Smart Navigation with Magellan SmartGPS {Giveaway}

Getting lost is no fun, especially when it happens in a questionable part of town or you waste more than an hour of your life driving in circles around Atlanta (true story). While GPS is certainly nothing new, Magellan has managed to offer consumers something different and better with their new smarter navigation option, appropriately named SmartGPS. I was fortunate to receive a new Magellan SmartGPS device to review and am excited to share a few of it’s features that have proved to be very helpful.

As I had expected, the navigation of this device works very well and is comparable if not better than other GPS devices I have used.The wireless sync capability is a huge bonus. The accompanying SmartGPS app makes this GPS especially user friendly. This feature is great when you have a passenger who can dial up an address on their phone and then instantly send it to the SmartGPS.

Helpful Features:

I am a planner, especially when it comes to things like shopping and running errands. Before heading out the door, I have a list that includes all of my stops for the day and everything that I need to buy or accomplish while I am out. If you’re a planner like me, you’re going to love that you can send preplanned trips to SmartGPS, straight from your computer or smartphone. It totally eliminates the car waiting-in-driveway or car waiting-in-parking lot scenarios.

Get location-based information. Included is a library of over 7 million points of interest (POIs). SmartGPS gives location-based traffic and weather updates, but there is so much more information available. SmartGPS integrates information from social networking sites like Yelp and FourSquare to provide local recommendations for restaurants, hotels, attractions and other points of interest. It is nice to have easy access to available deals and get recommendations and reviews from real people. This is especially handy while traveling. You can also get nearby fuel price information – where, price, and brand name. The location based content can be personalized. For example, if you prefer a specific brand of gas you can set the device to only share that information.

The large 5” touch-screen display is customizable. But if you’re just driving around, the SmartGPS touchscreen offers a default split-screen view, with a live map on the left half of the screen, and four tiles on the right half. The top two tiles show you information about any traffic delays or safety alerts, while the bottom two display data from Yelp and Foursquare. There are up to 8 different content squares available, but during your navigation only 2 will be visible which I think is a great safety feature. You don’t want to be distracted by too much information while driving.

You get free lifetime maps and traffic alerts. You do not have to pay extra to update your maps or view the traffic along your route, it’s included, free, for the life of your GPS unit. This is a huge bonus in my opinion.

Much like those fancy in-dash systems, this device offers a speaker output to plug directly into the vehicle audio system for enhanced audio. With the Bluetooth hands-free feature, you can speak freely and not worry about getting a ticket for cell phone use while driving.

SmartGPS really stands out against other GPS devices. I think there are many useful features that make it worth the $250 price point. Visit the Magellan SmartGPS website to learn more about this great product.

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* Magellan provided a product to review. No compensation was received. All opinions are our own.