Foldable Bikes Party: Garmin Edge 520 review

Wednesday, 11 May 2016

Garmin Edge 520 review

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If you're a performance-oriented rider who prefers button operation to a touchscreen, you'll like the Garmin Edge 520 GPS computer.

Having established itself as the first name in cycling GPS computers, Garmin now finds itself in the position of determining which feature sets appeal to certain types of riders.

[Editor's note: This review was updated with an improved score after an ANT+ issue was solved. More on that below.]

With the new Garmin Edge 520, the American company has targeted competitive riders with features like Strava Live Segments, FTP testing, Di2 integration, a VO2 Max calculation and recommended recovery time. And yes, the compact unit covers all the standard variations of metrics like distance, speed, elevation and — with the use of a heart-rate strap and a power meter — heart rate and power.

In fact, it’s easier to list what the 520 doesn’t have than what it does. Notably, the 520 has seven buttons, not a touchscreen like the outgoing 510 it replaces. And while a Bluetooth connection to your smartphone can provide automatic wireless uploads if your free Garmin Connect app is open on your tethered smartphone, there is no Wi-Fi like on the Edge 1000.

The Edge 520 sits in the middle of the Edge line, which ranges from the diminutive Edge 20 and Edge 25 units that can perch atop your top cap up through the map-friendly Edge 810 to the smartphone-sized Edge 1000. The 520's screen-to-body-size ratio is better than that of its siblings.