Wahoo Elemnt Bolt VS Wahoo elemnt Roam

[Lomar Botha]

I currently have a wahoo elemnt bolt and want to upgrade to the wahoo elemnt Roam

I want to know if it is worth it and is there a big difference between the 2 units

[warick_wrx]

Not much difference at face value. The Roam has colour screen and better navigation / routing. I don't think it really warrants the extra money. However that is just my 5c !

[Lomar Botha]

 

But i can get a roam for 4K and it’s brand new

So maybe it’s worth it at that price?

 

.

 

Not much difference at face value. The Roam has colour screen and better navigation / routing. I don't think it really warrants the extra money. However that is just my 5c !

[aquaratza]

I had a Bolt and then upgraded to the Roam. I don't think it was a good upgrade. I now have a Garmin unit, but I still like the Bolt a lot (my partner uses it):

 

Regarding for the Bolt->Roam upgrade:

 

- You barely notice the colour screen - Wahoo doesn't use it in any meaningful way. It felt like an after-thought. The marketing makes it look like neon but in reality it's very dull.

- The buttons on the Roam are worse than the Bolt.

- Navigation is better on the Roam, but in practice I didn't use it. I used navigation on my Bolt in Sydney and that worked well (the route came from the Wahoo app on my phone).

- I found the Roam's display to be less readable in sunlight compared to the Bolt.

- The Roam is a larger unit and more easily damaged (Bolt's display is recessed).

- Wahoo's marketing for the Roam was very dodgy as they published images of the device that made the display look bigger than it was. There's a lot of excess bezel space around the display on the Roam.

 

So yes, if I could go back I would have stuck with the Bolt. The Bolt is amazing - but if you get the Roam for a good price, why not?

Edited August 30, 2020 by aquaratza

[Lomar Botha]

Hi thanks for the feedback i decided to buy the roam because i got a brand new one for 4K

Im going to test it today

Hopefully i like it otherwise im going to sell it and go back to the bolt

 

I had a Bolt and then upgraded to the Roam. I don't think it was a good upgrade. I now have a Garmin unit, but I still like the Bolt a lot (my partner uses it):

 

Regarding for the Bolt->Roam upgrade:

 

- You barely notice the colour screen - Wahoo doesn't use it in any meaningful way.

- The buttons on the Roam are worse than the Bolt.

- Navigation is better on the Roam, but in practice I didn't use it. I used navigation on my Bolt in Sydney and that worked well.

- I found the Roam's display to be less readable in sunlight compared to the Bolt.

- The Roam is a larger unit and more easily damaged (Bolt's display is recessed).

- Wahoo's marketing for the Roam was very dodgy as they published images of the device that made the display look bigger than it was. There's a lot of excess bezel space around the display on the Roam.

 

So yes, if I could go back I would have stuck with the Bolt. The Bolt is amazing - but if you get the Roam for a good price, why not?

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[aquaratza]

Awesome, I'm sure you'll enjoy it It's still a great computer. I had mine for a while and it largely retained its value when I sold it.