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Back in the “old days,” commercial GPS (Global Positioning System) systems were mainly developed for use in your car, but oh how times have changed. These days, you can find a GPS device for almost any kind of activity you’re interested in — hiking, hunting, boating, biking and more.
See what we’ve discovered in our comprehensive GPS reviews to learn what the best GPS system is for your individual pursuits. And you may even find there are some newer bells and whistles that make these a good upgrade from Google Maps or your smartwatch.
Best GPS System Winners
You’ll notice that the majority of our best GPS winners are Garmin products. Why? Garmin dominates the GPS market. We’ve done our research to make sure, and most of their products are simply that much better than competing manufacturers.
We chose our best picks based on several factors, including pinpoint location accuracy, smart features, included maps, pricing and more.
Car| Handheld | Hiking | Hunting | Golfing | Marine
Best GPS Devices For Car
We had a hard time narrowing down a single winner for the best GPS device for your car, so we’ve chosen three of our top picks — one for the latest smart technology, one for advanced driver assistance and the last for those of you looking for a budget-friendly alternative.
Garmin DriveSmart 61 Review
The Garmin DriveSmart 61 NA LMT-S is a smart gadget lover’s dream and our pick as one of the best GPS devices you’ll find for your car. This sleek navigator features a large, bright screen, driver alerts, voice recognition and easy-to-follow directions.
But where this GPS device shines is with its smart features. When you sync your smartphone to the WiFi-connected Garmin DriveSmart, you get live traffic and live parking services, Bluetooth hands-free calling, text notifications and much more.
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- $239.99
- 1-year limited warranty
Garmin DriveAssist 51 Review
If you’re looking for driver’s assistance in a GPS device, the Garmin DriveAssist 51 is the best GPS navigation for car. How does this product differ from the Garmin SmartDrive? You get many of the same features, but this device gives you a built-in dash cam and advanced driver alerts for sharp curves, school zones, red light and speed camera warnings and more.
Camera-assisted features include forward collision warnings, lane departure warnings, garage park assist and more. If you spend a lot of time in busy traffic conditions, this device could be a perfect solution.
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Budget Pick: TomTom VIA 1515TM Review
Are you looking for a budget-friendly but reliable GPS system? The TomTom VIA 1515TM is an excellent low frills option. This GPS device gives you free lifetime map updates (U.S., Canada and Mexico), free live traffic updates, advanced lane guidance, tons of POIs, and a split screen that displays a 3D view of road signs with arrows indicating which exit to take and a ‘birds-eye’ view of upcoming complex intersections.
While the TomTom 1515 vocalizes directions, it doesn’t have voice recognition. And you don’t get Bluetooth connectivity with this model.
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- Check Amazon for availability
- Available screen sizes: 4.3″, 5″ or 6″
- 1-year limited warranty
Best Handheld GPS Overall: Garmin Oregon 650t Review
We’ve chosen the Garmin Oregon 650t as the most accurate handheld GPS. Garmin Oregon is a great multi-purpose GPS device for hiking, hunting, biking, birding and many other outdoor activities.
This model has a three-inch touchscreen that can even be used with gloves in freezing or wet weather. Using both GPS and GLONASS satellite positioning, the Garmin Oregon quickly and precisely pinpoints your exact location. It also features a three-axis compass, accelerometer and barometric altimeter and comes loaded with 100,000 topographical maps.
The 650t model has a built-in digital camera and 4MB of memory, expandable with a microSD card to load more maps.
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Best Hiking GPS: Garmin GPSMAP 64st Review
The Garmin GPSMAP 64st gets our nod for the best hiking GPS device. This handheld GPS navigator shares a lot of the same features with the Garmin Oregon and eTrex models. We love this device for hiking for its compact size and the fact that you get a one-year BirdsEye Satellite Imagery subscription, which is a serious hiker’s dream, on top of 100,000 pre-loaded topographic maps.
BirdsEye details include national, state and local parks/forests, trails, terrain contours, elevation information, rivers points of interest and more. Plus, you get ANT+Bluetooth connectivity, a 3-axis electronic compass and barometric altimeter, all for a competitive price.
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Best Hunting GPS: Garmin eTrex Touch 35 Review
The Garmin eTrex Touch 35 Handheld GPS Navigator is our pick for the best GPS for hunting or biking, although it’s also another great multi-purpose GPS device (it includes activity profiles for climbing, hiking, hunting, biking, geocaching, fishing and more).
The eTrex shares many of the same features as the Oregon, including dual GPS and GLONASS, a three-axis compass and barometric altimeter, and it too comes loaded with 100,000 topographic maps. But several features may appeal to hunters, namely its smaller size (2.6-inch touchscreen) which can fit into a pocket or be used with a handy backpack tether add-on.
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Best Golf GPS Device: Bushnell Neo Ion Golf GPS Watch Review
Yes, there are even GPS devices to assist you with your golf game, and our top pick is the Bushnell Neo Ion Golf GPS Watch for its solid set of features at a competitive price.
Like other golf GPS watches, the Bushnell Neo Ion gives you the yardage to the front, middle, and back of the green, but it also provides an impressive battery life and robust features like a shot distance calculator, auto hole advance, auto course recognition and more.
Another big plus? This GPS golf watch is tournament legal.
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Best Marine GPS: Simrad Go7 Xse Chartplotter Review
The Simrad Go7 Xse Chartplotter is our pick for the best boating GPS system. As you might imagine, marine GPS systems are a whole different breed from other GPS devices. Features you might want to include a chart plotter, a fishfinder, sonar for shallow waters, waypoint management and more.
The Simrad gives you all of these features and more. This device functions as a full-featured chart plotter, with support for the widest available range of cartography options including C-MAP MAX-N, Navionics, Insight, Insight Genesis, and NV Digital charts. And you can set and record your destinations with its easy-to-use waypoint management.
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Video: Garmin GPS In Motion
In our GPS comparison reviews, we’ve included many Garmin products. Want to know how easy it is to update your Garmin system? Watch the brief video below, which shows you how simple it is to update all of your maps.
GPS: From Life Saver To Ride Sharer
Whether you’re hiking in the wilderness or on a long road trip, it’s better to be safe than sorry. And there may be places your GPS comes in handy more than you might expect. We’ve been hearing from Lyft and Uber drivers, for example, that using their own GPS makes their driving experience that much more seamless.
Where are you going to use your GPS?
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Don’t most phones have good enough GPS in them? And smart watches now too!