Hammerhead Karoo 2 - LOOOOONG term review

00:00 - Intro
00:22 - Hardware
02:39 - User interface
03:20 - Living with it
04:00 - Maps & Navigation
05:14 - Integrations
06:39 - Phone app
07:24 - Market position
09:15 - Wrapping up

[JustRideAdelaide]

Hey everyone! I want to clarify the route copy/pasting part. After some account disconnecting and re-connecting, I now have the Strava route syncing up and running. So, now I have the same great experience as so many others with route starring in Strava automatically syncing it with the Hammerhead. I should have done more work to figure out why my route syncing didn't work and reverting to the copy/paste to overcome it. If that was the feature holding you back, I can now confirm that auto syncing works great!

[milanpintar]

I have one and I'm a huge fan! I have both the Bolt and the 1030 and I'll never go back to them, they're not bad but Karoo 2 is on the right path.

[brasstinmancrazy]

Great review, I've been enjoying my Karoo2 unit since Jan 2021. I've learnt to decrease the data fields as I ended up having too many pages with 6-8 fields and the battery will increase if I have 2 pages and the necessary data for that type of ride. I've now set up more profiles. I moved the angle of the unit so it was perfectly horizontal and the screen is easy to see with <20% brightness or I use dark mode which I believe is a little more battery hungry. But if the angle of the unit is adjusted a little the screen is easier to see in the sunlight on day mode. I was on a 2 day ride and put the unit into battery saver mode and it used only 40% battery I think from memory. Found the Hammerhead support to be great and they replaced a unit for me within 3 days when I accidentally used a wall charger that was too high in volts and it melted the area around the USB-C port. I wish they supplied a wall charger with the unit so that could have been avoided. I use the laptop port to charge the Karoo2 and haven't had an issue since.

[rhyswilliams]

Nice review. I love my K2 but the internet connectivity is a pain and the battery life is an issue on longer rides. The navigation features are second to none.

[mtbboy]

Tip for touch screen usage with gloves, some spit on the glove will likely solve it. Not sanitary, but worked for me on touch devices.

[koltface]

5:50 I just linked my Strava account to my Hammerhead account. Whenever I make a new route on Strava, I just go to the Hammerhead routes page and click the refresh button. That's it.

[milanpintar]

I love the copy and past from kamoot, I only joined kamoot because of this unit.

[SayMcGillicuddy]

Nice balanced review. Departing Garmin as I am, I want to want the Karoo 2 but Bolt v2 seems to be the sensible choice. I change my mind hourly. The SRAM buyout is good intel, that might swing it

[itsdeebs]

The saving Grace for the Karoo is that SRAM bought them out. With luck they can actually do proper data recording

[markh]

Had my K2 for around 10 months and it's brilliant, quietly running, no hiccups. Tbt is perfect, maps and rerouting are simple and intuitive. I don't use a Heart rate or power meter nor have I connected my phone or strava for segments... I can get minimum 10 hours of fuss free navigation.. Maybe more, I've not had the need to run it that long but you can charge on the bike should you need to on longer rides.

[cleftoftherock]

I agree with you on Garmin Menu. Very unintuitive. I went back to the Karoo 2 and sent my 1040 Solar back.

[simonwoodpecker]

Pretty much agree with your review 100%. Nice balanced perspective. I tried the 830 for MTB primarily because of Trailforks maps and other MTB specific features. But, the screen, UI and route navigation was inferior to the Karoo2. Hammerhead issues frequent software updates which a) fixes bugs and b) gives new features. Over time it is like a new computer with many goodies.

I also like the reliable integration with my sensors - cadence, speed, heart rate and especially the Garmin Varia radar alert/light - been very reliable for me. I actually like the Varia integration on the K2 better than the Garmin 830!

[antonioparamo]

The o my thing that has been holding me to get the hammerhead compute against my wahoo ELEMNT is the fact that you need to copy and paste routes. On the other hand the unit itself looks beautiful. The display it’s awesome but it does completely the same as my wahoo. Only reason why I’ve been contemplating into a change is that lack of connection between my computer and my sensors like heart rate and cadence. Other than that wahoo rocks big time even better than garmin in my own opinion

[TomHudders]

I run it at 10% brightness, it's fine in the sun. Regarding the route integrations; when your Strava and RWGPS accounts are connected you can just star or pin them and trigger the sync in the dashboard. No need for the url copying you did in the review.

[luvtheceltics]

Nice review - that angle of the unit on your handlebars would do my head in. Has to be exactly square for those cyclists with OCD 😂

[PeerensClement]

Good review, thanks buddy!

The whole - using a website to paste a link to import a route - is definitely a dealbreaker for me. Will be getting a Bolt V2. Thanks for the heads up.

[roger.bhutan]

I don’t live in Europe but plan to get one so I can navigate myself around Belgium, so I can see the usefulness of it having a SIM card slot. Having said that it’s disappointing it can’t also connect to a phone via bluetooth

[michaelchanky]

Thanks mate for the awesome review! It's not available yet in Japan, but I wish to get one.

By the way, when you said it's useless while wearing gloves. But does that including wearing gloves that is touchscreen-able too?

[DaveCM]

I have the original Wahoo Bolt and kind of want an updated computer. I was thinking about the Karoo but two things are a deal breaker. The fact it doesn't link and the clunky map download. It just seems behind the times. Heck, I forgot to download the map for our group ride the other day and did it literally as I was waiting to start the ride, while sitting on my bike, as everyone was lining up. It took me about 30 seconds. I guess I will just get the new Bolt.

[industryrule-]

My biggest gripes as a Karoo 2 user are that it's cumbersome to add a route to the unit while outdoors on a ride, the data field fonts are too narrow and small to read clearly when riding a bike, especially on gravel, and now the loss of Di2 integration due to Shimano being spiteful.