And Hammerhead did this while adding features like a speaker and smartphone pairing. Karoo 1 weighed 192 grams Karoo 2 weighs 134 grams. The most significant change from Karoo 1 to Karoo 2 is the form factor. One that looks to, thankfully, shake up the whole category.
Using a K2 is a different and mostly better experience.
#STRAVA VS RIDE WITH GPS PLUS#
So, if you love looking at maps while you ride, or you like building and riding new (road and gravel) routes at home and in new places, you want a K2.Ī Karoo 2 between a Garmin Edge 1030 Plus (left) and a Wahoo Elemnt Roam (right) Matt Phillipsįrom the moment you power it up, it’s clear Hammerhead isn’t following the path of the other major players in the GPS cycling computer arena. In general, the better the screen, the better the mapping and navigation experience will be. Its most compelling features are maps and navigation, which makes sense as these are graphics-intensive features. Excepting that particular feature, the Karoo 2 is beautiful to look at, user friendly, and generally functions like you’d expect an electronic device should in 2020, which I can’t say about any other device. If I want mountain bike trail navigation features, it comes up short. Regarding the on-bike experience, the K2 is my favorite unit to use, with one big exception. And if you’re using third-party services like Best Bike Split, Trailforks, Relive, Map My Ride, Eat My Ride (etc., etc.), the K2, at present, doesn’t smoothly integrate with them either. It’s arguably the smartest and most advanced device out there, but the overall experience -pre-ride, during ride, post-ride-seems simpler, cleaner, and smoother than anything else.Īn expanded smartphone notification Matt Phillipsīut if you’re using a particular health and fitness tracking ecosystem like Garmin’s Connect or Stages Link, they work smoothest and best with their devices. And that’s one of the things I like best about the K2. The K2 is well-integrated with Strava (ride logging and community), Training Peaks (training), Ride With GPS (routes) and Kamoot (routes), some of the biggest, best, and most respected services in their fields. And unlike Wahoo, Hammerhead isn’t trying to be the king or queen of third-party integrations.
Unlike Garmin or Stages, Hammerhead isn’t trying to get their hooks into you with their web platform and services. While what the unit does on the bike (or trainer) is essential, it’s also important what you can do with ride data once the ride is over. The answer, as always, is, “It depends.”īuying a GPS cycling computer is increasingly tricky not because of the unit itself but because of all the third-party services and various training platforms and ride logging sites out there. But I’ll address the most significant question first-should you buy a Karoo 2. Should You Buy a Karoo 2?īelow I’ll dive into what’s new and what I like and don’t like about the K2, so keep scrolling if you want more details. It’s the first GPS computer that might break me out of my reliance on Garmin’s: an ecosystem I’ve used since 2005. There’s a speaker, and it pairs with a smartphone now. That great screen and all the clever features are now in a smaller, sleeker package. Hammerhead solved everything I didn’t like about the Karoo 1 with the Karoo 2. It also didn’t have a speaker, which hampered one of its strongest features-navigation-and it didn’t pair to a smartphone, so that it couldn’t show notifications.įrom left: Garmin Edge 1030 Plus, Garmin Edge 530, Karoo 1, Karoo 2, Wahoo Elemnt Roam, Wahoo Elemnt Bolt, Stages Dash M50, Stages Dash L50 Matt Phillips
#STRAVA VS RIDE WITH GPS ANDROID#
It runs on the Android OS and has a SIM-card slot for data connectivity (it’s unnecessary to have a SIM card and data plan to use most of the Karoo’s features).Īs much as I love the Karoo, it has a couple of big issues. It is easy to use too: Like a smartphone. Here was a full-featured GPS cycling computer with a bright and high-resolution screen, smart features, clever and functional ways of presenting data, awesome navigation, and a functional touch screen.
It is a cycling computer built like a modern electronic device. That’s why I was so excited when I discovered Hammerhead’s Karoo. I often ask myself, “Why, in 2020, do my cycling computers seem about advanced as my 1998 Palm Pilot?” They display numbers fine and all, but the screens are low resolution, the graphics are bad, the user interfaces are wonky, and if they have a touch screen, it’s probably crap.
The Karoo 2 is not like other GPS cycling computers Matt Phillips
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