Garmin - Speak with Amazon Alexa

The Garmin Speak is only as good as Garmin's Navigation maps, your cell signal strength, and the interface provided. I am a huge fan of Waze and I don't think Garmin is as accurate and up to date navigation/routing-wise. To be frank, this device isn't easy to use as a GPS using only voice, but as an "echo" device this excels. You have to go to unsaved addresses using the Garmin Speak app by keying in the street address then pressing go. It has potential, but I am unsure of how quickly Garmin developers will do their part improving this device. It lacks the ability to save places aside from the 3 locations provided: Home, Work, and School. Let's dive deeper into this thing. I will review this in two separate aspects: as an Alexa device and as a navigation device. -=Setup=- If you already have an Amazon account, this will be easy to setup. You need to download the Garmin Speak app and Garmin skill to link it to your account. I was up and running in under 5 minutes. There was an update to the device immediately after linking it to my phone so I am sure this addressed some of the other concerns listed in prior reviews. You can use the provided USB cigarette lighter cord, or you can use a USB port to power this device (which I tried and it worked). The next step is to stick it to the windshield and you are done. -=Alexa Capabilities=- First, this uses the Bluetooth you established in your car or the AUX port to tap into your car speakers. There is a bit of delay (maybe 1-2 secs) before you can hear the Garmin speak in your car if you aren't already connected and listening to something. This is normal. If you like Alexa, you will like this in your car. You get all the functionality you're used to at home minus the "drop in" feature and calling using Alexa. The Alexa portion is fast and provides things like your to do list, calendar, and shopping list while you are on the road with a simple command. You have access to your home automation you have setup which is a huge plus. I can unlock my front door while it's raining so I can reduce time getting wet. I can turn on lights and turn them off with the same commands I use at home on my devices. Have you ever thought, "did I forget to lock the front door?" Using your command (if available with your lock skill), you can ask Alexa and then lock it if necessary. This whole thing works using your data through a Bluetooth connection between the Alexa app and the Garmin Speak app. This is where it can be spotty of you do not have more than 3 bars of signal. -=GPS Capabilities=- I must say I am disappointed with the entire experience as a GPS. You cannot simply say "Alexa, ask Garmin for directions to and a street address". You will be required to type it into your phone and send it to the Garmin Speak. What is the point of having a voice assistant if you still have to use your device to enter an address? Very disappointed. The GPS signal is spotty and relies heavily on your cell signal strength. If you go under 3 bars… you get the lost connection red ring of death until you get better signal. -||What I love||- + Battery Saver - I love not having to have my cell phone sucking up battery with the screen on for directions. This uses its own power source and uses Bluetooth transitions which saves your phone. + HUD Display - You can put this literally ANYWHERE you want as long as your USB cord can reach. It provides clear instructions including lane guidance and a green ring to get your attention when a turn is coming up. + Alexa - I just love Alexa and having it with me on the go is a major plus. It makes any car smart. I am a sales person who travels and I like hearing my agenda and to do list while my eyes are on the road. + Home Automation Access - You get access to your home automation through your Alexa skills you have setup. -||What I Would Change||- - Garmin Speak app - I won't be too hard on this, but the app is SOOOOOOO BASIC. There isn't much you can do with it. It doesn't integrate with Alexa and you have to remember the correct syntax to get it to work. Using "Alexa, enable Garmin" seems to help with voice directions since it prompts you for where you want to go. - Audio Routing - I wish Garmin would separate the directions from the Alexa/Media setting. I would rather have my Garmin Speak give directions and use my Bluetooth in my vehicle for Alexa functions and media. - No Turning off Guidance - This is a simple fix, make an option for those who do not want to hear voice guidance. There is visual feedback so audio isn't always required for every user. Not providing that simple customizable option shows a lack of planning on Garmin's part. - No Location Saving - Garmin allows you to save a Home, Work, and School address that is all! Are you telling me you don't have the option to save a place on your regular GPS units? Poor planning and execution again! - Lack of Additional Mounts - Are you telling me you thing someone will buy one of these for each car they have? Do they do that for the REGULAR GPS units you sell? You provide a removable mount and an option to mount it somewhere else. You include a simple piece of iron to mount, why not provide another so we have options? - Connectivity Issues - There must be a way to not rely on a cell phones signal strength for GPS positioning. You are using Bluetooth from the phone for everything including data transmission, there has to be another way for GPS position information. - Uses Cell Data - Unlike a regular GPS unit, this uses data from your cell phone plan. If you are one of those who do NOT have unlimited data like I do, this may not be for you. -=The Verdict=- With all the negatives here, why will I keep it? I believe this product will be better with time since it is Garmin's first attempt at Alexa in a car. Most of my complaints are with the software. Software can easily be updated and so can the Garmin skill. There will be bugs, and if you are an early tech adopter you know this. Short and sweet, buy if you want Alexa on the road with you… wait if you need a GPS unit or just buy a standard GPS device.

The Garmin Speak is an interesting product from Garmin. It combines Garmin’s strengths of navigation with Amazon’s Alexa technology to provide a voice driven navigation experience. First of all, I’m a huge fan of Alexa. My interest in this product was less for day to day navigation needs and much more about brining Alexa, and it’s existing integrations. Alexa in the car is a game changer, and while some manufacturers are bringing it to their cars, Garmin can add it right now though this tiny little device. And when I say tiny, it really is quite small. It’s only around 1” in diameter with a similar length. The included power cord is long enough to pretty much run anywhere. I mounted mine with the included sticky pad beside the rear view mirror and had feet of power cord to spare even after running it in the headliner and down the a-pillar and across the dash. Other than a spare sticky pad, and some included documentation, that’s pretty much all that’s in the box. You have the choice of running audio either using auxiliary or use your phone’s Bluetooth audio. Since my car doesn’t have an auxiliary I use the Bluetooth capability. That’s not much of a disadvantage due to the fact the device relies on Bluetooth from your phone to have a data connection. Once you start your car, it takes about 10-15 seconds for the device to be ready. You need to use the Garmin Speak app to connect up initially, and the device may need to update its software (which could take a minute or two) during next startup, but generally this process is pretty smooth. Once started up it announces itself via a tone and a message. The message is displayed on the small round 1” OLED screen. This screen has a decent resolution and great contrast. Due to the white on black - even in bright light, this screen is quite visible. This screen provides basic messages, but is primarily used for the Garmin navigation feature. As with almost any Alexa device, it has an array of LEDs forming a ring around the outside of the screen that provides visual feedback of when the device is listening and is also leveraged for navigation. The Alexa functionality works wonderfully (for the most part). If you are a prolific Alexa user, you will instantly appreciate the access to Amazon music via voice, home automation, and many other apps that is part of the ecosystem. I can’t emphasize how huge this is. Being able to turn on my outdoor garage lights as I approach home is a feature that’s hard to appreciate until you use it. Asking for jokes or my son’s favorite song is just as seamless as at home. If you follow the recommended mounting procedure the device does a great job,even in a somewhat noisy car. What’s most surprising is how well this device works given it must pipe its data through my cell phone. The fluidity and seamlessness are pretty incredible. As for the Garmin navigation feature, it’s quite good once you get a route. It makes great use of both the screen and the LED array. You get voice prompts in decent natural language, lane guidance using the screen, and distance to turn via the LED ring, which turns fully green starting from the bottom up to the top as the turn is approached. These touches make for a smooth experience and bring most of what a full GPS can give you. Another benefit of being connected is re-routing when traffic jams occur. I had this happen when heading home from an event. I arrived home 15 minutes earlier than my wife leaving from the same event. However, there are some rough edges. Probably the worst is getting guidance started. First of all you need to have Alexa ‘ask Garmin’ to utilize the navigation feature. That in and of itself isn’t horrible, but it surfaces essentially only a POI search. While POIs are important for a GPS, I find my usage scenarios to be more address specific. To put an address in the GPS, you need to use the Garmin Speak app, and type in the address. If you’re searching for a POI, you might get some crazy suggestions depending on what the Garmin’s POI search could find. For instance I could not find my workplace, even though I work at a Fortune 500 company. Searching for a chain restaurant in a city might return locations closer to you geographically, but not the one you’re heading for. The rough edges carry over to the Alexa functionality as well. More than once I’ve been prompted about a poor data connection - however only in poor cell coverage areas. The worst rough edge for me seems to be related to issues with audio apps on the iPhone. If I ask Alexa to play music 95% of the time the device prompts me to ‘open the Speak app’ as another app has control of audio. This occurs even when the Speak app is the running app. On the nit picky side, sometimes the Alexa voice feedback doesn’t seem quite as timed as on a native device. All in all, as a first generation effort, this product does a great job. I’m sure software issues will be figured out over time, however some of these may be platform related to mobile devices. A dedicated connection for data would be ideal, but probably expensive, unless we could get Amazon to convince carriers to have lifetime data like they do for their kindle e-readers. Either case, it works extremely well given how it has to work data wise. The Garmin navigation is quite good once you’re locked in, but it would be nice to be able to speak an address instead of having to manually enter it. If you can live with some of the rough edges, Alexa in the car is an amazing experience.

Okay, I really like the idea of a small GPS device that can be interfaced with your phone, and can do much much more. The setup and apps needs help for people who are not in the mood for a more complex arrangement. You will need the Garmin Speak app, and the Alexa app, you'll still need to connect it to a computer so it can download any updates - if not, you'll continue to see a nag screen about connecting to a computer each time it powers up. My feeling is that if Garmin needs Alexa to run, there should be a single app that is developed so only a single app is being dealt with - and also, the app should not have to be open to make this device be able to be used. Too many times we close our apps on our phones before bed, but don't want to have to leave one of them open, let alone two of them, for a product to work as we rush off to work or elsewhere. Now, that all said, this has so much to offer, that the 2 app and leaving apps open thing may be worth it. You can use Alexa from Amazon as you would at home - it is linked to your Amazon account. You also link this to Pandora for example, so you can play music through that or your Amazon music app. Directions and traffic are courtesy of Garmin. This has a real GPS device inside of it, so it knows where you are based on the device, not your phone. Your phone is a conduit to the Garmin and Alexa worlds, using bluetooth to connect to the device and your phone's data plan will carry the data back and forth. You will get turn by turn directions, traffic delays, and all done through words vs. having to look at your phone's screen - a safety thing for sure. But also less complicated. You can ask Alexa to tell jokes, provide trivia, order something you forgot to order, play music, and the million other things Alexa can do for you -or you can ask her to get you directions, tell you the weather, and whatever else. It comes with a power cord to plug into a cigarette lighter plug, and has a jack to plug into the aux outlet in your car if you don't have bluetooth audio on the radio that is in your car. It has a window glass sticker that holds the device on via a heavy duty magnet. You can attach to the glass and then take it down via a magnet when it is time to bring inside or put in the glove box. Is this a worthy device for most? Yes! If you don't have the time or patience to run two apps, keep two apps open to allow this to work, etc. then you should consider other options to prevent yourself from being frustrated. It has countless benefits, yes. And it can provide hands free many things you would need to open by pressing apps and keys on your phone, a serious safety risk. This presents you with a safety device that will allow you to go through your travels more safely than tapping buttons on your phone or staring at your phone. Its voice recognition is very good, and responds to these words quite well.

Look, there seems to be a lot of negativity surrounding this device from not only reviews here on Amazon as well as other places like tech sights. Here’s the deal, most of these were shared back when the Garmin Speak first hit the market. That brings us to today, and the Garmin Speak has vastly improved. I highly suggest that you give this a chance. I am a huge Alexa fan and before I installed the Speak in my car, I had an Echo Dot in there. The Echo Dot was/is a fantastic device and it works really well in the car but it’s a bit big (even for the Dot). So when I saw the Speak, I was initially intrigued but put off by the negative reviews. I decided to wait. And a few months later, the big complaints that were voiced have been addressed, updated and improved. I don’t use the Speak for GPS navigation much. I have tried it a few times and it works well but I primarily bought this as an Echo Dot replacement. I use it to control my music, get my news briefings, play games (Jeopardy is fun!) and pretty much everything else that Alexis does. And it does it wonderfully. I haven’t experienced the lag that others shared and it’s just as instant as my Dot. Granted I have had full signal on my phone which is what the Speak relies upon but I don’t think it’s fair to ding the device based on a poor connection. Your mileage will vary depending on your cellular data connection. The Speak plays wonderfully through my Bluetooth car stereo and upon boot up (car start), it takes about 20 seconds on my time to receive the “Garmin Ready” notification. One thing I experienced on my Dot installed in my car was that many times, it wouldn’t connect at all and would drop the connection entirely causing me to have to go through the entire setup process. I do not experience this on the Speak at all. The OLED screen is nice and unobtrusive which some might not like. It’s not meant to be large and in your face. The overall device footprint is small, very small and I was quite surprised at how small the thing actually is. And due to that, the mounting options are vast. I have installed mine on the front headliner, on the overhead dome light control. There’s a perfect spot to stick the magnet and I ran the cable through the headliner and hard wired it so there’s no big and bulky car charger. Nice and clean. It was reported that third party cables wouldn’t work however I can assure you that it works perfectly. Keep in mind that if you need to use an AUX port for audio then you WILL need to use the supplied car charger as it has the AUX port built in. For Bluetooth users, go nuts with another cable for a cleaner install. Overall this thing is excellent and if you’re an Amazon Alexa user, this is a great option for your in car system. Like I said, I didn’t touch much on the GPS as I use Waze on my phone but the times I have used the Garmin service, it’s worked wonderfully. It does take a bit of adjusting to not having a full screen map view but it’s not all that bad. And the device lighting up green and filling the circle as you get closer to your turn helps a lot of the uncertainty of just navigation arrows.

My older Jeep Wrangler does not have a fancy touch screen or navigation system. I don't want to spend hundreds of dollars to upgrade the radio, so I was excited to add some basic "smart" functionalities with the Garmin Speak. After a long weekend road trip, here are my thoughts: OVERVIEW: - The device is a smaller version of an Echo Dot -- maybe the size of a couple of quarters. The display is basically text-only with some small graphics shown. The included power cable is long enough to allow you to place the Speak anywhere on your windshield. - Once powered on, you'll have to pair the Speak with your phone via Bluetooth. From there, you can pair the device with your car's Bluetooth or use an AUX connection for audio. If you have neither, there is a tiny speaker that is good enough for providing basic voice directions. - Setup is done through the Garmin Speak app. You'll need an Amazon account as well, and you'll need to enable the Garmin skill in your Amazon Alexa account. PROS: - If you're a heavy user of an Amazon Echo or other Alexa-enabled device, then you'll have no problem controlling the Garmin Speak. The device has almost all of the same basic features as an Echo, including Amazon Music, Spotify, Nest Thermostat control, shopping lists, etc. I used most of these features during a recent holiday road trip and they worked flawlessly (as long as my phone had a decent cellular signal). - The microphone does a great job of understanding my voice, even on noisy roads. - The Speak gives simple and clear turn-by-turn directions and uses easy-to-see icons to provide lane guidance and distance until next turn. You can easily program home, work, and school addresses as navigation shortcuts. - I love the compact size of the Speak. Even in the center of my windshield, I don't find it overly bothersome. This will, of course, vary by car. - The OLED display is crisp and clear. It's perfectly visible during the day and is not overly bright at night. CONS: - The Speak is also a navigation device. Garmin's GPS units are typically easy to use, but the Speak has a rather steep learning curve. It works, but it's awkward, at best. You have to tell Alexa to "Ask Garmin" to navigate somewhere. Also, if you miss the confirmation screen, the Speak might take you to the wrong location. Say you want to go to a certain Best Buy, but the Speak automatically defaults to the closest Best Buy. In these cases, you'll have to use the Garmin Speak app on your phone to make sure you're navigating to the correct place. Simply put: outside of your saved addresses, I wouldn't feel comfortable starting navigation without first checking the Garmin app. - The device relies on your phone's GPS and cellular connections, so if you lose either of those, the Speak is basically useless. - The setup experience is rather clunky, requiring two different apps, a connection to your phone, and a connection to your car. It's manageable, but I fear that less tech-savvy users will struggle with setup. OVERALL: If you love Alexa and love the idea of having Alexa in your car, the Garmin Speak might be a great addition for you. Just don't expect it to be a full-fledged navigation system. This is unquestionably more of a mini Echo than a mini Garmin. For my purposes, that's just fine. Recommended!

I have read lots of reviews and opinions on this Garmin Speak device and decided to see if this item was really good or bad. My car already has built in navigation so I wasn't necessarily looking for that capability but having Amazon Echo (Alexa) access in my car was intriguing. I made the order and received a pretty small box in the mail. I thought it would be at least Echo Dot sized, but I was wrong. This thing is SMALL. It comes with the power cord, installation items and quick start guide. I downloaded the Garmin app and powered it up. It should be noted that you need to have a good installation plan because wherever you originally place it is where it's going to stay. No put up and relocate later here, it's semi-permanent. I placed the Speak right below the rearview mirror and routing the power cable was a little tedious but I managed it. .Back to the app. It installed no issues and it found the speak right away. I got everything set up and linked it to my Amazon account. Alexa functioned just as a full sized Echo or Echo Dot would. This was just excellent having Alexa access in my car! Now I get the weather and my flash briefing while I'm on my way to work instead of waiting and listening to it at home before going to work. Now, on to the navigation side. You can use the app or you can voice control it. You have to activate Alexa first, by asking something like, "Alexa, tell Garmin to give me directions to....". That initially seemed like an unnecessary step, but in practice really didn't bother me that much. I had paired the Speak with my car's Bluetooth so all directions and other information came right over my car's speakers. You can use it stand-alone with the little speaker in the Speak but I highly recommend using Bluetooth if you can. The navigation was pretty spot on, and there is a smallish display on the Speak that gives basic info and can give minor lane guidance. It just seemed to work well for me. I know others have found issues with the Speak and specifically the Nav side but I had no issues with any of it's functions. The mere fact that I now have Alexa in my car is astounding! I have heard of others who worked a solution to have an Echo Dot in their vehicle, but this device literally kills two birds with one stone. The Navigation side was really good but the Echo implementation to me was excellent. Especially if you have a vehicle with no built in navigation system. It's so small you'll hardly no it is there. Highly recommended! Good Shopping!

I have wanted an Amazon Echo in my car since I got my first Echo in early 2015. That said, I resisted buying this device because of the obvious limitations. I hate exposed wires, and I wasn't sure I wanted to always leave my stereo on Bluetooth. I have an Echo Dot attached to a stereo at home and anytime I'm using another input I can't use the Dot. First the positives. The cable was pretty easy to tuck around the trim in my car and it's unnoticeable. After the first software update, it seems to be better at responding. Also, and this didn't seem clear in any review I'd read, but when using the Other/Bluetooth setting for audio, the sound comes from the phone, not the Speak. The Speak is more of a remote control for what's going on with the phone. This is significant because I can use either the car's Bluetooth connection or the iPod connection, which also charges the phone and is a more stable and higher quality feed, for audio. Plus, it provides track data to the radio through either connection. It is annoying to have to open the Speak app pretty much each time I get in the car in order to play music through Alexa. This is only required for playing music through an Alexa compatible source. Even without opening the app, Alexa will respond to queries, and if you try to play music, Alexa will instruct you to open the app. This may be an iOS limitation that prevents one app from taking over controls from another app without user input. I haven't said much about navigation. I didn't buy it for navigation, but I am using it, and look forward to my next road trip. My car has built in navigation, but it's cumbersome. I plan to use them in tandem, so I can see the roads on the built in system and get up to date, live traffic updates on the Speak. I think they'll be a nice combination. Plus, it's so easy to request it to navigate home, that I do it on every trip now just to get the ETA and warnings about any traffic issues. Spotify is noticeably missing still, but it's supposed to come in a future update. I think this device has a great deal of promise. It puts my favorite voice assistant in my favorite car.

Garmin was once a leader in navigation products. I remember when one would have to hide their navigation device so it wouldn't get stolen from the vehicle. Then smartphones came along and included navigation apps for free that are very smart and up to date with live traffic, automatic rerouting, lane assistance, etc. If you have enough data on your data plan, these are excellent choices for navigation. Most smartphones these days also come with some sort of personal assistant built in, also for free. Just ask your phone a question and it will try to answer it for you. Then there is the Garmin Speak, which does those things, not by itself, but in tandem with your phone. A problem with this is a) it doesn't really do anything that your phone won't already do, b) it requires long wires to be run along your windshield and dash/floor to a power outlet, and c) it still uses data from your phone's data plan. There is one saving factor for this product. If you can't find a safe place to put your phone so you don't have to take your eyes off the road while driving, this product gets stuck to your windshield so your eyes can better stay on the road. The Garmin Speak works best in vehicles that have Bluetooth enabled car stereos. If you can play music wirelessly through your car stereo, then you are good to go. You can still use the Garmin Speak if you don't have that capability in your vehicle, you will just need a second wire going from the 12v outlet plug to your stereo's aux input. If you don't have an aux input for your car stereo, then you will have to listen to the Garmin through its tiny built-in speaker. Unless only Alexa's help will do (as opposed to other smartphone assistants), or if you don't have a good place to keep your phone for safe usage of its nav features, then I would pass on this item. Otherwise it may be a good fit for you.