It’s the internals that differ though between the two units. ”
Did you open the Edge 25 and Edge 20 to make a verification?
No, though doubt they’d spend the money on the extra chipset. I typically don’t take apart products when I only have it on short-term loan.
That said, once they start shipping, the units are cheap enough I probably will for fun (meaning, cheap enough that if/when I accidentally destroy it taking it apart, I’m not horribly upset).
I noticed a simple error in the comparison chart: in the article, you note the Edge 25 as having Bluetooth sync support, but the comparison chart shows it as only having USB data sync capabilities.
Odd…fixed!
I like that the lap button is lower-left, just as with my FR15. When I try to click off a lap on my Edge 500, I end up changing the data page; worse, when I try to change the data page, I accidentally click off a lap.
All the complaints about lack of power meter support yet no complaints about lack of weight scale support? ;)
If you want power then that is what the 5×0 is for. This is so they can have a cheap head unit so don’t understand why you think they would undermine sales of the 510
Ok, make it an in between size of edge 25 and edge 500. Give it barometric alti, power meter support and minimum 10 hour battery. Charge $225 and I’m onboard with buying that one.
Eli: The Edge 500 was a fantastic race day GPS in 2009. It’s 2015, and the 500 has been abandoned for firmware updates.
Garmin seems so obsessed with bloatware devices they fail to see the market for simpler/smaller/lighter like this. If this thing had power and an altimeter it would sell like crazy, even with the small battery, because the vast majority of races are in the 1-4 hour range, well within its capacity even discounting 8 hours as optimistic.
the 500 is still my unit of choice, but it’s very long in the tooth by electronic standards.
Few questions:
1: Can it display time(ie 12/24 Clock time) on the main screen? I couldnt tell from the video if it had that option. I just picked up the Edge 200 and wont display time on main page which is a bummer to me.
2:Do you have to display three data lines or can you select only 2 and then have bigger font?
3:For the notifications: does it display the email/text or tell you who called or just notifiy you that you got a mssg etc.
Thx, and thx for the speedy writeup!!
1) Yes
2) One page has three, one page has two.
3) It wasn’t setup on the unit I was testing, so not 100% sure.
Sorry DC one more…on the page with two data lines…is the font bigger or same since less data presented?
Never mind….just saw the pic above. Does look like its bigger…thx anyway
Hi DC,
Going out on a limb here…were you ever able to test how the text/phone call notifications were displayed on the device?
Garmin support has given me some underwhelming responses without any real good info…
thx
I wasn’t able to test that again, though might be able to grab the units a bit later in the week (just slammed with travel this upcoming week).
I just bought the Edge 25 (software version 3.0.0), and it has a separate clock page you can switch to, but does not let you configure the clock as one of the data fields alongside speed/distance, the (only) “time” option there is ride time. I find this rather annoying.
How fast/quickly does it connect to Satellite/GPS?
My edge 500 is painfully slow and would be interested to know how the Edge 25 compares.
Also, is the tracking more accurate than the Edge 500? I use mine for MTB and often times it fails to ‘match’ STRAVA segments and thereby doesn’t register a segment time. Is the Edge 25 better at this?
Thanks
It’s pretty close to instant. In my tests it took less time than I could photograph the little bar icons increasing. :)
The Edge 500 is now some 6-years old, so the GPS chipset there doesn’t have all the caching options that new one have.
Can anyone comment on the GPS accuracy? I bought a 510 which I used as a road biker and had great GPS accuracy. However, I’ve moved and now mostly mountain bike. The 510 was damaged and I’m looking for a replacement unit that doesn’t cost the same as a 510. The 200 had issues being accurate on twisty mountain bike trails that made me shy away from purchasing it. These little units caught my eye, but I’m guessing they have a “cheaper” version of GPS, similar to the 200 that won’t make them suitable for my needs. Any comments?
I wasn’t aware Lezyne did GPS computer until now. I would be interested to learn how they compare to the big G!
Why no Powermeter compatibility? When will Garmin finally bring out a small bike computer that can display power? Its SO sad..
So basically a 310xt (with QR kit) for more money and with less features (except mobile uploading), released 4? years later.
I find it amazing that Garmin releases units that other than including more radios seem to do less. The 310xt has a longer battery, better waterproofing and I can customize the data pages how I like. Really don’t get the point of limiting the screen setup.
Also not sure the slightly larger form factor is an issue on a bike.
Of course, but a FR310XT is much larger and isn’t a ‘one-stop’ solution (you still have to buy the extra kit). And, on the mobile uploading/sync/call/text notification features – some value those.
It’s not about being the most full featured device – that isn’t what they are after here.
I’d be interested to know how the altitude accuracy works out. With the GLONASS/GPS support (I assume simultaneously) the horizontal accuracy will be better (I’ve found this to be very true with phones), so I think the altitude accuracy should be better than just GPS. Not sure how it compares to the barometric altimeter accuracy though. I find the “steps” in the altitude on my edge800 to be too big to provide useful gradient data.
On the other hand smaller footprint = smaller antenna and that will hurt accuracy. The 500 is fine with accuracy as long as it’s not confused by reflections or occluded satellites. GLONASS should reduce the occlusion problem and hopefully improved algorithms reduce the anomalous displacements associated with reflections which tend to plague the 500 in hilly, wooded, or urban terrain.
Smart Recording? What a waste. I though I finally found the computer I’ve been waiting for. But this is a deal breaker for sure. Might need to email Garmin and confirm this. Why offer the ability to upload the data if it’s basically useless. I could do without power meter but this is a software issue that shouldn’t be there. Maybe they are doing it to conserve battery, if so I’d much rather have it be slightly bigger/heavier to have a larger battery.
You were so close Garmin!
Why is smart recording a concern?
It results in significant errors in Strava timing. This is a bit old now, but: link to djconnel.blogspot.com
I stupidly hit buy seeing this unit and assuming it would be perfect for MTB as all I want is a small unit to show time and distance then download to Strava and with glosnass as well as gps I thought would be great. However NO rubbish as anything less than 1 second recording on mountain bike trails is pointless. It’ll give you strava KOM’s all over the place with it guessing you could pass through a tricky section at the average speed you managed on the straight before but I want honest results thanks and this doesn’t give them.
Hello Ray i was just looking at your review and i was thinking that in this price range, maybe it will worth it to compare it with tom tom multisport for example don’t you think??
Hi DC Rainmaker,
I just got my first Garmin GPS Nuvi 42LM for my car and now looking for GPS for my bike. I love to read your depth review of Garmin Edge 20 & Edge 25 and i think should go with Edge 25. However the price at $169 i think its too expensive comparing to my current Nuvi LM42 that cheaper than this. Is there any other model with basic functionality that you recommended for bike?
The answer depends on what you want out of it. For example, Nuvi’s do map based routing, but they don’t record trips (not officially, anyway) and they certainly don’t connect with fitness sensors. Are you looking for something to route for you and display maps, or for something to record GPS tracks/fitness sensors? A cycling GPS that will display maps and route like a Nuvi will cost you more than an Edge 25.
Aha, good point Paul. Nuvi don’t record trips, i just realize this now. Sorry for my typical thinking that looking for a device that will do anything, i forget that specific features will require more component/cost. Thanks for prompt reply.
Can this unit display anything in the 3 data fields?
I’d like to set it up to read speed, cadence, and HR. That’d be perfect. From reading the review though it looks like maybe the timer is always going to be taking up one data field.
Between the Polar M450 and the Edge 25 at about the same price it’s a tough call.
If Polar reinstated their out in front mount or if K Edge started making Polar mounts it’d be an easier choice.
I contacted K Edge and they have no plans to make a Polar mount. Odd since all it’d require is a plastic insert for the aluminum bar mount…
Like Casquito this is my most important consideration. The way it’s written in your article, it looks like speed, distance, and HR cannot be shown together in the 3 data-field screen. If not, I will be buying the Polar M450, though I don’t really want to due to the size as my primary use will be mountain biking and inevitable crashing means inevitable damage, or flying off the bars. The latter particularly seems much less likely with such a small device like the Garmin 25 here.
The charging on the go problem might be ok if the design of the charging cradle is sensible as in it has a USB connector on the unit itself which you can swap out for different length wires.
Any details on the charging cradle? As this is where the device lives or dies IMO
Is there some way to have speed displayed from the wheel sensor? If not, is the speed sensor only used when GPS reception is lost?
Is there any value to buying the speed/cadence combo sensor vs just the cadence sensor?
Thanks
As far as I know, every current Garmin device that can detect a “speed” sensor always uses the sensor in preference to GPS. If the sensor is there, speed/distance is always computed from the wheel revolutions reported by the sensor. GPS is used only to calibrate the sensor (set the wheel circumference). If you’ve manually set the wheel circumference, GPS Is never used for speed/distance unless the sensor fails (and it takes some time for the head unit to notice the failure).
The only real advantage of the combo sensor is that it’s just one device. On my bikes with the separate Garmin speed and cadence sensors, I have to wake the sensors up individually. On the bike remaining with the combo GSC-10, all I have to do is spin the cranks to get both sensors working. The disadvantage of the combo sensor is the magnets that can get misaligned/lost.
Paul S, thanks for your reply…
I am using the garmin combo sensor currently with garmin 610. When looking at rides on GarminConnect the speeds appear to be from GPS, because the speeds are unreasonably high. Look at this ride (max speed 150km/h):
link to connect.garmin.com
Because of these unrealistic speeds I assumed the speed were from GPS and not wheel sensor.
Thanks
There are really great tools, and I am buying it. Recently one of my bikes was stolen with Edge 810 on it. After year of using it I realized I don’t need that fancy map stuff, I never used it at all, neither routing nor training partner. So I would go probably for Edge510 and was also considering Forerunner15, just for saving gps rides and being able to put it on connect.garmin.com. But this Edge25 is even more sexy and bringing everything I was looking for – compact size, simple menu, at least 3 data lines per screen, ANT+ and bluetooth connectivity. I can just unbox it and put on the gps holder (left from my Edge810 on my other bike), HR strap is still with me so just basic pairing and I am ready to go. After making a little research on the web yesterday, I cancelled my order for Forerunner15 which had to do the similar job now I want from Edge25. I hope it’ll be shipped during July as I am used to record every ride I do. Great news for me.
The Edge 25 might be the unit for someone who wants the live tracking function in a small form factor, providing the link between the unit and your phone is 100% reliable.
Hi Ray
Is there a list of available data fields for these units?
I looked on the Garmin site and no luck.
I am presuming usual suspects, except previously mentioned Power missing.
I saw Ascent mentioned in a screen shot, so I suppose , Elevation, Ascent, Descent and % Grade is there??
Looking for a simple Edge for my wife’s bike; but she would miss the simple pleasures like looking at the grade, or guessing how many more metres are still to climb . No power means a gap for my bike though, —although the form factor (SMALL!) is very appealing.
Cheers
No, only the metrics noted in the post within the section that starts with “Metrics available”.
DC Rainmaker, or any others:
Do you know when Garmin will bring out a mini ant+ bike computer that can display POWER ?
thank you for your comments!
I would have said the Edge 25 is about as close as you’d get, though unfortunately lacking power.
Yep.. thats the point.. no power displayed :-\
Thanks for your comment anyway- well appreciated
why not just buy the Edge 500? About the same price and waaay more sensors/features. If you get one refurbed its even cheaper.
Its size is huge compared to the 20 or 25 :-(
the 500 is not very big :)
RE: Notifications(Phone/Text)-
I emailed garmin cust support and they werent the most helpful likely b/c its a new device but they said that if you get called: the phone number will show up on the device
It will only notify you that a text has come. They said it wont display any of the text. I asked them for screen shots of what it would look like but they dont have any…
RECORDING INTERVAL
Is it possible that Garmin adds 1-sec recording, or is it battery life issue?
I hope they didn`t add this feauture for marketing reasons.
In case of battery life I`d like to see stem mount with chargeable posibility (ideal solution – something like k-edge stem mount with battery in head tube)
Shame about the short battery life, otherwise I would have bought one. 8 hours is not enough for a long day ride, or a week of commuting. I’m sure they could double the battery life while only making it slightly thicker and heavier.
Most of the time I just want a device to display speed, distance, time, heart rate, so something small and simple would be great.
Could also be useful in addition to a bigger GPS. eg using an Etrex or Edge 800 to display maps, while you use the Edge 25 to display speed. And recording a backup GPS track.
I didnt realize the lezyne mini is available already.
It claims 10hrs of battery life.
Not sure how much different than the garmin 20 other than lezyne being slight bigger form factor and slight more $$.
Surprisingly, the display on the 20 has more area.
Ray, you mention the auto lap feature is limited, is it possible to auto lap based on GPS start/lap position like on the 510? The 25 would be ideal for XC/Road racing, I don’t need to see a load of data but I’m terrible at counting laps!!!
No, no auto lap by position.
Agree with some of the other comments here. If it could do 1 second recording and ANT+ power data was collected, this would be my go to unit. It’s not like I’m analyzing power data during the ride, so a smaller size makes sense. A little more battery life would be nice too, but not essential. As it is, I’ll keep my 2x 500s.
This is the GPS i have always been waiting for, simple info small, light only one thing do you think with future updates of the edge 20/25 you could get more data fields? The ones which would be handy is time of day, so would temp but I don’t think they have provisions for this.
Hi Ray,
Can you please upload a ride that you’ve recorded with this device?
I’m interested in the accuracy of the GPS “SMART recording” vs the 1 second recording of my now slightly dated (although still impressive) 500.
it isn’t accurate, in fact its hopeless for the likes of Strava – 1 second recording is what this unit needs. I have an 800 and this 25, the 25 unless I can find a way of making it record at 1 second intervals will be going on eBay. 1 second recording of the 800 v’s Smart on this unit, if I use the strava compare function on a segment, the 800’s data runs smoothly, the 25’s does huge jumps often the last jump passing way out of the segment so resulting in falsely fast times.
I would gladly pay $100 more for this device if it could pair to, log data from, and display ANT+ power data. I do not like bulky, hard to see, color touch screen offerings like the edge 5xx.
Hey DC, I just ordered this 25.
Quick question. Once I Bluetooth pair the unit ,will it stay paired or do I have to paired on my OS phone it every time I start a ride?
Hi, DC!
Thank for yet again wonderful article! I have a question to you.
I have ordered a new Canyon bike so I wonder if I need to upgrade my current GPS-gear as well. I used to do mostly running so now I want to include bike as well. At the moment I use Sigma BC 1606L DTS on my current bike (bought it ages ago at my pre-GPS times) as well as Garmin FR 610 (my current running/biking watch) on Garmin handlebar mount.
With a new bike, should I keep/upgrade my FR 610? Should I go for EDGE? Being able to see the actual map seems like a really nice. On the other hand FR 610 has “take me home” feature in case I get lost. A part from actual map EDGE 25 seems to have most of the features that I might need (at the moment at least), but I think my FR610 can do the same (and even more). Also I’m afraid that features of 25 will soon be not enough. Price tag is rather high as well. Can you, as an athlete and a tech person, give me any advice? Should I stuck to FR610 or should I go for EDGE? Is there any point to invest in EDGE 1000 or if there something in between (like 520 or 810)?
My goal is to “get into cycling”, start commuting to work instead of taking a car as well as participating in some local cycle club events as well as century bike rides. Long term goal – 300km race that is being held in Sweden (Vätternrunda)
Guys, I just got the Edge 25. I also have the 1000 and want to do a head to head test to compare Strava segment results between the two devices, with the 1000 set up for 1-sec recording and the 25 at its sole Smart Recording setting. I’m already setup for my 1000 to connect with Garmin Connect and then to Strava, but I am not quite sure how I should set up my still-in-the-box Edge 25 so that I can compare the segment data from the 25 and the 1000 in Strava. I’ll be testing them dcrainmaker-style by attaching both of them on my handlebar and try them out on singletrack (yes, I’m a mountain biker). But I’m not sure if I can get the two separate sets of data on Strava if I register(?) my 25 to the same Garmin Connect account as my 1000. Any suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks.
For example, should I set up another account with Garmin Connect and also another account with Strava? Or if the 25 is registered with my existing Garmin Connect account – which will automatically upload to my Strava account – then will I still get two sets of data for the same ride on Strava? Much thanks.
By the way, I have Garmin’s speed sensor on my front axle, and as I understand that speed sensor’s output should be receivable by both 1000 and 25 at the same time.
Did you get a chance to do a real time test of the battery life? Thanks!!
My rides are just one-hour rides so I don’t have much of an opportunity to do a longer test. But I’m attaching a picture of 1000 with 1-sec recording on the left and 25 on the right with smart recording. Both using gps and glosnass. I’m not going for any KOM, but when I look at the redlines on the map, the smart recording is a lot more smoothed out and even misses some curves in the trail. The 25 has 8 segments which are 1-4 seconds longer than the 1000 and the 25 has three segments which are shorter by 2 seconds, and 3 segments are the same, when comparing only the short segments (excluding the first listed segment). Generally, 25 will make you look slower than you are as the data from the 25 makes strava think that you are traveling on a straight line. My thought is that if you use 25 all the time, then perhaps it’s ok, but once you start using multiple devices (1000 for training and 25 for racing), then the timings from both devices are not really comparable, with the 25 making you look slower than you are. But If you’re going in straight lines – which may be more typical for road cycling – then my guess is that the timing differential with smart recording will be less.
Let me try adding the picture again…
link to dropbox.com
Let’s try dropbox.
Could you please also give a link to the two maps, so we can see how bad the smoothing is?
Sounds like not much has improved since the 200.
Here it is: link to dropbox.com
(if it doesn’t work, then you might have to right click over the link and open in new tab).
Also, the 1000 is connected to the Garmin speed sensor and the 25 is not. For the life of me, I could not get the 25 to talk to the speed sensor on the front hub.
Can the battery of Edge 20 and 25 be charged while they work ?
Can someone talk a bit more about the turn by turn functionality? I’m not looking to ditch my 910xt yet, but I want turn by turn on the bars. Is the turn by turn the same broken feature ast on the 200/500/910xt or does it actually work and work well? Is there a limited number of points? If I create a course using Garmin connect will it actually show “turn right” “turn left”. I am looking for something to let me do century+ routes solo without a ziplock bag cue sheet clipped to my handle bars. Thanks so much.
I have a road bike and mountain bike. I was thinking of getting this as it looks easy to transfer from bike to bike, if I buy an extra mount. What I’m more concerned about is this quarter turn mount…is it enough to keep the computer ON the mountain bike and not fall off on the first bump in the road?
Mine came with two mounts and so far the quarter turn mount has been secure enough to retain the device while riding on some very rocky descents.
KS – Thanks for the feedback!
Looks like it doesn’t have any hole for a lanyard?
Some of the other Edge models do – its useful to loop the lanyard around the handlebars, just in case.
Ray, love your site and the work you do.
My question: Just got the Edge 25 (from Clever) and tried to pair with a GSC-10, which I thought was ANT+. I have trolled the ANT+ website ( and others) to see if they, the edge 25 and GSC-10 are compatible and I can find nothing that they will talk to each other. I can’t get them to talk. do you know if they are compatible?
if not my bike is a trek – Duo Trap S – will this work on the Edge 25? (if I need to upgrade)- again as the Edge is so new nothing is updated to say what will work with what. Thanks!
FYI, I called Garmin and was told the GSC-10 speed/cadence sensor is not compatible with the Edge 25…
Weird. I just connected no problem to a ANT+ SPD/CAD combo sensor using an Edge 25 and the latest firmware.
I am a moron. Evidently while it was pairing with the HR monitor last night it paired up with the speed/cadence sensor as well, the Edge asked if I wanted to pair with devices, I assumed it was the HR monitor only. If all else fails – go for a ride ;)…. What is disturbing the Garmin folks said it was not compatible – here is the kicker. The Support person said it was because the GSC-10 used magnetic sensors vs the accelerometer based sensors on the newer one. I said to that; Are they not both ANT+? – He had no answer. In anycase, I can say without a doubt the GSC-10 WILL pair with the Edge 25. Also the phone notifications are Awesome – love that! Now I do not have to stop and check my phone for missed calls!
I’m having trouble pairing a GSC-10 with the Edge 25. How did it accidentally pair, when they tell you to get within 1cm of the ANT+ sensor?
Ok. I’m a bit new to this stuff. I guess it won’t pair because it was already paired inadvertently. It does look like the GSC-10 will pair with the Edge 25, as the indicators show up in the ride mode, go off after a timeout, then go on again when I spin the wheel or cranks. It is magic!
Yeah, I’m finding that the Edge 25 is a bit finicky when it comes to pairing. Not sure why, I’ll have to do some poking. It eventually does pair (or paired and doesn’t bother to tell you). Minor annoyance, but still an annoyance.
Been having a devil of a time getting my new Edge 25 to pair with a Duotrap. I can get Duotrap on phone, I can pair Edge with HRM – just not the DuoTrap.
Anyone else with experience on this?
Solved it and got it paired. Turned out it was already paired but I didn’t see the message it was paired (a quick flash) and it won’t re-pair with a sensor it’s already paired with or tell you it’s already paired.
The description table says these devices are not designed for running. Does this mean that I cannot put it in in my pocket during my runs as an alternative to wrist watches? That would be great because of small size and no more sweaty wrists.
Ho DC,
Thanks for the review, only one thing i would like to know, is it possible to use the edge 25 on multiple bikes (read with different sensors)? For exemple a speed sensor on one bike and a speed and cadance sensor on the other.
Thanks for the write up DC. Looks like a great little unit with just the right amount of information for me.
One question regarding the battery time. Is it possible to extend the run time by using the unit in indoor mode and disabling the gps and Bluetooth? I’d be happy to take speed off of the wheel if it bought me a few more hours when I need it.
After a bit of reading it looks like the new 2016 model has been released that now supports a power meter. This may solve a problem for a few people here.
Shame that it won’t pick up Bluetooth smart. I’d love to use it with the Suunto Amit 3 watch and heart rate monitor. With the small display a quick glance at the wrist for heart rate and barometric altitude may not be a big deal though.
Yes, you could definitely disable GPS and use indoor mode. My guess is that would dramatically increase battery life – probably by 2-4x, but not sure exactly.
Thanks DC. Sounds like a winner.
Hi Ray,
just got my Edge 25.
Can you confirm that notifications only work for calls and messages?
I don’t get any notification yet for Whatsapp, EMail, the rest.
Running v. 2.20
Thanks,
Martin
Correct, call/text only.
Note to anyone looking to buy this computer… this review (and the Garmin documentation) leaves out a rather important detail! You cannot add Current HR and HR Zone as a viewable data field, you can only set min/max HR Zone alerts. That’s dumb. I was hoping to have a simple computer that let me view distance, time and HR Zone as fields but it can’t even do that. Additionally you can’t even view the time of day while you’re riding, only on the main menu (whilst not recording)
Stuuuupid design Garmin. I was really hoping you’d have gotten it right by now. I’m returning my Edge 25 immediately…
Hope you didn’t return it yet… Those HR fields you said weren’t there automatically show up upon starting an activity when a HR monitor is paired.
Oh, also…the time of day shows up too. You’ll see it when you press the start button and can change data pages to it by pressing up/down.
All of this is also seen in the video above in the post.
Yes – as pointed out all this info can be viewed. Two pages of ride data (your choice of three items on each page – speed, distance, cadence, etc), a page with HR and HR “zone”, and time. You can cycle through all 4 pages of info.
I was pretty disappointed to find that I could not view, on a single data page, HR and elapsed time. I plan to use this on the cross bike, and those are the two data fields I’d like to glance at during a ‘cross race while my eyeballs bleed…… Scrolling through multiple pages doesn’t cut it. I’m hoping this might be resolved through future software updates …..
Garmin relies on a simple bodily indication to take care of this problem: You can just put the ‘time elapsed’ page on the device… the bleeding eyeballs indicate that your HR is in the highest zone.
Can HR be added to one of the screens though, or will it just start to show up in the rotation? I need just elapsed time, distance, and HRM in a single non-rotating screen. Difficult to find out if this is possible without maybe buying, test, and returning if not. Thanks for your help.
I was quite keen on this unit but the posts about the accuracy of the GPS concerns me, will it atleast be more accurate than just using my Samsung Galaxy S3 mini and strava app?
How about importing routes in the Edge 25? I would like to import a .gpx or .tcx file from fietsnet.be or whatever, without recreating it manually on the Garmin website. Any limitation in terms of waypoints or no problem to foresee with a <200km ride? Thanks !
I am also experiencing issues connecting Garmin Edge 25 to Speed/Cadence sensor GSC 10; has anyone had any success?
Only 8 hours battery life??? That will go down over time and in colder weather as well and will likely be 6 or 7. That will not last me for a weekend away without the nuisance of carrying a battery pack. I’ll stick with my Edge 200 (which is still on sale for the same price as this 20, or less).
I like the size and that it has a time page, but that’s about it.
Great device!
I have only call notifications (iPhone 5S), no text message, do you have an idea ?
Ive bought a 25, it won’t save my customised data fields and they reset everytime it is shut down… Also loses its pairing with the HR and Cadence sensors (also Garmin) – anyone else experienced similar? I suspect I have a dud unit.
Simon – This doesn’t sound like your problem, but I learned that when you sync with Garmin Connect (by USB) it will set your data fields to what you have in Garmin Connect. So you have to change them there, or it will reset each time it syncs to what’s in GC.
Thank Drewguy – I can’t find the field settings in Garmin connect – all other settings I have set in there, HR zones, Weight etc have stored just fine. This could be the issue if there is something not reading into connect properly, but the user data fields just aren’t showing up in there..
I have emailed Garmin Support, hopefully I’ll get a response. It might just need a full reset after the software update.
Reset didn’t work – saved settings for a little when then bummed out again :-(
Replacement unit has arrived, now at SW 2.6 and all working fine. But I have broken my elbow so no riding for me : -/
Is anyone else having an issue with the Edge 25 uploading activities as runs rather than as a ride? It only appears to happen when syncing with the Android app, and not when syncing via USB.
It’s incredible annoying, as I then have to change the runs to rides in strava, which doesn’t then show any achievements trophies, or add the totals to the monthly challenges.
I’ve emailed support, and am waiting to hear back from them.
Twitter support’s reply was to simply change the activity after I’d uploaded it.
Nathan,
Did you figure out a solution to this problem yet? I bought this unit for Strava so for these accomplishments not to show up, is a major bummer.
Thanks
Seriously!? I just ordered one, because I was annoyed changing it when recording with my running watch..
Nice unit! I have the 25 and it’s OK.
+ easy to use, very clear display
– none
Would like to have (at current SW rel 2.50)
zoom on “do course” map and trackback on “basic” rides
I have the 25 just a few days but facing exact the same issues. A ride will be upload as run and the settings will not be safed once the 25 was switched off and on. I’m wondring hiw this could be happen at a unit which costs 200€ and it makes me currently not happy at all. Does anyone has any experience about how long it will take till a new firmware. I’m thinking about to send it back and may wait for the Polar m450.
I’ve sent mine back for an exchange, the replacement unit is on the way so we’ll see…
Simon
Would you please be so kind and keep me updated regarding the new 25 if the new 25 is still showing the issues.
Many thanks
Michael
I have the same issue as Nathan and Michael on the 25 plus another annoyance I was wondering if anyone else was facing and/or had managed to solve: all of my modifications to what’s shown in the 2 data screens as well as their scrolling setting, lapping parameters, and even paring to my duotrap are lost the unit powers down and therefore have to be reset before each ride.
After having set off for a ride a few times only to realize that I had to stop and change the settings, I now do so pre-ride but I’d be glad if anyone has found a was to make these settings stick from one time to the next.
Thanks,
François
Software update 2.6, is quite challenging. First off it will wipe your unit as new. I found you need to adjust your settings in Garmin connect (modern view under devices) then sync. Otherwise you will have to keep re-adjusting your unit, a real pain. After I set my adjustments in Garmin connect and synced, the unit “remembers” your settings. I did find Garmin added a 3rd data field on screen 2 – nice! After this update my bluetooth quit working to my phone. after some cuss words, I turned BT on on my phone, went to the Garmin mobile app and added a device. Although my device was showing, I added it anyway; and then boom! connected! This software update is painful.
Thanks for info, Tim!
I was able to add a third data field on Screen 2 previously. The default set up seemed to have only two, but at least if you configured that field on Garmin Connect you were able to add three fields.
I just bought the Edge 25 for XC mtn bike racing- I have gone for several long test rides with the Edge 25 and my usual iphone5 running Strava. BOTH devices showed horrible GPS gaps, as long straight lines. I rode one large trail three times and both devices did not register any of the segments of the trail for any of the three laps. Somehow the two devices must be interfering with each other. The few times that both devices did record I had inconsistent timings- sometimes a segment was a little faster or slower with the Edge 25.
Is there any chance that Garmin could upgrade the GPS sampling rate with a software patch? Otherwise this device is useless for me.
It would indeed be a simple firmware update, but I unfortunately thing Garmin won’t do it. Kinda sucks.
Has anyone else experienced this sort of GPS device conflict? It makes no sense to me. Surely both devices just receive and record the signals. How could they interfere with each other?
Not clear what kind of MTB trail it was, but if there are trees, both devices could have the same problems.
I did recently have an oddity where my Garmin 25 auto-paused while I was peddling along. I was under a tree canopy, so thought maybe the GPS lost signal, but it makes no sense because it’s also paired with a speed and cadence sensor that should have been providing data. Of course, maybe I should look at the speed/cadence sensor as the culprit.
Never seen GPS conflict. I’ve been using the 20/25 units next to 4-6 other GPS units on my handlebars without issue. What you can see though is blockage if it’s placed in a bad spot (i.e. in your jersey pocket in some cases with gels/wrappers around it).
Maybe they should open-source their firmware code so that more competent programmers can work on it. But I doubt if the device has enough memory to store per-second sampled data. Obviously bad engineering by Garmin. 5MB of space for a device in 2015!
My experience with pairing the sensor is the same as others, i.e. there is a very brief message that pops up when it’s paired successfully. If you happen not to be paying attention to the screen, you can easily miss it and think the pairing was unsuccessful.
If you’ve purchased a speed sensor to go with your Garmin Edge 25, you might be interested in this: the calibration of the speed sensor is automatic but you never get any message that a calibration is taking place or was successfully completed. If you want to calibrate it again for a different wheel/tire/bike, you’ll need to delete the sensor and pair the Edge 25 with the other sensor. If you’re thinking of using the Edge 25 on different bikes, well, keep in mind that it pairs with only ONE cadence sensor and ONE speed sensor. You’ll have to move the sensors to your other bike or delete and repair your 25 to the other sensors. What a pain. I inquired Garmin about this and got confirmation here:
“The Edge 25 will calibrate automatically as the Edge 1000 does by measuring revolutions to measured GPS distance. Unfortunately, it will not alert you. You are able to re-calibrate the sensor under the sensor settings options – you will be able to remove and re-add the sensor from there and it should calibrate for you automatically. You are able to delete sensors from the sensor pool by selecting the desired sensor and pressing ‘Remove sensor.’ Unfortunately, you are only able to have one bike profile per Edge 25 unit.”
You won’t find this information in the user manual or in online descriptions that this is how the unit works. So, if you want to use the unit on several bikes, you’ll either have to go through the trouble of delete/add or don’t use a speed sensor on your other bike and rely just on the GPS derived data.
Great info! Not the answer I was looking for re 2 bikes, but at least we have an explanation. Garmin should put this in manual.
Can anyone say about the battery life of eight or more hours. In the web there are some different informations, in some posts there are 8 hours in other 10 hours?!
link to www8.garmin.com
Change History
Changes made from version 2.60 to 2.70:
Fixed issue causing loss of settings when powering off the device.
Kind of a major bug! Glad I didn’t upgrade to 2.6 just yet . . .
Couple complaints about this device.
Smart Notifications are bad. Only flashes for few seconds and then gone for good. The device wont even prompt you that one is even there. Poof…just gone. This goes for calls as well. They will still be on phone however, so when u get done you can see all the notifications you may have missed
Does anyone’s make a buzzing/winding noise when held to ear? I can hear a noise about 12 inches out and definitely closer. None of my other devices made this noise. Seems somewhat unusual this day and age. I reached out to Garmin about this and havent heard anything even though I sent sound clips and device files.
Pros: great screen size for size of device, light weight, battery decent.
With the firmware 2.70 all issues about saving settings and sensors were solved. I’ve done a video with the sensors reconnecting automatically:
link to youtu.be
Can anyone with this device, and latest firmware, confirm if a single screen on the device can be configured to have elapsed time, distance, and heart-rate? For MTB racing these are all I need but on one continuous screen, I can’t wait for a cycle rotation. Thanks!
By default you can’t, but there is a method now described on http://www.edge25.net how you can tweak you display to have BPM on the same screen as the other metrics
Thanks for link!
If solution is that trivial, it’s amazing that Garmin has implemented this in the software.
What phone notifications looks like:
link to youtu.be
Looks quite nice. What about the data fields? At the second page are there 2 or
3 data fields?
Miachel, now with 3 data fields on page #2.
Hi, Understand that this device won’t give Power Meter information, but would it be capable to connect to Garmin Vector just for the cadence?
thanks
alex
@Michael
I see that text message notifications works for you, for me, only call phone notifications works, I have an iPhone 5S with latest iOS and garmin connect versions and Garmin fw 2.70 and you ? thanks for this information.
@stephane, in the video I made (link to youtu.be) was an IPhone 5, latest iOS and Garmin 2.7 firmware.
Check if you have “do not disturb” option in the texts contacts you’ve tested.
Have you tried also delete GC and make a new pairing between your phone and the Edge25?
Thank you for your response Ricardo,
“do not disturb” is off, delete, new pairing : call OK, message KO :-(
I have no idea.
I called garmin : “we forward to the dev team…” and “it is quite normal for a product that just came out…” ! that’s all..
It works ! This is really not clear…
On iOS, only for text message, you have to set in notification center “number in notifications center > 0” (this setting is no need for calls..)
Does anyone’s device make a buzzing/clicking noise when held next to ear?
Yes mine does it too!
Thanks Felix!
Anyone else get a buzzing noise coming out of their device? Hold it 8-12 inches out. None of my other devices made this buzzing.
I have contacted Garmin but have rec’d zero legitimate responses and since the device is so new local shops are unaware as well.
JF
Anyone else have a buzzing noise from back of the edge 25? It is subtle but definitely there.
Exploring segment use in this dude. found, as the instructions state, the only way you can utilize Garmin segment notification is using an uploaded course. And doing said course. I have found the notification useful; The unit will let you know when a segment is approaching, and how long it took you to complete. About what one can expect from this price point. I am OK with that, if I wanted more I would have got the Edge 520.
Ray,
I am a Strava Premium person and have stared my routes and am using the Strava segments on Garmin connect. I do not see the (strava) segments show up in Garmin connect when I build a route. So, if I have Strava Premium and the segments show up on My Garmin Connect Dashboard page, why will they not show up when I build a route? OR is it that they just don’t; and I have to rebuild the segment in Garmin connect… to use on my Edge 25? Thanks!… I guess if I am getting all Strava crazy I just should get the 510 or 520 :)
As it turns out I could not get the Strava segments to “be seen” when building a garmin course; So, I took matters into my own hands: A few Land Sharks and a couple of hours building segments in garmin (after viewing satellite info from Strava) I duplicated Strava segments in Garmin connect. I then created new courses where the segments cross, and Boom! there you have it.. I made about 6 courses with the segments I hit the most. then uploaded to the Edge 25. so, now I can pick a course with the segments that I think I will roll across in any given ride around town. Remember the edge 25 will tell you (only while doing a course) “segment approaching” ; “Segment start”; and “segment finish”, with the current elapsed time for that segment you just completed. FYI you do not have to strictly follow the course per se. I rode with the intentions of going “off course” then back on course to hit my one segments. The Edge told me I was off course, then back on course (when I got back) then my segment warnings popped up just fine. Not too much screwing around to get segment alerts. Just a note the guy I was riding with had a 510 and he had WAY more info on the segment….I may have to upgrade ;)
Hi DCRainmaker,
Have you had issues pairing your Garmin Edge 25 with Bontrager’s Duotrap S? It seems that it would want to pair. Any suggestions? I don’t have an issue pairing the DuotrapS with higher end Garmin computers such as the Edge 520.
Kate – There’s some discussion up-thread. I had a bad experience as well, but it turns out that the Edge 25 flashes oh-so-briefly that it is paired that I was unaware it actually had paired. When you search after that it keeps searching and provides no mention it’s already paired. You can try to reset the device in order to clear out the paired sensors and then try again – this is what I did and realized the “paired” message flashed so quickly I had missed it the first time.
Hi, I have a few questions about the Edge 25.
1) Does it track your elevation? It says there’s no altimeter, so when you upload to strava will the ride show zero elevation gain? Or is an altimeter just used to show your current elevation? I don’t need to know my current elevation, but I would like to see the elevation profile afterwards.
2) Since it is a cheaper GPS, will the GPS be accurate through tree cover (ex. when mountain biking)? I know my iPhone shows that I rode somewhere I didn’t, and doesn’t pick up some strava segments.
3) Will any HR monitor/strap be able to connect with the 25?
4) I’d like to confirm that I will be able to upload rides to strava afterwards.
Thanks.
1) The GPS provides altitude. In addition,Garmin Connect (and I think Strava) will do “altitude correction” to adjust for known altitudes of roads. You can definitely see a profile of your ride, and it will calculate how much you’ve climbed during your ride for instant results.
3) ANT+ yes
4) Not directly, but you can sync via Garmin Connect. Uploads to Garmin Connect and then it pushes/pulls it to Strava.
Thanks. Appreciate it.
Has anyone figured out how to get heart rate and time to display on the same page? I can’t do intervals if I can’t see the 2 together which makes this a waste for me?
Thanks
Seems like it’s not possible right now – not clear why it can only be on a separate page, but that’s what it seems to be.
Maybe its a stupid question, but on pictures i cant see if i can watch my heart rate and cadence at once ? It is possible ? Sory for my English.
No – currently there are three info screens. The first 2 can include time, speed, distance, avg. speed, amount of climb, cadence, and maybe a couple others. The third screen has heart rate. The fourth (or first) is the home screen, including the current time.
I have Garmin Edge 20 and Cyclemeter Pro, an App for I phone which cost about $5 per year. Totally disappointed with Edge 20. In comparison Edge 20 provides extremely limited data at huge extra cost and the maps of rides from Edge 20 on my Mac are basically useless whereas Cyclemeter are great. I feel so ripped off!!!! I use the Edge 20 as an accurate speedo, thats about it!! Never again will I purchase a product because of an assumption of quality because of brand name! Hopefully Garmin might be able to improve with a soft ware update?
Hi Ray, thanks for the review. One question, does the charging cable come with the unit?
Cheers
Yes – you get a dock integrated with USB cable in the box
Thank you.
Seems it can stuffed inside the swim cap and supplement the Garmin Swim as a open water GPS monitor from its size and waterproofness. The GPS record should be better than the swim/run watches. Can it be tested that way?
I wouldn’t see any issues with doing that technically speaking. The only concern I’d have is that it’s honestly super easy to drop into the water and never find again – given the size. Having dropped my share of GPS watches from swimcaps into the water, most of the time I can relatively easily find them again since watches tend to sink slower and be more visible.
Also – you can often find the FR10 and FR15 for sub-$90 these days (heck, even saw some for $50 the other day at clearance). Could just snip the bands off and get the same result for cheaper.
I own one of these and it does have a real time altimeter although when you hook it up to a PC you find out that it was about give or take 50-100 feet off.
Broken record here.
Does anyone else’s 25 make a buzzing noise that u can hear about 8-12″ from ear ?
Felix chimed in but no one else…
Trying to gather some info prior to returning if needed.
It just seems like this day in age w solid state drives etc, no buzzing should be allowed. Ha ha. Jf
Updated to ‘new and improved’ Garmin connect 3.0 and now I can’t get smart notifications on my edge 25. It says its paired but texts/calls not getting thru to device. Anyone else have this issue?
I’m up to date on all software. Running android 4.4.
Worked fine until new Garmin app installed. Damn.
Hi Rey,
Can this edge 25 beep at you when you fall below a set speed or cadence?
Can you load training to the edge 25?
Cheers,
champ
Hi all!
Can anyone confirm that it would be possible on an Edge 25 to set the wheel size manually in the sensor options menu like you can do on an Edge 1000?
I just cannot find this exact information….
I do not believe you can set wheel size – it appears to calibrate automatically from GPS.
Has there been an upgrade on the Edge 20 where you can display the instantaneous Elevation in one of the field yet? I bought one for my father in law for xmas as he wanted to see elevation (and potentially % grade) so I need to know if I should return it.
New software update lets you display elevation!
Hi, any comparison to the lezyne super gps?
I can get the edge 25 and the Super at the same price so which do you guys think is the better buy?
25!
What makes you choose the garmin over the lezyne?
Hi,
Can I confirm that there is no way to view ‘current lap’ time on any of the data screens during a ride? That would be a deal breaker for me. Everything else looks great!
I’ve been using the Edge 25 for a few months now and it’s giving me everything I need and nothing that i don’t. Only small quibble is the often extended wait for it to lock in satellites – I’ve taken to turning it on before I get dressed for riding. I also occasionally use it for running – easy enough to go into Strava later and change the activity from “ride” to “run”.
Hello, have a problem as tested 2 Edge 20:01 25 to make this conclusion, the satellite signal is weaker than its Egde 500,510,520 brothers, etc. because its signal at low speed on hills in trilhasse loses, or in places of dense forest, single tracks or average speeds of 4-7 km / h +/- or even pushing the bike to the signal without scoring nothing, and takes to return.
And I compared it with other Garmin models both installed on my bike and in biking friends to hand the exact circumstances and speed.
And with that Mileage and end time altitude is always lower than the actual number because the periods of lack of reading.
Excellent review. The comments about battery life have convinced me to stay with my 200. And, btw, the 200 is course following capable by uploading gpx/tcx files to the new files folder. Totally undocumented by farming but very well covered on other websites and works brilliantly.
You can follow courses by uploading GPX files to the Edge 25 as well…
How much memory does it have for recording rides, with GPS tracks? The specifications say “History: up to 10 rides”, which seems rather limited.
What happens if you record more than 10 rides? Do old rides get overwritten automatically?
Or is it like the Forerunner watches, which can record many more activities, but only display the last 10 on the watch?
My Garmin 25 suddenly turned off without saving data. And this also happened to a friend of mine.
I’ll send back to the seller…
How can you get distance to record on indoor riding from the edge 25? I know that it comes with a cadence sensor but does that mean that you have to purchase a separate speed sensor for the unit in order to get indoor distances recorded on your connect or strava?
Hi, do you know if it is possible to transfer a course (that you have previously created in Garmin connect for example) direct from a smart phone to an Edge 25? Thanks!
I successfully transfered courses created on bikemap.net by putting the gpx file on the Edge 25 (Newfiles folder). With courses created on Garmin connect is working as well.
I forgot to specify, I used the USB OTG feature of my phone to transfer the gpx file.
Thanks Psytha, that is just the information I was looking for (although it is a disappointment that I can’t just download them via bluetooth!).
Great article. Thanks for that.
I have to questions:
is it possible to charge device while navigating and whether it’s possible to navigate and have speed/cadence displayed.
Thanks in advance.
I would also very much like to know about whether it can be used while riding and whether the charging cradle would be secure on a bike! It seems like the Edge 25 does everything I need, but I occasionally do longer rides, so I’m worried about battery life.
This Edge 25 would replace a RFLKT with RWGPS, which would be a great solution if the damned RFLKT would just connect reliably to my phone!
Is the 25 only able to have one bike profile? I was thinking to get this unit so that I could use it on a road bike and a mtb, with both bikes having their own speed/cadence sensor.
No – it doesn’t support two bikes. Of course, you can re-pair each time but not built in.
Hi, thanks for the review. That’s awesome.
Do you guys know what happens if you follow a route loaded on the Edge25 and miss a turn… Does it calculate an alternative route??
Cheers.
Shrewd marketing, making sure no user is really 100% satisfied and ups the Edge 25 asap to a higher price category..
The HRM function, being the major added value vs the Edge 20, cannot be displayed at the same time as elapsed time, speed, cadence, distance. Anyone who’s using HRM is probably using at least one of these functions during the ride and while initially it may not seem essential to have it on the same screen (“Well, the option’s there, isn’t it?”), after a while it becomes plain annoying to have to switch between screens.
That’s when you buy the Edge 520.
And that’s what this is all about.
Has anyone tried one of Garmins Wrist mounts to use this while running? Not sure if it would work, Ive never seen one of the wrist straps in person. So I am not sure if it can be viewed with a clean angle…
Yup, you can use the one from the older quick release kits (a bit smaller than the newer ones). The only downside is that you can’t show ‘pace’, just ‘speed’.
Haha…I did see that but I also saw this sweet video that someone put together. They used the original handlebar mount coupled to a velcro wrist strap…it looks totally do able…looks pretty secure also. Its justanother option I guess. link to youtube.com
Agree that you get speed only… which is a drawback.
JF
Looking for a strap option to use this at cyclocross. My kids have these and it would be great for when you need to change bikes.
On the first two pages of the Edge 25 (version 3.0 firmware) you can show up to 3 stats EXCEPT for you Heart Rate. This can only be shown on page 3!!!! Don’t know why, but if HR is important to you, you might want to give it a miss.
FYI, confirmed from Garmin:
The Edge 25 does not support a “sensor pool” for multiple sensors. When new sensors are used, they will have to be paired first and will replace the previous sensor of that type.
The HR/HR Zone page is separate and cannot be mixed, it is it’s own separate page and the HR field cannot be added to the other pages.
Bummer, really want to like this device, it’s just a wee bit short of what I need.
Thanks for passing this info along . . . I can understand the first limitation (whether or not I like it). The second one just seems bizarre – how hard is it to program software that would show heart rate on another screen. That has to be a trivial programming issue.
Do you think Garmin will enable power meter reading on Garmin 25 in future?
Thanks,
George
While I wish they would, I feel at this point if they were going to do it, they would have already done so. Certainly plenty of folks asking for it. :-/
I was seduced by the small compact size of the Edge 25. I made sure to update the software to the latest version, 3.00 i think was the last update. However, I ran into the same accuracy issue while on MTB trails. I didn’t think it would be as big an issue when compared to my smart phone, which is what i normally use. However, my phone is far more accurate than the Edge 25.
I posted my disappointing experience on my blog, including the differences in trail accuracy and time/speed measurements compared to Strava on my Android phone – link to emerald-mtb.com
Does the Edge 25 fit on the Garmin 910XT wrist watch strap? I appears to attach the same way…would it be overly bulky or would that integrate okay? I am looking to use the Edge 25 for trail running as well as cycling…
Thanks!
Kfer
Dunno about the strap, but it would not be overly bulky as a watch. Maybe bigger than usual, but not wildly so.
I just purchased one of these, based upon this review and that is only costs $70 more than the head unit for the rear light/radar unit, which I hope to get and integrate with this. This is my first cyclo-computer, so the following could simply be user-error (I hope):
I can’t get it to pair with my Wahoo SC ANT+ speed/cadence sensor, regardless of what I try. (I am on firmware version 3.0).
I can’t get a “route” from RideWithGPS into the Edge 25 as a “course” (or into Garmin Connect as anything other than an activity).
Anyone else encounter either problem?
wgscott: I used this procedure to get a map from RWGPS to Garmin Connect, but I don’t yet have an Edge 25, so I can’t tell you if it loads correctly. link to ridewithgps.zendesk.com
Could someone with an Edge 25 let me know (A) whether it can be used while charging, and (B) whether the charging cradle would hold it securely if it were zip-tied to a stem (or attached some other way) for an occasional long bike ride?
Hi Joshua:
Thanks for that. I got up to Step 11 but can’t figure out how to save as a course (the menu I get doesn’t offer that as an option).
I just tried my Edge 25 while plugged into its USB cradle/charger, and it looks like it will work. (If I can find an iPhone backup battery, I will give it a more meaningful test). The ride started, and immediately paused, since I wasn’t moving.
Thanks.
Bill
Sorry, it works perfectly fine outside of Safari (Mac OS X). I switched to Vivaldi (new browser) and all the problems evaporated. Thanks very much for posting these instructions.
Bill
Thanks for the info! That might help me pull the trigger on the Edge 25. The procedure for importing from RWGPS seems a bit kludgy, but it’s better than nothing, I guess.
Have you found the navigation works decently well for you? I’m finding wildly divergent opinions on that, but with the turn notifications, it seems like it ought to be sufficient for anyplace where roads aren’t very very dense?
I haven’t tried it yet. I only did my first ride (12 mile local loop) a couple of hours ago. Given what little I know, I think if I really wanted to rely on it for navigation, I would find myself wanting something like the 520 instead. Since this is my first GPS, my opinion isn’t likely to be anything close to definitive.
Hai,
i have an edge 25, all works perfectle including pairing with sensors and smartphones. but the problem is when i finished my ride and save the activity, i can’t upload to strava, either from mobile or from website, neither automatic (seamlessly) nor by upload saved file. everytime i try, the strava support says that my saved file is not an activity but a course, and my file is incompatible to upload to strava (my file is in .FIT).
why is that happening? is edge 25 is not compatible with strava? i know that is not compatible with strava segments but in strava activity record?
thank you
The Garmin 25 is a nice cycle GPS but at this time just not great for my racing. A little more control over the display would convince me otherwise.
At my age I depend on my Cycle computer to keep pace where it needs to be. Waiting for the display to show the data needed takes my attention away from the task of racing for too long.
I depend on Heart rate, cadence and speed most of all. If this could be all on one screen and seen with just a quick glance, the Edge 25 would be close to perfect for me. I do also miss the grade display. Sometimes a false flat burns too many matches before my brain catches on as to why so much effort with no results.
I will keep my Edge 500 when on the road and the 25 for under the trees.
I tried the Edge 25 hoping for the improvement with GPS signals (I have one 500 that rarely knows where it is)
The small profile and of course low weight was also a high point.
Next on my list will be the Edge 520, the Polar 450 or the Wahoo Element (When the reviews get better)
Which chest straps work with the Edge 25? I suspect only Garmin straps….but I hope otherwise.
Yes, any ANT+ strap will work. Many new straps are dual ANT+/BLE, so they’d work too.
Autopause – up to 15% shorter rides!
I did two rest rides, one with auto pause on and another with it off. With auto pause OFF the GPS distance matches perfectly with wheel diameter sensor. When I switch it on in a city ride total distance is 15% shorter – it auto pauses sometimes when I’m still at 10 km/h ! I guess this would be solved by a speed sensor?
Yeah, it’s a core reason I never use auto-pause in accuracy testing. The challenge is the threshold point. Stuff below the threshold point simply disappears.
After a few updates I can’t import courses anymore (uploading the fit or pgx file to the newfiles folder).
Anyone else is having this problem to? Maybe somebody has a solution?
Thanks
Do you know if the Garmin Edge 25 uses FirstBeat HR calorie algorithms?
I have an ebike that I use up steep hills only, with a heart rate monitor….and was hoping that speed/distance was NOT factored in (just heart rate).
Thanks!
Hi,
Just wondering at what speed the auto pause reactivates. I plan to use the 25 in my swim cap to record OWS as all wrist mounted units seem to be unreliable. I found that auto pause activated, but did not deactivate.
I know I can just turn it off, but wondered at what speed it re enables.
many thanks,
psc
I was going to ask if Garmin was planning on adding power support or an ‘upgraded’ version since the 25 has been out a year, but it appears you’ve answered a similar question recently. Too bad :(
However, I have a second question. Two commenters have stated that you can only add one set of sensors to the Edge 25. Can you confirm that this is true. If so, that’s a pretty big turn-off in my book. Really don’t want to delete/add sensors every time I want to swap bikes!
Yeah – that’s correct. You can only pair with one speed and one cadence sensor, so it’s really a one bike thing.
I’m using the Edge 25 for some time now for commuting, but it has 1 annoying missing feature the Edge 1000 does have.
When I arrive at work, with the Edge 1000 I can stop the ride and turn off the device. In the evening I can start the device and resume the trip. So the battery is as I turned it of in the morning.
With the Edge 25 this isn’t possible. I have to save the trip and turn the device off and start a new trip back home.
If I use the autopause the battery is dead after 8 hours.
Does anyone having the same problem?
‘Upgraded’ from the Garmin Edge 200, that never missed a bit and ample battery time.
Knowing the battery time issue, went for this anyway for the phone connectivity and Ant+
There are some small issues, such as backlight, auto pause control and the enablement of distance alerts (only 5miles through laps). Short of expect this given the control on the 200 unit.
Big issues are:
_Speed/cadence lost of connect during ride screws up the GPS (Bontrager Ant+). Makes the use of duo devices unreliable. Garmin yet to fix.
-Resume after shutdown, just saves ride and have to start again
-Phone notifications have been hit and miss, and non existent since upgrade to 3.30. This is on Win10 phone
Seeing as a lot of these features are in the older 200, and the additional was a reason to upgrade I’m kinda hacked off. May have to find a 500!
Come on Garmin, sort it out. How do you expect people to further buy your products if you can’t get the entry level stuff to function to a very basic level!
“it will NOT connect to Bluetooth sensors – only instead with your Bluetooth…”
Sorry, but I didn’t get it. Can I connect my bluetooth HR sensor anyway or not?
Yes – it connects to both BT and Ant+ sensors.
Multiple sensor question… Can you use the garmin magnet less speed and cadence sensors on one bike and then something like the bontrager duotrap which is a combined speed/cadence? Does that get around the multiple sensor issue? In other words, does the edge 25 have options for speed sensor, cadence sensor, speed/cadence sensor (I think my edge 500 listed the sensor pairing screen this way)
Beware that Garmin states that heart rate is a feature but the unit cannot be set up to display heart rate on the same page as speed, cadence or any other metric.
As a result any cyclist that wishes to display the most basic of information on a single page cannot do so.
I suppose that Garmin expects the rider to switch pages to view heart rate and then switch pages again to view and then repeat, and repeat.
Speaking with Garmin they said the only work around was to use auto scroll. Having used Garmin’s products since 2006 none have had this limitation and I will let the reader decide why Garmin chose to limit the unit in this way.
Setup is also complicated by the unit not listing heart rate as a data field. When installing the unit I started by configuring the screen and no heart rate field was listed. I checked the on line manual which said how to add a field but no heart rate listed as an option at that location. Only after much frustration digging through all the menu options on the unit, giving up and linking a heart rate strap did a “heart rate display page” appear. Heart rate still not listed as a data field.
Why make it frustrating for Garmin customers? Heart rate is a basic metric that has been around for decades and should be well supported. It is really disappointing that they made this unit so unusable. I honestly wonder what are they thinking here.
Help with edge 25
My wife & I love our 920xts for training, tris and training ( including pratice tris ) with power but during Tri …
I ride by feel without distractions – no gizmos
My wife however wants cadence/avr speed/ & BPM. no power yet ( were older age groupers)
so for during the Tris I ordered her an edge 25. for her bike info during the ride & use the 920 on her wrist to collect all legs & to monitor during the run.
Unless Im mistaking this unit will not work for that . It ( unlike our 920s )requires her desired data fields to be rsset during T1 as it defaults back to its standard data field when turned off or waits for the swim to finish.
or I just don’t know how to get it to stay in her selected data fields.
I’m not sure I’m fully understanding the question, but the data fields should stay configured the same way. You have two “pages” of data you can customize as you want and a third page that shows heart rate. What you have on each page should stay the same even after you turn off. You may need to save those setting using the GarminnConnect app but I don’t think so.
Thank you,
I updated from 2.5 to 3.3 on the Garmin up date web page & it now works As you explained. If the wahoo cadence pods will now stay connected She should be happy.
If you ride technical mountain bike courses you will find that “smart recording” on the Edge 25 is unsatisfactory. It misses a lot of little zigs and zags which means that the total distance reported will be low. There is no 1 second recording interval and no plans to add it. Really disappointing for me to find this out on my own. Also, you can set your heart rate zones but Garmin Connect will not show you a distribution of how long you were in each zone for a ride. In both cases Garmin just wants to you pony up more money for features that should be there from the start.
Welcome to the club Starwalker. One look at link to forums.garmin.com and you’ll find that the forum is full of complaints on the Edge 25 as are the comments on this review. You can suggest 1 second recording as an idea link to forums.garmin.com but don’t expect anything concrete. I bet that there is a complaint for each one of Edge 25’s supported features here or elsewhere:
– GPS recording – no per second recording
– Text/ Call notifications – they are hit and miss
– Using the speed sensor while riding outdoors- doesn’t work at all when GPS is enabled.
– Ability to display HR as a data field- not possible officially. link to edge25.net has a workaround.
– Segment prompts are supposed to work for segments created using garmin connect- except they don’t.
– Virtual partner- Advertised feature that doesn’t work at all.
– Support for Varia bike radar and light- I doubt if anyone who only has budget for an Edge 25 would buy a Varia. But I’m willing to bet that if you do, it will not work as advertised.
Buying the Edge 25 is like buying a weighing scale that has all the bells and whistles but fails at the one thing that it is supposed to do – provide accurate weight readings.
I posted in mtbr.com forums where I paired the 25 with the garmin speed sensor (the one that goes over the hub) that is now prioritized for reading speed (over gps), with the last (or second to last) firmware update. Got very accurate readings. Altitude readings were still bad, but the distance readings were very close to Edge 1000 that was mounted on the handlebar simultaneously with the 25 a la dcrainmaker style. Another dude got very good results, too.
So the solution is to give them more money? Anyways, putting that aside, will it connect to both the heart rate sensor (Wahoo) and speed sensor? If so, I might just do that, since I do like the form factor and mine seems to work ok for text notifications, etc. I haven’t seen just the speed sensor sold anywhere yet, though.
Not sure…. The magnetless garmin speed sensor should be widely available in the US i think. Fyi, my test rides were with mostly under trees. Before, the inaccuracy issues arose because even if you had a speed sensor, the device would still take speed readings via gps. But with the firmware upgrade, it’s much more accurate distance-wise as it prioritizes speed reading from speed sensor. The firmware release notes mention that. Not sure if it works with other speed sensors.
Yes. I have a Wahoo HR and bontrager duotrap. Pairs with both and I get cadence and HR on edge.
OK, looks like I can get just the speed sensor locally. I’ll give it a try since I really do like the form factor of the 25.
The edge 25 allows 3 data fields on page 2. I just bought one and set it up that way.
Garmin Customer Service told me that I can put 3 data fields on page 2, however, Heart Rate is not one of the allowed fields. Were you able to put HR and cadence on the same page?
I mentioned that you can have 3 data fields on page 2 because the review by DC Rainmaker said 2, which is incorrect. The heart rate information is on page 3 and cannot be put into page 1 or 2.
Yes – you can put up to 3 data fields on each of the first two pages, with HR showing on a third page (as well as zone).
You can also go to edge25.net and customize the data fields with HR among them on the first two pages. It appears when using this tool you don’t get a third page of data, however.
It works well – I have cadence, HR, and speed on the first page.
Will the Edge 25 pick up Heart Rate from a wrist based device, eg the Forerunner 235? Will any of the Edge family pick up Wrist-based HR?
Yup! And any Edge will work.
Thanks! Look like the wife’s Christmas present is sorted!
Would the Edge 25 be able to be used on a trainer to see speed/distance without an additional speed/cadence sensor?
Hi guys, I have been using the Garmin Edge 25 for about a year now and I absolutely love the device. It is small, lightweight, durable, and has a user friendly, basic function. The only problem I have is the accuracy when it comes to elevation tracking. I have tried it using GLONASS, with out GLONASS, I have tried turning on/off the elevation corrections option, and I have kept it updated with the latest firmware. Does anyone else have this problem? I would like to know if its just a defective unit or if this is a common issue with the 25. Any input would be greatly appreciated.
I have the same issue. I have ridden near sea level a few times when the elevation was showing negative numbers! When I uploaded the ride data the software corrected it and the elevation data and graph were accurate. This I understand is due to the fact the unit gets the data from GPS rather than a built -in altimeter.
I’ve a 25 and far as I’m aware it doesn’t have a barometer so it only gets elevation data from its location on download. So as long as it’s placing you on roads / tracks where you have been that’s as good as it gets.
It uses GPS to determine altitude, which when you download gets corrected for measured elevations on roads.
I actually have the opposite problem – when I go over bridges it will record my altitude based on the ground elevation not the bridge elevation, at least in some circumstances. Overall mine has been pretty accurate as when compared to Strava – both seems to show similar overall elevation gain for rides.
I currently have the Edge 820 which I was hoping to use for both road and mtb as well as indoor but it has a rather stupid setting for auto start/stop being that it does both at 6 mph. Meaning anytime I go under 6 mph up those steep hills or around very sharp switchbacks, it stops recording and it’s fairly slow to start recording again. This is not an issue on the road or for indoors but it has screwed my data pretty good for mtb rides and I’m now searching for another option on the trails. Strapping ym expensive and large phone to ym bike or using manual start/stop isn’t an option as I used to do that and many times I’d forget to start it again when riding with a group that likes to stop more frequently. Does the Edge 25 have this same setting or should I finally abandon Garmin given the myriad of issues for every device?
Why no Power meter connectivity on the Edge 25? do you know of a simple small device with Power capacity.
I would love to have a edge 25 style computer with wattage.
Garmin wants to force folks to buy-up. Kinda annoying, cause I think some folks would happily pay another $25 or so to unlock such a feature.
Thank you Ray,
I would certainly appreciate a small devise with basic feature while keeping the data analysis possibility. I see that Cateye have some smart ones but I believe they are not GPS auto dependent. If this feature would be unlocked I would certainly get one right away. Its already HR Ant+ compatible too.
I twas thinking that they would pack the edge 25 with all the edge 500 features. That would have been sweet.
Thanks again.
How did you find the gps. My edge 200 is slow, but my vivoactive smart watch is super fast. Any idea where on the spectrum this is?
It’s on par with the Vivoactive Smart. Mostly because it’s using the same satellite pre-caching technology.
Picked up two of these units for my kids last year and they work perfectly for them while riding, and upload works fine from Garmin Express. One issue i have is that they each have an iPod touch, and I’ve added their Garmin connect account to the iPods, it appears as if the Edge is syncing through Garmin connect, but the activities don’t appear to actually upload. Am I missing something, or will Garmin devices only work on iPhone and not iPod.
Thank you in advance.
Is auto-upload set to on in Garmin Connect (devices–>settings–>device settings)?
Will double check when I get home later.
I would imagine yes at it’s usually on by default correct?
Not sure – maybe not as a privacy type thing, or if you set up account before device. Been a while since I set it, if I ever did.
Auto Upload is turned on. I even just tried with my iPhone and that also isn’t working, so it does appear to be a setting on the Edge 25.
Maybe I misunderstood your original question. Is the Edge not uploading data to the phone/iPod, or is the phone/iPod not uploading to the Garmin connect website? Auto upload is for uploading to the website.
If it’s to phone, make sure it’s paired. If so, try repairing. See if the edge shows up in the garmin app. Also check the firmaware and update – one version last year caused sNYC issues.
Paired and unpaired the Edge and re-logged into the Garmin Connect App, and it started syncing correctly.
I just curious if anyone else has found the edge 25 to be constructed from cheese. In less than 12 months I’m on my third replacement, random crashes followed by a refusal to power on. The last failure occurred after a spirited ascent of sa calobra, imagine the joy on my face on noticing the damn thing had crashed.
Have mine for over year now, did more than 10.000 km with it, never had any issues. Only issues I had was that the battery drained at ~8 / 9 hours usage with HR / Cadens / Speed sensors connected, when doing long distance rides. But I guess that’s just something you’d have to live with. Never had any hardware issues or such.
well the replacement lasted about 2 weeks. I guess its wahoo time.
Will the Edge 25 work with a magnet-based ant+ sensor? I would like to use it indoors on a Lemond Revmaster spinner which has a solid flywheel with no hub on which to mount the new magnetless hub sensor. I can glue a magnet to the side of the flywheel for a magnet-based ant+ sensor.
Just purchased the 25. Because I’m a minimalist…I love it.
However, I’m doing an Everesting attempt in June. Each lap is 2.2mi total(up & down).
What would you do?
1) Leave auto lap at 1mi & shorten the climb distance.
2) Push the button manually at the bottom of every repeat… (provided I remain coherent)
or
3) Upgrade or borrow before the event
Hmm…that’s tricky. Since altitude is what matters here, and the unit doesn’t have a baro altimeter, I might look at other options (borrowing would probably be easy).
Other options would allow you to just focus on a total ascent value instead of hoping the math works out. Just my two cents.
You can’t add heart rate toe the first 2 screens you have to toggle back and forth. There is a long blog where people have asked to be able to add HR to the screens. Any update on this as it is a deal breaker for me as I also want to use the 25 indoors with my spinner.
You can put heart rate on the first two screens (or do any configuration you want) by using the tool at this website:
http://www.edge25.net
Ok, since I am computer illiterate please walk me through the steps. I changed the fields and downloaded the file to my computer but am completely unsure what to do next. Thanks for all the help. I like the Garmin but really want the heart rate and cadence to show while using the spinner and peloton app.
I would buy one if it could do auto lap by position.
hey.
I was just wondering if I put Garmin edge 20/25 on mountain bike bars (instead of the stem) will the Garmin edge be sideways on the bars?
Thanks.
For the mount pictured here (“rubber band” kind) you can turn it 90 degrees and it still works fine.
Juli 2020.
Re “Ant+ sensor added on the edge 25.”
First impression : interesting since I use Ant+ Powertap powermeter rear wheels.
2nd impression
“No power meter sensor support.”
This is the main reason for why I would buy a external (Garmin) cycling ant+ computer because most mobile phone apps don’t support ant+ powermeters anymore.
Unfortunately Garmin forces powermeter users to buy more expensive edge models like the 130 / 530 or 830 .
The edge 25 offers no new features my phone allready has.
So Still looking for a budget entry level ant+ power meter compatible cycling device.