Customer Ratings & Reviews

This Garmin was a horror to setup, it lacked the bugs of the Drivesmart 61, but hardware wise its more like Garmins standards. Forget about Tech Support if you should need it due to any dysfunctionalities. IF your computer is old or weird you may have a lot of work ahead of you an android tablet and app links no longer work, the canned software has little or no flexability with diverse condition and worse the support is lacking to help. I still and probably never will be able to use the complete power of the unit, and its not the hardware its the loss of that excellent Garmin support that makes this the LAST Garmin I will ever buy. However I still recommend it because no one really cares anymore, and many products are entering the disposable arena, I spent a good week with Garmin supposed HELP and still had to use a 1990's computers and hacking methods to reconstruct my old POI to even make this unit feasible to keep. BUT PRO: Hardware is better, internal software bugs have been ironed out, and for most its standards of quality are above expectations. CONS: You better be up to date, and the internet instructions had better be good enough, also the won't last 5 years, you will probably need to keep it plugged in to use in under 2 years of reasonable operation (Drivesmart issue) However a decent GPS is indispensable. Duf

I like the bigger size, makes it easier to find and see in traffic. I wish it had an instruction booklet with it in the box to better explain the features. Easy to transfer all your old addresses from your last Garmin. I still prefer the Garmins over other brands for a stand alone mobile navigator.

Used to replace a well used 6+ year old model. I liked the color presentation on the older version. the new one is washed out pastel colors, the legacy one was stronger more vibrant colors. The voice commands on the new model have a nicer look up tree, but the voice recognition algorithm is not as good. The results of a lookup are usually unusable. For example: if I ask for an Italian restaurant 5 miles up the road, it starts with places 30 miles up the road goes up from there. There is a forced "DING" when the speed limit changes or when approaching a school zone. I would prefer to have the ability to silence these alarms. After all, I live in the county and they have been there for 30+ years. If the unit can store my home, why can't it ask me to silence alarms within ______ miles of my home, and let me fill in the desired distance.

My car came with navigation and android auto, yet neither stack up against this device. I was fed up with the out-dated navigation that wouldn't update without $100. Android Auto would cause an unpleasant phone shutdown glitch upon arrival, took a ton of data, & offline Google Maps was incredibly inaccurate. So back to Garmin, I appreciate it's accuracy, destination stays on the screen, consistent about informing driver on which side of the street your destination is on. I also like how you can copy and paste your destination from another app in your phone, into their app, then bam! You're ready to roll. There are a couple things I wish it could do, (or make more obvious that it can do.) 1. Multiple destinations - not super intuitive and I still haven't figured out if it can determine the shortest route the way Google Maps does. 2. Bluetooth doesn't remember my preferences, so I have to tell it that my car will handle my calls (each time) 3. Ideally, this would be an add-on to my head unit. That way I don't need multiple screens. If that's a thing, they should amp up their marketing about it.

Has a lot of driving aid information, including weather radar that could be accessed by verbal commands. Also Bluetooth connects to watch/phone for receiving messages. Another plus is the large size screen which benefits us older glass wearing drivers.

Bought this one after many tries of several other smaller garments for my mother who needed a bigger visual. It’s clear and you can hear it when it’s telling you to turn. I guess the one thing I wish it would do or haven’t figured out how to do is that you could list your places alphabetically in your safe spots it just seems to come up how you put them in there. Unless someone knows how to do this let me know. Anyway it works well and we bought a different device that holds it on the dash of her car without any issues and we’re very pleased with it overall. The store manager was awesome and helped take this one out after hearing about the challenges we had with updating the older two models that we had tried previously

This newer version has better tactile response, much quicker, and easier to input addresses. I do miss the dashboard having mute and cancel on the main screen. The large screen is much easier to view and has better graphics in general. I would recommend this unit.

I recently updated my 10 year old device with a 5 inch screen. The difference in the screen size and clarity is awesome. The device has several nice features such as approaching school zones, speed limits and notification when you go above the posted limit. Very easy to use and updates are easy via WiFi.

Bought this for my husband, for his birthday. He is so pleased with the screen size and ease of use. It was a replacement for his old outdated one, as he is a salesman and on the road everyday. He needed a definite upgrade to show current roads etc... Very nice unit.

I have been using this product and find it easy to read and view with my older eyes. The driving instructions are timely and the freeway lane indications are great. It took me a little bit to get used to how to navigate all the button selections. Overall a great product I highly recommend!

I upgraded my garmin gps to this unit… so glad I did! Easy to use, size it perfect and great price. Love it!!

Easy to set up. Accurate. Drove from Chicago to Tennesse with no problem. At one point I was automatically rerouted to avoid a traffic accident and avoided a projected 40 minute delay.

My 76 yr old mother loves this and finds it so easy to use. Her car doesn’t have built in navigation screen. This is a great alternative. Large, easy to read screen. Links with her cell phone creating hands-free calling. Voice commands make it easy to use while driving.

The Garmin Drive Smart 65 was initially easy to set up. I transferred data from my previous model. The directional aspect is very good. However, the need to download another new app for support wasn’t pleasant. You have to learn the system. The Bluetooth connection can be iffy at best. Connection will automatically connect to my phone - both DS 65, and App to DS65 then it all disconnects, and you have to start over again. The DS 65 app didn’t connect to myGarmun account until my third use. The DS65 app does provide weather and traffic in real-time. I may have to contact Gamin for these issues. As a stand alone GPS, the display is the best out of all the Garmin’s I’ve owned over the past 20 years; very clear and offer topography as well. This unit also wirelessly connects to get updates. A big plus! I would still recommend connecting to a computer via wired connection to back the unit up.

I've had a lot of these over the years and this is, by far, the best one ever. Since so many new cars have Bluetooth built in, those features are almost overkill, but if you are using it in an older vehicle, you'll appreciate that too. I recently used it for a lot of interesting travel through Alaska and was very please with the complete data. My only complaint was that the volume could be a bit louder. I would buy it again though.

large screen makes this easy to view anywhere that I can mount the GPS. menu is intuitive and easy to work with. Very glad I purchased this. I have used it for over a year, so this review covers a lot of usage.

GPS works well for finding locations. However, some times it seems to take a little time to acclimate to begin route and also the voice command has not recognized what I ask for as well as I think it should. Maybe it is a sensitivity setting I need to adjust. I am still new at using it.

Excellent and easy to use features. Screeen large easy to see and read. All positve comments…

I own an earlier version of this model and I love it, so I bought this one for my wife. I like the large, sharp display. I'm retired so this is easier on my eyes. As an aside, this technology still blows me away. Back in the day I traveled a lot for business (pre internet) and had to navigate strange cities using only maps. GPS makes that effortless now.

I give this product a 4.5 rating. It is very good and provides all that you should need to travel to unknow places. The only disappointment I have it you have to purchase a backup camera to use this option. It cost over $100.00 dollars. I guess it was my mistake in that I thought it was included. I have owned Garmin GPS before and I was very happy with it and its capability to get me where I wanted to go. My wife is very happy with the size of the display.