Garmin has finally announced their plus model for the Edge 1030. Like most of Garmin's models that aren't a full new generation, the Edge 1030 Plus doesn't come packed with a massive number of new features. The new features it does have though, are a great addition to this cycling computer and bring it on par with the best available on the market right now. This new iteration is readily available in Australia now.
What's Changed with the plus model
The Edge 1030 Plus comes pre-loaded with Garmin Cycle Maps for Australia and you gain access to other regions this time via Garmin Express.
The Edge 1030 Plus now has a battery capacity up to 24 hours under high demand usage and 48 hours on low demand. High demand usage would be classified as GPS usage for navigation and sensor usage. The low power usage is just basic GPS tracking without navigational assistance. The Edge 1030 only had capacity up to 20 hours, so this is a bit of a step up.
Another new feature is the Bike Alarm. You can set up your Edge 1030 Plus to sound an alarm and send a message to your connected smartphone if it detects motion. This sounds good in theory but practically speaking the smartphone connection distance is about line of sight anyway so if you're beyond that it won't matter anyway. Garmin did word it up as being used if you're grabbing a drink at a cafe which I can see the use case for. The alarm itself isn't a huge deterrent because of the speaker volume capacity being so low. Still, a small deterrent is still a deterrent.
Request Assistance - This is in Garmin's words a 'supplemental' safety feature. This is a little more useful than the Bike Alarm feature and can be triggered relatively easily but deliberately, which is what you want for a safety feature. If you trigger the assistance alert, the Edge will send out a pre-formatted message (written by you in advance) to your selected emergency contacts along with your GPS position. This message does rely on your smartphones connection. The Assistance feature can be triggered by holding the – button down for 5 seconds. There will be a 5-second countdown until the message is sent and you can cancel that message at any time during the countdown.
MTB Dynamics – Track details of your mountain bike ride with these metrics that follow jump count, jump distance and hang time.
Integrated Trail Forks Trail Data – with the Trail forks app you can save trail routes or browse routes nearby. These routes can be downloaded to your Edge device.
The Edge 1030 plus now has 32GB internal storage and a beefier processer. This is a good step up in terms of navigation performance. This snappy processing power is important now that the Edge 1030 Plus is button-operated and has improved touchscreen functionality.
Daily Suggested workout – Garmin has implemented a new feature that bases it's workout recommendation on your fitness level, current training load and VO2 Max.
Mapping and routing have also seen an update. The Edge 1030 plus will re-route if you ride too far from your selected route. You will be routed back to the original course, or it will adjust the current path to get you back on course.
Full Specification Comparison Table – Edge 1030 Plus vs Edge 1030| General | Edge 1030 Plus | Edge 1030 |
| Physical dimensions | 58 x 114 x 19 mm | 2.3" x 4.5" x 0.8" (58 x 114 x 19 mm) |
| Touchscreen | Yes | Yes |
| Colour display | Yes | Yes |
| Display size | 3.5" (88.9 mm) diagonal | 3.5" (88.9 mm) diagonal |
| Display resolution | 282 x 470 pixels | 282 x 470 pixels |
| Weight | 124 g | 4.3 oz (123 g) |
| Battery type | Rechargeable lithium-ion | rechargeable lithium-ion |
| Battery life | 24 hours | up to 20 hours |
| Battery save mode | Yes | Yes |
| In-ride power compatible (Garmin Charge battery pack) | Yes | Yes |
| Water rating | IPX7 | IPX7 |
| Maps & Memory | ||
| Ability to add maps | Yes | Yes |
| Basemap | Yes | Yes |
| External memory storage | 32 GB internal memory | Internal plus microSD™ slot |
| Waypoints/favorites/locations | 200 | 200 |
| Routes | 100 courses | 100 Courses |
| History | Up to 200 hours | up to 200 hours |
| Sensors | ||
| GPS | Yes | Yes |
| GLONASS | Yes | Yes |
| Galileo | Yes | Yes |
| Barometric altimeter | Yes | Yes |
| Accelerometer | Yes | Yes |
| Ambient light sensor | Yes | Yes |
| Daily Smart Features | ||
| Connectivity | Bluetooth®, ANT+® | Bluetooth®, ANT+®, Wi-Fi® |
| Connect IQ™ (downloadable watch faces, data fields, widgets and apps) | Yes | Yes |
| Smart notifications | Yes | Yes |
| Text response/reject phone call with text (Android™ only) | Yes | Yes |
| Weather | Yes | Yes |
| VIRB® Remote | Yes | Yes |
| Smartphone compatibility | iPhone®, Android™ | iPhone®, Android™ |
| Safety and Tracking Features | ||
| LiveTrack | Yes | Yes |
| Group LiveTrack | Yes | Yes |
| Rider-to-rider messaging | Yes | Yes |
| Incident Detection | Yes | Yes |
| Assistance | Yes | No |
| Bike alarm | Yes | No |
| Weather alerts | Yes | Yes |
| InReach® compatible | Yes | No |
| Activity Tracking Features | ||
| Calories burned | Yes | Yes |
| Training, Planning and Analysis Features | ||
| Customizable data pages | Yes | Yes |
| Auto Pause® | Yes | Yes |
| Interval training | Yes | Yes |
| Advanced workouts | Yes | Yes |
| Downloadable training plans | Yes | Yes |
| Daily workout suggestions | Yes | No |
| Auto Lap® | Yes | Yes |
| Vo2 max | Yes | Yes |
| Training Effect | Yes | Yes |
| Recovery advisor | Yes | Yes |
| Virtual Partner | Yes | Yes |
| Race an Activity | Yes | Yes |
| Segments | Yes | Yes |
| Auto-scroll | Yes | Yes |
| Physio TrueUp | Yes | Yes |
| Physiological measurements (may require the use of additional accessories such as heart rate strap and/or power meter) | Yes | Yes |
| Outdoor Recreation | ||
| ClimbPro™ Ascent Planner | Yes | Yes |
| Cycling Features | ||
| Alerts (triggers an alarm when you reach goals including time, distance, heart rate or calories) | Yes | Yes |
| Courses | Yes | Yes |
| On-device course creator | Yes | Yes |
| Cycle Map (routable cycling-specific street map) | yes (multi-region) | Yes |
| Cycling Dynamics compatible | Yes | Yes |
| MTB Dynamics | Yes | No |
| Integrated TrailForks trail data | Yes | No |
| Power meter compatible | Yes | Yes |
| Compatible with Varia™ radar (rear-facing radar) | Yes | Yes |
| Compatible with Varia™ lights | Yes | Yes |
| Connectivity | ||
| Edge® remote | Yes | Yes |
| Varia™ remote | Yes | Yes |
| ANT+™ electronic shifting | Yes | Yes |
| Shimano Di2 Synchro Shift integration | Yes | Yes |
| Smart trainer control | Yes | Yes |
Hardware Design
The Edge 1030 plus is now a sleek black model, the previous edition came only in a white body. The Edge has a 3.5” display and a crisp 282 x 470p resolution. It comes with a built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery which is not user-replaceable. It also comes with an IPX7 water rating which is suitable for splashes or rain/snow.
This unit comes with a 32GB internal memory making it one of the best Edge units in terms of memory capacity.
It comes with your standard GNSS receivers, so it’s compatible with GPS, GLONASS and GALILEO which is more than most cycling computers on the market currently. The larger number of GPS receivers means that it should be able to retain your location longer and acquire/reacquire satellites faster. It also comes with a Barometric Altimeter, Accelerometer and Ambient light sensor.
Now the Edge 1030 plus also has an updated touchscreen (more responsive according to Garmin). However, it still offers button functionality, so you don’t have to worry about wet weather having a significant impact on the functionality of your unit.
Features and Accessories
The Edge 1030 Plus like all Garmin’s cycling computer is packed with more features then you can shake a stick at. You have your classic cycling features that keep track of your performance and your training load/status, Garmin cycle maps with turn-by-turn directions. Trendline popularity routing (this is an excellent feature for discovering popular cycling routes to avoid bad areas).
A really good but somewhat underrated feature for the Edge units is the back to start function. I use this feature all the time on my viovactive watch but it’s also great on the Edge Cycling computers when you want to discover an area. You can just set it and forget it until you’ve ridden far enough that you want the device to automatically navigate you back to the start.
Now Garmin has always had a serious range of accessories to complement their Bicycle Computers and their new model hasn’t lost out on any of this compatibility. I’ll list the most popular options below:
- Charge pack
- The Charge pack is able to give your Edge unit an additional 24 hours of battery life. It mounts to the bike mount included with your Edge 1030 plus originally.
- Bike mounts
- There a number of different mounting options including strap mounts, front mounts and even friction mounts. You can find the full list on the accessories tab for the Edge 1030 plus.
- Cadence Sensors
- Garmin’s Bike Cadence Sensor monitors your cadence wirelessly. Unlike most cadence sensors this doesn’t require you to match up magnets. It fastens to any size crank arm and measures pedal strokes per minute so you can get the most out of your training.
- Bike Speed Sensor
- Garmin’s Speed sensor measure your distance and speed wirelessly.
- Heart Rate Monitor - Currently Garmin has four different HRM straps
- Garmin HRM-Dual – This HRM strap transmits over ANT+ and Bluetooth.
- Garmin HRM-Tri – This Strap is designed for cycling, running and open water swimming (saltwater)
- Garmin HRM4-Run – This strap is focused only on running and provides information on VO2 Max, Lactate Threshold, Recovery Time Estimates, Stress Score, Performance Condition and predicted race times – as well as cadence, vertical oscillation, ground contact time, vertical ration, stride length and left/right contact time balance.
- Garmin HRM-Swim – This model is suitable for both open water and chlorine pools and is specifically designed for swimmers with a non-slip material.
- Vector 3/3s
- Vector 3 and 3s are dual and single respectively pedal-based power meters. The vector 3 pedals allow you to measure your power, cadence and left/right balance as well as tracking your cycling dynamics. This helps to identify any strengths or weaknesses in your riding.