Bluetooth connectivity

While the user interface is an obvious improvement over the Edge 800, the 810’s headline upgrade is its Bluetooth connectivity. This allows the computer to ‘talk’ to your smart phone via the Garmin Connect app, which in turn offers three main benefits: live tracking, live weather updates and the ability to automatically, and wirelessly, upload your ride to Garmin Connect.

Connecting the Edge 810 unit to your smart phone is simple (we’ve used an iPhone 4S throughout the course of our test period). Download the Garmin Connect app (you will need to register for a free Garmin Connect account, if you haven’t already done so), search for the Edge 810 through your phone’s Bluetooth settings and pair the two.

Live tracking

The Edge 810’s ‘LiveTrack’ feature allows you to send a link, via the app, to friends and family (or via Twitter and Facebook) which lets them track your progress. LiveTrack updates every 30 seconds and let’s whoever you’ve shared the link with see your location and your past route on a map, along with key data (for example, average speed, time, distance and elevation gain). Friends and family don’t need a Garmin Connect account to use LiveTrack, only the link the app sent them.

It’s a neat feature: you can send out invites in advance (the tracking itself will only kick off when you start a new activity) and it lets loved ones keep an eye out if, say, on a big solo ride or a night ride. Naturally, it’s a more rewarding experience for the rider than the tracker. The video that accompanied the Edge 810’s launch showed Garmin-Sharp boss Jonathan Vaughters monitoring his riders’ training efforts like an directeur sportif overlord but, in reality, anyone sitting at home watching LiveTrack is only likely to check it occasionally. Still, it’s a safety conscious feature which works well – in most situations.

There are two notable limitations. Firstly, LiveTrack requires a data signal to update, so if you’re in a particularly remote area, or you hit a black spot, it won’t update until you have signal again. We’d like to see Garmin implement the technology used on their GTU 10 GPS tracker, which doesn’t need a data signal. Secondly, if you’re riding abroad then you will need data roaming enabled on your phone in order to use LiveTrack. The one time I really wanted to use it was during this summer’s Etape du Tour sportive but, not willing to risk a huge phone bill, had to make do with a text message at the end to say I’d finished.

Live weather

The Garmin Connect app also allows you to access live weather updates on the Edge 810. Click the power button and it will display the current weather and a three-hour forecast at hourly intervals, showing temperature, the likelihood of precipitation as a percentage, and wind speed and direction. You can also see if there are any weather warnings, though we haven’t encountered any during our test.

In reality the Edge 810’s weather updates probably won’t tell you anything you won’t already know by looking at the forecast before you head out, or even glancing at the horizon. Also, the updates are pulled in from the nearest weather station and that may not be particularly close, reducing its effectiveness, especially if there’s a fast-moving squally shower in the area. If you live somewhere with more extreme weather than the UK then the weather updates, and particularly the alerts, may be more useful.

Auto-upload

If your Edge 810 is paired with a smart phone then it will automatically upload your ride to the Garmin Connect website once you have pressed save. It saves connecting the Edge 810 to your computer but, again, we found it to be of limited use. You’ll have to plug the Garmin in sooner or later to charge it, and the app only uploads the ride to Garmin Connect. I mainly use Strava to log my rides – it combines the data analysis I need with a little online competition – and so I still have to plug the Edge 810 in after every ride in order to upload.

That gives a hint as to the Edge 810’s untapped potential. We’d like to see Garmin allow the same auto-upload feature with Strava (though that may not be in their commercial interest when they have their own online training software) and similar third-party websites but, more importantly, if the Edge 810 allowed two-way Bluetooth connectivity then, in theory, your phone’s Strava app could tell you where you ranked on a segment right after you’ve ridden it, or perhaps even tell you how you’re doing against a previous effort while on the segment itself. Bluetooth offers a treasure trove of possibilities and we hope Garmin are exploring them when developing the Edge 810’s successor (the Edge 900?).