GPS + Android make for a good combination June 10, 2010

Reviewer:  M. Mims  (Rossville, GA USA) -

The Garminfone is an excellent GPS unit and a "good" smart phone in one. If you are looking for a high end android device, this might not be the best phone for you because it runs version 1.6 of Android. If you need both a GPS and smart phone this is worth a serious look.

Pros:
Corporate email works well
There is plenty of storage space for downloading apps
If you happen to be out of cell signal range the GPS will continue to work
Comes with car charger and vehicle mount
The screen size is just right @ 3.5"

Cons:
Cannot customize the home screen other than the sidebar
Does not have 3.5mm headphone jack

A good 2nd gen device in a sea of 3rd gens. August 5, 2010

Reviewer:  Christopher Wanko "-C"  (Nutley, NJ USA) -

After my G1 bricked a 2nd time, I went on a small journey to review some T-Mobile phone replacements. The Garminfone and MyTouch Slide 3G are the two I've chosen, and this is what I've found about the Garminfone after two weeks.

First, it's light, much lighter than a G1 by feel and likely due to the absence of a physical keyboard. Asus and Garmin have done a splendid job designing a pretty phone, and it looks terrific.

The second thing I'd notice is that the Garmin-designed interface is targeting casual or non-technical users, so it didn't resonate with me. It's just a point to consider: you can download ADW Launcher and ditch the Garmin home screen and UI for the most part, and gain a pretty powerful launcher in the process.

Third, Android 1.6 with 2.1 features is nice but not a sustainable solution for the phone long-term. I know why Garmin went the way they did: they were challenged to integrate their own legacy GPS software and mapping into an Android container, and had access to the 2.1 SDK and so rolled their own 1.6 version. However, it will be quite some time, if ever, that this phone received a true 2.1 base. Whether you notice it or not is largely irrelevant; understand that you won't be moving to Froyo or beyond.

Fourth, the hardware is fairly fast, faster than I expected with an average CPU (600 MHz Qualcomm MSM7227, the same used in the MyTouch Slide 3G). It's not a 1Ghz Snapdragon, but I was surprised at how quickly it would return UI changes for me. The memory is 256Mb of RAM and 4Gb of internal storage, 458Mb of it dedicated to apps. If you were missing Apps2SD, this makes up for it somewhat. It also supports microSD, of course.

Fifth, the device is a PND replacement, by design. The included car dock snaps on and provides a landscape orientation and charging port, with the standard bulb swivel and a stick-on base if your dash doesn't have a smooth surface for the suction cup. You might need a longer USB cable but in practice with a 2002 Neon ACR I didn't need anything longer. The Garmin maps are offline, which is a huge advantage over Google navigation as you can use this device in the wild -- all you need is a charged battery and some sky. Navigation is just fine, accurate and precise, with some nice features like local speed limits and traffic. In truth traffic didn't really work, but traffic is a hard problem for anyone to solve. As a personal navigation device I'd wholly recommend this.

Overall, I liked it but missed the physical keyboard. Swipe and Graffiti work terrific on this, and the device ran all of my own apps without incident. The included Garmin widgets and its version of a home screen are not worth keeping, and should be easier to ditch in favor of a generic home screen. The widgets, when working, were nice but unremarkable. The battery life was decent, not spectacular, and there is no way to disable 3G to conserve power (another shortcoming of rolling your own OS version). It also seems as if the device is languishing in the market, so I'd wait to see if Garmin-Asus update this to 2.1 before committing myself to a contract for one.

--#

Fantastic phone for those in need of a GPS June 25, 2010

Reviewer:  Damian J. Ferguson "DamianJay"  (New Mexico) -

I've had this phone for about a week now and quite honestly, I love it. It's not as advanced as some of the other Android OS phones on the market, but it definitely gets the job done. It has it's own user interface that is pretty easy to navigate and runs off of the old Android OS 1.6. The main reason for my purchase of this phone was I needed a stand alone GPS to navigate around the Baltimore/DC area and was getting tired of my Blackberry 8900. The other big thing that got me on-board was the fact that if I ever felt the need to upgrade my phone again this unit works as a stand alone GPS without the need for a sim card! The prospect of always having a GPS after a $450 purchase made it an easy buy for me. I read quite a few reviews on this phone and everyone seemed to be impressed with how well the GPS worked, so I figured I'd give it a try. So far I've used it three times and I can tell you, it's pretty darn good. The phone also comes with separate home AND car chargers, I mention this because the T-Mobile site is a bit vague as far as what is packaged (Although the home chargers cord is very short). As far as the multitasking options and networking, Facebook isn't as streamlined as it is on blackberry, but there are pro's and con's to both I suppose. Those are easily remedied by updates that have nothing to do with which operating system you have on this phone though. As far as syncing e-mails, wi-fi, and bluetooth; all of that is pretty easy. The only real downer is that it's 3.0 megapixel camera doesn't have a flash and doesn't take the best of pictures, but my need for a gps outweighs my need for a camera. I rarely used the 3.2 MP on my blackberry and it took pretty decent pictures. My only concern thus far with this phone is that I am an Electrician and work with my hands in pretty dirty locations so I imagine sooner or later I'll scratch it or drop it, but such is the case with any phone I buy. If you're in the need of a GPS with a few nice networking capabilites, and you aren't too concerned with running several Android programs or taking pictures, this phone is definitely for you.

Great for what it was intended for August 5, 2010

Reviewer:  goofcat 

This is a great GPS phone! People who do not like this phone don't understand the function of this phone. I got my to use with a T-mobile prepaid plan. Most Android phones require a data plan to use Google's navigation programs. The Garminfone has maps of the North America preloaded with points of interest on the phone. This means no data plan required for the GPS function. It also means if you travel to areas here there is spotty cell coverage, such as forests, campgrounds mountains...etc. the GPS continue to work.

I recently used this phone for a week in south Florida and it found all my destinations and got me to some good restaurants, super markets and banks with no problem. Due to the fast processor on the phone (as compared to stand alone GPS units), course recalculation is lighting fast! Usually within one block!

One last thing that rarely gets mentioned is that this is a great Phone! The sound quality is excellent! The speaker phone is loud! And I have not experienced a single dropped call in 2 months.

Most useful thing ever! November 1, 2010

Reviewer:  Bubba 

There are a lot of people hating this phone because they say why would you want this phone that has GPS. Big deal all smartphones have GPS. No they don't. Yes you can get the google maps and online navigation. Did you hear "ONLINE" navigation! That means you also have to pay for a $30.00 unlimited data plan. That is where this phone is superior to others. This is a true GPS and if you lose your phone signal with the others you are S.O.L. With the Garminfone the GPS doesn't rely on a cell signal and it will still work. You can take it hiking and you will still have GPS function. How many of you still have a signal if any at all in the mountains or country? Well if you have spotty signals, then you have spotty GPS. Imagine trying to get to your destination or finding where your at in the middle of nowhere. So people bashing this about the GPS ability are clueless. With this phone you can immediatley find your position which I think is great if you get lost, your car breaks down, or the extreme where you go off of the road into a ditch and you are stuck in the car and no one can see you. Well you can transmit your position in coordinates for help. Or you can sign up for the Ciao application and you can transmit or receive your or someone elses position live. Great if your kids are out and you want to check on where they are from time to time or if you get seperated somewhere. Is it a convienece or invasion of privacey? Your call.

The convienece to always have a GPS and phone in one unit is awesome. When a call comes in whether you are in GPS mode or not is nice because there is big icon that pops up that you tap on to answer or not. And your call is over the speaker phone of the phone or bluetooth to your car which is safer than trying to hit a tiny icon. This phone is all about making it conivienient and safer for driving on the road. The three large icons for call, where too, and view map are there for quick access instead of fumbling around your apps and tapping on a small icon. Another great thing about the GPS capbabilities of this phone is that if someone else has this phone they can send you their location and it will guide you to them, great if your at a huge amusement park or somewhere where you don't know the address. And oh yeah, there is a feature that remembers where you parked your car and none of this will cost you anything. Now can the other phones do all of that? No. A lot of the preloaded applications are useful also which are built around the GPS of course. To mention a few are that the phone will recoginze addresses or phone numbers from a text or web page and all you do is tap on either one and it will automatically dial the number or set up the GPS and your ready to go so you don't have to type in the address. You can check on the status of an airline flight, movie times, near by entertainment, food, attractions etc. all by just tapping on a single icon instead of fumbling through the web. Yes you can download a lot of similar applications to do these things, but they are sometimes glitchy or annoying with advertisements. To use some of these features though, you do need a data plan or wi-fi connection. And if you don't want to pay $30.00 don't dispair. You can get a $10.00 200mb data plan. This is more than plenty for occasional web surfing and email. If you turn off the data and use wi-fi where you can then the 200mb will be no issue at all. All of the phones applications will function 100 percent as if you are using the data with the exception of sending or receiving pictures using text, or syncing with your gmail account until you turn back on the data. The wi-fi is pretty fast also. And one more thing if you have the unlimited data plan. You can tether this phone right out of the box.

This phone would be great for someone going away to college or someone who is on the road a lot or wants a piece of mind. If you are thinking about a real GPS phone then get this one or the Nokia Nuron which also has a built in GPS. The GPS on the Nuron is not as robust as the Garmin but it still works pretty good. And the Nuron you can add an unlimited data plan for only $10.00 and you can buy the phone outright without a contract or data plan for $140.00 if you want. It can't do all the things the Garminfone can but at least it has a built in GPS also. I love this phone. I have it handy when i'm on vacation and I am not carrying anything extra. I find I use it a lot even when not on vacation.

Sound from earpiece ,supplied earphones, and speaker are excellent. Touch screen works good, but not as good as an iphone. Orientation has a little lag. All minor issues I can live with. The screen automatically changes from a light background to a dark background according to time of day which is nice because it makes viewing better and you don't call attention to yourself with a bright screen in a dark room or have to switch the gps function into night mode manually. The screen also brigtens automatically and gets brighter when you are outside in the sun which is really nice so you don't have to do a thing and you can read the screen with ease. I have my screen set pretty low and it and would be hard to see outside if the screen didn't automatically adjust it for me. These two screen lighting functions are great.

Word is, is that these phones aren't selling too well. Main reason was because of the Android 1.6 and the price when it first came out. Even with price drops it couldn't compete because of all of the new Android phones coming out. The people that considered this phone were hesitant because they were concerned if there would ever be an update to 2.0 or 2.1 and if they could update the maps because Garmin just anounced that they will not continue forward with Asus to produce any future phones together. Garmin claims that they will still support the phones already or being sold in the U.S. Yeah for how long? This might of been the nail in the coffin. People are more interested in the newest features for a phone than a GPS. The 1.6 platform seemed to be the biggest gripe about this phone and people weren't willing to pay for this phone and go backwards when they can have something like a Vibrant at the same price.

Update: There is an official 2.1 update for this phone now. But make sure you get the one off of the Garmin website and not the one floating around in the forums. That one was not official. A 2.2 or higher would be nice because you need at least that to be able to run the newer versions of flash to watch some videos.

Go to the Garmin website and you will find the official 2.1 update along with free map updates. The map updates alone make this phone worth it. The 2.1 update will fix some bugs and add some features. With the update you can continue to use the standard Garmin home screen and application or switch to the Android home screen and application. You can tell that the Garmin application is totally set up for navigation and no fumbling around. With the Android app you get a widget screen with some navigation keys, but not as well thought out as the Garmin app. for use on the road. So if you want to use the GPS function, it might be a good idea to switch to the standard Garmin app.

Now that this phone has the 2.1 update, hopefully it will quiet some of those haters out there because they were crying about it not being 2.1. Maybe if the phones sell better now Garmin will maybe consider making another generation one. I think a lot of owners of this phone would buy another one. Look at some reviews. There were people that didn't have high hopes for this phone until they played with it and then they changed their minds about it. There were even owners that weren't wowed by it but they liked it enough to keep it. And that was with the 1.6 version. But if you take a lot of pictures, video capture, or want a bigger screen more than a dedicated GPS then you better look elsewhere. Yes the camera is terrible on this phone like others have mentioned. The home charger cable/usb is only 3 feet long. ? Not a big deal if you want to use the phone while plugged into the computer. Other than that this phone is awesome and the car charger/mount is very useful. Battery life is about a day or two depending on regular usage, or longer on standby or little usage. Which is normal for these style of phones. I don't know why people are complaing about the battery life. They must of come from a granny flip phone.

Update: This phone is discontinued and hard to find it on a contract now. So you pretty much have to buy it second hand or from someone who claims they are selling it as new. Unless you are getting a screaming deal and feel lucky, I would recommend getting it new on Amazon or someplace that is reputable and a has a good return policy. There has been some lemons for this phone and if you are one of the unlucky ones, you will be left with no recourse by buying it from joe schmoe. But more important is as of August 2011 there is still support for map updates.

There isn't too many selection of cases for this phone. None of the after market cases will work for this phone. These cases fit the phone very well but the problem lies with the design. The phone will not work with the car cradle because the phone fits snugly against the cradle so the thickness of the case will get in the way, the two openings for where the cradle clamps onto the phone are not wide enough for the clamps, and the last problem is that the case covers the proximity sensors just a little below and to the right of the earpiece, so when you use the phone it causes problems because the phone thinks it is against your face and the screen is locked. The only case that fits this phone and does not interfere with any of the phones functions is the Garmin one that you can get online (can't get it on T-mobile anymore) you have to get it from a second party or from Garmin. It is a silicone slip on case. Looks wierd and ugly when you look at the pictures without the phone in it. On the back of the cover there is a whole section in the middle that is missing. Makes sense because the cradle has to fit over that area. Once on though, it makes the phone look like something a spy would carry. The case does look really nice on the phone. As for the power, volume, and camera keys. They are completely covered over with the case. The button shapes are molded into the case so they are protected and still functional. You can only find it in black unless you go to Garmin where it comes in black, clear, and red. There are one or two other after market silicone designs out there that won't interefere with the proximity sensor but you still can't use the cradle. You can still unplug the cable from the cradle and plug it into the phone but the phone won't go into car mode where the screen will stay on and your incoming calls won't prompt you with a huge icon and automtically put it into speakerphone and such. But since it is flexible silicone you can slip it off and on easily to use the cradle.

Update: As of February 2012 there was another map update for this phone, so still support. And I still have no plans on upgrading my phone even with all the new phones out now. The gps and the functions built around it has proved it's worth to me over and over.

Update: As of January 2013 there is still support for this phone with map updates. I had to upgrade my phone as the phone only supporting 2.1 is pretty much useless now as for supporting apps. But I still wish Garmin cointinued the line as I would of upgraded to another one. I will still keep my old Garminfone fot it's gps capababilites still when I go on vacation because my new Samsung S3 requires a data signal to work. I was bummed that the S3 uses a micro sim card instead of the regular one in the Garminfone as I wanted to swap out the card and put it into the Garminfone while on vacation. Oh well. The Garminfone is small enough so I can carry both still. Another thing about the Garminfone even though it is disconnected is that everything else still works like the calendar, weather, flight status, etc. through wifi except for phone calls and text of course. I still consider it the best phone I ever had.

Excellent smartphone and GPS package December 11, 2010

Reviewer:  P. Sukumar  (Germantown, MD United States) -

I bought this phone about 10 days ago and I have to say -- it's a really nice piece of equipment. It's a great smartphone (once you install the latest Android update from Garmin-Asus), great GPS unit, fast and has a decent video/still camera.

And now the details. The phone is very similar in size and weight to the iPhone 3GS. It feels solid in your hands without feeling heavy. Unlike some smartphones, it doesn't feel awkward when you hold it up to your ear. I upgraded from a BlackBerry Pearl, and the larger screen is really nice.

The call quality is great. I haven't had any dropped calls. It paired easily with my Plantronics bluetooth headset. The navigation is excellent. I live in the Washington DC area and lane-assist works well. The spoken street names aren't as clear as in my wife's standalone Magellan unit and I definitely miss the Magellan's warning tone when a turn is imminent. But the really nice thing about this smartphone is that the GPS works even if you are not within cell range (in spite of the nice T-Mobile rep's insistence otherwise). Using the voice search to find businesses works well most of the time.

The phone comes with Android version 1.6. While it's adequate, I would highly recommend the official update to version 2.1 that's available from the Garmin-Asus website. After the update, it feels like a completely different phone. The Breeze interface gives you 4 desktops and the phone just works a lot better. It's a lot snappier and the auto-rotate works a lot more consistently.

The battery usage was a concern at first. I found myself having to charge the phone more than once a day. Turning off unnecessary services that drain the battery helps. Turning off GPS, WiFi and Bluetooth when you are not using them helps even more. And the built-in widget for turning these on or off makes it a snap.

The 3 megapixel camera is adequate. It works fairly well in daylight.

My biggest complaint with this phone is that it doesn't have built-in support for voice commands. My BlackBerry Pearl had an external switch which would activate the voice command, but there is no such thing with this phone. There are apps in the Marketplace (like Vlingo), but they're always on and drain the battery.

Overall, it's a great smartphone.

Garmin Asus- good on paper... June 21, 2011

Reviewer:  Clever Name Goes Here  (Seattle, WA USA) -

I have had this phone for several months now; I believe it was pretty new to the market when I got it.
You can see the tech facts and such from other sources, I just want to give a quick look at my experience.

First off, I really wanted to like this phone. I was delighted to see that there was a smartphone with built in Garmin GPS, which uses satellites rather than the 'normal'phone GPS, which uses cell phone tower triangulation. I had owned a Garmin GPS unit for a while, so having that built right into my phone sounded like the best thing ever. So I got this phone (for free thankfully through a T-mobile promotion), and gave my standalone GPS to a family member, and everything seemed fine.

So fast forward to now... I recently bought another Garmin GPS for my car. Why? Because the GPS on this phone is entirely unreliable based on my experience. When I use it (the GPS feature) while in my car, the phone constantly crashes. It gets stuck in an endless loop of going to the startup screen, hanging, and re-booting. The only way to get in back online is to take out the battery and wait about 30 seconds, then reinsert the battery and start it up (which takes a while). After doing this, it will work again, but I have had it just hard crash again as soon as I tried to use the GPS, in just a matter of minutes. Now, if you are using a GPS, the assumption is that you probably do not know where you are going, and possibly are trying to get somewhere at a specific time. Having to pull over, take your phone apart, and wait- only to have it likely crash again- is unacceptable, not to mention stressful.
At first I just toyed with the idea of buying a new GPS, since I assumed this was an isolated incident, but it kept happening, and I just do not have patience for something that is a practical device like this to not work as it is meant to.

Beyond that, you are getting an okay smartphone. The screen in not super high resolution like the iphone 4 Retina display, but it is your typical smartphone resolution. Most apps work on it, but many do not; I have gotten error messages over and over telling me that there is not enough free memory to install apps, even though the phone has over 1GB of the internal memory open. Also, you cannot install anything on your microSD card, so even though I have a 16GB card, it is only useful for holding media... but don't put too many videos on it... the media browser groups videos and images together into one huge list, and the video thumbnails (or even too many image thumbnails) will bring the browser to a grinding halt as it tries to load everything, rendering it virtually unusable.
Also, the phone's default Gmail account has never worked right, though outside clients (yahoo) work fine.

The camera is average at best; it takes decent pictures under ideal conditions; don't bother in low light.
Oh, and there is no headphone output; rather, you have to use a special proprietary dongle that adapts the 5-pin mini USB that the phone has to a headphone/mic adapter that is included.

So those are my main gripes really. Like I said, I wanted to like this phone because it is a great idea; but the execution is in need of some work. Everything else about the phone is fine; the "regular" aspects are all functional, calls, texts, etc.

Overall, I would not really recommend buying this. Maybe firmware updates will/could correct these glaring issues at some point, but it you are going to spend hundreds of dollars on a fancy phone, you might as well get something that works. If the satellite GPS didn't crash all the time and leave you out to dry, this would have been pretty cool, but seeing as the GPS is the one defining feature that this phone has to offer, and it doesn't even work right, all you are left with is an average smartphone with a neat, but ultimately unreliable extra perk.

*Edit*
I discovered there is a firmware update for this phone. I guess I was foolish thinking it would be on the Garmin site, which makes no mention of the Asus phones; of course you have to go to the Garmin Asus website... anyway, it came out in November of 2010, so I was way behind. It upgrades the phone to the Android Eclair OS, and this adds a lot of functionality; making it more similar to the iphone 4, with support for folders, a much, much better home screen, and, most significantly, far faster/smoother performance. The issue with the media browser getting slow is gone, and the overall performance is much better. I can't say if it fixes the GPS issues since I don't use that feature much now that I have a regular in-car GPS.
I should mention that this whole review is probably pointless anyway... Garmin has left the phone market, and this one OS update represents the extent of support they will ever offer for this phone. I just wanted to point out, for the sake of honesty, that the phone is far better when you have Android 2.0+ on it. If you can get it for cheap or free, it is pretty decent-

garminfone April 30, 2011

Reviewer:  donal 

There are a lot of people hating this phone because they say why would you want this phone that has GPS. Big deal all smartphones have GPS. No they don't. Yes you can get the google maps and online navigation. Did you hear "ONLINE" navigation! That means you also have to pay for a $30.00 unlimited data plan. That is where this phone is superior to others. This is a true GPS and if you lose your phone signal with the others you are S.O.L. With the Garminfone the GPS doesn't rely on a cell signal and it will still work. You can take it hiking and you will still have GPS function. How many of you still have a signal if any at all in the mountains or country? Well if you have spotty signals, then you have spotty GPS. Imagine trying to get to your destination or finding where your at in the middle of nowhere. So people bashing this about the GPS ability are clueless. With this phone you can immediatley find your position which I think is great if you get lost, your car breaks down, or the extreme where you go off of the road into a ditch and you are stuck in the car and no one can see you. Well you can transmit your position in coordinates for help. Or you can sign up for the Ciao application and you can transmit or receive your or someone elses position live. Great if your kids are out and you want to check on where they are from time to time or if you get seperated somewhere. Is it a convienece or invasion of privacey? Your call.

Worst phone I have ever owned April 4, 2011

Reviewer:  Big Kyle 570  (Wilkes-Barre, PA) -

I have had the Garminfone since it's debut. I thought it would be nice to go all "2 birds with 1 stone" and figured since this one ran on the Android system and had the Garmin GPS that it would be a win win.

The GPS is the best part of the device. Not too many things tell you this but you don't need cell service to use the gps. It has saved me more than once and I cannot complain about that at all. Also, the volume for in-call as well as ringtones and alarms is pretty good as well. I tend to be in a lot of loud environments and never had a problem hearing anything.

However, the more frustrating aspect of the phone is how much is freezes and lags during apps and ESPECIALLY during phone calls. I have had to pop the battery out several times after making a phone call because the phone wouldn't hang up or just freeze on the call ended screen.

I have also installed the last update available for the device (Android 2.1 Eclair) which did at least allow you to have a normal looking Android phone and not the "creepy uncle Android" that looked like a boring slate blue nightmare and offered ZERO customization.

Now that Garmin-Asus and T-mobile are no longer working together and the phone isn't being supported, the only exception being you can still get the normal app and map updates but sadly no upgraded OS for the device. Add into that the fact that AT&T are currently making a move to consume T-mobile I can only say avoid this phone at all costs. If you're still are considering going on T-Mobile while it's singing its swan song and you'll have to replace any T-Mobile 3G phone after they merge anyway in short steer clear of this phone and you'll hate life a little less.

Great phone and GPS, two in one! May 18, 2011

Reviewer:  Evgenii Puchkaryov "voyrakhcuP iinegvE" 

I was missing my Garmin Nuvi 360 I gave away, and my phone got wet in a hiking trip, and started misbehaving. So I figured I kill 2 birds with one price :). I bought this phone elsewhere, BTW, somewhat cheaper. (Also, for some reason it appears unavailable on T-mobile site, although there's a dedicated page for it in there.)

That was a great idea! I like the phone more than some other Android phones I saw. The user interface is nice and more concise than the regular Android. It also keeps the focus on the most important things (phone calls and navigation and some widgets), well integrated across them, while others are still easy to reach.

Other things I like:
*** WiFi works all around my house. I can do all the heavy inet use, like app downloading, at home or at the hotspots, and save on the network data charges
*** Great GPS receiver. Acquires satellite lock in seconds (probably helped by cell signal, but still...). Best in class navigation software and features from the top GPS company. Although I saw the recent Google's navigation, and it seems neat too.
*** Integrated features - you can call the location or see the street view or save it to favorites or what not. You can drive to events (or get a reminder to do so, when it's time)! You can also Go to the contact (if it has the address).
*** The phone reception is clear, everything is working fine and reasonably organized. Speakerphone is loud enough.
*** Supports stereo Bluetooth (which compensates for the missing headphone socket). Phone conversation, voice dialing, music...
*** Comes preloaded with a decent set of apps, and others are easy to get. There's one to record your own voice to be used in GPS. What a way to annoy friends! :) There's an app to quickly check your current minute and MB usage for the month.
*** Both, phone and a full-function GPS complete with car kit all in one - and GPS functions without cell connection.
*** Comes with a microSD card.
*** Clear screen, visible from all angles. Precise touch control.
*** Decent battery life (you can easily turn on/off battery suckers such as WiFi or BlueTooth). GPS receiver is only On, when needed, automatically. When not connected to power and used for directions, the screen lights up automatically only when you need to do something, and goes dim while driving in between. That saves battery too.
*** Cool "Where Am I" and "Save Parking Spot" features.

Things I dislike:
*** It is a bit sluggish on unlocking and on ending the call - takes 1-2 seconds to react, so I end up tapping it many times. Strange, given that most apps work fast.
*** It can sync to email, but there's no way to force re-entering the password. That's a huge security risk.
*** The contacts app needs to improve. It gets phones and emails together, and you can't tell, whether a given contact has a phone in it or not, unless you choose it, then click "More Info". On my previous phone I could see the number with each contact.
*** Traffic feature is right only 50% of time or so. Once it asked me to get off a nearly empty freeway. But sometimes it did choose a route with less traffic for me!
*** Walking navigation mode is weird, very different from the driving mode and hard to deal with. You are better off walking with GPS in driving mode.
*** No Topo maps :(
*** The camera is very basic
*** So far I was unable to get it recognized and function via USB connection to a 64-bit Windows machine.
*** No 3.5 mm headphone socket, and does not come with the headset (can use Bluetooth, though).
*** Nothing works without T-mobile account/SIM. Not even GPS. I found it really surprising. However, usually T-mobile is good about letting you unlock the phone, which fixes this problem. Then it will be good for the international use, since it is a quad-band phone.
*** Can't remove SIM without taking out the battery. When traveling Europe one may need to switch SIMs many times. That's minor. Can switch uSD, though.
*** The phone is a bit heavy for its size - but feels solid, in return.

Overall, I don't see why this device is not a bigger market hit than iPhone. It has everything going for it. Seems like Garmin/Asus suck at advertising it. They could've been making millions!

Nice Phone, but replacement BLACKss out and FREEZEs April 17, 2011

Reviewer:  F Oscar  (USA) -

I've had one since Oct of 2010 which works great except you have to re-start if its been on for more than 4hrs to get VOICE direction from GPS. Unfortunately, was jogging and it dropped, face shattered. I got a replacement from insurance 4 days ago. Replacement BLACKS out during call, you cannot input like account no or SSN during calls. You cannot END call. Ive had to pop out battery most of the time to END call. Sometimes phone just freeze. Expecting a replacement, I hope that's better.
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It's a good phone to have, if you are not into lots of application.

Garminfone does it all. August 15, 2010

Reviewer:  Cell Man "Dan"  (Chicago, IL USA) -

The garminfone does it all and many of it's best features are true gems. Most importantly, there is NO comparison in terms of navigation and location based services with the built in maps. That means that even without coverage, navigation works perfectly. Other navigation software like google's android based system don't even compare. I also love the fact that the phone comes with a dashboard mount, so the phone is always charging so you probably won't have to charge it at home if you spend significant time in your car. The phone has a reliable and rugged form that seems break resistant compared to other smart phones. The sound quality is the best and speakerphone while in the cradle is excellent. By comparison, the Samsung might look better, but it's just bells and whistles. The Garminfone get's the job done and that's what's important to me with a reliable custom android interface.

Garmin Asus Buyers Beware of Lemons... September 29, 2011

Reviewer:  colin 

First of all let me start by saying that i actually liked my Garmin Asus A50 when i first got it. It was a free upgrade through T-Mobile so who could complain about that, right? I read many reviews prior to committing to this particular phone so i knew what i was getting myself in for. To protect my investment and insure the phones long continued use i got a nice leather case to protect it, an extra battery, because i read that the battery only lasted about a day, and a wonderful screen protector from ZAGG.

I babied this phone! Never once dropped it or exposed it to excessive humidity or anything. I figured that if i was extra careful with the phone it would last a long time.

WRONG!!!

Believe it or not i have only owned the phone now for three months. I noticed some peculiar things happening with the phone lately. I would usually use the phone in speaker mode, as these phones do have a really nice speaker compared to others i have used. I noticed that the screen started to turn off and on randomly while i was using the phone. I was not even touching the phone when this was happening either.
Then yesterday i really wanted to use the phones camera. I had used the camera before but to not to great excesses. I only had about ten shots saved on the Micro SD card. The phone screen just went black. I waited and waited but no camera. As i have owned cell phones for a while now i figured i would do all of what i knew T-Mobile would tell me to do before i called them.
Of course they still made me jump through all their hoops as though i was a complete idiot, and powered off the device, pulled out the battery and SIM card all over again.
After completely resetting and restarting the phone still no camera. And now i cannot even access the photos on the Micro SD card. The screen just goes black.
These pictures are not even in the phones memory they are on a Micro SD card!

Well T-Mobile is sending me another phone.
I hope this new phone lasts much longer. Maybe the one i got was just a lemon.
After all the positive reviews i have read about this phone i guess i just got the one dud.
I will do a follow up on this review and hopefully for all the Garmin Asus fans out there i will be changing my review from a negative to a positive.
But for now a phone that only lasted for three months is just not cool.
Good luck.

Excellent GPS Phone March 30, 2011

Reviewer:  Jagdeep S Sandhu  (Grapevine, Texas USA) -

When it comes to navigation, this phone is a winner. You can use Garmin or Google Navigation. As long as Garmin keeps up with the software updates, there will be navigation choices. I was having to charge the phone twice/thrice a day since the battery would drain out very quickly. To conserve battery life, I switch off GPS and 3G when it is not needed. With these turned off, phone just sips battery! The beauty is that 3G can be turned off with Garmin Navigation. The voice quality is good. The camera is only 3 MP, but remember this is a nav phone not a multimedia phone. Garmin-Asis could make Android 2.3 update available for this phone, which would allow the use of Flash and Firefox 4 mobile browser. I got mine with Android 2.1 factory installed.

Love it January 19, 2011

Reviewer:  Katie 

I've had my phone for about 6 months now, and I still love it!
This was my first smart phone after years of Zach-Mores and flip phones, so to say I'm a beginner is putting it gently. This has lots of capabilities. The large screen is great for e-mail and gaming. The GPS is amazing. I love that it shows up to the minute trafic, and uses this info to choose which direction it will take you the quickest.
No, it's not the BEST droid out there at this minute, however, in a month any of them will be out-dated (such is the way with technology). Another con is that you cannot personalize the home screen. Well, it would look unprofessional if I had a picture of my dog in a tu-tu anyways, so I'm fine with the standard home screen. Also, while using the GPS, the battery life goes way down. Guess what, GPS's don't last very long without a charge on thier own, what makes you think one that had all these other cool bells and whistles could? Plug it in and get over it.

I Love this phone!! November 19, 2010

Reviewer:  Jonathan  (Texas) -

What can I say...nothing bad about this phone thats for sure. First of all, I was looking for a phone that had a great GPS, I'm a pilot and I know Garmin is top of the line...so I went with this phone. I travel alot and this phone is the best for getting anywhere you need to go. I've had alot of people tell me they don't even know why Garmin made this phone...why not just use google maps? Well, the difference is HUGE. I drove around and compared my wife's My Touch with talking goole maps and many times it had me taking weird routes for no reason.

When I get in my car I snap it into the cradle it comes with that goes on my windshield, let it charge as I drive. when i get a call and answer it, and it automatically goes to speaker phone, I have a Cobra with a stick so that is very nice. I initially was going to take this phone back beccause i thought maybe the samsung vibrant was the way to go, but the more I used this phone the more I liked it...so now I'm keeping it, plus they just came out with the 2.1 upgrade!!

Good Phone + Good GPS = Excellent combo November 14, 2010

Reviewer:  GoBama92 

I have had the Garminfone for 3 months now and I have fell in love with it. When I bought it, I was originally only looking for a GPS unit. Then I stumbled across this bad boy and thought I'd give it a try since it combines PDA/GPS/Phone into ONE tight little package. The GPS maps are stored on board and do not require a data connection when driving (a must when driving through areas with limited/no cell coverage). It also has wi-fi and bluetooth to connect with my car audio system.

The Garminfone is excellent for travel too since you don't have to take a separate GPS unit with you. If you have your phone, you have your GPS...all the time.

Awesome GPS, Great PDA, Decent Phone October 23, 2010

Reviewer:  Kimme "Kimme"  (Northern USA) -

Garmin has been a leader in the personal GPS market for almost a decade, and the android OS platform is quickly becoming the leader in the smart phone OS market. Combining the two is genius! However, there is still a lot to be desired with this phone.

The Android OS system has a very different interface than any other Android phone I have ever used or seen. There is no 3, 5 or 7 panel home screen, like the HTC Android phones have (The G1, G1 MyTouch and MyTouch Slide) or the Samsung Android phones. Instead of a pull up dock (found on every Motorola, HTC, or Samsung Android phone I have ever seen) a side swipe dock is the mode of access for almost all the apps. A up-down scroll of widgets and three icons phone, maps, and point to point GPS are the home screen. Die-hard Android fans, and programmers would find this set up pesky and an odd adjustment.

Call quality on this phone is not the best, but most people text or email and use bluetooth headsets now so this is not really an issue. Additionally this phone does NOT have a 3.5 mm headset jack which makes listening to music a little more difficult since you can't just plug in any set of head phones. The stock MP3 player is not terribly sophisticatec, but does not run down the battery like many other MP3 players on Android Phones that waste energy displaying album covers constantly. There is no external flash on the camera, however, the built in flash works better than most other built in flashes I have seen on a three mega pixel camera. I have no issues with signal, or with the WiFi-both get great reception. I have had issues pairing this phone with different bluetooth headsets, and with my computer to transfer data. Although it claims to support data transfer-I get errors on both my Mac and Windows machines when attempting to transfer music and pictures via bluetooth. Pairing with a bluetooth headset has also taken some practice, but after a few tries I have been able to pair with headsets and stereo bluetooth devices.

Battery life on this phone is the best I have ever seen for an Android phone! Perhaps it is because of the simple menu, and other power saving measures but this is one of the things Garmin really got right. The display is also very bright and beautiful, and the application icons appear larger than on other Android phones. Additionally, the direction pad functions very well and is not overly sensitive like trackballs can be. The function icons on the base of the phone (menu-call-home-back) can be overly sensitive. Many times I have barely brushed the phone key and have been taken to the dial pad.

Many of the applications that are unique to the Garmin, like "Where Am I, Flight Status, Ciao, Traffic Search, and Places" work very well and have updates not through the network data plan but through the GPS system (in some cases). Just like other Android Phones, there are annoying stock applications that cannot be deleted like the Facebook application.

Overall, I really love this phone more than any Android phone I have used, but many hard-core Android phone fans need to realize the setup is entirely different than what you are used to and this phone is first and fore-most a GPS. Unlike other phones, the turn by turn direction speaker is very loud and easy to understand. I would recommend this phone to an individual who needs a new a new GPS, and would like a new phone-not the other way around.

very good January 1, 2013

Reviewer:  Summer Storm 

This is a great phone, and I love the GPS on it. This does everything I want easily and quickly. The speaker phone for music is great too. The seller got it here fast and well packaged. I did buy a protective cover just for safety reasons cause I am hard on phones.

this has been a protracted bad experience. May 12, 2012

Reviewer:  Ron Henson  (Los Angeles, USA) -

The phone was purported to be in new condition. It arrived without the car mount and it has been difficult to find a universal mount that works. Further, when I first received the phone, the battery held a charge for about 30 mins. The merchants were supposed to replace the battery...still waiting. As time has passed (I've had the phone for about a month) the battery now holds a charge for about ten mins making it a nice paper weight (but not really much good for anything else). In retrospect, I would have been a lot better off with a brand new phone. It's better to pay more and avoid all this hassle.