ActiveCyclingWahoo Elemnt Ace review: Struggling to keep pacePromising a colossal screen, advanced navigation, and unique features like a wind sensor, the Wahoo Elemnt Ace aims high but stumbles with poor battery life, a dim display, and a bulky designWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.(Image credit: Matt Buckley)T3 VerdictThe Wahoo Elemnt Ace promises big things – literally – with its massive screen and bold claims. However, lacklustre battery life, a dim display, and a clunky, oversized design let it down. While its mapping and navigation features shine, the overall package feels rushed. Unless future updates fix the flaws, this one’s a tough sell.Reasons to buy+Maps look beautiful+Easy initial setupReasons to avoid-Battery life is poor-Screen is dim and hard to read in bright conditions-It’s huge, both in size and weight-Wind sensor is superfluous with the current feature set-Heavy reliance on Wahoo app for majority of things-Currently the device has a number of bugsWhy you can trust T3Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about how we test.
ActiveCyclingWahoo Elemnt Ace review: Struggling to keep pacePromising a colossal screen, advanced navigation, and unique features like a wind sensor, the Wahoo Elemnt Ace aims high but stumbles with poor battery life, a dim display, and a bulky designWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.(Image credit: Matt Buckley)T3 VerdictThe Wahoo Elemnt Ace promises big things – literally – with its massive screen and bold claims. However, lacklustre battery life, a dim display, and a clunky, oversized design let it down. While its mapping and navigation features shine, the overall package feels rushed. Unless future updates fix the flaws, this one’s a tough sell.Reasons to buy+Maps look beautiful+Easy initial setupReasons to avoid-Battery life is poor-Screen is dim and hard to read in bright conditions-It’s huge, both in size and weight-Wind sensor is superfluous with the current feature set-Heavy reliance on Wahoo app for majority of things-Currently the device has a number of bugsWhy you can trust T3Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about how we test.
Promising a colossal screen, advanced navigation, and unique features like a wind sensor, the Wahoo Elemnt Ace aims high but stumbles with poor battery life, a dim display, and a bulky design
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Matt Buckley)T3 VerdictThe Wahoo Elemnt Ace promises big things – literally – with its massive screen and bold claims. However, lacklustre battery life, a dim display, and a clunky, oversized design let it down. While its mapping and navigation features shine, the overall package feels rushed. Unless future updates fix the flaws, this one’s a tough sell.Reasons to buy+Maps look beautiful+Easy initial setupReasons to avoid-Battery life is poor-Screen is dim and hard to read in bright conditions-It’s huge, both in size and weight-Wind sensor is superfluous with the current feature set-Heavy reliance on Wahoo app for majority of things-Currently the device has a number of bugs
(Image credit: Matt Buckley)
(Image credit: Matt Buckley)
T3 VerdictThe Wahoo Elemnt Ace promises big things – literally – with its massive screen and bold claims. However, lacklustre battery life, a dim display, and a clunky, oversized design let it down. While its mapping and navigation features shine, the overall package feels rushed. Unless future updates fix the flaws, this one’s a tough sell.Reasons to buy+Maps look beautiful+Easy initial setupReasons to avoid-Battery life is poor-Screen is dim and hard to read in bright conditions-It’s huge, both in size and weight-Wind sensor is superfluous with the current feature set-Heavy reliance on Wahoo app for majority of things-Currently the device has a number of bugs
T3 VerdictThe Wahoo Elemnt Ace promises big things – literally – with its massive screen and bold claims. However, lacklustre battery life, a dim display, and a clunky, oversized design let it down. While its mapping and navigation features shine, the overall package feels rushed. Unless future updates fix the flaws, this one’s a tough sell.
T3 Verdict
The Wahoo Elemnt Ace promises big things – literally – with its massive screen and bold claims. However, lacklustre battery life, a dim display, and a clunky, oversized design let it down. While its mapping and navigation features shine, the overall package feels rushed. Unless future updates fix the flaws, this one’s a tough sell.
Reasons to buy+Maps look beautiful+Easy initial setupReasons to avoid-Battery life is poor-Screen is dim and hard to read in bright conditions-It’s huge, both in size and weight-Wind sensor is superfluous with the current feature set-Heavy reliance on Wahoo app for majority of things-Currently the device has a number of bugs
Reasons to buy+Maps look beautiful+Easy initial setup
Maps look beautiful
Easy initial setup
Reasons to avoid-Battery life is poor-Screen is dim and hard to read in bright conditions-It’s huge, both in size and weight-Wind sensor is superfluous with the current feature set-Heavy reliance on Wahoo app for majority of things-Currently the device has a number of bugs
Battery life is poor
Screen is dim and hard to read in bright conditions
It’s huge, both in size and weight
Wind sensor is superfluous with the current feature set
Heavy reliance on Wahoo app for majority of things
Currently the device has a number of bugs
Why you can trust T3Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about how we test.
Why you can trust T3Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about how we test.
Jump to category:Price and availabilityDesign and build qualityWind SensorMappingApp DependencyThe BellBugs and glitchesVerdictAlso consider
Jump to category:Price and availabilityDesign and build qualityWind SensorMappingApp DependencyThe BellBugs and glitchesVerdictAlso consider
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The Wahoo Elemnt Ace is the latest cycling GPS computer from Wahoo. Sporting the largest screen ever seen on a cycling computer, it aims to bring the fight toGarminand Hammerhead whose Edge 1050 and Karoo 3 respectively have had the premium end of the market sewn up in 2024. Alongside the huge screen, the Elemnt Ace claims a 30 hour battery life and a wind sensor to hopefully edge out the competition.
I’ve put nearly 500km on the device, riding my local routes and gravel in far flung corners of Scotland testing everything from navigation to training tools to see if the Elemnt Ace deserves pride of place on your handlebars. Spoiler alert, it doesn’t at the moment but with software updates it could become a powerhouse.
Wahoo Elemnt Ace review
Price and availability
The Wahoo Elemnt Ace costs £549/ $599.99/ AU$999.95 and is available now fromWahoo UK,Wahoo US, andWahoo AU.
Design and build quality
Left: Hammerhead Karoo 3; right: Wahoo Elemnt Ace(Image credit: Matt Buckley)
Left: Hammerhead Karoo 3; right: Wahoo Elemnt Ace
Left: Hammerhead Karoo 3; right: Wahoo Elemnt Ace
(Image credit: Matt Buckley)
Measuring 3.8”, the Wahoo Elemnt Ace’s display is wider and a touch taller than the Edge 1050 and considerably larger than the 3.2” on the Karoo 3. I found the screen to be quite disappointing, though. Peak brightness is noticeably less than that of the Garmin or Karoo 3, which makes it tricky to see in anything but bright sun. I also found it to be the least responsive of the three, something which was very noticeable, having driven a Karooo 3 daily for the past six months.
The overall size of the device is also huge It’s considerably larger than the Karoo 3 and Edge 1050 and feels it, too; the Elemnt Ace weighs 208g. For context, the Karoo 3 weighs 118g, and the Edge 1050 is 161g. The size and weight will likely cause some issues for those with integrated computer mounts; I found even the metal mount that came in the box occasionally slipped when riding over rough terrain.
Wahoo opted to retain its traditional button layout, so you can still navigate the device with gloves on, which is very welcome. The line of LEDs across the top of the screen has gone, though. These could display navigation prompts or a visual indication of power and heart rate zones.
Wind Sensor
One of the most interesting features of the device is the inclusion of a wind sensor, something that has never been seen before. There was much speculation about what the data could be used for pre launch, could this be the start of affordable aero data, could riders see with aerodynamic drag (CDa) in real time?
Unfortunately, no. The wind sensor feeds data into Wahoo’s Wind Dynamics metric, which essentially tells you whether you’re riding into a headwind or tailwind and how drafting will affect you. Aside from usually being well aware of whether I’m riding into a headwind or when I’m drafting, the way the data is presented baffles me.
The Elemnt Ace measures the airspeed vs groundspeed to determine the effect of the wind; however, this effect is not displayed as clearly as I think it should be, as it shows the raw figure for airspeed against a coloured backdrop that ranges from blue to red via green to indicate ‘AirBoost or AirDrag” as Wahoo put it. I would much prefer the data field to display the windspeed relative to my speed to determine the speed of the wind.
For example, if I’m riding at 35kph and the windspeed is 25kph, I want the computer to tell me I’ve got a 10kph tailwind rather than having to work it out in my head. Instead, the Elemnt Ace displays a colour that relates to a wide window of airspeed. This then still boils down to the fact that if the headwind is strong enough, then I’ll certainly be aware of it.
If Wahoo can bring some additional functionality, such as measuring wind direction and overlaying this onto your active route to indicate when you’ll have a headwind, then I can see this being a very useful feature, but currently, it’s a bit of a gimmick.
Mapping
(Image credit: Matt Buckley)
(Image credit: Matt Buckley)
The Elemnt Ace offers on device routing and you can add saved locations to quickly and easily generate routes to regularly visited locations.=, but it’s not possible to give these places custom names like ‘home’ or ‘cafe’, instead it uses the road name as the title. It’s not a deal breaker but why can’t I rename them?
The Elemnt Ace can pull routes from a number of sources such as Strava, Komoot, Ride with GPS and many others, as well as from the Wahoo App but more on that shortly. The device can connect to WiFi so automatically syncs with your route platform of choice which I found to work quickly and reliably.
App Dependency
(Image credit: Matt Buckley)
(Image credit: Matt Buckley)
Both Hammerhead and Garmin offer a companion app that makes loading routes onto their respective devices much easier, along with a host of other features. However, I’ve found the Elemnt Ace to be overly dependent on the Wahoo App. On-device settings and customisation are limited, and the app is needed to change data fields and settings, which I found to be infuriating.
On a few occasions, I rode along and wondered how much climbing remained on my route, what temperature it was or when the sunset was. I could delve into the settings and add the relevant data field in a few taps on a Garmin or Hammerhead device. On the Elemnt Ace, I had to pull out my phone, open the Wahoo app, confirm the device was connected via Bluetooth and then add the data field. Why do I need to use my phone? Just let me do it on the device!
The Bell
(Image credit: Matt Buckley)
(Image credit: Matt Buckley)
One of my favourite features on the Elemnt Ace is the bell. It’s so simple and yes I know garmin has had this feature but it’s something that’s genuinely really useful.
Bugs and glitches
As one might expect with any new piece of technology, there will always be teething issues, but the Elemnt Ace feels like it’s still in late-stage testing.
There are a raft of software updates scheduled for early 2025, which will introduce Strava Live Segments and LiveTrack, as well as UI and UX tweaks to enhance the overall experience.
One thing that really irritated me was the elevation page, which has an elevation chart. On the front of the box, this shows the entire route, but on the device, there is no way to show the elevation of the full route; instead, it’s restricted to 2km. It’s a small thing, but to me, it shows that Wahoo has rushed this device to market.
Verdict
(Image credit: Matt Buckley)
(Image credit: Matt Buckley)
On paper, the Elemnt Ace is the ultimate cycling computer: it offers mighty battery life, a huge screen, and excellent navigation. Delve a little deeper and spend some time riding with the device, and that perception shifts. In my opinion, it’s too big.
The front of the device is almost level with the hoods. The screen isn’t as responsive or bright as the competition’s, the wind sensor is little more than a gimmick, and parts of the software feel half-finished.
Excellent mapping and navigation go part way to clawing back some brownie points, but unfortunately, not enough. Until Wahoo refines the Elemnt Ace with software updates, I’d steer clear.
Also consider
TheHammerhead Karoo 3is my personal favourite of the latest generation of cycling computers. At £449, it has a beautiful screen and a smaller form factor, and I’ve found it just works when I need it. For those embedded in the Garmin ecosystem, theEdge 1050is hard to beat for features, and if you need ultimate battery life, then the Edge 1040 Solar is unparalleled with 30 hours of battery life, up to 90 hours in battery saver mode.
Wahoo Elemnt Ace: Price Comparison
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