I have been using my phone voice navigation as the sole method for navigating day trips. I keep the phone in the frame bag with the screen off and it drains very little battery. I also find voice Nav superior to visual Nav, partly because the phone screen sucks in the sun but also it just works better for me. I never have to take my eyes off the road and if there are rapid turns in quick succession this can be especially beneficial. I use a single earbud and
can clearly hear my surroundings.

Shopping a Garmin for a longer trip, I am unclear as to the functionality of voice navigation on these units?

Well ... given that Garmin invented* 'turn by turn' voice assistance navigation ... I don't know ... it wouldn't be my thinking that a Garmin GPS would suck at the job. My question is: given that the phone obviously works for you, what do you think the bike computer will do better?

*I expect to be fact checked/challenged on this, but, whatever the outcome of a Wikipedia article, Garmin is the undisputed #1 innovator and purveyor of voice navigation systems for everything that goes from point A to B on planet Earth.

Ok so I can use my earbud with Blutooth though the the Garmin for Voice Nav?

Leisesturm is blindly speculating, so you can safely ignore him.

No Garmin cycle computer will give you voice instructions. You can get them to beep when you are to take a turn, but you will have to look at the screen for specific Instructions.

Yes, I was speculating. Thanks for your contribution. My main question is still valid.

Strange they would not have it. Voice is incredibly effective for keeping eyes on the road. Possibly liability due to the earbud but they could sell the unit with an optional single earbud and sufficient warnings about using 2.

Assuming the Garmin screen is easily visible in bright sun so it may work fine but I can''t see how it would beat voice.

I agree that your question is valid…But I assume the OP wants turn-by-turn guidance with all of the other functionality of a cycle computer.

What I don’t understand is why you so often feel compelled to offer input on subjects of which you have no understanding. You simply muddy up conversations, as – in this case – someone has to step in and correct your false assertions.

I think I've done enough speculation for one thread. You can see where that leads. You are conflating GPS and Bike Computer. I was attempting to get you to elaborate on your needs. Quite possibly you need BOTH a phone (or GPS) for voice navigation and a Bike Computer to keep track of environment/performance variables. Distance totals, Cadence, Speed, etc. Cyclists are not usually traveling at speeds that are so rapid that a seconds inattention can lead to death and dismemberment. Morover the active shift of a lot of cycling off of named streets and roads, makes voice assisted 'turn by turn' instruction less necessary. It sounds like you are traveling on named streets and roads. You need a GPS or a phone running a GPS app. Do you also need a bike computer?

My impression was that Garmin would provide a more accurate GPS experience, especially when going rural. I also would like to view a map clearly while riding when I feel it's safe. The phone screen is useless in direct sun. If Garmin provides neither of these benefits then I'll stick with voice.

Garmin cycling computers do not have voice nav. Yes, their screens are easily visible in bright sunlight and the unit bleeps when there is an upcoming turn and displays the turn on the screen.

Never used one of these units. So sunglasses on, bright sun, they are easily readable?

Garmin Edge will announce voice turn-by-turn directions on your Bluetooth-connected phone.

Set up this feature in the Garmin Connect app on your phone. This is what the settings screen looks like on my iPhone (I have a Garmin Edge 830):



Here are the directions to set up this feature:

Garmin > Enabling Spoken Audio Prompts in the Garmin Connect App

You're still muddying things up. Do you realize that most decent cycle computers have GPS navigation?

If you can get that to work, it's still not really a feature of the computer -- it's coming from the Connect app on a phone that is BT paired to the computer and the earbuds. So no added value to OP.

Yes

Voice alerts sent from Garmin to phone has one significant benefit over doing navigation on your phone — it doesn’t run the phone battery down nearly as quickly.

Thanks for the thread and terrymorse for the Garmin link. I just upgraded to a 1040 and still figuring it out. but Turn by turn audio alerts was what I was hoping for. I got it to work following the link from TerryMorse . I use Earshox headphones via bluetooth to my iPhone. so That formula works for sure as I made a short test loop in my neighborhood..

Garmin 1050 enters the chat. . . .

Did you mention blindly speculating ? The Edge 1050 will play voice prompts through the built in speaker OR connect to headphones through bluetooth, Has a built on bell as well that is loud as hell.

Yeah, I saw that too. But I never knew that older Garmins could also provide voice nav via BT headphones. It’s not a feature that I look for as I prefer visual alerts, but looks like the OP is in luck!

No, not blindly speculating, as I own a 1040 and have read the 1050 specs and reviews -- and not seen any reference to navigation voice prompts (other than the 'beep' tone that they all provide) over the computer's speaker; can you provide a link?

If I'm mistaken, I'll admit to the error and learn from it...Which would still put me miles ahead of Leisesturm.

So if I buy the 1050 I get voice. Good to know. Almost purchased the Explore

I just checked on my Edge 530 and the setting in the Connect App for this device just says “Navigation Alerts”. It is not clear whether this means a simple generic alert message for an upcoming turn or actual detailed voice nav instructions. If the former then you will still need to glance at the map display to see which way to turn, which is what I prefer anyway. I get the bleep turn alert directly on my Garmin, so I don’t use the headphone function, which requires the Connect App to be running on your phone.

The Edge 1050 does have a voice capable speaker, but again I don’t know if it provides turn-by-turn nav voice instructions or just a simple generic voice alert.

Well the 1050 speaker is voice capable, but you will need to check that it actually does provide detailed voice nav rather than just voice alerts. I couldn’t clarify that with a quick look.

The other standout feature of the 1050 is a new ultra-bright screen, which may make voice nav less important for you. The previous Garmin screens were already pretty good in bright sunlight and this should be even better.

I think that just turns on the pop up alerts on the screen. To get the “beep”, you have to go to audio prompts in the settings.

I don’t think it speaks words regarding navigation, but would like daviddavieboy to come back to the thread. I'm wondering if he has actual experience with the 1050 and can tell us definitively whether it provides voice instructions. (Although I think such a feature would be useless to most people, since a visual instruction on the screen would be more reliable given wind and traffic noise and etc.)

This was one of the setting options under “Audio Prompts”.

I can confirm with my Garmin Edge 830 that turning on "Navigation alerts" produces voice directions (on a Bluetooth-connected phone), such as "turn right in 100 feet".