3597LMTHD And Smartlink

 

I recently received my nüvi 3597LMTHD, and I installed Smartlink for the iPhone 5. I paired the devices, and Smartlink asked if I wanted to buy Live Traffic for $19.99. Any idea why I would buy Live Traffic via Smartlink when the 3597 already provides HD traffic? Is there any difference between the Smartlink version and the version that comes preinstalled on the unit?

Thanks.

Just FYI

This is Garmin's response to the question. Bottom line -- as expected, there's generally no reason to spend $20 on the Smartlink traffic app when a unit comes with HD Traffic.

The traffic functions provided in the SmartPhone Link are near the same as the HD traffic. The only differences is that the SmartPhone Link traffic option works on your phone's data, which may or may not have better reception than the HD receiver. It also operates on the phone's bandwidth, which again, may be better than what can be transferred over even the HD radio channels and leads to a faster refresh rate and more information downloaded quicker.

I would recommend using the HD receiver for a while, and if you notice outages or areas that you require quicker or more accurate information, let us know and we can check to see if the SmartPhone Link application will offer better coverage.

@trclac

Thanks for reporting back. It's very thoughtful to share this for the benefit of others.

Jonathan

Traffic

Somewhat unrelated but I have a Pioneer head unit which has HD Traffic built in. The unit also has App Radio Mode which connects to the iPhone and that gives me INRIX traffic. When comparing the two in the same area at the same time, I notice the traffic flow information to almost match between the two but I find more data from INRIX regarding traffic incidents (accidents, construction, etc.) vs. the HD Traffic. INRIX will report what the hold up is where the HD will just give me the red line. Not sure how much detail the Smartlink gives in comparison to the built in HD traffic but I'd like to find out.

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Garmin: GPSIII / StreetPilot / StreetPilot Color Map / StreetPilot III / StreetPilot 2610 / GPSMAP 60CSx / Nuvi 770 / Nuvi 765T / Nuvi 3490LMT / Drivesmart 55 / GPSMAP 66st * Pioneer: AVIC-80 / N3 / X950BH / W8600NEX