The Ultimate GPS Test: 5 New Nav Units on the Road & in the Lab

Just a few years ago, slow and nonintuitive was the norm for GPS navigators. These days, we expect nav devices to be fast, accurate and simple enough to figure out without a manual. (Who reads those things, anyway?) We took five models with comparable features and subjected them to a grueling road trip and lab test in order to rate their performances on a five-star scale. All five devices feature traffic guidance (for a small subscription fee), Bluetooth for hands-free mobile calling and the ability to read out street names ("turn left on Elm St." instead of "turn left in 30 ft."). While these features add convenience, we were more interested in how easy the systems were to use—and, of course, how quickly they got us to our destination. In these respects, all units performed well, but even the strongest entries showed room for improvement.

To measure navigation prowess and holster-mount performance, we set up all five GPS units in a Lexus LS 460 (above) and embarked on a 700-mile round-trip drive between New York and Vermont—a route that took us through cities, onto highways and over mountains. As a point of reference, we also used the car's manufacturer-installed GPS. Back in the PM lab, we handed the devices to a team of testers to rate readability, as well as how difficult it was to perform various tasks, such as inputting a destination and finding a point of interest—no instruction manuals allowed.

GARMIN NUVI 760 | 4.3 in. screen | $643, garmin.com
The Garmin was extremely easy to use. It had one of the most intuitive interfaces in the test, with a clean display that provided important information at a glance. On the downside, its maps failed to display roundabouts in one small town and even tried to guide us through a closed campus. And it suction mount was the only one to fail, causing the unit to fall from the windshield once. (Fortunately, it survived unscathed.)
Entering Destination	POI
Ease of Reading	Mount
Overall

HARMAN KARDON GPS-810 | 4.3 in. screen | $600, harmankardon.com
It took just a single finger tap on the Harman Kardon's face to switch the map view from 2D to 3D—an example of how simple the interface is. However, we sometimes had to wait a few seconds for this unit to process routes. And several of the features—such as a listing of turn-by-turn directions—took some searching to locate.
Entering Destination	POI
Ease of Reading	Mount
Overall

MAGELLAN MAESTRO 4250 | 4.3 in. screen | $500, magellangps.com
Turn the Magellan on and it puts key features, such as address entry and points of interest, front and center. Still, it took multiple pushes and a bit of work to find some settings and secondary functions. (Testers found it particularly difficult to switch the map perspective.) This is one of the first units to feature voice-activated navigation—say "home" and the unit guides you there—a feature that we'd love to see become standard.
Entering Destination	POI
Ease of Reading	Mount
Overall

SONY NV-U83T | 4.8 in. screen | $400, sonystyle.com
Approach a turn and the Sony's easy-to-read display switches to a split screen that shows you which lane to stay in—a welcome feature on complicated highway exits. We also liked the mount, the only one to rest safely on the dash instead of hanging precariously from the windshield. But this is the sole entry that doesn't guess what address you're entering after a few keystrokes. Its internal processor was by far the slowest, often taking several seconds to process data.
Entering Destination	POI
Ease of Reading	Mount
Overall

TOMTOM GO 920 T | 4.3 in. screen | $650, tomtom.com
Perhaps our smartest entry, the TomTom was quick to figure out when we strayed off course and provide fresh guidance. Input an address and the unit offers to avoid tolls or certain types of routes without forcing you to dig through menus—brilliant. Like the Magellan, the TomTom uses speech to input addresses, but the process requires finger taps after each word—and that undermines the purpose of speech recognition: keeping the driver's hands on the wheel.
Entering Destination	POI
Ease of Reading	Mount
Overall

The Bottom Line

All five units performed well and were easier to use and read than our test car's own system. They cost less, too. And while a few had hiccups—Sony's data input needs work, as does Garmin's suction cup—they all got us to our destination quite easily. In fact, the devices are rapidly becoming commodities with relatively minor differences among major manufacturers.