Garmin DriveAssist is a sat nav that offers drivers a clear, responsive display, accurate voice, and visual direction as well as dashcam integration. The best thing about the Garmin DriveAssist 51 LMT –S is that it is designed for simplicity. Its part of Garmin's 2020 range of units, and while is not in our best sat nav of 2020, its a great option for those that want both a navigator and a camera.
Features
Garmin DriveAssist provides a wide range of features to aid the drivers to navigate in any location without relying on their mobile phone. Garmin DriveAssist offers live traffic as well as dashcam integration in one compact package making it very useful to most drivers.
All these awesome features are as a result of stiff competition from mobile devices that have really improved their navigation offering. Garmin has caught up with this competition and offered a sat nav that really serves its purpose. The standalone offering of Garmin DriveAssist 51 LMT–S makes it be highly functional and preferred by many.
Garmin DriveAssist 51 LMT–S Display
The DriveAssist sat nav is a 140 x 84 x 21mm in size. This makes it nice and compact. It is therefore very portable and smallest among the Garmin’s sat navs. Its small size makes it easy for drivers to fit on the windshield or dash without taking too much space. In addition, it will cause less distraction while on the road and you will get a better view.
It has a 5-inch touch screen display. The unique features of this touch screen display are; bright display, it is clear and responsive. This makes it convenient for you to see key journey statistics at glance. Some statistics include time and distance remaining to your destination.
The 480 x 272 resolution is not the best but with large fonts and big icons, it will serve the purpose. The outstanding compact factor is very appealing to those who like to have something that is easily portable. However, for those people with poorer eyesight, the 5 inches display may not be a great option.
Garmin DriveAssist 51 LMT–S Design
An outstanding feature of the Garmin DriveAssist is the docking cradle which is sleek and holds the gadget to your car. It is designed in a way that makes it easy for it to click on and off the cup mount on your car or truck. This means that it will be super easy for you to remove it at the end of your journey.
Garmin DriveAssist comes with 2 micro SD card slots and a 4GB memory card included for free. This is appropriate for saving footage recorded from the dash camera.
The DriveAssist goal was to great something that could easily slip into your pocket.
Garmin DriveAssist 51 LMT–S Navigation
The best thing about Garmin DriveAssist navigation is the setup process which is very easy out of the box. It will just require a few steps and you will be ready to navigate. Once the setup is complete, you will be required to set up the camera position to ensure that it is pointing in the center of the road.
You will just need to select the postcode of your destination and Garmin DriveAssist will plot three viable routes to that destination. The DriveAssist uses live traffic dates to offer real-time journey estimate time.
There is an option to search for points of interest to your destination which is very helpful especially if your destination doesn’t have postal code. The map will display useful information such as filling stations, speed limits, cameras, popular food chains and more.
It also offers extra details on exact lanes that you need to be in as you approach a busy junction making it helpful especially if you are going somewhere unfamiliar.
Garmin DriveAssist 51 LMT–S Extras
A dashcam is one extra feature of Garmin DriveAssist which makes it easy for you to record footage while on the journey. In addition to saving footage, the camera also saves GPS coordinates which detects some impact making it easy to save evidence of the exact place where an accident occurred.
You can download the footage on your phone using the Garmin VIRB app. The camera also offers forward collision and lane switch alerts. It will beep when you get too close to the car in front of you. The camera also offers a destination view whereby it switches from map view to the live view on from the camera with map details overlay.
It is clear that Garmin DriveAssist is a great sat nav due to incorporated features and great navigation capabilities. If you have been looking for a sat nav to settle for, then the DriveAssist is the way to go.
Finally
Overall its a great model, but I do feel that if you want a sat nav, buy a sat-nav and if you want a dash-cam, buy a dash-cam.
