Why should I buy a Garmin over using my smartphone

[Oublaj]

I have am using Sena 20 s headsets and was thinking of buying a Garmin zumo. I have been using my Samsung G5 but am wondering if the Garmin has any advantages other than being relatively weather proof. Any opinions?

 

[Mr_Canoehead]

I have both but I stopped connecting the Garmin to the Sena - I just use the screen. Honestly, I think that Garmin is going the way of the dodo. Smartphones and their apps are getting so much better....

I use CoPilot, Waze or Google maps for Navigation on the phone and never take Garmin on business trips anymore - I just use the phone. I still use it on the bike, however.

Garmin (665) Pro's:

• Waterproof (well, except for the cradle, which throws all kinds of USB errors when it gets wet),
• Basecamp is actually a pretty good route planner (once you learn it)
• Can operate with gloves
• Option of satellite radio ($$$$$)

Garmin Con's:

• Lifetime updates take a lifetime to install, and are now too big for the base memory, so must go on an SD card
• just because something shows a particular routing in Basecamp doesn't mean that it will show the same way on the device (or on multiple identical devices), even with the same map on both
• can't load routes from the internet, need a PC or must enter data into the device directly
• limited to 999 custom POI's
• Limited to 20 custom routes
• BT Audio is only reliable on HFP - A2DP is great when it works which is almost never
• Built in POI list is hopelessly out of date even on latest maps

Smartphone pros (some of these with cell coverage, obviously):

• Your choice of navigation apps, some of which (like CoPilot) work offline
• Can use voice commands
• POI's are always up to date ("Hey Google...Find open gas station near me")
• Seamless switching from navigation to music to phone
• Can load routes off the internet without carrying a computer everywhere
• Many music streaming options

Smartphone Cons:

• Not waterproof (especially when plugged in)
• Need to be plugged in to run for more than an hour or so
• Can't operate with gloves

I wouldn't spend the money on a Zumo if I didn't already have one. The smartphone is just so much better.

 

[mikerider]

Add to Smartphone pros:

- At the end of a long day's ride, you can read a book or watch a movie on the smartphone

- Can take high resolution pictures and videos

- can double as a dashcam while navigating

 

[El Toro]

I am going with the GPS. I carry two smart phones on two different networks. Even with access to both Verizon's and AT&T's networks, there are major dead areas where both smart phones are as dumb as a rock.

Satellite communications continue even when phone tower signals don't. That's why people buy satellite based phones when they truly want to be able to communicate in an emergency.

So ... in my mind, the weather issue is nontrivial, though may be improved with the next generation of smart phones, and the coverage issue is not trivial, and probably never will be unless you only need navigation when you're in an area of good cell coverage (good luck with that).

As an anecdote, my son drove to a remote part of Texas (from Tennessee) a month or so ago. I happened to have an extra recently updated LMT Nuvi of some flavor, and I offered it to him. He said "Oh I don't need it. I use my smart phone." I offered it anyway based on the cell phone coverage issue, and he knew I was right, so he took it along.

When he came back he raved and raved about how much he loved that Garmin Nuvi (he travels in his car). He gushed about it so much, that after a while, I offered to let him keep it. He was extremely appreciative, and he is now using it for general navigation and his cell phone has been relegated to web browsing and communications ... when there is adequate cell phone coverage .

 

[PhilJet09]

I have two Garmin gps on my bike right now, so...

I have been a lot of places on my bike where the cell phone didn't work. I need something that works everywhere and in the downpours that I always end up riding through. I need my phone for work and to talk to my loved ones when I get to the hotel at the end of the day. One device for everything may be convenient, but when it breaks in the middle of nowhere, you're really screwed.

 

[salex]

I recently bought a Garmin 595. Before doing that, I'd done a search for some way to use an iPad for navigation instead figuring that the screen was larger, that I look Google Maps and Waze for routing, and that I could use it for reading books and stuff when not on the motorcycle. Additionally, I've noticed that Google Maps seems to do a reasonable job of providing routing through at least small areas without cell phone coverage. For example, while doing Tour of Honor stops up in VT, it navigated me nicely to the site. Only when I attempted to do something else with the phone did I discover I had no coverage. Of course, creating a new route at that point won't work very well.

I eventually concluded that it was too hard to make the iPad waterproof. At the same time, with the IP67 rating for the iPhone 7, I'm wondering if a 7+ would have been a better (and cheaper) choice than the 595 (which is IPX7).

My assessment is that the GPS has the advantage that it will do mapping even deep into regions without cell coverage and will create new routes in zones without cell coverage. Also, the user interface is a bit more convenient since it's designed just for this task. The cell phone has the advantage of solving more than one problem. Additionally, Google Maps (and other mapping apps) get much more testing than Garmin can hope for at this point. And I don't have to pay extra for the traffic reports.

The other problem with the combined solution is getting everything to play nicely with the Sena. If I want the Garmin to be able to use my (old 5S) iPhone for traffic updates and so on, the only approach seems to be that the iPhone talks to the GPS, which talks to the Sena. However, I haven't figured out how to do some things like talk to Siri. If the iPhone solved all of my problems

I'm not sure what I'd do if I have the choice back again. For the moment, I'll use the Garmin for routing. When it's time to replace it, I think there's a really good chance that I'll just start using an iPhone for everything.

 

[Pterodactyl]

I can barely get cellular service at my house and ride often where there is no service. I ride in Canada a fair amount and cannot fathom what it would cost to use a US cell phone for GPS. I also think that not being able to use the phone in the rain is a major shortcoming.

 

[graler]

I have a zumo 550. Last year I decided if I could get a tablet solution to work I would dump the zumo. I purchased a cheap Samsung galaxy tab (7") with co-pilot fully loaded (no signal required). It was painfully slow at finding a gps signal. It tended to over heat in our texas sun. The charge was always nominal on longer trips with the screen on full time and a 2 amp charger was not quite able to keep up. I could stream music from it but that just seemed to tax the charging more. I have gone back to the zumo - in a routing no talking mode. When I have the sena radio running and instructions coming from the zumo there is so much talking going on - take a right in 500 feet..FM station 94.7..turn right..FM station 94.7..proceed for .... FM station 94.7 Frankly I just want it all to shut up and give me some music.

The zumo 550 is rock solid. It does its job rain or shine with out a complaint. I have US and Canada maps loaded on an 8 gb SD card with room to spare if I wanted to put some music on it. This is one thing it doesn't do well mono - bluetooth and it is rather tinny. The phone handles music from lots of sources very well. It has a place in a ram mount with a plastic baggie to put over it when it starts to drizzle. If it rains heavy it goes in a waterproof pocket in my Klim jacket.

I take a look at the new zumos from time to time - but when I get that kind of cash there are so many other toys I would rather buy and the Zumo works just fine.

I guess that is my 2 cents.

 

[Uncle Hud]

For many of the reasons mentioned above, I use my phone for phoning and Spotwalla, and my GPS for entertainment and telling me where to go. Why?

1. GPS is weatherproof. It sits on my dashboard shelf and is visible. My phone sits protected in the glove box, plugged in, and is invisible while riding.

2. GPS works with gloves on.

3. The phone is blue-toothed to the GPS, so I can receive and make calls via the GPS. The GPS also identifies callers (if the phone IDs them), so I can decide whether to answer the call. You can't initiate or screen calls on an invisible phone.

4.The GPS never overheats from sunshine.

5. The GPS holds WAY more music than the phone. I am now experimenting with podcasts, and will take about 20 hours of storytelling podcasts on BMRx 2016. (The Moth, Snap Judgement, Invisibilia.) Podcasts are great, because I've already heard the Allman Brothers play "Black Heated Woman" about 4 billion times.

6. GPS navigation instructions can be muted, since the screen is plenty good at giving directions.

 

[HotRodZilla]

To pick a couple nits:

My last Garmin Map Update took less than an hour, and my maps fit on my 660 just fine.

My music from my 660, loaded onto a 32gig SD card sounds as good as my phone and works very well.

Using a phone for navigation will someday get there, but not yet. Right now, it's like using a Cadillac to go get hay. You CAN do it, but a truck is a way better option.

Besides, like others, my phone has important stuff on it. I don't want it bouncing down a road if it comes loose from the bike, and I don't want it getting soaked. I like being able to keep my gloves on to look for **** while I ride.

Does my phone have a better OS than my Garmin? Yep, in my truck, but I still use my Garmin for most navigation. On the bike? No way. However, it is your money and your stuff, so do what makes you happy.

Some day, phones will be able to run off satellite, just not yet. Until that happens, a GPS is the most reliable, electronic navigation system we have.

 

[N4HHE]

I ride with a guy who keeps trying to do everything in Waze or Google Maps on his Android. He also has a very old small Zumo.

Realizing I never discard my GPSs and use for 10 years or more I bit the bullet and bought a 595LM. No regrets.

I don't have any problems creating exactly the route desired in BaseCamp, uploading to GPS, and having the GPS do exactly as intended. One has to set routing preferences the same on both because an uploaded route is only a list of waypoints. Then the GPS recalculates the route. Trick is to set sufficient waypoints at places which make the desired path the only solution Garmin sees. In years past these waypoints would be annoying being perpetually announced by the GPS but in recent years Garmin has added a (Do Not) Alert On Arrival property one can toggle for each and every waypoint. This makes the waypoints pure shaping points.

Bluetooth is a mess, its not clear what is doing what and neither Sena nor Garmin bothers to explain sufficiently or provide the tools to see what is what and in what mode. I let Garmin and iPhone bond, iPhone and Sena, but not Garmin and Sena. Easier to not let the Garmin talk to Sena than to find and turn off all the annoying voice prompts.

Running Garmin's app on the iPhone brings internet connectivity to the GPS. Weather and traffic. Also somewhere in this mess "notifications" appear from the iPhone on the 595.

 

[El Toro]

4. ... I mean how many times can you listen to the Allman Brothers play Black Hearted Woman before it makes you scream?

The old answer for me was eleventy one. I spent two years taking lessons from one of the Allman Brothers Band members, and now I'd say I could go to maybe leben twentynine (no, not on de county road).

The back story on those songs though.... if you think about them, a couple of listens might be enough for a lifetime. Some things are better if you don't know ....

 

[El Toro]

Back on topic ... as I understand it, DeLorme was acquired by Garmin. My experience with both companies was that DeLorme had the better maps for unpaved stuff, including obscure trails that had historically gone unrecognized by the Garmin maps.

In my most recent Garmin updates, I've noticed a number of unnamed roads that, when passed, turn out to be dirt or gravel paths. So my point is that with DeLorme's map base superimposed on the Garmin map base, the new Garmin GPS units seem to have even greater power.

We travel in remote rural areas with poor cell coverage quite a bit, and the iPhone 6+ has been quite a poor source for information for large segments of many trips. I would not trust the phone, even if it were weather proof.

And then finally, I can't say much about traffic updates that might be available on the phone. But on the Traffic versions of the Garmin, if you are in congested areas (where there is inevitably good cell coverage too), the Garmin Traffic reporting has improved with every iteration of updates. It still suffers lag, and it is probably no more than 65% reliable compared with a trucker on a CB radio traveling through the mess ... but it is a LOT better than when this feature came out.

And then there is the issue that the GPS does not require a monthly bill. And you can literally extend the useful life of GPS by adding an SD or micro SD card (typical cost from NYC discounters on the order of $10). And then there is the issue that I used to whine about ... the time it takes to update maps. But this has greatly reduced too, and it never takes more than an hour. Often it takes less than 15 minutes. This may have more to do with the data traffic on your network than it has to do with the GPS.

And a few have mentioned losing the phone, or weather issues. I have an HD ridin' friend who is pretty cheap when it comes to anything that's not chrome ... and he has ruined three cell phones on extended trips. The only GPS failures I can remember were early on when the Zumo 550 screens would fail. And Garmin stepped up and fixed them on warranty. That was my only experience with Garmin service, but it was first rate.

Well, I'm approaching the status of a post whore in this thread, so I'll boogie on down the line. Whipping Post is about to loop for the 110th play, and I don't want to miss a lick.

 

[Oublaj]

Thank you. Confirmed what I suspected were the pros and cons. Guess I'll get one.

 

[Blind Squirrel]

Google maps is a good way to get from point A to point B. The Garmin is a good way to get from point A to point S with points B-R in between.

 

[LKLD]

Satellites vs. cell phone towers, is all that needs to be said. However, add to that, by making your own routes and adding into the Zumo, makes it's the easiest, but more costly, solution.

I use the phone too, mainly for music (downloaded, so I don't need signal), and to check weather (My Radar app). I'll occasionally use Google Maps on the phone, for directions, because I like the voice prompt better than Garmin's. If that Garmin bitc* says "recalculating" in that irritatingly robotic, condescending voice, one more time, I swear, I'll reach down her throat and pull her overly synthesized voice box out!!

The 660 I bought wasn't cheap (3 1/2 yrs ago), but it's been worth it in the long run.

 

[BanjoBoy]

Dun got me two cell phones, but use my cheap *** car nuvui fer direction.

1.) the gps goes off satellites, n where I ride there is no cell service.

2.) the nuvui works w/ gloved hands 'n my cell phone don't.

3.) If someone steals my 6 yr old, under $200 nuvui I wouldn't care much, butt would be really bummed if someone stole my cell phone.

I recon if'n I were look'in fer a *$s in a city the cell phone would be fine butt fer ride'in out in the back woods, the gps is the only way to go.

 

[thewrenchbender]

SWMBO got me a new Zumo 660 from gpscity.com for my birthday (they still have them for $320 shipped BTW).

It replaced the Nuvi (old unit, first auto GPS I owned) in a Chinese "water-resistant" pouch mounted to the stem nut.

Not being a world-traveler like most on here-it is used like my old Nuvi-as a full-time moving map display with me sitting in the lower center of the screen.

I live/travel in primarily rural areas, and throw my jacket over the gages/GPS (ram bone mount) when parked. Think I have locked it up in a saddlebag once since I mounted it.

Primarily wanted it as a permanently mounted truly weatherproof moving map display. Only extra features I utilize are that I did connect it to my el cheapo SMH5 so I can listen to turn-by-turn instructions if I so desire.

Connecting it as an auxiliary audio device along with my work iPhone to the SMH5 was an adventure, but it works well. I was/am familiar & happy with the IPhone/Siri/Sena interface and had no intention of changing it. Spend most of my life "on call" and this allows me to ride with no worries-and listen to the music on my IPhone, with Waze giving me traffic alerts.

I have started messing around with Basecamp, and find it frustrating. The only real issue I have with my day-to-day operation of the 660 is that for my taste, the default "zoom" setting on the map over 60mph is one step too far "out". Once every power-on cycle, I typically have to press the "+ key" at least once while at speed in able for the map to display secondary roads-which I am usually interested in/riding on. This is with the maximum amount of map detail selected as the default.

The display is of course touch-sensitive. It may not be state-of-the-art, but is useable in everything except 100% direct sun-which is a lot better than my old Nuvi.

My current understanding is with my older Zumo/IPhone/cheap Sena set-up using the Zumo as the central unit (instead of an aux audio source) can be problematic so I have not tried it set up that way. Mainly because I was accustomed/comfortable to the my previous iPhone setup.

Hope this helps.

 

[Mr_Canoehead]

I think that the satellite vs cell tower argument is over-stated. All cell phones have GPS receivers built in and there are apps that will navigate fine when out of cell coverage - CoPilot for iOS and Android works well and if you like Garmin, they actually make a version of their GPS as an app for iOS. The trick is to not rely on an online only app like Waze or Google Maps when you know you will be out of cell phone coverage.

When my buddy's 660 died on a trip, he downloaded the Garmin app from the app store and taped his iphone over the Garmin brick.

Additionally, CoPilot (and probably others) offers traffic avoidance, which my Zumo doesn't have (because I don't have satellite radio). The only thing I don't like about CoPilot is that the voice commands are a work in progress. It says things like, "In 200 meters, take exit...." as though it wants to tell you which exit but the programming wasn't completed.

I think the satellite vs cell argument is much more valid when you are talking about whether to carry a PLB or SPOT (or InReach, etc) when traveling - to which I would say absolutely.

Anyway, I do have a 665 and I do use it, I just find that I rely on it much less than I used to. I find the most useful thing about it is reading the road ahead when riding an unfamiliar road - and that has huge value to me. I also still carry maps but I rely on them less and less as well.