Navigation, power and battery in one gadget.
BikeRadar calls it a brilliant little unit for riders who don't want a touchscreen.
Skip if you want a big touchscreen: look at the Garmin Edge 840.
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BikeRadar's best value bike computer.
The model before the Edge 850, with touchscreen and buttons.
Turn-by-turn routing and rerouting vary a lot between models. Check offline maps if you ride rural lanes.
Quoted in hours, but backlight, navigation and connected sensors all shorten it. For long days, check real-world figures in tests.
Make sure it supports ANT+ and Bluetooth for your power meter, heart-rate strap and smart trainer.
Buttons are easier in rain and winter gloves; touchscreens are easier for browsing maps.
Structured workouts, climb profiles and recovery metrics change between price tiers.
No, but a bike computer gives you a bigger screen, longer battery life, a proper handlebar mount and better navigation for long rides.
Only if you use the extras, like mapping and training tools. BikeRadar rates a far cheaper model as its best value pick, so many riders don't need the top tier.
You can, but phones drain quickly with GPS and a bright screen, and they struggle in rain. A dedicated unit is built for it.
Picks draw on independent tests: BikeRadar: Best bike computers 2026 · BikeRadar: I tested 12 bike computers in a day. RRPs are as published in those tests.