Garmin Edge 1040 vs. Garmin Edge 1050: Which is best?

• Best for battery life

  Garmin Edge 1040

  The Garmin Edge 1040 is a feature-rich bike computer with a massive 3.5-inch display. It offers up to 35 hours of battery life in demanding use cases, group ride features, navigation tools with multi-band GNSS for highly accurate GPS tracking, and advanced performance tools as well. 

  Pros

  • Good battery life
  • Extremely accurate GPS tracking
  • Advanced training features
  • Large display is easy to read

  Cons

  • Screen is rather outdated looking

• 

  Best display

  Garmin Edge 1050

  The Garmin Edge 1050 is a premium cycling computer with a bright, responsive touchscreen. It offers plenty of safety features like road hazard alerts and an electronic bell, along with useful navigation tools and Garmin’s robust training platform. 

  Pros

  • Extremely bright, vibrant, and large display
  • Very feature-rich
  • Compatible with Garmin Pay
  • Integrated speaker that doubles as bell

  Cons

  • Bright display impacts battery life

When Garmin released the Edge 1040 and Edge 1040 Solar in 2022, it was the most advanced bike computer from any company thus far. It was the first head unit to incorporate solar panels to extend battery life and was also the first to add multi-band GNSS for significantly better GPS tracking accuracy across all conditions. While the display looked better than its predecessor, the Edge 1030, it still looked rather old for 2022 and especially looks outdated in today’s world of bright, vibrant displays found everywhere.

Garmin heard this critique and came out with the Edge 1050 this summer as an answer. The Edge 1050 takes many of the advanced features of the Edge 1040 and builds on them, adding a handful of worthwhile features and tools. Most notably, though, it adds an incredibly bright, responsive display that puts the Edge 1040 to shame with a much more modern design to the unit as a whole.

Garmin was clear that the Edge 1050 does not replace the Edge 1040 (or Edge 1040 Solar), with all three models continuing to coexist in its Edge bike computer lineup. So, that begs the question, which model should you choose?

Related

Garmin’s latest bike computer is close to perfection

A modern display, speedy performance, and an endless list of features won over my cyclist heart.

Price, availability, and specs

The Garmin Edge 1040, Edge 1040 Solar, and Edge 1050 are all available for purchase through Garmin’s website, Amazon, Target, and specialty bike or outdoor stores. The Edge 1040 is $599.99, while the Edge 1040 Solar is $749.99. The Edge 1050 falls in the middle at $699.99.

• 	Garmin Edge 1040	Garmin Edge 1050
  Brand	Garmin	Garmin
  Color Screen	Yes	Yes
  Notification Support	Yes	Yes
  Battery Life	Up to 35 hours	20 hours
  Display	transflective TFT	Liquid crystal
  IP rating	IPX7	IPX7
  Dimensions	2.3 x 4.6 x 0.8 in	2.4 x 4.7 x 0.6 in
  Mobile payments	No	Yes

Design

Modern and bright versus more old-school

The most obvious difference between the Edge 1040 and Edge 1050 is the display. Both are 3.5 inches, though the 1040 uses a transflective TFT display, while the 1050 is a liquid crystal display. That newer screen technology results in quite a difference in terms of brightness and color. Garmin doesn’t provide a peak brightness for the Edge 1040, but the 1050 provides 1,000 nits of brightness. Compared to the 1040, it’s like looking into the face of the sun (in a less painful way).

The 1040’s colors are very subdued, while the 1050’s are punchy and rich. The more vibrant color makes it easy to recognize key stats and features at a glance, which is very useful when riding. It also makes reading the map while moving much easier. That’s not to say that the Edge 1040 is hard to read, as I’ve had no issues even in bright light. But, the 1050 is easier to gather information with a quick glance and simply looks better.

Of course, part of the reason it looks better is because the resolution is doubled. The 1040 comes in at 282 x 470 pixels, while the 1050 offers a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels. That’s a big difference in resolution and results in a lot cleaner, sharper graphics and text.

Beyond the screen, there are some other design differences as well. The Edge 1050 features a more modern, aggressive design, while the 1040 offers the typical rounded edges of the Edge line. Though the display is the same size and the dimensions are nearly identical, the Edge 1050 weighs one ounce more than the 1040. It’s subtle, but you can notice a difference.

Related

Garmin’s Edge 1040 Solar has everything I need, except a decent display

The Garmin Edge 1040 Solar provides extensive battery life with a long list of features, but the display is a letdown.

Battery life

A significant difference

While that fancy display certainly looks nice, it does come at a cost. Battery life on the Edge 1050 takes a pretty significant hit as a result. It only provides up to 20 hours in demanding use cases or up to 60 hours in battery saver mode. The Edge 1040, by comparison, promises up to 35 hours in demanding use cases or up to 70 hours in battery saver mode. Taking things even further, the Edge 1040 Solar offers up to 45 hours in demanding situations with solar or up to 100 hours in battery saver mode with solar.

Of course, battery life is quite variable and dependent on lots of individual settings and what you have on the display during a ride. So, the numbers above will vary quite a bit based on your particular usage. It’s also important to note that to get the most out of the solar charging feature, you’ll need consistent 75,000 lux conditions. In sunny locations, that’s not hard to do, but in cloudy locals, you may not get as much of a boost from solar charging. But, no matter what, the Edge 1050 will provide less battery life than the Edge 1040 and Edge 1040 Solar.

Features

Subtle but important differences

While the Edge 1050 and Edge 1040 share many features, some key differences could lead some to prefer one device over the other. First, the Edge 1050 is the first Garmin bike computer to offer Garmin Pay, meaning you can leave your wallet behind on rides and still be able to pick up a coffee or water. That’s a really nice level of convenience, provided you use a bank that’s compatible with Garmin Pay.

The Edge 1050 also features a built-in speaker, which enables an electronic bike bell. The bell is really loud, though it sounds remarkably like a physical bell. It’s also easy to access during rides. While you can certainly get a bell separate from your bike computer, that’s more things on your handlebars. Having that feature integrated is quite nice, and I do miss out on it when I’m using the Edge 1040.

Both the Edge 1040 and Edge 1050 offer Group Ride and Incident Detection features, but the Edge 1050 combines those. It now alerts you to incidents of other riders in the group so you can stop and help. You can also participate in group ride competitions and earn awards with the 1050 but not with the 1040.

Another nice safety feature available on the 1050 is community-generated hazard reporting. It’s essentially like Waze for your Garmin bike computer. Garmin Edge 1050 users can report hazards like potholes, problematic animals, and more, which will then show up as alerts during your ride. You can also contribute edits if those hazards have been resolved.

Which should you buy?

At the end of the day, which of Garmin’s top-of-the-line bike computers is best truly depends on your needs and preferences, as they each serve different types of cyclists. However, for most people, the brighter, more vibrant display, onboard speaker, additional safety features, and Garmin Pay of the Garmin Edge 1050 make it the better choice overall.

Garmin Edge 1050

The Garmin Edge 1050 offers an impressive list of features to fit the needs of a wide variety of riders. It offers advanced training tools, Garmin Pay, plenty of safety features, and so much more. Plus, the vibrant display makes it stand out against other options.

That said, if battery life is the single most important factor for your rides, then the Edge 1040, or even better, the Edge 1040 Solar, would be the best choice for you. You will sacrifice the display quality and a few features, but when you need that extra-long battery life, the Edge 1040 is the way to go.

Garmin Edge 1040

The Garmin Edge 1040 may feature a less exciting display, but it provides much longer battery life to keep up on long rides and epic adventures.

Garmin Edge 1040 Solar

The Garmin Edge 1040 Solar takes all the features of the Edge 1040 but adds solar panels to give an even greater boost to battery life. For those needing extra long battery, the Edge 1040 Solar is best option.