Garmin Nuvi 550 GPS Review

The Garmin nuvi 550 is perfect for those who love to go on adventures. It features a tough, rugged exterior that can take the bumps and digs that come from being adventurous. It's waterproofed and perfect for outdoor sports and hiking trips. All that ruggedness doesn't take away from its usefulness or accuracy either.

Garmin nuvi 550 Car GPS
Garmin nuvi 550 GPS Navigator

Style

This nuvi is definitely made for the outdoors. It features a rugged style that just won't quit. It has a screen that's on the smaller side, which makes it ideal for touting around. The screen measures up at 3.5 inches, and features a touchscreen. The screen is also anti-glare, which is great for avoiding powerful reflections from the sun. It is also backlit for those times where the sun disappears.

Usability

The nuvi 550 was designed to be easy to use on the go. It is smaller than most devices that are made more for automobile travel, which is ideal for those who will have to carry it around in a pack or pocket. Despite the small screen, it is still very user friendly with an intuitive interface.

There is no need to worry about breaking the device either. It is fully waterproofed and made of rugged materials that can take a bit of a beating.

GPS Transmissions

The Garmin nuvi 550 is packed with a WAAS enabled GPS receiver. This is very sensitive and perfect for those who need to get where they are going outdoors. It, like other nuvi models, has the HotFix satellite prediction as well. That means it remembers satellite position before it is turned off so it's easy for it to get a fix on location when it is rebooted. This makes it faster than many other companies' models.

Travel

The point of the Garmin nuvi 550 is to make it easy for those who love to go on outdoor adventures to travel. That is why it offers full maps for the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico. There are over 6 million points of interest, which offer excellent locations of hotels, restaurants and more. These maps are provided by NAVTEQ.

Not all maps are created equal, however. Thankfully, the Garmin nuvi 550 has 3D maps which are incredibly helpful for those traveling on foot. It helps the user know where there will be hills, trees, and other natural features that can literally trip people up or make travel otherwise difficult.

This nuvi works with "Wherigo" as well. This is available from Groundspeak and it makes it possible to play games and interact in other ways based on locations in the real world.

Advanced Features

Many of the advanced features of the Garmin nuvi are related to making sure the rugged traveler has all the features they need. It is water proofed and built tough to last outdoors. It also contains a battery that gives power for up to eight hours. That is essential when the user is not always near a power source.

Community

Garmin offers a website called "Connect Photos" where it's easy to choose photos to download as a guide. Other users upload these into the system, and they really can add a lot to the experience. This is especially true for those who are hiking or boating, as these pictures landmarks can be very valuable.

It's also fun to show off adventures and trips and upload them into the site each time. The community really benefits from this interactivity.

Summary

This Garmin nuvi 550 offering is one of a kind when it comes to outdoor enthusiasts. It offers many of the same features as other nuvi models, but is waterproof and rugged to boot. The advanced features make it a no-brainer when it comes to those who love the outdoors. It is also a dependable machine, which means a lot for those times where the user is miles away from the rest of civilization. It's times like these that Garmin's reputation really comes in handy.

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