In a continuation of the flurry of product announcements from GPS giant Garmin, the company reportedly will be releasing yet another device in its popular cycling computer lineup, the Edge 520 this fall. This mid-range device measures a myriad of metrics and, unlike previous Edge devices, this GPS also has Strava Live Segments built-in.
Strava Live Segments will allow users to upload segments directly from Strava to their GPS device in order to monitor their progress, compete for King or Queen of the Mountain and also attempt to best previous personal scores.
According to Garmin, the Edge 520 is the first ever GPS cycling computer to have Strava Live Segments. Sometime in the third quarter of this year, the company also said it intends to bring Strava Live Segments to several other Edge devices via a software update. Devices that should be getting this upgrade include: Edge 1000, Edge 810 and the Edge 510.
Aside from the Strava Live Segments addition, the Garmin Edge 520 also has tons of connectivity options for enhanced user experience including supporting ANT+, Bluetooth and Garmin Connect segments to measure advanced metrics, cycling dynamics and more. Heart rate monitors, speed and cadence sensors, power meters and even smartphones can be paired with the device for a variety of uses and readouts. Smartphone notifications are also supported as is Live Tracking so that family members can see your ride in realtime.
As far as GPS functionality goes, the Edge 520 doesn’t really have anything that new or exciting and does pretty much everything you’d expect including tracking and following pre-plotted routes and measuring various other metrics. The device can connect to both GPS and GLONASS satellites, offering better accuracy and faster signal lock. It reportedly has around 14 hours of battery life and a 2.3 inch color screen.
The Edge 520 is still in development and is expected to be released sometime in Q3 2015. The device has a suggested retail price of $299.99 without any extras, or $399.99 when bundled with a heart rate monitor, cadence sensor and speed sensor (which is actually a pretty good deal). For more information on the Edge 520, you can check out Garmin’s press release here.
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