In this week's edition of Five Cool Things we've rounded up an exciting quintet of tech gadgets for preview before the full reviews go live. There's the latest top-of-the-range computer from Garmin, a more affordable option from Coros, a radar and bike light to enhance your safety along with tiny innovations from Insta360 and Life360.
Before the full reviews drop in the next couple of weeks, here's a sneak peek at some cool tech we have in for review right now...
Garmin Edge 1050 (£649.99)
Garmin's Edge 1050 is its latest top-of-the-range GPS cycling computer which the brand claims is the "brightest, smartest and most connected cycling computer ever".
The Edge 1050 features an updated design with a 3.5-inch wrap-around liquid crystal touchscreen display and angled casing. New features include a built-in speaker that can act as a bike bell, the ability to receive road hazard alerts and the use of Garmin Pay for contactless payments.
It does have a shorter battery life than the outgoing Edge 1040 though, with a claimed 20 hours of battery life "in demanding use" and up to 60 hours in battery saver mode.
Ben is putting all of these new features to the test in his full review that's coming soon.
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Trek CarBack Radar Tail Light (£169.99)
Trek's CarBack Radar Tail Light is designed to warn you of vehicles approaching from behind, as well as offering a daytime-visible rear light.
If you’re unfamiliar with bike radars, they scan what’s going on behind you and send details wirelessly to a compatible head unit on your handlebar (or wrist) so you know what to expect.
Trek claims “industry-leading” rear-approaching vehicle detection of up to 240m and also says CarBack offers “best-in-class visibility with an interruptive flash pattern that’s daytime visible from up to 2km away” – although that’ll depend on conditions.
At £169.99, Carback goes head-to-head with the identically priced Garmin Varia RTL515. Check back in a couple of weeks to see what Iwein thought.
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Insta360 Go 3S (£349.99)
> Best bike cameras
Insta360 has introduced the Go 3S to its Go-series of tiny cameras. Building on the success of its predecessor, the Go 3, the Go 3S retains the same compact design but comes with a few significant upgrades, most notably 4K video resolution.
It should also be faster to process things, as Insta360 says the new chip gives 50% more CPU power, and the new wide-angle lens ensures sharper and clearer videos.
The Go 3S has a claimed weight of only 39g, and it can be mounted on helmets, handlebars, or worn on clothing, providing a hands-free experience. The 64GB model is priced at £349.99, and the 128GB model at £369.99.
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Life360 Tile Sticker (£24.99)
GPS bike trackers can be expensive, but Life360, the family location-sharing app, has joined forces with Tile Bluetooth trackers to create the Tile Sticker which costs £24.99.
The Tile Sticker is its smallest tracker, measuring 27mm across and weighing 6g. As the name suggests, it features an adhesive back that Tile claims can attach to any hard surface, including your bike.
These Stickers use Bluetooth to connect to Android and Apple smartphones with a range of up to 250ft. If your bike is out of range, other Tile users can help locate it. The battery is built in and can't be replaced, although Tile claims it should last for three years.
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Coros Dura Solar GPS Bike Computer (£249)
Known for its GPS sport watches, California-based Coros has added a solar GPS bike computer to its lineup, claiming to offer "groundbreaking battery life" and "crystal clear visibility".
The Coros Dura features a 2.7 inch colour touch screen with Bluetooth and ANT+ connectivity, as well as additional safety features including a bike alarm and crash detection.
It's a solar GPS bike computer that claims to support up to 120 hours of battery life with full GPS on a single charge. Its solar panels can add up to two hours of additional ride time for every hour of direct sunlight exposure during a ride.
At less than half the price of the Garmin Edge 1050 featured above, will the Coros Dura outshine Wahoo and Garmin in Steve's full review?
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For all the latest road.cc reviews, head over to our reviews section. If you need more advice before splashing the cash, check out our buyer's guides.
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3 comments
I used tile trackers in my luggage on a recent trip. When 3 bags showed up on the conveyor, but the fourth was taking a while to appear, I was able to see that the bag was in the wrong country and even the warehouse it had been placed in. So, didn't have to waste time wondering where it was and was able to go to the airline's desk, tell them where it was and got it delivered to my hotel in under 12 hours. This was good proof of concept and I moved these tile stickers to my bikes after getting home.
Im thinking of using a Tile as a backup to the AirTag on my Ebike. Since Tile requires an app, Im thinking its less likely for a Toe Rag to have the Tile app active, compared to the AirTag where the tracking warning is built into iOS.
Should the worst happen I would hope the tea leaf finds the Airtag but not the Tile.
There is actually 'Anti theft mode' with Tiles which makes it invisible to anyone except you. It requires going through an identification process... it's on their website. So this is a plus and as long as it's hidden well, you have a better chance of it not getting detected. Obviously my luggage wasn't stolen, so it's a slightly different scenario, but it did prove that it could work.