Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT v3 Review: Dethroned King?

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After four long years, the BOLT 2 finally gets a refresh. The BOLT v3 is here, and in this review, I’ll break down whether it’s worth the upgrade and how it compares to the competition. I’ve tested over 20 bike computers already, so I have a thing or two to share. Remember, I also purchased it with my own money and didn’t receive it from Wahoo, unlike many other publishers.

My ELEMNT BOLT v3 rating at a glance:
Battery Life 5/5 | Ease of Setup 5/5 | Display 3/5 | Ease of Use 4/5 | GPS Accuracy 4/5 | Maps & Navigation 4/5 | Price 3/5 | OVERALL 4.0/5
More about this bike computer scoring.

NOTE: I tested BOLT 3 with firmware W129-301352.

Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT v3: Pros & Cons

These are the main pros and cons of the Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT v3 that I discovered during use.

Unboxing and Initial Setup

The ELEMNT BOLT v3’s initial setup is straightforward. I simply scanned the QR code using the Wahoo app, connected it to WiFi, and it updated itself to the latest firmware. The settings of my data pages from previous Wahoo bike computers were kept. I guess they pulled them from the Wahoo ELEMNT Ace, which I also paired with the Wahoo app, not the older WAHOO ELEMNT app. Garmin head units do the same, and it’s very convenient.

My Experience with Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT v3

Below, I share my experience with ELEMNT BOLT v3 in the most important areas.

Display

The 2.3-inch display is 0.1 inch larger than the BOLT v2 display. I got used to the Karoo 3 3.2-inch display, so the 2.3-inch one feels a bit small now. However, if you don’t need many data fields displayed or simply like smaller bike computers, BOLT 3 should fit you well. Below, you can see the screen size comparison of the best bike computers.

The screen is a bit flashier than previous ELEMNT bike computers, which is kind of a paradox. It seems Wahoo traded colors for worse readability. In some scenarios, especially in direct sunlight, the display reflects more glare than BOLT 2.

The screen resolution is 480×720px, which means it’s also one of the sharpest displays, similar to Hammerhead Karoo 3 or Garmin Edge 1050. See the following close-up picture.

The following picture shows multiple popular bike computers and their maximum brightness. Hammerhead Karoo 3 is the brightest, followed by Edge 1050 and the rest. BOLT 3 has slightly higher brightness than BOLT 2 and ELEMNT ACE.

BOLT 3 can display up to 9 data fields, which may be difficult to read due to their size, especially if you have poor eyesight. If so, I recommend buying a larger head unit, such as the Edge 10×0 line, and eventually the Wahoo ELEMNT Ace.

You can still easily enlarge the data fields using the side buttons, so you can focus only on those that matter to you at a given point. Unfortunately, the data fields are pretty traditional and not too graphical, unlike some other bike computers, such as the Sigma ROX 12.1 EVO.

Luckily, the background color of some data fields (HR and watt zones, gradient, etc.) reflects the actual zone, depending on how you set up your zones. This is actually helpful. Remember, you won’t get live data field previews like on the Edge 1050 and Karoo 3 when setting them up via the Wahoo app.

Battery Life

Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT v3 has a claimed battery life of 20 hours. My BOLT achieved a real-world battery life of approximately 26.7 hours. This was a pleasant surprise. I used the medium brightness setting and had multiple sensors connected to it, including the HR monitor, power meter, radar, and smartphone.

The following chart shows the battery life of selected bike computers. The BOLT 3 reaches the values of the Garmin Edge x40 line and significantly surpasses its previous generation.

And of course, it has a USB-C charging port.

Control & User Friendliness

The previous generations of ELEMNT computers were known for their ease of use. Although BOLT and ROAM 2 received an update in 2024, which modified the UI slightly and introduced the dashboard, they remained relatively easy to use. The BOLT 3 UI is slightly different from the BOLT 2 UI, but the same as you can find on ACE or ROAM 3. Logically, Wahoo wanted to unify it to provide a consistent experience across its lineup.

Many settings, including data pages and fields, are still set via the smartphone app. I like this solution on button-based bike computers because browsing menus with buttons is too time-consuming. But they are not available on the touchscreen units ROAM 3 and ACE. This doesn’t make much sense to me, as it would be faster to set the fields directly on the unit.

I have to give Wahoo credit for adding some options, though. For example, you can now pair sensors via the head unit, in addition to the smartphone app. This makes it easier to pair them on the go.

In my testing, however, it was not all sunshine. I’ve only been using BOLT 3 for a few weeks, and I’ve experienced a few software issues—more on them in the next section.

Maps & Navigation

The first time I used BOLT 3, I wanted to try the navigation. Unfortunately, I was unable to upload the route to it from the Wahoo app. I was only able to do it after pairing again. I don’t think this has ever happened with BOLT 2. Route synchronization has always been seamless. After resetting the head unit to factory settings, the synchronization started working.

I find the BOLT v3 maps easy to follow and pretty accurate, at least on the road. The only problem I have is that there is no way to browse them with buttons (or at least I couldn’t find the way). So, you have to take your phone out of your pocket if you want to find alternative routes.

Once you upload a route to the device, it loads in seconds, allowing you to follow the course immediately. Following them is easy, as you get alerts on turns. One thing missing compared to Garmin is the Road Hazards. I’ve never fully leveraged this feature, as there aren’t many Garmin x40 owners in our area, but I can imagine that this feature is helpful.

Free Summit Feature

The Free Summit feature is one of my favorite BOLT features. It’s similar to Garmin’s ClimbPro and doesn’t require a planned route. It estimates the path you will take and displays the climb data (gradients, distance to the top, etc.), allowing you to pace yourself more effectively.

You can achieve better accuracy for planned routes, but even the free rides are good enough. Where Summit wins is its customizability, though. You can use the smartphone app to change the data fields for the Summit page. This is great because ClimbPro won’t give you as much flexibility. You can also change how the Summit behaves.

For example, it can only be turned on when you are also using navigation. This makes sense; I don’t need the Summit to be turned on in my area, where I’m familiar with all the climbs. You can also set the climb difficulty for which it will appear, or whether your data pages will automatically change to the Summit page.

Unfortunately, I also experienced an issue here. During the first round of testing, the Free Summit feature did not activate, despite being enabled in the settings. After resetting the bike computer to its factory settings and re-pairing it with the Wahoo app, Free Summit started working properly.

Check out my comparison of Free Summit vs. ClimbPro for more details.

GPS Accuracy

The ELEMNT BOLT v3 supports multi-band GNSS. I compared its accuracy with other bike computers on my favorite forest segment.

Surprisingly, its accuracy was not on par with other multi-band GNSS head units, such as the Edge 1040 or Edge 1050. It’s not clearly visible where I started zig-zagging on the steep section of a narrow forest road. This is a bit disappointing, although the accuracy improvement over the previous generation is significant.

Connectivity

The ELEMNT BOLT v3 features Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and ANT+ connectivity, allowing it to be used with a wide range of sensors. It automatically syncs rides, as is standard on high-end head units. However, I encountered an issue when testing the accuracy alongside ROAM 3. The activities from ROAM synchronized without problems, but those from BOLT did not. I had to manually export them after connecting BOLT via USB cable and using a file browser.

Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT v3 Alternatives

Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT v3 Technical Specifications

Below, I summarized the Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT v3 technical specifications.

Conclusion

Believe it or not, aside from its great battery life and improved accuracy (which is still not on par with Garmin Edge head units with multi-band GNSS), I don’t see many other areas where the BOLT 3 outperforms its predecessor, the BOLT 2. Readability in direct sunlight seems to be worse, the display has even wider bezels, and the UI is more complicated. The BOLT 3 also lacks an LED strip, and its firmware was not fine-tuned at the time of testing, resulting in synchronization issues with routes and activities.

Thus, of the current lineup of ELEMNT bike computers, the ROAM 3 makes the most sense, as it features a touchscreen and improved battery life compared to its previous version. The ACE is a brick and a huge misstep that shouldn’t exist at all, in my opinion. The BOLT 3 simply does not impress. I feel that it doesn’t provide the same value for money as the BOLT 2 did.

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Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT v3 FAQ