Is the screen of the new Edges 850 a flop?

RCGARMIN
25 days ago

We did our first ride outside using the 850 computers. really liked the larger format and the crisper screen brightness. Our only concern was that to see the screen data clearly, we had to leave the computer with the display ON for the entire time. We tried dark mode or light mode, but it made no difference. We'd think this would be a huge battery drainage concern as opposed to have the backlight go off.

We were riding during the brightest part of the day with almost direct sunlight on the computer.

On previous models, like the 830 or 840 we always used the computer display to turn off at 15 seconds and got very good battery usage per charge. But the screen was readable even without the backlight, especially when under sun reflecting on it.

Has anyone experienced this issue with these new computer screens, whether it is the 850 or 1050? Is Liquid Crystal only good to be use in bright light situations with the backlight ON?

Any other tips will be appreciated!

  • 0 24 days ago

    Unfortunately there are no „other tips“…

    I have a 1050 and a 530 and compared the visibility in bright sunlight and backlight set to minimum (10%):
    The 530 seems to have kind of transreflect layer which makes the display good readable in sunlight (especially under certain sun angles).
    The 1050 does not have such a reflective layer. With minimum backlight under sun you see nothing.

    Nevertheless I‘m happy with my 1050. With „ever on“ setting and auto backlight I have very good readability under every condition and it eats about 6% juice per hour - which is ok for me.

  • 0 24 days ago in reply to mcinner1

    Thanks. Your response is useful regardless. I wonder, however, if battery life could be improved by using “dark mode” and using “always on”. 

  • 0 22 days ago in reply to RCGARMIN

    The x50 units have screens that require the backlight on to be visible.  All the other Garmin units have trans-reflective screens that are visible in daylight without backlights (they have a reflective layer at the back reflecting the ambient light back through the screen which acts like a backlight).

    Dark mode will not affect battery life.  The backlight is always on behind the entire screen no matter if the LCD is blocking it in dark mode or not.

    OLED screens have individually lit pixels and devices using those will have a longer battery life with darker screens but they are not used on Garmin bike computers.

  • 0 20 days ago

    Did you set it to automatic backlight or manual? If manual, was it 100% or lower?

  • 0 20 days ago in reply to steveadorjan

    We’re using strictly in daytime direct sun light. There’s no need to put it at 100% for our needs. We don’t use auto backlight. The minute the computer has no back light, one can’t see the screen in plain sunlight.

  • 0 19 days ago

    I have found the exact same thing, thought it was a problem with the unit, using with auto brightness and  backlight always on which makes screen great,, but wary of battery life, had the 540 before which was fine

  • 0 19 days ago

    I have noticed the exact same problem, just upgraded from 540 to 850, screen great with constant backlight but otherwise can hardly see it so uses battery quickly

  • 0 19 days ago in reply to RCGARMIN

    By auto backlight I didn't mean turning off after 15 seconds (as with the 840), but the 850 has auto adjustment for the backlight: it is always on, but it adapts to varying light conditions. I guess most people have been using this option. But you can also set it manually (turning off the auto option) to a given percentage, so the backlight would always be 100%, or 30% etc.

    You're saying 100% is not needed (I agree, that's just killing the battery for no reason), but you're not using auto adjustment either. So, what exactly were you using then?

  • 0 19 days ago in reply to tyson71

    Do you use auto backlight adjustment or set it manually? I guess having the backlight constantly at only 30% would save some battery (still not as much as turning it off, which we could do with the x40 generations and earlier), but some reviews mention that 30% results in poor visibility in some conditions