Customer Ratings & Reviews

I bought this recently due to my old GOS being outdated and this one is a lot better hands down. Automatic Updates as well can’t go wrong and the size of the screen even better

This is a great GPS and for the size you can't beat itI have a Ford Escape and I have Navigation, but nothing beats Garmin, I have the 76 also, but I returned the 86 because using it with the bean bag just isn't good, you have to buy an adapter to make it work and I don't like the windshield mount.

This GPS has an easy to view screen. It will get you where you need to go. What I don't like is that for it to have live updates it needs to connect with your phone. The issue with this is if you receive a call it will try to put the voice through the GPS. Not problem if you have a connection to your radio. Also, it is difficult to get the maps to route around an area you do not wish to drive through. For example if you want to go around a particular city. It keeps trying to reroute you back to the area you're trying to avoid. Despite these issues, I would buy it again if I had to.

Well...I finally got everything going - I think. This unit is SO complex that it takes quite a bit to make the thing perform properly. Once it does, I still do not like the map display as much as on my prior Garmin units. I try to get the zoom where I want it and the unit goes somewhere else. The unit does not always center the image right away. I have had it go nearly to the edge before centering. This is not good. If my DriveSmart 7 had not started not turning on all the time, I would not have replaced it, and I probably should have replaced it with another 7. You also have to buy (for over $60.00) a new mount in order to put the unit on the dash. Not good at all. Would I recommend this unit? Maybe, but that is not available. Yes but...

I never used a GPS unit before, except for a few stressful attempts with my smart phone, which is too small and takes too much time away from the road to read. My Garmin is just the right size and easy to access/read attached to the windshield. It's easy to add destinations, voice recognition is excellent, and saved me many, many miles of missed turns and near accidents. It has already paid for itself in safety and gas savings. Im spoiled now! :-) :-)

Replaced an old Garmin with this larger one with more features. Really like it so far. I would have gave it 5 stars except that only yesterday it took me 3.2 miles to the north when the Sonic we were trying to go to ended up being 3.2 miles to the south of the intersection. Kind of frustrating, especially when we had to go an extra 4 miles past the nothing it took us to just to be able to turn around.

Drive Smart says it all. Great GPS navigator. The system is intuitive and faster to find your POI’s or addresses. Garmin has continued to upgrade the user interface and make things simpler. Lifetime maps means it’s easy to stay updated with latest changes in roadways. Big screen for old eyes help you not lose focus on the road.

Easy to use Easy to see Easy to follow verbal and visual directions

We recently planned a vacation that was 2000+ miles round trip driving. I've used Garmin GPS units for 20yrs and our older Nuvi was getting a little old and cumbersome to use so I decided to upgrade to the Garmin DriveSmart 86 8" Pros: 8" Display is bright and crisp WiFi enabled for updates along with traditional USB cable Faster than older models Satellite based system means it works everywhere Cons: Still uses antiquated interface Touch display is still laggy Searching is still awkward Still slow overall Smart Notifications are intrusive Smart phones are now just as capable if not more Mounting system is proprietary and windshield compatible only Summary: Many years ago, we tried to use Apple Maps and it was horrific and I swore I'd never use it again and stuck with my Garmin at the time but clearly times have changed and Apple has gotten their act together and then some. While on our way to our destination, my daughter kept insisting we use Apple Maps, so we ran Apple Maps on her iphone 11 in tandem with the Garmin and found Apple Maps to be just as capable if not more along with being faster to adjust and giving more detailed in the moment instructions than Garmin (IE, "Go past this light." "Do not turn here", etc...) little quality of life improvements that made a difference real time. The Garmin got confused a few times which ended up confusing us but Apple Maps was able to offer the correct route. Apple Maps responded to changes and rerouting real time incredibly quick vs the Garmin. I was so impressed with Apple Maps vs Garmin that I put the Garmin in the glove compartment and used my iphone the entire time we were on vacation and for the entire ride home (1000+ miles) and it was near flawless. I found the Smart Notifications intrusive on the Garmin and pairing it with your phone just seemed to introduce a lot of redundancy that wasn't needed. It seemed out of place layered on top of Garmin's old school interface system. Another bug was you had to keep turning off Smart Notifications as it would re-enable itself every time you turned your Garmin back on. The iphone, even the iphone 11 which is several years old, ran circles around the Garmin in regards to speed and responsiveness. Another issue was the mounting system. While it works great on the windshield, it did not work at all for dash mounting in our Nissan Rogue. I ended up using a $10 maglock compatible mount for my iphone that worked on every surface including my dash perfectly. In the end, I am going to return it and just stick with my iphone with Apple Maps. It proved itself more than capable for my use case. After 20+ years, I never thought I'd see the day I'd prefer my smart phone over a traditional tried and true Garmin GPS yet here we are. I will revisit Garmin when we finish getting our RV ready for seriously extended road travel as that is where Garmin reportedly shines and potentially separates itself from the pack but for normal day to day GPS use? Smart phones are officially good enough for GPS.

Works great, lots of options. Huge easy to see and use screen. Much better than my built in car GPS that won't let me do anything other than speak at it while driving.

This gps is Great... The upgrade of the maps and the traffic features is fantastic; it is so convenient to have real-time traffic updates and alternate route suggestions, especially during rush hour. The voice command feature is load/clear enough to make it easy to navigate while keeping my eyes on the road. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a reliable and user-friendly navigation system.

It's a nice item with lots of functions, but is a pain in the butt to set up, the first time I used it, it ran me in circles, cost me an extra 5 hours on a 547 mile drive, I can't imagine how a person that isn't familiar with these things will ever be able to figure it out. Once I got it up & running properly, it was everything I hoped for & more.

The most desirable feature of this unit was screen size - I wanted the largest available. Number two priority was stay with Garmin if at all possible, as I have others that have been very good overall.

Very nice GPS compared to our much older (10+ yr) Garmin. Nice display, nice directions when the GPS tells you the turns. Like I said, our last Garmin GPS we bought over 10 yrs ago, so this new one is really a big improvement.

I have always been well pleased with Garmin products. This GPS is no exception. It has all of the features that you could want and works great without any problems. This is the fourth Garmin GPS that I have purchased through the years and they have all worked well. I have also been well pleased with Garmin watches also. I have owned several and they have all worked well.

I like the size and how information is displayed. I lke that unwanted options can be turned off. The live traffic feature has already saved me 6 hours and kept me from geing late.

Absolutely wonderful product. I tells you to turn left or right instead of go east ro west. I don't know directions so left and right turns notices is best.

Beautiful bight screen. Unit is large but not heavy. Did not test in traffic because not able to mount to dashboard without purchasing a friction mount for $70. Unfortunately I will be returning.

this goes without question a valuable gift for anyone. my daughter gets lost all the time. i purchased this and she thanks me on multiple occassions where she got scared and reminds herself this is in the car. she now isnt scared and makes it back safely everytime. it gives myself releif knowing when she leaves she is safe

This is a huge GPS! I don't have problems seeing the info on this one. It's not my first Garmin GPS, so it works like the others I've had.