When Garmin announced the Edge 1060, they noted the the majority of features would come to existing Edge x50 series devices (Edge 550/850/1050), as well as a handful of features going to older x40 series devices (Edge 540/840/1040/1040 Solar). Heck, even the Edge MTB gets new tricks too.
The good news is that we don’t have to wait long, at least for some of the new features. Garmin has already started rolling out a portion of the new features in public beta, and I’ve got an outline for all the remaining features and which devices are getting what.
Which Features Go To Which Units:
Now, in my Edge 1060 post I explain all the new features in a bit more detail, but in short, these are the key software features that can be ported back (voice features like voice control and voice messaging require a microphone, which simply isn’t in older Garmin Edge hardware). Here’s what we’re looking at:
Strava Live Segment Updates: This essentially has three components to it. The first is allowing for collapsible portions within the Strava Live Segment page (e.g., resizing the different chunks, or getting rid of certain ones). Next, you can now see competitor icons on the map & elevation profiles (e.g. KOM position). And finally – the biggie, you can now do Strava Live Segments on *any* route (previously it was just Strava Routes). [Coming to Edge x50 & Edge MTB in Q1 2027]
Structured Workout Page Updates: Seen above, this allows for collapsible portions of the workout page, just like with the Strava Live Segment page above. [Coming to Edge x50 & Edge MTB in Q1 2027]
Alternate Data Fields: This allows you to specify alternate/secondary data fields for any sensor data field, if that sensor isn’t available. For example, you have power data fields in your data pages, but then ride a bike without power, this will let you swap out that data field for anything else you want (e.g. calories). Same goes for navigation-related data fields (like distance to end of course) if not riding a course. [Now available to Edge x50 & Edge MTB in Q4 public beta]
GroupRide Advertising Capability: This will automatically prompt you to create a GroupRide if it detects other Garmin Edge devices near you at the start of a ride. Think of it like AirDrop contact sharing for the Peloton, except to start a group session. This feature is optionally enabled, but makes it silly-easy to start this, versus the messier past. [Now available to Edge x40, Edge x50 & Edge MTB in Q4 public beta]
Hazards & Road Closures: This is an extension to the community reporting page for hazards (such as potholes and such) that now allows for reporting and seeing road closures. [Coming to Edge x40, Edge x50 & Edge MTB in Q1 2027]
Garmin Messenger Support: This will add support for the Edge unit to see messages coming in from Garmin Messenger, including even playing those messages back on devices with a proper speaker (Edge 850/1050). You can also send text messages from all units (including quick replies). Finally, it also allows it to participate in Garmin Locate, which is vaguely like a FindMy feature. [Now available to Edge x50 & Edge MTB in Q4 public beta]
Garmin Link: If you have a Garmin wearable, this will make the heart rate broadcasting feature a bit more seamless – automatically starting that broadcast on your wearable (if enabled), rather than having to futz around and end up with either dual recordings or manually remembering each time. My wife will very much appreciate this (assuming she remembers to charge her watch). This is actually not yet on the Edge 1060. [Coming to Edge 1060, Edge x50 & Edge MTB in Q1 2027]
There are also two features coming via Garmin Connect Edge x40/x50/1060/Edge Explore 3 users that aren’t dependent on firmware on the unit itself. These roll out Tuesday, November 3rd to all users. They are:
Android Google Maps Support: For Android users, you can now send a pin/shared location from Google Maps straight to your Edge (via Garmin Connect app). iPhone users have been able to do this for a long while with Apple Maps instead.
Garmin Coaching Challenger Plans: Historically Garmin coach cycling plans have required a power meter, these ones do not. They are going to all users Edge x40/x50/MTB/etc users.
When it comes to a few features not going back to existing units, it’s essentially one bucket of map-specific features. I’ve broken them down as follows (I’ve covered both of these in my Edge 1060 post, and also show them in the video above towards the back half of the video):
Course hazard and closures preview page: When you load up a course on the unit, this shows expected hazards and road closures on the course page, like below.
Route Options (for routing): When creating a route on the unit (either point to point, or round-trip), this will add a small elevation profile at the top, as well as calculate the estimated time, and show total ascent and distance (all in tiny consolidated screen).
Up Ahead POI: This shows nearby/upcoming points of interest (POI) on your planned route as you ride, within the two categories you specify (e.g. cafe, or toilets, or a bunch of others). Further, there’s also a general page to see nearby/nearest POI even without a route loaded.
FreeFlow Routing: This offers routes that have less stop & go bits (e.g. less lights or other traffic-induced slowness).
QWERTY Keyboard & Predictive Text: This adds a new Qwerty keyboard option, as well as type-ahead predictive text when doing things like typing an address into the unit.
Ride Readiness Checklist Page: This is a bit of a redesigned UI element that shows a checklist of things to ensure are how you want them, like sensor status and more.
Carbon Savings: This will show your carbon savings from a bike commute/ride. It is not a calculator to determine how much of your savings you need for that new carbon bike.
Got all that? Good.
Going Forward:
Both the Edge 1060 launch and the Garmin Fenix 9 launch represent a clear turning point for Garmin in how they deal with older unit software updates. Prior to these launches, Garmin generally speaking left behind the prior generation units. In the case of the Edge 1050 two years go, Garmin did do a better job at bringing features of the x40 series for quite some time (because they felt as though the Edge 1040 Solar was still cohesive part of their longer-battery life offerings).
In the case of both the Fenix 9 and the Edge 1060, the rough line in the sand here appears to be tied to mapping and navigation related features. In the case of the Fenix 9 the was because Garmin said new processor and increased RAM were needed for the new mapping engine. They didn’t say that was the case here, but appeared to sorta meet halfway on things for x50 users. For x40 users, there’s a few quality of life enhancements. For competitive context, Wahoo has essentially ditched all non-V3 bike computers for new features since launching those. COROS just launched the Dura 2 last week, and the future of the Dura 1 software updates seems somewhat mixed (my gut says it’ll be similar to what Garmin is doing here).
Either way, this is good to see this shift in thinking – and hope it continues to other product groups.
Thanks for reading!
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