The new Garmin Edge 1040 Solar GPS unit uses a large solar-powered lens built into the display and claims up to 100 hours of battery life. Find more details and photos here…

With extra long days of riding often in remote locales, bikepacking is probably the most battery-intensive cycling discipline. Most GPS units we’ve tested—such as the popular Wahoo and Hammerhead models—get about 15 hours of battery life at their max, which means charging them nightly. The new Garmin Edge 1040 Solar aims to change that and claims nearly seven times the battery life of other high-end GPS devices with a whopping 100 hours of use on one charge. The unit charges via a large Power Glass solar charging lens built into the display. If these claims hold water, this is a massive advantage. Read on for details.

Garmin Edge 1040 Solar

There is one bit of fine print with Garmin’s 100-hour battery life claim, however. That only applies when the Edge 1040 Solar is running in battery save mode. Battery save mode likely disables connections with other devices, as well as limits other functionality, if it’s anything like the setting on Garmin’s GPS-enabled watches. Otherwise, Garmin claims the 1040 can operate for a solid 40 hours in demanding use cases, which is still quite impressive.

  • Garmin Edge 1040 Solar
  • Garmin Edge 1040 Solar
  • Garmin Edge 1040 Solar
  • Garmin Edge 1040 Solar

Garmin Edge 1040 Solar Features

Similar to other high-end head units, the Garmin Edge 1040 Solar has a wealth of training and navigation features. We won’t get into them in this quick press release, but here’s a list from their product page:

  • SOLAR CHARGING
  • STAMINA INSIGHTS
  • CYCLING ABILITIES AND COURSE DEMANDS
  • POWER GUIDE
  • DYNAMIC PERFORMANCE MONITORING
  • TRAINING STATUS
  • DAILY SUGGESTED WORKOUTS
  • SYNC TRAINING PLANS
  • HEAT AND ALTITUDE ACCLIMATION
  • CLIMBPRO FEATURE
  • NUTRITION AND HYDRATION ALERTS
  • CYCLING DYNAMICS
  • MTB DYNAMICS
  • GRIT AND FLOW
  • MULTI-BAND GNSS
  • RIDE TYPE-SPECIFIC MAPS
  • TRAILFORKS APP
  • FORKSIGHT MODE
  • TURN-BY-TURN DIRECTIONS
  • OFF-COURSE RECALCULATION
  • SHIMANO STEPS EBIKE SYSTEM COMPATIBLE
  • Dimensions: 2.3 × 4.6 × 0.8″ (59.3 × 117.6 × 20.0mm)
  • Display: Touchscreen Color Display
  • Display Size: 3.5″ (88.9mm) Diagonal
  • Display Resolution: 282 × 470 Pixels
  • Weight: 4.7oz (133 grams)
  • Battery Type: Rechargeable Lithium-Ion
  • Water Rating: IPX7
  • Basemaps: Preloaded Garmin Cycle Map + Ability To Add
  • Memory/Storage: External + 64GB Internal Memory
  • Waypoints/Favorites/Locations: 200
  • Navigation Routes: 100 Courses
  • History: Up To 200 Hours

The Garmin Edge 1040 Solar sells for $749.99 USD, or, if you don’t need the solar charging capability, you can pick up a regular Edge 1040 for $599.99. Learn more over at Garmin.com.

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