Smart Phone vs Garmin navigation

 

There is probably already a thread for this, but I couldn't find one confused

I recently purchased a 2018 Hyundai santa fe sport. The salesman highly recommended the use of a smart phone in conjunction with GOOGLE maps for navigation (I didn't purchase the top of the line (ultimate package) which comes with a built in GARMIN-like turn by turn screen in the dash.

Since I had been using a 1990s "flip phone" without blue tooth I had to find a cheap smartphone. (I wasn't about to shell out a thousand bucks for an iPhone rolleyes

My cell phone service (In Touch America) which uses the VERIZON network offered me a FREE phone to replace my Flip phone.

It is a ZTE Stratos android smartphone using a 5.1 Android OS.

The salesman was right! I use GOOGLE maps from my phone which displays on my video screen via a blue tooth connection. It does everything my GARMIN did plus much much more. I can now legally use my smartphone to make calls hands free. I'm still learning about the HYUNDAI capabilities but I am in love with what it can do.

I don't think I will use my GARMIN much anymore on trips. What with their BLUE LINK features and the SirusXM Data (weather/news/sports/fuel prices) apps I can be fully informed as well as navigate without my GARMIN.

Of course, I can find all the POIs I want with GOOGLE search

--
I have seen the future and it is now!
<<Page 2

Garmin/TomTom/Waze on Smart Phone

I have a built-in TomTom based GPS in my car as well as a Garmin 3580 and a Smart Phone running Waze and Android Auto. All these devices have their strengths and weaknesses. The Garmin 3580 allows me to build complex routes using Basecamp which is a big plus. Waze works when there is a cell network, TomTom is convenient but sometimes misleads. There is no perfect system so best to bring along a current paper map - just in case. PS if your car has a built in compass that would make it easier to follow the map.

--
romanviking

Music

(Quote)My Jeep has a 28GB user hard drive, have over 3000 tunes on it, no talking ever, plus I can use a USB stick filled with even more tunes, I can listen to music for a few months and not hear the same tune twice(/quote)
I travel with an Ipod where I have over 3000 songs on it. Whenever we reach a point where there is no music we like we use it. Why waste money on unnecessary Items.

kurzemnieks is right

My smartphone is my MP3 player. My service is prepaid, with unlimited talk, text, and 10GB of high speed data, and with Google Play Music I have 95% of my music collection available through my smartphone. The missing 5% is both the rock songs that weren't hits from the full albums I own, plus some cover albums of soundtrack music that I have never ripped from CD. I keep a 16GB MP3 player in the car in case I hit an extended dead zone, but I haven't needed it.

My smartphone is also my GPS when I need it. Between Google Maps and Here I have full navigation in North America, plus Google Maps has its search feature. When I found out 2019.20 was released for Garmin, I didn't even bother dragging the GPS out of the car to update it until this weekend. Even now I'm not pushing myself to update it and it's been sitting in my office for a week.

I don't need a new GPS, even though the technology nerd in me would love to have a Drivesmart 61. I certainly don't need a new MP3 player, not when I have one in the car and one in the house.

--
"Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job." --Douglas Adams

I use Google most of the time for work...

because it integrates with other programs like quick books which we use for invoicing/billing and I can quickly find the customer, click on the address and be routed via google. I always keep my garmin handy but I like the google maps which are more current but sure wish it had more info like speed limits. I'm really surprised google hasn't figured out they could make money buy adding more info such as speed limits, height restrictions, weight/road restrictions and on and on. Maybe even POI's Call it google professional and charge like $25-$50 a year. I know I would pay for it.

Going to Greece

We are thinking of buying a local sims card for Greece and using Google maps on my phone. If we leave my Garmin home this will be one less thing to carry. We will be on a tour with very little free time so I don't think I will need it. Still not sure as I am afraid of areas with no data.

--
Mary, Nuvi 2450, Garmin Viago, Honda Navigation, Nuvi 750 (gave to son)

Google Maps does allow you

Google Maps does allow you to download areas for offline use. For best results however, a GPS app like Here is good to have since you can simply download the map once and not worry about not having data. I have it as a backup to Google Maps.

--
"Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job." --Douglas Adams

I’ve been using both the

I’ve been using both the Garmin and Apple maps. I usually have the garmin set for destination then ask Siri for the same destination and compare the two. Both work pretty well but Garmin offers traffic and lane guidance. I will try Here the next time. I’ve used Here last year at the various cruise ports in the Baltics.

Contrary to the OP: I just switched back to a Garmin GPS

I started out with a StreetPilot around 2006 or so. It was pretty nice. I eventually bumped up to a nüvi and to a Kenwood in-dash receiver w/ GPS (Garmin GPS but the entire unit was garbage, even though it was one of their pricier units).

Along the way the whole "one device" thing started having appeal with using my iPhone for everything. Garmin started with a GPS app that was much like a nüvi version with maps that were streamed as you go (like most GPS apps today) and eventually they released Garmin North America which actually download the apps to your phone. You had the familiar Garmin/nüvi interface and no data usage.

They they kind of stopped supporting those apps as new releases of iOS came out. Once in a while you'd get an update but they eventually became so bad at navigating that they weren't worth bothering with, plus they were buggy. Recently (last year or so, they've been removed from the App Store).

Somewhere in there I said, "Screw it, I'll just use Google Maps," and I did and it works from getting you from point A to point B. In a busy metropolitan area? It starts falling over because you're competing with everyone else for data. Out in the woods? It falls over because: No data. Leaving an event like 4th Fireworks, a concert, or a sporting event? It falls over because you're competing for data. The whole "reliance on the network" aspect of Google Maps and Apple Maps sucks.

I even tried downloading the offline maps but it didn't seem to use them - it was still tied up trying to connect.

I lived with it, though.

My state just passed a "no touching your phone" law. There are supposedly provisions in it for GPS but, from what I understand it's all supposed to be hands-free and, at the same time, if I'm touching my phone and a cop pulls me over all he knows is: He was touching his phone! - now I have that to deal with.

Because of that, I recently said, "Screw it, I'll just go back to a Garmin GPS and plug my sat-radio back in." I was streaming everything - the phone was my entertainment center in my car. I felt stupid, but I bought a 61 LMT-S at Best Buy last week.

Here's the thing: I had forgotten how good a dedicated GPS could be. I'd say that the 61 LMT-S is pretty close to what I wanted and really liked with the StreetPilot from years back. Multi-stop routes is back. It's less "dumbed down" than the nüvis that I had were (though still a little dumbed down) and everything is right there where you can see it. Perhaps most importantly, rather than have my finger bounce around trying to touch a tiny spot on my phone to select something I have larger buttons on the screen where being accurate isn't as big of a deal.

A couple of things with my iPhone:
- it has a dash mount so it's stable
- It's a 6s so, while not the biggest screen, we're not talking 4-territory here.
- I have an unlimited data plan on it so the amount of data isn't an issue.

I have long thought that Garmin has the interface down. It's still my favorite. Google Maps works and that's what my daughters use. I know my sister uses Waze. I've tried that but I really dislike ads on my phone's screen. As I stated above, if you just want from Point A to Point B and you're not dealing with data issues (too many people / no service) then Google Maps, Waze, Apple Maps, etc. works really well. It sucks, though, when you come to rely on those and the data isn't there and it just hits you with some error like, "No Internet". That's not useful when I'm trying to find my way.

I use Google Maps, but ...

I do use Google Maps, but I will keep the GPS as it works in many places where there is no data coverage via cell. I have a niece that took a long trip with just her mobile phone for nav and she found herself HOPELESSLY lost when the phone lost data connectivity ... and it is worse than having no phone at all, because the reliance on tech allows us to leave home without even having a paper map as a backup.

When I sail, I use a GPS because it is accurate and easy, but I still carry charts, a compass and a sextant (with my sight reduction tables) ... if all goes well, then the GPS tells me exactly where I am ... but if something goes sideways, I can still know where I am within 500-800 yds and that is MUCH better than being totally lost smile

CC

Lesson well learned for your

Lesson well learned for your niece. Encountered technical difficulties on a motorcycle trip some years back. The garmin locked up and wouldn't reboot/boot. Wasted almost an hour on the side of the road trying to get it to come back (stuck on garmin logo). It did eventually.

Upon return, I ordered a backup gps (yes, another garmin...how insane is that!). These days, between the garmin, car's built in navi, and offline maps on the phone, chance of getting lost is unlikely unless some EMP takes everything out.

What car do you have?

romanviking wrote:

I have a built-in TomTom based GPS in my car as well as a Garmin 3580 and a Smart Phone running Waze and Android Auto.

What car do you have? I was not aware of any cars sold in the U.S. that have a GPS from TomTom.

- Tom -

--
XXL540, GO LIVE 1535, GO 620

Apple Carplay

My new car has Apple Carplay that really works well with my iPhone (since I already had that). I keep my TomTom Go app, but the Apple map works well for short trips. And I can play Pandora and receive texts (voice only).

--
Shooter N32 39 W97 25 VIA 1535TM, Lexus built-in, TomTom Go

I started using Waze now.

I started using Waze now. Nothing can beat Waze for traffic info. Amazing product in providing all kinds of information on the road.

--
Iphone XR, Drivesmart 61,Nuvicam, Nuvi3597

Waze sound

rookie8155 wrote:

I started using Waze now. Nothing can beat Waze for traffic info. Amazing product in providing all kinds of information on the road.

I love Waze but the sound doesn't work so I have to keep looking at my phone, which is not safe. I don't understand why there is a problem with the sound but I have heard that other people have had this issue too.

.

bsp131 wrote:
rookie8155 wrote:

I started using Waze now. Nothing can beat Waze for traffic info. Amazing product in providing all kinds of information on the road.

I love Waze but the sound doesn't work so I have to keep looking at my phone, which is not safe. I don't understand why there is a problem with the sound but I have heard that other people have had this issue too.

Did you check Sound settings?

There are two options for

There are two options for directions, Through the Speaker, and Via Bluetooth. If, like my iPhone, only the ringer goes to Bluetooth, then you won't get directions. You have to use speaker and turn it up.

--
Frank DriveSmart55 37.322760, -79.511267
<<Page 2