I loved the Garmin Edge 850 I reviewed last year, lauding it for its screen and feature-rich user experience. While it’s no doubt one of the best bike computers on the market, there’s another stellar option from the American technology giant that lurks in its shadow – the Garmin Edge 550.
With a user interface much like its Edge 850 sibling, the Edge 550 is up to the task and offers a detailed, intuitive cycling experience. I’ve currently got the Edge 550 on test, which, consequently, I’m nearly ready to wrap up. As it stands, it’s Garmin’s best-kept secret.
Similar to the Edge 850, the Edge 550 gets a highly responsive 2.7-inch full-colour, transmissive LCD screen – both models look basically identical thanks to sharing the same hardware dimensions of 54.6 x 92.2 x 16.8 mm. The differences come in the form of features, including a touchscreen, a small speaker for navigation prompts, a digital bike bell, Garmin Pay, and double the storage (64GB vs 32GB)—none of which is imperative for the cyclist, but are nice-to-haves.
Currently, the Edge 850 and 550 can both return 12 hours of battery life during intensive use, and up to 36 hours in battery saver mode.
Yes, the 850 Edge gets a touchscreen and a couple of other little novelty features, but I much prefer the tactile experience of buttons – plus, there’s also no chance of accidentally deleting your ride (as I’ve done many times with my own Garmin Edge 850). Call me a purist, or maybe I’m too obsessed with Strava and don’t want to lose any of my logged rides.
Anyway, I’m currently using the Edge 550 for all my time-trial races and hard sessions. This is because I do find that sweat can cause “ghost touches” on touchscreen bike computers, as it’s highly conductive.
Take it from a cycling tech tester: you’d be crazy not to consider the Garmin Edge 550. It’s reliable, easy to use, has one of the best screens in the game, and is now available at a seriously impressive discount. Go on, buy it – you won’t regret it.
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