If the latest $800 Garmin 1060 cycling computer is just way too much juice for you, like it is me, there is good news.

Garmin just announced the Edge Explore 3 & Explore 3 Plus. With these, not only are you getting a huge price reduction from the flagship model, these start at $400, but the all-new Garmin Edge Explore 3 & Explore 3 Plus pack a lot in but keep things more chill.

The Plus has a built-in speaker and microphone, so you can control it by voice, hear navigation prompts and play or send messages without taking your hands off the bars.

The standard Explore 3 skips the audio hardware but keeps the rest of the platform. Who are these for? They’re for the people who want good maps and solid ride data without having to learn too much and care more about riding than data from the ride.

Navigation is the Sell

Both models give you bike-specific maps and turn-by-turn directions, plus route options that show ride time, total elevation and bike type so you can choose before you commit.

Up Ahead lets you pick the points of interest you care about, like coffee shops, restrooms or gas stations, and see the nearest ones along your route.

Free Flow Routing looks for paths with fewer stops, intersections and slowdowns, which anyone who has spent a ride at red lights will understand.

Two additions also stand out for me. Road hazard alerts warn you about potholes, closures and aggressive animals reported by other Garmin riders, and you can add your own real-time edits.

And Pin Drop Navigation lets you send a location from Google Maps or Apple Maps on your phone to your Edge and get a bike-specific route back. If you’ve ever followed a car route onto a road no bike should be on, this is huge.

Other Features

On the Explore 3 Plus you can ask for a new route, check your in-ride stats, report a hazard and change screens by voice. The mic sends voice messages through Garmin Messenger, and the speaker plays incoming ones, reads out your stats and gives workout and navigation prompts. It also works as a digital bike bell.

A few caveats apply. Messaging needs your compatible smartphone and the Garmin Connect app, and voice commands are only available in select languages. Garmin also admits performance varies with riding conditions, so things like wind and road noise.

Built for the Everyday Rider

Garmin Cycling Coach plans are free and aimed at beginners. They adapt workouts based on your performance, recovery and the course you’re riding, as long as you have a compatible Garmin watch or heart rate monitor. Garmin Link pairs a compatible watch to your Edge each time it powers on, so wrist-based heart rate shows up on screen.

eBike riders can connect to compatible Bosch and SHIMANO systems to see battery status and assist level. Commuters get a carbon savings profile.

For safety, you get LiveTrack location sharing, incident detection, real-time weather alerts and compatibility with Varia radars and smart lights.

Garmin quotes up to 16 hours of battery life on the Explore 3 and up to 14 hours on the Plus in the most intense use cases. Both reach up to 48 hours in battery saver mode. That’s the company’s number. We haven’t put either unit through a long day on the bike yet, so treat it as a spec until we have.

Price and Availability

The Edge Explore 3 is $399.99 and the Edge Explore 3 Plus is $499.99, both available now at garmin.com.

That $100 gap buys the speaker, the mic and everything they enable.

If you ride with a phone in your pocket and rarely use messaging or voice control, the standard Explore 3 covers the navigation and safety features that matter most.

If you ride solo a lot, or you like the idea of hands-free control, the Plus is the one to check out.

Our Thoughts

These are more our speed and price.

We like what Garmin is selling here and believe hazard alerts could be awesome but are only as good as the number of Garmin riders reporting them in your area. Voice control we still question because of outdoor variables. Will we hear it clear enough? Will it hear us? And then of course, what exactly is “superior battery life” besides a claim.

We’ll keep you posted if we get to test these out on a long day out.