The Karoo 2 from Hammerhead takes the original Karoo design and slims it down. But that’s just a small update to the original. The rest of the Karoo 2’s package aims to take on GPS head unit giants. With a focus on claiming the screen optics crown and navigation supremacy, the Karoo 2 packs in a ton of features that make it a contender.
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Karoo 2: the build
The Karoo 2 costs $399. That puts it within a reasonable range of its competition. It weighs 131 grams on its own, and 167 grams with the included mount. The unit is waterproof and dustproof to an 1P67 rating.
The unit’s chassis is made from a glass-filled polycarbonate, which makes the Karoo 2 light and strong, according to Hammerhead. The Dragontrail Glass panel is acid-etched to create a glare-resistant matte finish on the screen. The screen itself is also resistant to water droplets. That should help increase the usability of the touchscreen functions.
There’s a whole lot of features packed into that touchscreen too. it’s a 3.2-inch display with 16.7 million colors supported, and a 292 PPI pixel density. That’s twice the density of its closest rival. In portrait orientation, the resolution is 48×800. Hammerhead says the display rivals the sharpness and usability of your smartphone.
If you’re not into touchscreens, fear not. You can still use the buttons on the sides of the unit to control all the Karoo’s features.
Onboard, the unit has 32gb of storage — 26gb for maps. The Quad Core 1.1 Ghz CPU combined with 2gb of RAM promises zippy operation. And within the unit, you get sensors to deliver the most accurate ride data. These include a barometer, ambient temperature sensor, and 3–axis accelerometer, magnetometer, and gyroscope.
Notably, Hammerhead includes a waterproof SIM card cover. Pop in a SIM card (sold separately) and you’ve got cellular coverage up to 4G LTE.
Hammerhead designed its own unique mount for the Karoo 2. The company says this mount is low-profile enough to add aerodynamic benefits. The head unit slides onto the mount from the front. To release, you pivot the unit to the side. But if you want to use your Garmin-style mount, Hammerhead conveniently includes an adapter to make it possible.
The unit comes with a USB-C cable for charging, as well as a leash that you can connect to your mount or handlebars for added security. Hammerhead says a full charge takes about 3 hours. You can also get to a 50% charge in about an hour. At full charge, you should get about 12 hours of battery life.
Connectivity
The Karoo 2 boasts a lot of connectivity options. It’s Bluetooth 4.0 capable; ANT+; and of course, WiFi ready. That’s all on top of the optional 4g LTE connectivity with the SIM card.
Navigation relies on several antennae, including GNSS, GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, and QZSS. This helps ensure navigation capabilities just about anywhere in the world.
You can set up a Hammerhead account to access your ride data. And of course, the Karoo 2 integrates with 3rd party services like Strava and Training Peaks.
Karoo 2: software
Once you fire up the unit, you can customize your data fields and pages. It’s super quick and easy to do right on the unit itself, without having to navigate menu after menu to do it.
The Karoo 2 offers multiple map and data page layouts, so just add whatever makes most sense for your riding style. There are heart rate, power, and elevation fields, among others.
Like other head units, the Karoo 2 can receive smartphone notifications. A less common feature is the Karoo’s ability to save your data and preferences to the cloud.
Oh, and Strava Live Segments are of course supported too.
One of the more polarizing aspects of the Karoo 2 is the bi-weekly software updates. Hammerhead collects user feedback constantly to ensure you’re always getting the most streamlined experience from the unit. That means, however, that you’ll have to let the unit perform a software update every two weeks. These updates usually only take a few minutes, but it’s something you’ll have to keep in mind if you’re trying to zip out the door quickly for your ride.
Navigation features
Now we get to the exciting stuff.
The Karoo 2’s approach to navigation is one of its biggest benefits. It of course packs in the basics: you get turn by turn navigation, you can download GPX files to the unit, and you can sync your routes.
But that’s just the surface of what the Karoo 2 can do. For starters, you can do route planning right in the unit itself. Maps are loaded onto the unit, so you can search for an address, drop pins, and create routes to those pins or addresses on the fly. You can also add points of interest along the way.
And since the Karoo 2’s storage and processors are stout, you should be able to get faster and more accurate navigation. That will come in particularly handy when you’re using the turn by turn navigation feature.
The Karoo also addresses a common bugaboo with cycling GPS units: viewability. You’ll be able to pinch-to-zoom on the Karoo so you can zoom in and out on the map. Most units require you to use the external buttons (you can use these on the Karoo as well), so if the touchscreen works as well as Hammerhead promises, this would make on-the-fly navigation vastly easier.
Route planning right on the unit itself; search for an address, drrop pins, create route
One of the more fun features that Hammerhead offers on the Karoo 2 is the Climber feature. This will sense a climb as you approach it and give you data about the elevation gain, length of the climb, grade, and more. That means you’ll be able to plan your attack for your PR or KOM attempt.
Testing the Karoo 2
My Karoo 2 testing will largely focus on the unit’s general usability. In particular, I’m curious if the touchscreen is indeed any better than GPS head units I’ve used in the past. At best, touchscreens tend to be temperamental and difficult to use on rides. If the Karoo 2 can best the units I’ve tested in the past, it’s already on track as a contender in the market.
The navigation features will also play a big role in testing. While the upcoming climb information isn’t the most important feature packed into the Karoo 2, I am very excited to try it out. If it works well, it could be an excellent tool for those looking to conquer local KOMs and PRs.
More importantly, I’m curious to see if Hammerhead’s navigation capabilities offer quicker response, especially when it comes to turn by turn navigation. There’s nothing worse than a head unit telling to you turn left — after you’ve already passed it. I’ll keep an eye on Hammerhead’s advertised 5-second rerouting speed, and I’m very keen to try out the route-to-pin feature that allows you to drop a pin right on the unit and get navigation to that pin.
Generally, I want to navigate everywhere — locally, and away from home. If the Karoo 2 offers a truly unique navigation experience, it could certainly position itself as a category leader.
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