Magene C506 Review – Entry-Level GPS Bike Computer

You could easily spend $700 on a Garmin Edge 1050 bike computer, $600 on a Wahoo ELEMNT ACE or less than $120 on the Magene C506. Sure, it’s like comparing apples and oranges, but do you need highly advanced features like competing live against Strava segments, compatibility with smart radar safety lights, or the ability to follow complex structured workouts from TrainingPeaks on your $1000 indoor smart trainer?

Surprisingly, an entry-level bike computer like the C506 does address two of those features to varying degrees of usefulness.

Gone are the days of 10 years ago when only the top bike computers supported cycling power metrics. Even this ‘lowly’  Magene can keep you and your power meter happy as you also revel in the glory of following turn-by-turn route directions on a not-too-bad colour touchscreen.

Who would buy the Magene C506?

Magene’s C506 is an entry-level bike computer for those on a budget. It ticks a surprising number of boxes expected from more advanced competitor offerings, but you won’t get anywhere near the depth of features of a high-end Garmin.

You can configure multiple ride profiles with a wide range of commonly used cycling metrics like cadence, average HR and lap speed. With the right sensors, you can show advanced data like cycling power, di2 gear position and car proximity. However, if you have advanced sensors like that, I’m betting you will be in the market for a more expensive bike computer. On the other hand, the Magene C506 is a good first-time bike computer for someone new to two-wheeled technology. If you buy additional sensors down the line, then your Magene will support them.

Problems With The Magene C506

In cold weather, I found a screen tap was not consistently recognised with cold fingers. Swiping was OK, but I sometimes had to tap the screen 3 times to get a response. A great thing about the C506 is that the buttons offer another way to interact with the bike computer.

The app is not a polished final offering. You can still see references to “My Vehicles” (bikes) and techy wording like ‘Forget the data table.’ While I didn’t seek out bugs and faults with the app, these visual feubles are evidence of bugs elsewhere.

A Brief History of Magene Bike Computers

Magene’s bike computers have followed the same hardware trends as elsewhere in the industry, with replacement models improving battery, screen, GPS, and sensor connectivity. Software features have also progressively improved to the point whereMagene now offers something in perhaps the most complex feature area – mapping, routing and general navigation.

Magene C506 Specifications

Magene’s core specifications are very good for the price – battery, connectivity, sensors, etc.

The hardware quality and components are what you would expect in 2025. Not leading edge but close to the edge!

Customising your Ride

Your Magene’s in-ride experience can be configured as you would like with a mixture of charts and raw numbers.

The availability of Di2 Gear Info and metrics such as GPS headings, grades, TSS, and IF indicate versatility. Out of curiosity, I look to see if ‘Last lap NP’ is included as a metric – it’s a pretty esoteric one that you’ll probably never use, but to include it requires the company to have built many other things and thought deeply about all the metrics needed for all the likely eventualities – Magene hasn’t included this so you might find some metrics missing. There certainly is a more than decent choice.

Routes

OneLapFit is the companion app for the bike computer. With a few taps, you can easily create an impromptu route, sync it and follow it on your C506, complete with turn-by-turn directions. You can also import GPX route files from friends or race organisers.

What you can’t do is get re-directed by the C506 if you make a wrong turn, nor can you automatically sync your favourite routes from Strava/Ride with GPS or other similar sites. It’s also impossible to automatically navigate to the start of the route or pan and zoom on the screen.

Although all those are very nice to have, at this price point, their omission is OK, in my opinion.

Indoor Training

Generally, bike computers can’t control or directly link to online gaming/training platforms like Zwift, myWhoosh (free) or IndieVelo (free to TrainingPeaks subscribers). So don’t expect this from Magene.

Another way to train indoors is to follow digital training plans, which you can create, import or sync with other people or online training platforms. Surprisingly, Magene has this covered.

I was pleasantly surprised that the C506 could import a route file whose gradients/difficulties were used to control an indoor smart trainer. You can also synchronise workouts from your TrainingPeaks plan (but no other sources), or if you don’t have one of those, you can build your workouts to control your smart trainer for free on the OneLapfit app.

Magene could do MUCH more here, but they’ve covered 80% of most people’s use cases.

Climb Pro Feature

A staple feature of high-end bike computers is a climb-specific feature where each of your ride’s climbs pops up as you approach them. The bike computer gives you in-ride metrics to moderate your effort over the climb. The C506 does NOT have this kind of feature. It’s a complex feature to include and an example of something you miss on a budget computer.

Smart Radar Taillight Support

Perhaps 2025’s must-have feature for almost any road bike computer is smart radar support. Garmin Varia was the first product to boast a rear-facing smart radar light that changes its flash patterns as it detects cars closing on you. The feature also pops up a side display on the bike computer to let you see where cars are behind you without turning around. Magene has developed the L508 Smart Radar, which is similar but cheaper than the Garmin Varia RTL515.

C506 supports this feature, which I use on every ride, albeit with different brands. Magene’s taillight works well (but not perfectly), and the on-screen graphics and audible beep enhance your safety.

Note: Radars work on closing speed for something behind. Therefore, it doesn’t usually detect cyclists. It can also detect multiple vehicles simultaneously, as shown by red or orange chevrons at the edge of the display, red indicating a dangerously rapid approaching vehicle.

Magene C506 Test Results – Is It Accurate?

Magene’s C506 is accurate enough for any level of road cyclist. I completed over 500km with Magene in 2024, plus 5 hours of indoor use.

As this example of a ride shows, corners and cycling on roads through wooded areas are perfectly fine.

My only cause for concern with accuracy was when I was testing Magene’s P505 power meter. There was a noticeable lag with some of the recorded data metrics. This lag went away when I used a Garmin Edge with the Magene power meter – the obvious conclusion was that something wasn’t quite right with the C506 data recording. I never got to the bottom of it and ran out of time.

Differences to Other Magene models.

The C506 bike computer performs similarly to the C606 but features a smaller screen.

C506 has an even cheaper C506SE companion model. The material difference is the lack of a touchscreen.

Who is Magene?

Magene, a Chinese cycling equipment manufacturer, has steadily built a strong portfolio of products, including indoor trainers, power meters, and performance wheels. However, its brand recognition in Western markets lags significantly behind established players like Garmin and Wahoo.

Among the growing number of Asian cycling brands, Magene is the one to watch. It combines solid product offerings with strong financial backing, positioning itself as a potential disruptor in the market.

As with any challenger brand, Magene faces several hurdles. Chief among them is the lack of feature depth that brands like Garmin have refined over years of development. However, this is less of an issue at Magene’s value-driven price point, where Garmin typically doesn’t compete. The challenge arises when newer brands overreach, attempting to justify premium pricing before building a comparable ecosystem and reputation. For now, Magene’s success depends on maintaining its focus on affordability while gradually enhancing its offerings.

Take Out

If you are a wannabe performance cyclist or avid navigator cum explorer, then Magene’s C506 is not for you.

For the price, it’s a perfectly fine and functional piece of kit for those not bothered about having branded devices on show on their handlebars.

The average cyclist (i.e., most cyclists) will be OK with the degree of customisation available. If you only want to use Strava and TrainigPeaks external sports platforms, all will be good if you use Komoot and Final Surge, less so!

Buy Magene C506, C506SE

The C506 is priced at £109, $119 and €119

The C506 SE is priced at £79, $89 and €89