What Do You Prefer About Garmin GPS Navigation Vs. Google Maps/Android Auto?
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My wife and I traveled from the Minneapolis-Saint Paul MN area just after Christmas to Gulf Shores AL. I chose to leave my Garmin at home just to see how things would go without it. Our Ram 1500 has Android Auto, so it just needs a smartphone to connect to it. I have a spare Google Pixel 6 with a T-Mobile data SIM card in it. It was nice to have a smartphone dedicated for navigation on a longer trip.
To the credit of Google Maps, the information is very up-to-date. Traffic data seemed to be very current.
One of the things that I missed about not having my Garmin DriveSmart 65 with Amazon Alexa along is it seems to have an edge for finding things along a route. For example, while we were driving back to Minnesota from Alabama, my wife would look for restaurants and/or gas stations near the route. Sure, Google Maps will do that, too, but the Garmins still may have the edge in showing a visual representation of how close they are to the route currently being navigated.
I have said that before and I will say it again, I would love to see Garmin incorporate more features that are "Google Maps-like" to enhance their automobile navigation. For example, Lifetime Fitness Rosemount MN opened just after Christmas. (I think it was Friday, December 27, 2024.) Not long after it opened, it was listed on Google Maps. It might show up on the next Garmin City Navigator, but that may be a long time away, yet. Adding the Google Local Search back to Garmins with nüLink!-like features would be helpful.
For other members here that still use Garmin and also have experience with Google Maps, what do you prefer about Garmin and what can Garmin do to "step up their game" in automobile navigation?
A couple things
I really don't qualify to respond as I have no experience with Google Maps in a vehicle. I do like Google Maps at home on my PC.
1) I know my way around a Garmin device.
2) I'm probably a rare exception to folks these days, but I still have a landline phone and don't use my cell for phone calls except when I'm traveling and try very hard not to give my cell number to friends or neighbors. Most importantly, as a Tracfone user who pays for data, I fear that navigating routes with the phone would have me buying a lot more data in a year or could force me to go with a contract with a monthly allotment of data/voice/text from another provider. I do enjoy having the Garmin smartphone app, but it uses very little data.
Reading through the two inputs
I fall more into the camp of CraigW. First of all I don’t own a smartphone. I have a simple flip phone that costs me $6 a month. I get about 10 text messages a month!
I recently experienced a shortcoming of a phone based navigation system. I simply was traveling from the Gettysburg PA battlefield area to the Antietam battlefield area. The Garmin selected a very scenic route through very rural and heavily wooded areas. Two occupants of the vehicle attempted to “follow” on phones but they kept loosing the navigation (and I’m not sure why). Once reaching Antietam we then headed to Harpers Ferry WV and again the phones weren't totally up to the task.
As an aside, that is a trip I highly recommend. We did it around Remembrance Day which celebrates the day Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg address. Everyone walked around town in period attire. General Lee was in an impeccably tailored outfit that probably was custom made!
Decent prices everywhere and good availability in the restaurants without being ripped off.
John from PA
Using Both
On a recent trip I used both Google Maps on my smartphone and my 12 year old Garmin Nuvi 40. I had looked at the routes presented by both before I started. I preferred the Maps route. In driving the Garmin kept up with the changes and was easier to find a restaurant along the route than Maps. It only took a couple of screen taps while setting at a traffic light to add it to the route. Maybe I could have used a voice command to do the same with Maps, but I am not used to talking to a assistant.
I have also compared Waze to my Garmin and prefer the Garmin. I like that both Maps and Waze display traffic. I find it is helpful at times. POIs are another plus for the Garmin as Maps and Waze don't show red light cameras like my Garmin. I drive the speed limit so I don't really worry about speed cameras.
Bottom line is that I'm not ready to retire my Garmin.
ditto, for the most part
I really don't qualify to respond as I have no experience with Google Maps in a vehicle. I do like Google Maps at home on my PC.
1) I know my way around a Garmin device.
2) ~snip~
The above is pretty much where I am on the subject, but I'll give my insight as well.
I love Googles maps on my PC, great to use it with Street view to see what I may see when I am going somewhere unknown to me. I do have a Galaxy S21 Ultra smartphone that I could use but I like to leave me phone open for calls that may come in.
I have several stand alone Garmin GPS's I'd use if my Jeep didn't already have a Garmin based GPS built in. I just like the GPS better because it's very easy to use and gives me a larger sight picture.
My wife also has built in GPS in her car but she'll always use her iphone instead. Her car's GPS is not Garmin based and she doesn't like to learn new things.
. 2 Garmin DriveSmart 61 LMT-S, Nuvi 2689, 2 Nuvi 2460, Zumo 550, Zumo 450, Uniden R3 radar detector with GPS built in, includes RLC info. Uconnect 430N Garmin based, built into my Jeep. .
Ditto for me
I really don't qualify to respond as I have no experience with Google Maps in a vehicle. I do like Google Maps at home on my PC.
1) I know my way around a Garmin device.
2) I'm probably a rare exception to folks these days, but I still have a landline phone and don't use my cell for phone calls except when I'm traveling and try very hard not to give my cell number to friends or neighbors. Most importantly, as a Tracfone user who pays for data, I fear that navigating routes with the phone would have me buying a lot more data in a year or could force me to go with a contract with a monthly allotment of data/voice/text from another provider. I do enjoy having the Garmin smartphone app, but it uses very little data.
I have my landline bundled with my internet & tv and it costs $9.04/month, incl. tax. The landline gets the vast majority of spam and scam calls. My cell phone gets very few of those and I never answer while driving. I've chosen one specific ringtone, for all of the people in my contact list. Anyone calling that are not in the contacts, get the default ringtone. I immediately know it's not important.
In case of a need to call 911, they definitely know my exact address. Not always the case with a cell phone.
I've checked the data usage for the traffic info that I get via Garmin Drive. Less than 1 Mb/hour. Virtually nothing.
I like being able to shape my route on the Garmin and to downbload Custom POIs.
DriveSmart 65, NUVI2555LMT, (NUVI350 is Now Retired)
Long live garmin! To this
Long live garmin!
To this day, I still can't map out a route in google maps the way I can in map source. Sure I can map out a route, but how do I send it to the phone without it recalculating a bunch of stuff. Not simple like upload a gpx.
Re phones. I have a smart phone, get 10+ days to a charge because I don't use it. 99.9% of calls are done over gvsip using a computer and the local asterisk (pbx) server. For home phone, ported the number to google voice, which forwards to callcentric. CC handles caller id, caller id name and E911. Cost $5/month for 3 lines, unlimited inbound calls. Outbound is free, using google voice.
Garmin because I might be
Garmin because I might be out of cell range and I don't have an unlimited data plan.
And yes, I understand the advantage of Waze and other up to the minute traffic reports, but being retired it isn't enough to make me spend $$$ on.
Waypoints
The larger screen size and the ability to easily store 5000+ waypoints are the two biggest reasons I still use my Garmin's
But
I was worried about using data as well but have found it to be insignificant. The Garmin Drive app uses very little data.
Lives in Edmonton AB A volunteer driver for Drive Happiness.ca and now (since June 20 2021) uses a DS65 to find his clients.
both
I use both on serious road trips as they have complimentary differences.
I use AutoAndroid w/Waze in addition to my Garmin. My Garmin is my primary router as Google Waze/Maps cannot create, save, reuse, manage routes. I use an app named "Circuit" also. Circuit provides some limited ability to manually feed destinations to Waze but is still not a viable replacement for Garmin routing.
Waze has up to the moment currency for points of interest and user provided information about specific road hazards like debris on the road and police activity which Garmin cannot do.
___________________ Garmin 2455, 855, Oregon 550t
Safety of my $900 smart phone
I prefer using a Garmin so I can keep my $900 smart phone in my pocket where it's safe.
When I eventually have a car that has Android Auto I will likely retire the Garmin.
I like being able to easily
I like being able to easily add POI files, I use them a lot when I travel. If I could find an app for my phone that was as easy as my Garmin I might put the Garmin in storage.
Garmin App
I like being able to easily add POI files, I use them a lot when I travel. If I could find an app for my phone that was as easy as my Garmin I might put the Garmin in storage.
Didn't Garmin have an Android GPS app years ago? I can't recall if it had a specific name other than Garmin but then it disappeared. Obviously I think it was before Waze and/or Google Maps. I wanna say early 2000's?
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
Google maps. In a rural
Google maps. In a rural area about 35 miles from the Interstate my Garmin wanted me to go every which way, it was way off. Yes, I believe it would have eventually gotten me to the interstate but not efficiently and adding time to my trip. In addition, a bridge was out and google maps knew it but Garmin did not. Garmin is great on the interstate but in many situations it's navigation algorithm is lacking and outdated.
@Preroll
https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=gJy4U1QaPL2gBs3AqQ7Lm5
Garmin doesn't mention Garmin Mobile XT for Windows Mobile, but that was intended for a specific smartphone. It just happened to work with other Windows Mobile smartphones. Same with Streetpilot for Android 4.x and 5.x.
"Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job." --Douglas Adams
Garmin works without cell
Garmin works without cell service.
Google Maps can be switched to display satellite images.
I will use both on long distance trips but Google Maps most of the time.
I've been a Garmin GPS user
I've been a Garmin GPS user since the Garmin 12XL came out in 1996, and many subsequent units (StreetPilots, Land/Marine mapping units (with higher resolution displays in that era), Nuvi 3597, DriveAssist, and now the DriveSmart 76.
https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/81
My first use of Garmin based software that supported downloading cross country routes (the .mps files) was with their MapSource and later BaseCamp which I frequently use.
I still have cross country route files on my computer going back to year 2000, which I occasionally go back to review and refresh my memory of past trips when planning new ones. We have explored up and down the Colorado River, Colorado's wonderfully preserved 4x4 offroad, old mining trails out of Durango, Silverton, Ouray, the Rocky Mountains, the 4 corners region, the mid-west and up down the length of California, Oregon and Washington coast line.
One feature I wish Garmin would bring back to the high end units is the magnetic mount that had the electrical contacts for power and data connections.. no fussing with plugging in electrical cables every time it is installed or removed from the vehicle.
I also wish later units would render the icons (visually communicating what the waypoint is, versus just the simple flags) as some earlier generation units could do.
All major (ie cross country or other long routes) were built using MapSource and BaseCamp when it became available. I have stayed with BaseCamp 4.6.2 and the older Google Earth Pro version 7.3.2.5481 that supports easy viewing of BaseCamp routes in Google Earth. This is especially important in viewing "Blue Highway" routes to see if they are really scenic roads or just long, congested strip development type roads.
As various GPS units have come along, many were pretty terrible in trying to stitch together wapoint directed routes on the unit itself, but I'm finding the DriveSmart 76 to be pretty good at building a waypoint directed route on the unit, especially if a number of route directing waypoints are loaded into the unit from BaseCamp. Saves having to get the laptop/BaseCamp out to load modified routes while on the road.
Some units are unreliable in following waypoint directed routes, instead deciding on it's own to follow for example an interstate or other undesirable route, when I want to stay on blue highways. The Nuvi 3597 was exceptional in this regard in sticking to waypoint directed routes, Drive Assist 51 was terrible... and the DriveSmart 76 works quite well in sticking to the waypoints (if they are set to notify arrival) and when set to avoid interstates will use good secondary highways when they are available.
Both, sometimes
I have my DS65 mounted permanently on my dash (glued to a hockey puck shaped to the contours of the dash) so it's on when the engine is running. It shows me where I am and what streets are ahead and with the Gamin app.. traffic. As a volunteer driver for seniors I have dozens of destinations and pickup addresses in the "Recent Where To" option so that works well for me. On those occasions where Garmin can not find the address or while driving and I need to find someplace I will use SIRI and CarPlay to show me the place and route me to it.
Lives in Edmonton AB A volunteer driver for Drive Happiness.ca and now (since June 20 2021) uses a DS65 to find his clients.
Garmin App
I like being able to easily add POI files, I use them a lot when I travel. If I could find an app for my phone that was as easy as my Garmin I might put the Garmin in storage.
Didn't Garmin have an Android GPS app years ago? I can't recall if it had a specific name other than Garmin but then it disappeared. Obviously I think it was before Waze and/or Google Maps. I wanna say early 2000's?
I had Garmin Mobile XT some years back. In fact, I bought a used Pharos GPS Phone 600 and installed on that. One of the shortcomings was it didn't have spoken street names. That feature, which many of us might take for granted these days, wasn't available on Garmin Mobile XT.
https://www.garmin.com/en-GB/blog/garmin-mobile-x-1
https://www.cnet.com/reviews/pharos-gps-phone-600-review
Garmin also had some smartphones with their name on them, too. I know because I owned them.
The Garmin Nüvifone G60 was a Linux-based device and was available through ATT. It had some nice features.
Somewhat later, the Garminfone was available through T-Mobile. The T-Mobile Garminfone was considered by some to be a huge improvement over the Nuvifone G60. The Garminfone ran Android 1.6 and eventually got Android 2.1
https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/30018
As far as Android apps for smartphones, I had the Garmin Viago and Navigon.
I know there was the Garmin StreetPilot Onboard for iPhone. I don't think that ever was released for Android, however.
Garmins had a purpose....
When I delivered fuel my Dezl 770 was nice becasue I could input length, weight, hight and hazmat designation whicj halp keep you off roads you shouldn't be on but even that got a little messy because some cities put limits on local roads that Garmin may or may not have but in many cities there are exceptions to the rules if it is a local delivery vs just driving through a town/city. The biggest feature I used it for is designating an entrance to a job site. Many sites would give an site address but the entrance for me was down the street or around the block on another street. Google maps does this now but I've only seen it on buildings and some of the work sites weren't that far along. Since I retired it just so much easier to use Google maps and maps are some much better and current. I bought a nice mount for my personal vehicle so it's hands free. Sadly my Garmins are probably out to pasture for good.
100% privacy
when using Garmin GPS unit
Mostly
when using Garmin GPS unit
Mostly, it does keep track of where you went. You can turn it off but pretty sure forensics could still determine where you drove and possibly how fast.
Lives in Edmonton AB A volunteer driver for Drive Happiness.ca and now (since June 20 2021) uses a DS65 to find his clients.
like to have backup plan, so I have both
here is my story..
As the main driver, I use Garmin which I am used to. This could leave my cell phone available in case needed. My wife sitting next to me, has Google map handy when we are in doubt. Fingers crossed when both devices agree on routes and turns. Otherwise, My wife wins.
favor Garmin GPS
When I am using Android Auto, things get cofusing when I get a phone call or am listening to the radio. or book on tape (through phone) The screen changes and then I have to fiddle with it, which i won't do while I am driving. Prefer to keep them separate, GPS for route and car screen for phone and radio/books
Mixed...
For "regular" trips I use phone navigation. It works well and is up to date. For our longer, cross-country, multi-week camping trips I use the old nüvi 760. It plays through the vehicle sound system, plays audio books in either mp3 or audible format, pauses the book for directions, then picks the book up about a second before the pause so it's seamless.
GPSMAP 76CSx - nüvi 760 - nüvi 200 - GPSMAP 78S
Two
Whether it be Google Maps, vehicle nav system or two Garmins, I always use two when travelling. That way, I can make a side trip on the fly to a POI without having to stop navigating my main route. This lets me keep an eye on the main destination ETA at a glance, without having to reload the main route.
I prefer the Garmin's
I prefer the Garmin's ability to work in conditions that would cause a smartphone to overheat. Case in point, I lent my DriveSmart 65 to a friend for use on their vacation, because their iPhone overheated at about the half way point of their last trip. The Garmin worked without incident. When they returned, I gave them one of the 57LMs I had.
"Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job." --Douglas Adams