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830 worth upgrading from Edge Explore 820?

Pearson210
over 4 years ago

I have an Edge Explore 820. It works reasonably well though I have been frustrated with its battery life and the unresponsive touch screen. Is the 830 enough of an improvement to justify the $300+ expense? I am also intrigued by the bike alarm in the 830. I do not use the heart/cadence/etc sensors, just the Varia.

Thanks for any insight.

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    Screen and battery life much improved and response will be much more snappy than the explore. I don’t use the bike alarm as I don’t leave my 830 on the bike when I stop and also the built in sounder is very quiet. I guess if it works through your phone too it would be audible but not tried it. 

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    Agree on the battery life and screen, they're OK. Note that they changed the screen was changed to a capacitive touch screen (like on your smartphone) and you will need touch enabled gloves to use it. 

    BUT beware of the GPS reception issues that seem to plague this model (including my device). To me it's at the lower limit of acceptable when it comes to GPS accuracy, if that matters for you. 

    Also some occasional freezing and random restarts.  Check other posts in this forum for more details. 

    Looking at the past 2 month experience with 830 I would probably not repeat this purchase.

    But that is just my experience. 

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to Fl0r1n

    I have a 530 and have no issues with GPS, freezes or restarts.  Just don't have the touchscreen or more detailed navigation.  I regularly ride with speed/cadence/chest HR and Varia radar with no disconnects or other issues.  So the 530 might be an option as it is just the 830 but without the touchscreen

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    Having had a series of Edge units since the 500 I would say the 830 is by far the best. 

    The new chipset is far faster making everything far quicker to respond. Even routing on the go becomes usable. Workout screens and automated connections to Trainingpeaks and others work really well. 

    Sensor connections are stable and quick and having the ability to connect using Bluetooth is great. 

    The touch screen is far better than any that Garmin have used before and the screen itself is sharper than anything other than the 130.

    I haven't had any of the gps problems referred to above. I'm in the UK,  so possibly the gps problems are in other places. I mostly use navigation for following pre built routes both on and off road and have had no problems related to the unit. Usually problems are caused by wrong labels in OSM. Garmin don't update the mapset that often and this may also lead to problems if you live somewhere with a lot of new roads. There's plenty of space on the device so you can always download more up-to-date maps yourself. 

    As far as if it's worth upgrading,  if you were using a 520 or 820 I would definitely say yes. However if you don't require all the performer stuff maybe wait until they bring out a 830 touring with a reduced set of stuff at a cheaper price. 

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    Having had a series of Edge units since the 500 I would say the 830 is by far the best. 

    The new chipset is far faster making everything far quicker to respond. Even routing on the go becomes usable. Workout screens and automated connections to Trainingpeaks and others work really well. 

    Sensor connections are stable and quick and having the ability to connect using Bluetooth is great. 

    The touch screen is far better than any that Garmin have used before and the screen itself is sharper than anything other than the 130.

    I haven't had any of the gps problems referred to above. I'm in the UK,  so possibly the gps problems are in other places. I mostly use navigation for following pre built routes both on and off road and have had no problems related to the unit. Usually problems are caused by wrong labels in OSM. Garmin don't update the mapset that often and this may also lead to problems if you live somewhere with a lot of new roads. There's plenty of space on the device so you can always download more up-to-date maps yourself. 

    As far as if it's worth upgrading,  if you were using a 520 or 820 I would definitely say yes. However if you don't require all the performer stuff maybe wait until they bring out a 830 touring with a reduced set of stuff at a cheaper price.