GPS Navigator vs. Google Maps: what to choose?
Sail off into the sunset with navigation
You don’t have to be that old not to remember paper maps and the number of terrible struggles travelers waged to find or get back to a route. You have to be good at maps to find your bearings on the ground, especially if you take a wrong turn. Luckily nowadays you can put Enterprise promo code in the drive to rent a car with a big-screen in-built GPS navigator at a discount and let an array of orbiting satellites guide you to the most picturesque sunsets on the planet Earth.
You are rolling down a road that snakes through a mountainous landscape. Not a single car appears on the horizon. The sough of a cool breeze and the last sunbeams of the day are caressing your face. It is Garmin Drive GPS that has helped you steer your car to this harbor of beauty and serenity. Being assisted by Garmin coupon code, you updated your car with a GPS equipped with a crisp 8-inch display, voice assistant, preloaded travel data, and a database of notable sights to see.
Choosing between a standalone GPS navigator or Google Maps
Tape recorders, notebooks, cameras, and many other devices throw an indignant glance at a smartphone. Because the latter has forced all the former to retire at least partially. Even though standalone cameras and notebooks are around, they have specific application areas and are no longer so popular among the general public. Yet there is one specific-purpose device that a smartphone has failed to completely drive away. Ladies and gentlemen, see a car GPS navigator come to the stage.
A standalone GPS appears to be obsolete compared to a cellphone. Even the cheapest smartphones have a GPS module. You just download the Google Maps app and let the device track your bearings with frivolous deviation. Yet a specific-purpose GPS device needs no data connection to plot a route. Besides, GPS isn’t going to be interrupted by calls, messages, and tons of other notifications. Let’s take a look at the advantages of both devices and see whether you can do with Google Maps or had better obtain a GPS unit.
The advantages of GPS systems.
- No data connection, no problem
Map data is preloaded to the GPS. Though maps can be downloaded to a cellphone, you may fetch up beyond the coverage of these maps. Garmin’s Driver GPS has detailed preloaded maps of entire North America. The regularly updatable history of the vantage points overlooking spectacular sceneries and notable sites is another bug plus to the pool of advantages.
- Long-range journeys are a piece of cake
GPS suits long-range car trips much better than an inbuilt cellphone. You don’t have to drain your phone’s battery or have the GPS interrupted by notifications and calls at the least suitable moment.
- Car-dedicated interface
GPS unit comes with a bigger screen than even Apple’s flagman iPhone 13 Pro Max can deliver. Garmin’s Drive GPS has 8-inch high-resolution touchscreen. You won’t have to deal with small fonts and tiny controls, jeopardizing your safety while driving.
- GPS is multitasking nowadays
GPS Driver sets an illustrative example of what ways today’s standalone GPS prevails a cellphone. The Driver connects to a backup camera (see what happens behind your car on a big screen) and dash camera (safety features), as well as accessing traffic cams and parking, delivering life weather forecasts, storm alerts, etc.
The advantages of Google Maps.
- It is free
Access to maps via standalone GPS requires you to pay a regular (usually monthly) fee. Google Maps offers maps for free and updates them without charging you a single penny.
- The latest maps on the screen
Standalone GPS needs Wi-Fi to update maps. The cellphone uses cellular data to deliver maps updated in real-time.
- Multipurpose
A smartphone is a portable computer. You can detach it from a phone mount and go on the trek deep into the wilderness. You will need to use a power bank to charge just one device instead of two.
- Live traffic
This is why a cellphone GPS suits around-town jaunt much better than standalone navigation. Google Maps provides undisputable accuracy of live traffic. Though GPS units tune to cellphones to transmit real-time traffic too, they fall far behind Google Maps at this point.
Conclusions
A car GPS navigator demonstrates tenacity, continuing to win the hearts of millions of travelers around the world. One particularly remarkable feature that a GPS has over a smartphone is the ability to plot a route without a data connection. At the same time, a cellphone armed with GPS seems to be more efficient for short-range trips and for traveling on foot. You don’t have to buy and carry two devices. You just do with one. And you can always download the maps of the area you are to travel to via Google Maps and don’t bother with data connection troubles.
Google Maps also deliver live traffic with high accuracy which is needful for jaunts around a big city. This is the reason why 80% of travelers use their cell phones for navigation. Still, if you lean towards the viewpoint of praising a cellphone as the only GPS solution, you may have just jumped to conclusions.
With a solid foundation in technology, backed by a BIT degree, Lucas Noah has carved a niche for himself in the world of content creation and digital storytelling. Currently lending his expertise to Creative Outrank LLC and Oceana Express LLC, Lucas has become a... Read more