Garmin Edge 1040 Solar vs Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar - can a smartwatch trump a bike computer for cyclists?

We put Garmin’s most expensive solar bike computer against its cheapest solar smartwatch - how do the two compare?

Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar smartwatch on a cyclists' wrist and a Garmin Edge 1040 Solar cycling computer mounted on the handlebars of a gravel bike
(Image credit: Anna Abram)

The latest smartwatches are impressive little devices. They offer a wealth of biometric insights, tracking your heart rate variability, sleep quality and incidental activity levels - amongst many others. With GPS navigation and topographic mapping, they’re handy for cross-training too, be that running, hiking, swimming or almost anything else.

But couple a smartwatch boasting all those features with its bike computer equivalent, and you’re looking at easily a grand’s worth of cycling tech - you could get yourself a whole other bike for that!

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