New Garmin Auto Products

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-p4cWHWDtLA

Widescreen GPS? Interesting. Garmin is trying to channel smartphones here with their widescreen displays.

Standard USB-A connectors are limited to 500mAh: too low for sustained operation of the device without its DC power plug. USB-C ports support up to 5A, but at this moment how many vehicles out there have USB-C ports? USB-A is still prevalent since it's still the most common connector found on a flash drive or a wireless Android Auto adapter.

Both the 7.1 and 8.8 have a 20:9 aspect ratio.

Also, there is an optional one-time software package "Truck and Camper Pack" that unlocks navigation features for professional truck drivers and RV/camper users. This is NOT available for North America. It will be available for Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.

I look forward to the full listing with images, so that I can see what the mounting system is like. The YouTube video at about 50 seconds shows the GPS being put in place but doesn't show the mount.

If shopping for an automotive GPS, I'd certainly look at one of these but my corral of Garmin nuvi and Drive devices is already too large to add another.

I mean, they look nice enough. But it looks like the same thing in a different package. The ultrawide format does look cool and works well for 3d view... not so good for 2d though. And many of the points they brag about in that press release require a connection to your cell phone. I guess if you're a Garmin die-hard, you'll find this to be a nice upgrade. If I was still one of those people (and I was for many years) then sure, I'd want one. But now... I'll pass.

Will be interested in your impressions when you guys get them. It's good to see they are continuing to release new automotive devices though.

No portrait mode? Fail!

My car can't accommodate a 5" in landscape, have to use it in portrait (driveluxe 50). This won't be much of an improvement.

I might as well use AA in full screen on the 10.25" infotainment screen.

Here's the link for the full listing.

https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/1944903/

No, not something I would be interested in. But I agree with Boyd that it's good to see Garmin is continuing to release new automotive devices.

My DS 65 is getting a bit long in the tooth so this is interesting. The mount "seems" to be the same ball but I wonder if the power supply is the same and uses the same connector type/style?

More and more vehicles are coming with USB-C (PD). They still include the Garmin cigarette plug adapter for those that don't.

I have both my DriveSmart's running of USB-C that I added to the dash. Works well.. Keeps things tidy.

Looks like the same mountings as the earlier units (re: smaller DriveSmart 66, not the 86 mount).

It looks like it's mostly the same.

From the videos I've watched today it's all the same features but with a slightly different UI (you search from the map screen - doesn't look like there's a WHERE TO/MAP page).

They've basically taken the Auto GPS about as far as they can without turning it into something different / worse. I mean this as a compliment as it's pretty close to perfect.

I really wish they'd give the option of using WiFi for traffic, weather, etc. It's doing all of the same things in my phone but why does my phone have to be in the middle of it? Still leave the bluetooth data as an option but just let it run "on its own" via WiFi.

It's so close:
- it has WiFi
- Just check to see if WiFi is there and direct the client to the API via that - otherwise use bluetooth.

It looks like they took the idea of layers from their Tread unit and added it in - that would be kind-of addition.

Here's a way that the devices could be improved. Let them display mile marker information. There's more than enough room on the extra wide screen which has four data display blocks along the bottom like the larger Dezl and RV models. And the data is already in the map update files.

Edit - Looks like they do include mile marker information. Watch around 5:09 in the Garmin training video link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=V0OtmAZsJk4

Do you mean that your car already has some kind of data plan and wifi connection for use in the vehicle? That's an option of my car, but I passed, especially when I read a lot of complaints about it from other owners.

Personally, I think they should just bite the bullet and put a cellular data radio in it, so it could connect to the same networks as a phone. I have a data plan for my iPad, for example. But of course, that makes the device cost more up front, then there are monthly charges forever. You'd have to be a serious Garmin fan to go for that, I guess.

But Garmin did make two NuLink models, must have been 15-20 years ago. They had a cellular radio, but the really slow, first generation. Still, it was pretty cool to have live Google search, live radar and live traffic on a Nuvi (this was before smartphones, IIRC). I had one of those on loan and really enjoyed it. But that was long ago...

Thank you. It's too bad that it's not a powered mount, which would be more convenient. For these, each time you take the GPS off the dashboard or window, you would have to unplug the power cable from the GPS.

I like to see as much of the route ahead as possible. The wide screen, low profile display seems to limit this when using track up orientation.

Might be different using north up orientation if the GPS has that, or portrait ability. IMO, the wide screen is nice, but appears to have a lot of wasted space for navigation.

It’s nice to see Garmin coming out with new units. This may be a smart idea since GM is getting rid of CarPlay (and maybe Android Auto) in the next couple of years.

I see lots of car ads where they brag about their built-in ultra wide displays. These make sense, because a car's dashboard has plenty of width but not much usable height, so they are making the best use of available space. These new Garmin devices look like an attempt at the same thing. However, a separate device with a suction cup mount is something completely different.

I stopped using the suction cup mounts somewhere around 2008 and started making my own custom mounts. Kind of hard for me to believe that they are still selling devices with something as primitive as a suction cup in 2026. I guess it's the only way to keep it cheap and "universal". But something that wide looks like it would be a problem. There's so much leverage at the ends, will it move on the mount when you push a button at the edge of the screen?

There's a picture of it mounted on a windshield in the press release, looks like it's slightly crooked there. Also interesting in that picture..... where's the ugly USB cable that powers it? I guess they are running on battery power, which will last "up to" one hour, according to their specs.

Now, the software could make good use of the ultra wide form factor if it's well-designed. It could have the full map display with a data window next to it at the same time. There are some hints of that in a few screenshots, but others look like their existing models.

I think they look pretty cool, just because the form factor is new and unusual. I would definitely want one, IF I still used Garmin GPS'es. But I don't.

BTW, do you wonder what Garmin's priorities are? Just go to their home page, these are the product categories, listed in the same order as their site:

Smartwatches
Sports & Fitness
Outdoor Recreation
Auto and Home
[...]

So, automotive devices are number 4 in their priorities, and they don't even get their own category, they have to share it with "home". But I don't blame them, they are just following market demand. And, like I mentioned above, these new models demonstrate that they're "still in the game" and introducing interesting new products. So, I guess it "is what it is". Welcome to the world in 2026!

Bit of a drawback for me as well

I bought my DS76 just last year, as my DS65 (which I still have) is very flaky in its operation. I wonder if the firmware in these new units is going to be vibe-coded using AI. Especially as Garmin seemingly is unable to patch the many bugs the firmware has.

That is useful information.

Of course they are.... "Garmin DriveSmart... now better than ever, with AI VIBE-CODED FIRMWARE!!!"

That might actually be a improvement on some of there initial firmwares haha

Haha, I was thinking the same - AI could only improve Garmin's firmware!

But, for all my criticism of Garmin, that has never been a big deal for me. Guess I've just been lucky, I never had to return a GPS or contact Garmin support. But I certainly understand why people get upset, with bugs that Garmin just can't seem to fix on their expensive new products.

I have had pretty good luck with mine. Granted I am using a really old unit (dezl 770). I will say though the smartphone link is a source of a lot of problems. Hopefully if all goes well and my reverse engineering efforts are successful the smartphone link app will be a thing of the past.....

It is great that Garmin is coming out with new products. I have the same quwstions as you. My new car has only 1 USB port and a DC connector so I would hope it connects the same way as my Drive Smart. I do not like the windshield suction so I would hope they have another way to display it.

Beanbag mount FTW.

The biggest issue Garmin faces is that anyone with a new vehicle from the past 8 years or so is going to have an infotainment system in it with Android Auto, Apple Carplay, or a proprietary system like what GM is using. The end result is being able to use Google Maps or Waze to route on a screen built into the car. A screen in many cases far larger than what Garmin offers now.

For the average ordinary person and not an enthusiast, Google Maps or Waze is going to be perfectly fine. Mr. Average Ordinary is not Garmin's target audience for these devices because Garmin I think knows they cannot compete. But they do know there is that group that, while getting smaller year after year, wants a dedicated GPSr. So they target someone looking for one.

Will these show up in a Best Buy? They might: I bought my DS76 at one. The problem is the store display is tiny and is often tucked into a corner that sees little traffic. It's that little display that I see whenever I stop in a Best Buy that really reminds me that Garmin's day is done.

So, I guess these will be Android-based like other recent automotive devices? But I believe those are based on a very old version of Android, we were discussing this in another thread. But it's pretty cool that Garmin is (apparently) moving in that direction.

Too bad they don't just sell this as a tablet - I'd buy one of those. Then Garmin could further gouge you for the navigation app, if you wanted it. But having a big, bright, easily mountable tablet, capable of running your app of choice - and a cellular radio with the option to get a data plan - that would be a winner IMO.

Yeah. Not gonna happen.

When I use a standalone navigation system, I am not using a smart phone. If the smart phone was working or available, I would use it..
For me, the whole point of the standalone device is it does not depend on the smart phone or phone service. Integrating a standalone device into a smart phone dependent on phone service makes no sense for any of my use cases..

In your mind - just in terms of the hardware - how is a smartphone different from a Garmin GPS? Both are just small touchscreen computers. But the Garmin device is designed solely to run Garmin's software and store Garmin's map(s). The smartphone can do all of that, but with a much more powerful processor, much more flash memory and a much higher resolution screen.

The Garmin GPS is designed to run on external power (just look at the specs on this new flagship Garmin device, it says the battery will last "up to" one hour! That's because the screen is brighter than (most) smartphones and draws a lot of power. Then they put a cheap, little battery inside, because it's only designed to be used in the car on external power anyway.

The smartphone has its own internal radio to connect to the internet but the Garmin GPS does not. Again, that keeps it cheaper, and most of their market wouldn't want to pay the monthly charges for a cellular data plan anyway.

So, both devices are very similar, but Garmin doesn't include many of the capabilities of a smartphone because they would make the device too expensive and most people don't need those features for basic automotive navigation.

Everything else is just software. Period. Garmin could offer the EXACT same features on a phone as their automotive devices. That's not just my "theory" - they actually did it and I had their app. They were obviously concerned it could take away from their dedicated device sales, so they intentionally crippled the software, so you couldn't load additional maps, waypoints or POI. But that wasn't a limitation of the phone, it was a marketing decision.

But the maps and other data were all loaded onto the phone, just like the dedicated automotive devices, same City Navigator map, same junction view and everything. But they obviously got even more concerned as time passed, so they just discontinued the whole thing - turning the app I bought a couple years earlier into a $100 waste of money. Thanks Garmin.

But today, you can still get several apps that load all their data onto your phone - such as HERE and TomTom. I think there are others, but no longer follow that stuff. Anwyay - with all due respect - I think the reason the phone "makes no sense" to you is a lack of understanding of how all this works.

The phone CAN BE exactly the same as your Garmin DriveSmart or Nuvi or whatever. There are no technical limitations that prevent that. You don't need cellular service to run GPS software or use maps when they're permanently installed on the phone. But Garmin tries hard to keep people misinformed about this, and I have to conclude they're succeeding when I see this kind of post (sorry).

Now, there could be some other reasons to prefer a Garmin device over a phone, like the fact that you can just leave it in your car, it includes the power adapter and mount, the screen is big and bright, etc. No argument there, but that's not what you said. There's no reason why you can't use navigations apps on your phone without cell service, you just need the right app, with all the data permanently installed on the phone. And if Garmin still had a smartphone app, you could use Carplay or Android Auto to show the Garmin map on your car's built-in screen.

But Garmin won't allow that. Clearly, they make a good profit from these automotive devices and are going to milk them for all their worth until the last of us old geezers die off, along with the market.

Since many people here probably never knew that Garmin had a smartphone app, I found some old screenshots that I took. It really was about the same as the Nuvi at that time (about 10 years ago, IIRC).

These were all from my iPhone (5s, maybe?) And it worked with or without cell service (of course, you would need cell service for live traffic, but everything else was permanently installed on the phone, just like the Nuvi)

Route view, showing traffic ahead:

https://stephencreek.com/gpsreview/apps/traffic2.jpg

Junction view:

https://stephencreek.com/gpsreview/apps/jv.jpg

And since there's cell service, the smartphone app could also track you inside a tunnel...

https://stephencreek.com/gpsreview/apps/tunnel.jpg

I find having an always on display of where I am and what streets/avenues/traffic is ahead... mounted where it is more in my line of sight is safer and more convenient than using the map displayed on my info screen.
Most car info screens are positioned where looking at them is far from safe. I shaped (and glued) a hockey puck to fit on the edge of the dash next to the driver side window then glued the suction cup mount to it.
Wired into the ACC electrical fuse box my GPS is always on when the engine is on.
Works for me....

They were just talking about this on Bloomberg...

"General Motors is about to launch new versions of its best-selling Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks for model year 2027, and among the changes are brand-new user interfaces for the trucks’ digital displays. The automaker has gone for a more minimalist approach than we’ve seen from it in the past, and after a demo yesterday, it seems like it has been listening to constructive feedback to improve the products. And yes, unlike GM’s electric vehicles, these trucks still let you cast your Apple or Android phone to the infotainment system."

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2026/09/gm-gives-its-most-impor...

I know I don't have final decision in the matter, but this Old_Geezer doesn't intend on going any time soon, or going easy.

For a short time, Garmin had a smartphone app named Viago. The "free" version streamed map segments for your current location through your phone's data plan. If you paid the subscription plan, it would download the full NA map.

Viago was a great app and the user experience was very similar to the nuvi devices of the day. I am sure that is why Garmin killed it.

i like my GPS because it displays the streets on the map and the streets that are coming up. Android auto does not do that. I find that the map is a bland expanse with lines (the roads) but they are not named.

A few positives:

The interface is a nice change. It makes more sense to just show me the map with a few buttons than to have that 2 large button intro screen.

Also, they've fluffed up the other bits. Icons look better. Weather has a background image of the conditions (like showing a rainy outdoors pic as the background when it's also showing you the forecast).

More internal RAM (32GB vs the old DriveSmart 16GB).

Redlights and stop signs on route are nice. They're small but appropriately sized.

It's pretty much the same GPS you're used to as far as the features and settings. "Hey Garmin" is still there but I didn't see anything about Amazon Alexa and I no longer use it. I don't think it's there but I wouldn't swear by that.

The wider screen is nice without it being tall (which makes it a bit bulkier). For me, I'm find if the GPS covers up part of the hood but I don't want it to cover part of the road as far as line of sight goes and the wider aspect works well with regards to that.

Another nice bit is that, if you enable it, it will synch your saved places to the cloud (really: explore.garmin.com - which is what they use for the old Overland and recent Tread series).

That is where it comes into potential problems. While synching works fine now on the Drive 7.1 (and I hope it continues to), I've had problems with the Overland on synching and, while the Tread was better, it eventually had some problems where it'd be fine for 4 months or so and then just crash.. You'd reset it and a month or two later it'd crash again.

This gets down to:
- I've always found the normal automotive GPSes by Garmin extremely reliable.
- Their Android-based, off-road editions have not been reliable ESPECIALLY when they're commanding $1000+ for them and, while they'll happily log a ticket for you for some problem, the problems I've logged were never resolved.

I have a Tread in my closet right now that, while I really like the interface and the included off-road bits, the reliability just sucks... and it's better than the Overland which I didn't sell because I'd feel guilty about it but just gave it away.

For me, I really don't want to bother with their off-road series again because of the numerous problems.

That leads me to the Drive 7.1. If this is a regular automotive GPS but they've added the cloud-sync portion and it works, then great! That's actually pretty useful. If it doesn't work (the synch part) then I can always reset it and disable it.

If it is the same base as their off-road series then I'm going to hate this in about a year. I'm keeping my DriveSmart 66 around just in case.

Thanks for sharing your impressions. Sounds like about what I expected. One small nitpick.... I really don't think these devices have 32gb of "RAM". RAM = Random Access Memory, this is the very fast memory used for crunching numbers and executing instructions. The 32gb spec refers to flash memory - it's a "disk" (actually, a SSD). AFAIK, Garmin has never provided specs for how much RAM their devices have.

I'm curious about the waypoint sync. Do these new devices have a way to directly send data (like Android file transfer, or some other utility)? Can they talk to Basecamp at all? Or are you forced to use Garmin's portal to exchange data. If so, that sounds like a bit of a deal breaker (not that I would buy one anyway).

Man, I'll bet Garmin wishes they had a lot more customers like you! You were so embarrased by your Overland that you wouldn't sell it and you put your Tread in the closet.... yet you just bought another new Garmin product?

I'm not throwing stones though, I posted a picture of my own "Garmin museum" recently here, I spent many thousands on their devices over the years. But I'm done. I totally understand how they continue to fill a niche for some people though. Will look forward to hear how this all works out for you with the data sync issues.

Good call out:

No. It's 32GB of storage, not internal RAM.

For syncing, they do it via WiFi, much like the Tread/Overlander. If you have WiFi on board, or set your phone to go into hotspot mode when connecting via bluetooth to your car (keep in mind this could interfere with CarPlay) then it would sync via that once the GPS is connected, via WiFi, to your phone. It still needs Bluetooth for all of the Drive functionality.

Alternatively, you could just have it connect to your home WiFi and when you leave or start your car, give it a min to synch.

They only talk to the cloud (explore.garmin.com).

Their auto GPSes are pretty great, I much prefer them over using Google Maps or Apple Maps.

The Overlander and Tread are in the "Oh, that's exactly what I want for off-roading! All of the reviews (probably paid) look great, too!" but then there are stupid problems, that really should have been solved, that get in the way.

When I saw the Drive 7.1 I thought about it quite a bit before pulling the trigger just because of that.

...but yeah, the Overland and Tread were a waste of money with very little support. They'll send you a new unit if you complain. They won't fix the problems on their backend, however. Hoping that it doesn't affect the Drive and, worse case, I can turn off the synching.

When Garmin discontinued their [supposedly premium] DriveLuxe line, the mid-range DriveSmart devices became their top-of-the-line navigators. One glaring problem with DriveSmart devices was that all of them (except 86) had screen of lower resolution than DriveLuxe had. Only DriveSmart 86 qualified as an upgrade in terms of screen. In all other respects DriveSmart were a downgrade, with missing magnetic mount being a very serious annoyance.

I see that these new Drive devices do have improved screens, i.e. their resolution is even better than DriveSmart 86, which is good news. But the mount, as far as I can make out, still uses a plastic mechanical latch with a separate cable connection. Not good.

(A correction: Looks like DriveSmart 66 is a high-resolution 6" device as well. Only 76 used a poor screen for some reason.)