Hammerhead Karoo 3 In-Depth Review: Worth the Upgrade?
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- čas přidán 31. 05. 2024
- SRAM & Hammerhead have just released the latest version of their GPS cycling computer, the “new Karoo”. This unit combines much asked for hardware updates, with a smattering of software updates, to provide a natural evolution over the existing Karoo 2.
0:00 Quick Overview
0:42 The Name
1:51 What's New & Hardware Specs
3:18 Responsiveness & Lag Testing
4:51 New Audio Chirp Loudness Test
5:47 SIM Removal & Companion App
6:35 Rain Responsiveness Thunderstorm Test
8:11 Basic Ride Usage & Menus
11:35 Sensors & SRAM RED AXS Integration
11:47 Climbing Data Pages (Climber)
15:58 Strava Live Segments
16:50 Finishing a ride and uploading
17:30 Navigation & Mapping
20:58 GPS & Elevation Accuracy
25:04 Battery Life Burn
26:03 Final Thoughts & Recommendations
#Karoo3 #HammerheadKaroo3 - Sport
Who noticed as well that on 25:26 the battery time of the new Karoo is compared to a device called "Wahoo Roam V3"? 😁
Yeah but the rest of that file also has ELEMENT_ROAM_2
Ray just leaked a new Roam..
iN Ray's depth review of roamV2 he mentioned a battery life 17h in 2022 AND today in this review we can see an estimation of 30h of battery life.... I have no doubt
also on the next slide of this review ; roamV2 has a est. battery life 30h...it's not true...
Just a 'filenames' hiccup!
As a belgian the K3 reference is absolutely hilarious
Mango mango!
Ray - The man with watch tan lines on BOTH wrists
Another great review! Thanks, Ray. Keep 'em coming.
i do like the ability to send a google maps location to the device via the app! Trying to find a map point on the device map is a fool's errand! It is a real shame they are not allowing the app for existing k2 users
Ray, you are awesome! Don’t ever change. 🥭🥭
Great video DCRM. I loved the friendly smack talk to GPL. I also learned how Petty Shimano is. Having watched them gobble up market share in the 90s when I worked in a shop, I have no sympathy for them loosing market share each year to an American company. Hopefully they are learning that consumers are looking for and expecting more than fast/smooth shifting. For better or worse, I expect we'll see fast growth of Chinese groupsets in the next decade.
Loved watching the small error you had at 20:56 while recording :P Always wondered how you went about recording a video like this, now we know :D
Haha, depending on which device you’re on, said oops is already gone! 🤣
As a black man...I never even thought about K3 being associated with the pointy white sheet cone heads 😂
Good to hear! Yeah, never once in my life have I considered K3 tied to that. Very odd.
The review I’ve been waiting for so thanks Ray.
There are some nice touches to the K3. As you note the companion App is the standout for me too. The evolutionary update and the price hike is a bit hard to swallow, but I guess as others have commented that is why the K2 will still be around.
Really looking forward to the SRAM Red review too. The integration with the K3 is neat but again nothing that gives you FOMO to spend $4500 and go all in😅
K2 is already not around, lol. Well, not new anyway.
2:04 the major change is actually the price, holy sh*t
Still cheaper than a Garmin Edge &40
@@glipglop1😂
@Dcrainmaker 0:30 eagerly awaiting the comparison video! Wanting to buy my first bike head unit but waiting for your review first…Great Karoo 3 review!
Coming up next!
@@Dcrainmakeri too am eagerly awaiting. I received the k3 this weekend but with the current drop of price on the 1040 - I’m having serious doubts I have the right unit in my hands :-). I donrun an AXS etap group set but I suspect it pairs to garmin fine.
@@Xyzlor Almost done. Things got out of hand. I kept adding more and more sections...
Nothing wrong with that :-)
@@Xyzlor same thought-the Garmins are discounted and compelling. For me I’m torn coming down to the UI. The Karoo is taunting me especially sending a location from phone to the bike 🤯 but really interested in gravel and mtn bike ride data feedback which don’t know how Karoo does in that area
Thanks for the review 👍
Based on this, I think I need a new pair of shoes more urgently so will be looking for those first and from what’s left maybe a Chinese nav unit.
''Mango, mango, coconut, papaya,.. .bananananananaaa... ''. Man that is a lot of mangos.... Great review, got some info I didn't know I needed.
when are you planning post the video comparing the wahoo roam vs garmin vs karoo3?
I saw that new shape in SRAM's video and thought something was up. Upgraded from a Wahoo Bolt V1 to a K2 last year, I love the display. Not sure if the K3 is worth the upgrade, but I like the fact that there is a companion app now.
Unfortunately the Compsnion app doesn’t work with the K2 due to “hardware limitations” yet other mfgrrs still have their older models working with their companion apps. Just another company trying to get their consumers to spend $475+ on a new unit when in all reality all it takes is a simple firmware/software update for it to work on the K2.
When the K2 was released, Hammerhead offered an upgrade/trade in program for the K1. Any indication if that will be the case this time?
Thanks for the review. I expected to see a better map here on Karoo 3 compared to 2 which differs between small ways and trails, little roads, like I had with my earlier Garmin 1030. I am now on Karoo 2 and don't see a reason for an upgrade...upgrade too expensive for me...I paid 230€ for the 2. Nevertheless I like Karoo much more as it is more user friendly and easy-to-use for me.
It's a new device review. I'm not going to replace my K2 or 830 with a K3 anytime soon.
@@ralphcole674 I also didn’t sell my 1030 because of the map and battery for long trips in unknown areas. For navigating on tour I don‘t like the Karoo. But if I only do follow-the-line with a planned route, I like it much more…especially rerouting works great.
Good on the louder chirps. Better to hear Varia alerts. Rain touch screen wasnt great. The K2 is really good so if K3 is better, cant complain. Better than my 830 for sure.
K2 is awesome but has trouble with elevation most of the time. There are some days the elevation is counting up on flat segments or you have 5-10% error in elevation. My workaround : use Strava data to correct Elevetion data every time - so you can compare all rides.
Also I think u should mention the Karoo can display multiple strava segments at once. Say your starred an entire climb but there’s also a segment for the very top that u also starred. Garmin will ignore that top segment cause it’s still doing the entire climb segment. It can only display 1 segment a time. The Karoo will pop up a drawer for each segment and u can have multiple going at once. A great feature for sure.
Yup, I cover it in my comparison video. Both Wahoo & Hammerhead do it.
The main improvement I hoped for was extended battery life. My K2 drained battery too quickly, especially with multiple sensors in use and max settings.
+2h = +500$
powerbank 10$ +20H
Great review you're killing each and every time! So the two extra buttons on RED can be programmed to swap pages on the Karoo3 does this als go for the wireless BLIP buttons? Already ordered a K3 so certainly no deal breaker for me but it would be a nice extra on descents and in winter with thick gloves on although the K3 buttons work alot better than those on the K2 I'm sure. Big deal maker for me was the screen, battery (just for peace of mind), the improved buttons and the companion app. What also helps is that I love new tech lol.
Do you have same issue GPS signal picks up few mins later right after booting? I just received mango mango and it stays pause for 3 to 5 mins even after starting ride if it is right after booting. :(
Karoo is a nice piece of tech, so far have gen1 and gen2 and love both. Would love to see addition of solar charging to reduce dependency on usb socket for bikepacking. To be truly revolutionary i would like someone come up with something similar to rabbit a1 - "karoo, check the weather and plan for me 70k ride with two coffee stop, i want to be home by 10" - that would be a revolution!
I'm not sure why (lack of experience?) but I always struggled to know/remember which physical button did what on K2. I also had a few times where the screen when routing froze... Either lag or electrolyte drink on my finger, but either way was worrying. New app looks good.
I often did too. Having the power button broken out now really helps. That said, I commented I still think having actual etching on the buttons would help/be better.
How easy is it to upload routes to the companion app? Now, when I get to a group ride and the ride leader sends me the gpx file, I have to save it to my phone, upload it to the dashboard, and hotspot my K2 with my phone so it syncs to the dashboard. A real PITA.
Does Karoo 3 allow for any Mountain Bike specific mapping? In particular, Trailforks or MTB Project? There are some (OLD) posts in reddit where users stated side-loading these apps gives an error as they could not obtain the needed GPS permissions on the device. This is why I still use Garmin.
Sadly not.
Please tell me the rides now upload to Strava without having to hook up to my phone’s wireless hotspot? That’s my biggest pet peeve about the K2. Can you turn off the K3 without completing a ride (which I do at work after commuting)?
Correct, as long as you have the companion app on your phone, it'll just use Bluetooth.
My main problem with the Karoo 2 is the button feel and placement especially when you've got gloves. I like that they've moved the power button elsewhere.
It's definiteley a lot better with the Karoo, in terms of teh buttons are clearer/sharper edges.
Thx 4 review. Noticed your studio lav mic audio sounds really muffled/dull/poor. Is it on the way out? Certainly sounds like that needs a quality upgrade ;-)
Yeah, been meaning to have a more static setup for a while. On the to-do list to buy.
Thanks, Ray. Great stuff! - Does the Karoo 3 also offer something along the lines of Garmin Power Course? I.e., I go for an endurance ride in the Alps. I wanna cycle according to predefined power intervals based on Best Bike Splits. So, I hit a a climb and the device gives me the target power for that interval and compares to the actual power.
Unfortunately nothing like that.
Any news on the website? Have HH developed any metrics or do you still have to sign up with Strava or Training Peaks to do any analysis?
No metrics or such.
@@Dcrainmaker thanks for that. It’s a real shame - I tried a K2 and loved the unit over a Garmin but the complete lack of any analytics killed it for me, if only SRAM would spend a bit of money on the 1997-grade website I’d be on their gear in a heartbeat
Thannks for the video, question regarding the shimano topic, so you cant see your shifting as of now but can you connect to the power meter so you can see how much watt you're doing?
Correct.
Is it possible to upload routes from Garmin Connect? Or there is an alternative app for route planing working with Karoo?
So I just tried one (copying the URL from Garmin Connect into the Hammerhead route builder site, which usually works for other sites). No luck. You could though just export out the routes and re-import the files. Kinda a PITA, but it does work fine.
Interesting device but I am used to Bryton and my 750 SE is the best option for me in the moment. I hope they will make some new models soon.
Hello DC Rainmaker, thanks for the review on new Karoo. There are few questions : 1) Does this new Karoo allow to type in address directly on the GPS unit and start navigation similar to Garmin 840/1040 ? 2) Does this new Karoo has feature to find POI (points of interest) like coffee shops, bike shop, etc using the bike unit directly without phone ? 3) Does this new Karoo provide name of the road on which we are riding ? thanks !
The typing-in of addresses has been a staple of Garmin. From the Edge 705 onwards...
Sorry, missed this. It does allow an address typing in - but it requires an internet connection. It also provides the exact name of the road.
Got the Karoo 2, switched from Garmin and I love it. Definitely gonna get the Karoo 3
is it better? How? I am in a m market for a new bike computer and thinking about Karoo 2/explore 2 OR 1040 maybe
@@qwer55555555 by far imho. Just a LOT smoother, better menus, better routing, better strava live segments even, funnily enough even better Garmin Radar control which should be better on Garmin. So all-around better for me
@@chmart Thank You!
@@qwer55555555 you can find h2 for 150-200$ which is a bargain. For this price it is ahead better than 840 if you ask me. Only the battery is an obvious cons for h2. You need to charge it after each training.
@@qwer55555555get yourself a Garmin 840 or a 1030 plus... you'd thank yourself later
As long HH keeps supporting the 2, I don’t see enough to spend $500 for the upgrade. Thanks for the great review!
Exactly. There is nothing in the new verison that would be worth of 500€.
The changes are so minor - looking at the tech they used, it looks like they actually did a few costs cuts compared to the release of Karoo 2 and slapped a $500 price tag on it.
@@aliancemd indeed, this is definitely not worth $500€
I suspect they will separate the Karoo 2 and 3 in the coming updates. There is a fairly big difference between android 8 and 12.
This is all for new device shopping. I'm not going to ditch my K2 for a K3 .
Just curious, do you know if the phone companion app is opening the door to allow an Apple Watch to be the heart rate sensor?
They could absolutely do this. Whether or not SRAM chooses to go through that door, I don't know. But yeah, it'd be nice if they did.
Wonder if Hammerhead can improve the elevation data recording through software.
Be interesting to see how the battery actually goes, had 2 karoo 2's and both at 25% battery only lasted another 15-20 mins before shutting down
Soria Climb is so great!
Cadence app for the win!
Thanks for this. Hammerhead's page for the new Karoo is terrible if you're looking for the kind of information you just provided.
just to be sure... does this mean that third party is open from Sram side now ? meaning that i can control my edge unit with axs blippers ?
Yes, correct. Wahoo already released theirs, and Garmin is coming very very soon.
question.... might be a dumb one, but I'd appreciate someone (or @DCRainmaker himself? :) ) anwering it. If one has a Garmin smartwatch and gets this New Karoo model, is it possible to use it for the Garmin bike workouts, etc.? or is this something only available and specfic to Garmin GPS bike computers?
It's good they got rid of that horrible matt glass cover.
choose which sensors to use in a profile.. Garmin, are you listening? Please add the option to select per activity..
Are they not gathering data from their own units to add to the Suunto heatmaps?
Not at this point.
DC can you show a screen recording tutorial?
I'm with you on the Karoo 3 being faster but just to ask the question. Could low battery make the 2 throttle back? 7% is really low....Also you might have been joking but it is 5 seconds per mile for thunder so that strike was just over a mile.
Nah, I tried with both full battery and not. Same results.
Can the karoo Sync to Apple Health? Other Computer Wahoo and Garmin can this
No, not at this point.
Am I the only one missing a power data field on the Climb Pro/Climber? I mean, isn't the beauty of seeing the gradient so that you can pace yourself accordingly?
If they would change it, seems like every feature is better working than on my 1040 ...
The louder beep is actually very important for me. And a selling point.
really?
Yes
Have a bad hearing. I use the Karoo combined with a Garmin Varia. I always have to keep an eye on my Karoo, not to miss a car from behind.
Hope this will push Garmin to improve on the Edge and yeah, release the 1050 already
Notification thing is a real bummer for me .....pleas update the karoo 3 please
Decreased or increased weight?
the notification thing is a real bummer ... enough to make me wait to see if they fix that before thinking about buying it.
I wait for a couple of months
Is that a real issue the notification thing or was i once ?
I’d like my display to include: heartrate, incline, map directions, speed and Time of day, is that possible?
7:37 it's not 7 miles, but 7*340m (speed of sound), 2,3k
Ahh...so roughly divide by 5 for miles, and by two for kilometers (with a fudge factor). Huh...well...guess it got a bit close.
Touch screens are awful to use while cycling, especially during cold weather. Can this be used with only button presses?
The Karoo 2 can be used with buttons only. At least 99% of the time. The new version should do the same.
My Karoo2 is wildly inaccurate for elevation gain. It will often read double the actual gain. It reads 4000 ft when it should have showed about 2000 ft.
I'd love to see this basic computer with, I don't know, maybe 90% less capability. How about a nice color screen showing speed, distance, power and MAYBE a bit more for less than $200? I didn't know I needed an iPad for my rides...How about calling it Karoo 3 MINUS 2.99?
If i were shopping for a new head unit, the Karoo 3 wins hand down. Good review.
Cycling Dynamics with Favero Assioma MX-2 ???
No cycling dynamics (for any units).
Did the k3 gain some additional girth? Any wind tunnel specifications and/or drag coefficient available, Cd = D / (A * .5 * r * V^2), (non-dimensional drag)?
Think there is a small error @2.30. video skips a bit there
Thanks, will tweak!
7:27 7 seconds is about 7000 feet, or 1.33 miles. I don't think you can hear thunder at 7 miles; that would be a 37 second delay.
Having the Karoo 2 but daily using the Roam 2 because of its great drink-food reminder. Karoo 2 and presume 3 is still not listening to the market needs.
I normally have physiologic reminders for refueling and rehydrating. A timer would suffice for race reminders.
Still waiting to buy a bike computer with borderless screen. Will there ever be a manufacturer doing this...?
I'm going to ask it here from you and your audience: why can no head unit (Garmins, Wahoos, Karoos) simply handle via point and detours? If I have a route - preplanned or just point and click generated - I'd love to add a 3rd point in the middle. These devices just stop the current route and generate the new route. I know these are mainly bike computers, but planning a route from A via B to C is not a lot of computing.... It's 2024, this is 2000s or 2010s stuff.
Yeah, I suspect largely because very few people have asked for the feature (you're honestly the very first person in doing this for 15 years that's ever mentioned it). That combined with the companies now all support route-to features (just specifying a new endpoint), makes it less likely to need that A to C but add C concept. Just my guess.
@@Dcrainmaker But it should not be an "evil", out-of-this world requirement. It's common sense and a real life situation.
I hardly ever follow a set route, I often improvise or just make detours. Imagine bike messengers getting a new address, they could chain it up to route. Of course you can stop the existing route and make a new one but being able to see a new possible route is convenient.
Imagine you drive to the end of a lake and instead of taking the route back, you'd wanna go on the other side of the lake. You could then see how much longer the total route would be and then you can decide. It is just so odd. Komoot, Naviki, BikeMap and you name it - they all have it.
@@ZotmundSzele Yeah, nobody's saying it's evil. I'm just saying that it's literally never a requirement I've heard someone ask for (which, happens all the time). I agree the bike messenger case, but most messengers wouldn't likely use a head unit because getting addresses to it tends to be clumsy (even with the sending right now), as well as the map UI tends to be much slower than Google Maps for zooming/validating/etc..
@@Dcrainmaker I didn't want to overestimate this feature and I'm actually surprised not many people need this (at least according to your experience). It's so obvious to me and having this feature would make these devices one notch less clumsy, in my opinion. (especially that mounting phones, charging them, being less compact and weather proof is often a concern when it comes to bike computers vs phone navigation). Maybe it'll come one day. Thanks for your reflection on this.
Hey Hammerhead we’re smart. We see through the marketing-bs. It’s definitely Karoo 3
The new companion app works with the Karoo 2 to connect it to a phone with Bluetooth
Sure, but only for notifications (just like before). Not for route sync/etc...
That there is no option to push routes via Bluetooth on the device makes it unusable for remote gravel and bikepacking. It's really awkward.
@@Tethysmeer You can push via Bluetooth (I show it in the video), but it requires internet connectivity as it syncs it briefly with backend servers.
Not even six minutes into this video and I'm smiling, thinking "DC Rainmaker's reviews are anything but dry." 😄
A minute later: okay, very literally not dry! 😆
Title typo intentional?
Best feature IMO is the larger speaker. I couldn’t hear it before and lost many miles to not starting the ride because the prompt beep was too soft.
buy some speakers and subwoofer and pair it via bluetooth on the karoo 2 for less money
Informative vid as always, but I am still not convinced that a dedicated bike computer is better than my phone mounted front of handlebar😊
Comparison video in 36 hours ..that was 10 days ago ...come on chop chop ;) .
They really need to add volume slider. I already disabled radar beeps on K2 because I sounded like a ticking bomb when riding around in the city.
Crickey, I always want my K2 to be louder. Can't hear varia alerts especially at speed, due to wind noise.
Plleeease compare to Sigma rox evo 12.1
Is there a sense to buy outdated already Garmin 1040 or 840 in 2024?
Outdate? 😂😂 U kidding right?
Not sure how either is outdated at this point. Both still have far more features than Hammerhead.
@@playmoreguitar5393 I’ve purchased recently 840 - it is slow, horrible screen colours, sometimes it is hard to see what it’s showing, rerouting is slow and unreliable, to change something on the go it’s a big fight with the UI and freezes, to add some additional fields to navigation screen I need to install basically small tool from independent developer. Interface is frustrating and sometimes not logical for a newcomer - I still struggle how to finish ride and which button or screen touch do it. Swipe gestures is a joke, I can’t read incoming messages while riding, map update process can be like 8 hours or fast, Di2 controls have 1-2 second delay. And this is what I found out only using it for 1 month.
Being a long time user of Fenix series watches I was expecting way more from it. But while I was riding with watches as a bike computer I kinda was realising that it’s a watch, but after getting a separate device I got basically the same but slower companion.
@@Dcrainmaker maybe for pros, but for me it’s slow, rerouting is not even close to something usable and transparent (like google maps) etc., UI is still way more focused on buttons, maybe it’s my first month impression, but being a garmin watches fan I was quite disappointed after getting this for its price tag (840).
But thank you, I appreciate your feedback. Will dig deeper with 840 and maybe something will prove that it is worth to keep it.
That S-Works, thats not maybe a new Venge-like bike, is it? 11:54
Roubaix SL8 Gloss Taupe/Gunmetal Strata/Charcoal
Yup! Specifically: S-Works Roubaix SL8 - SRAM RED AXS: www.specialized.com/us/en/s-works-roubaix-sl8--sram-red-axs/p/4275485?color=5432474-4275485
Mango mango! 😂
This feels more like a software update that a K2 should get as opposed to a whole new hardware. Really nothing exciting outside of the companion app, which can easily by enabled with the K2 to be used on the same wifi netowrk.
There are some zingers in this video.
The best zinger is the 46 km route with 21m ascent at 3:57, that genuinely (if perhaps unintentionally) had me rolling.
Thanks for the review. Seems to be not a worthy upgrade on the basis of navigation features. Sidenote: I am always wondering who really needs this endless list of directions along the route? has anyone ever needed this?
Yeah, honestly, no idea who needs that either. But then the next comment I'll get will be from someone that wants to see the cue sheet like the old days.
Pass. I’ll wait until Wahoo releases a solar Bolt or Roam.
Please fix the title from Karoo 2 to Karoo 3
or else what
Doh. Mango!
@@DcrainmakerMango Mango Mango
Details, details
You can test the screen response in the rain my just jumping in the shower 😅
That takes the fun out of it!
@@Dcrainmaker but you can make it your “Rain simulator” 😆
I'm only here for K3 Mango Mango content. I am so very very disappointed in this cycling computer talk.
Mango Mango!!! 🥭🥭
How does the K3 do live tracking without SIM card?
Via the paired smartphone app (which is new).
@@DcrainmakerI wonder if a paired phone would last more than 5 hours!
looks like disabling of auto re-route is still not supported in new Karoo, a simple software update, yet not supported. Additionally, it does not support POI listing and searching of address directly on bike computer. If this is based on Android costing 475 USD, such features should be supported. Cost of bike computer is going up and up and upgrades are not much.
Apparently you can kinda-sorta do this by selecting the option titled 'Breadcrumb', which won't re-route you. Though, I don't think it gives TBT either. Need to try it.
Karoo does not like Mango Mango song!!!! lol
Still lags well behind the Lezyne Mega at 48hrs for a third of the price 😂
Mango mango
I actually pity whoever the person is that has a mind that saw Karoo 3, and somehow became terrified that it would be associated with that group. They must be at 110% stress at all times in their life.
Oh dear... Seriously.. there is only one K3 song that should be referenced here.. Blub, Ik Ben Een Vis (I am a fish).. I expect the rainmaker household to learn all the words!!.. czcams.com/video/KBdqPPO6eK8/video.html
Hahahaha
For that price it is a hard pass. Karoo 2 was a good option when it was on a big discount. I can only consider Karoo 3 when they go on a sale like this. Otherwise I am very happy with my Garmin 1040.
The Karoo2 had a nearly dead battery compared to K3
That doesn’t matter, there’s no difference in speed. And if there were, that’d point out even further how the K3 isn’t meaningfully any faster…
Thanks@@Dcrainmaker @11:31 you ride by my house, I'll wave next time. Keep it up
@@theDude9750 Haha, I'll wave later tonight!