Garmin Drive 55 Review

The Garmin Drive 55 is in my mind the best sat nav that both exists on the market, and that Garmin produces.  Yes, there are bigger units which for those either with larger cars, or short of sight, can be a benefits, but for the majority, the Drive 55 is the perfect combination of a value for money product, with a screen that you can actually see, and directions that you can actually follow.

Garmin

Garmin Ltd. is a multinational technology company known for its innovative GPS (Global Positioning System) technology and various other navigation products. The company was founded 1989 by Gary Burrell and Min Kao and released its first device in 1990 being the Garmin GPS-100 which was a handheld GPS receiver primarily designed for marine and outdoor use.

Garmin’s first car navigation system, known as the “StreetPilot,” was introduced in 1998. The Garmin StreetPilot was a pioneering device that made GPS-based navigation accessible and practical for use in automobiles. It featured a compact design with a monochrome LCD screen and provided turn-by-turn directions and mapping data for drivers.

Today, Garmin manufactures a wide range of GPS and navigation products, including devices for automotive, aviation, marine, fitness, outdoor activities and has built a strong reputation for the quality and reliability of its products, making it a trusted brand in the navigation and outdoor technology industry.

Garmin Drive 55

The Garmin Drive 55 is my opinion the best Sat Nav on the market today.  It combines both a value for money product, with a screen size and directions that you can follow.  The unit comes with a bright 5.5-inch display that is both multi-touch and has a high definition resolution of 1200 x 720 pixels which is similar to that of a current smartphone. 

The important part here is the edge-to-edge design which means that you’re getting a much larger screen size verses the unit size and in-turn a much clearer screen. Over the years that we have been writing these reviews, we have always said that a 6-inch screen was the minimum size to be able to clearly see directions.  At the same time, the biggest criticism was that the unit was too big to fit into a medium sized car.  Unless you were driving a larger car, it simply did not fit into the glove box.  The edge to edge design solves this problem – larger screen, but smaller unit.

The Drive 55 switches on quickly to reveal Garmin’s interface and menu system.  The program is very easy to use straight out of the box, and to enter your destination, you simple bring up the on-screen keyboard which allows you to easily enter the address.  The sat nav has an all-new super-fast processor that will quickly and easily calculate the quickest route for you. What’s more, the unit will also calculate routes that will give you the option to avoid ULEZ and Zero emission zones.

The unit comes with Garmin’s latest Maps of the UK that are both super clear and detailed. Most importantly the navigator comes with free lifetime updates meaning that you will never have old maps and therefore will always know of any road changes that could have been made. On top the maps the device uses Garmin’s latest real directions with real voice guides, to give you spoken turn-by-turn directions which uses recognisable building and landmarks to direct you rather than distances.

This means you’re more likely to hear your sat nav tell you to turn right after the traffic lights than the old method of turn right after 300 meters. For those really difficult junctions, there is a lane guidance feature that shows you which lane you need to be in at all times. As an added benefit, the Garmin unit comes with Garmin’s fantastic traffic alerts which are fully integrated in to the sat nav system meaning that not only will the unit take into account any traffic problems when deciding the best route to send you on, but traffic alerts will appear to the side of your map. The traffic alerts will warn you and can give you details about the traffic problem such as how long the delay will be and whether there are any ways around the traffic jam. Best of all, traffic alerts are free with no subscription or additional fees.

Extra features revolve around three areas, TripAdvisor traveler ratings for hotels, restaurants and attractions along your route or near your destination, driver alerts such as upcoming sharp curves, speed changes, railway crossings and an “Up Ahead” feature that shows upcoming stops for food and fuel along your route.

Overall

It’s a cracking unit, the screen is as good as it gets and even works if the sunlight shines directly into the screen.  The directions are clear and precise, and the speaker is loud enough to hear even when you’re driving a convertible, but and there are some but’s.

If you want anything live, such as live traffic, you will still need to plug in your smartphone.  Yes there are traffic updates, but they are not live.  If you want the weather forecast, road/motorway CCTV live update or POI suggestions, they are all possible, but you need to plug in your smartphone.  Secondly, I know the unit will make recommendation by TripAdvisor/FourSquare, it is sometime useful, but if I wanted reviews, I would probably use my smartphone or iPad, meaning that this feature is pretty useless. 

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