Sprint Navigation

[sacherjj]

When I heard about the GPS navigation included with the Pre and data plan, I just assumed that it would be OK. I assumed it would work, I just didn't think it would work well. I was wrong.

Our current GPS needs are being met with two Garmin Nuvi's. The most recent being the 650, with a data update loaded within the month. I though there was no way that the Sprint Navigation could do better than the Garmin. Again, I was wrong.

I decided to use the GPS to "find" my way home from work. This experience is why I went out to collect some screen shots and write this review. I was impressed. The routing quality blows my Garmin out of the water. So does the routing speed. The work is offloaded to a fast server, rather than on a small CPU. When you divert off the given route, recalculating is nearly instantaneous. With the Garmin, it can take a few seconds. The kicker was that the routing was dead on, nearly the best way to get home. Over 20 miles with city, interstate, neighborhood, with options to come in from 3 directions. Sprint Navigation got it right.

The next surprise were the traffic alerts. These are built into the new GPS models that we haven't purchased yet, and that require a subscription. I was warned about traffic ahead and could tap the traffic icon to re-route. This re-routing took the same "short-cut" I always take home to avoid the congestion.

All during the drive, I was listening to music via Pandora. When voice prompts were given, the music was muted. If I missed a prompt, tapping the yellow icon on the top, left would repeat the current message after again muting the music.

While navigating, you can go into other apps just fine. I was in Spaz, Email, WiFi and others, when I was stopped by a train for a few minutes. The navigation icon stays in the notification bar. When tapped it indicated that navigation was still in progress and another tap takes me back to the moving map.

The map display can be configured to 2D or 3D views. 3D is nicer for highway and typical trip navigation. 2D can be more accurate and less confusing when routing in tight city streets. Both have generous zoom ranges.

Nearing my home, I was surprised by some of the voice prompts. The Garmin always announces some of the streets as County Road 600 N or County Road 500 N, etc. The Pre actually knew the street names. This is a great help. Most street signs are names, not the numbers. Being able to confirm the street name is a nice addition.

Tapping on the map screen will bring up a menu for Trip and Traffic Summary and Search Along Route. The former allows you to see a turn by turn style directions, traffic alerts along the path, or an overhead view of the route. The later is a powerful feature which is also lacking on our Garmin. We can search for items from where we are, but not along the route. This is great for food, fuel, motels, etc. In addition, a map that feels very similar to the way Google Maps displays locations is available to view relative positions of the options. The implementation is well thought out and executed.

One unexpected feature that feels currently more like a novelty is the Share Address option. This allows you to text the current navigational address to someone else. The text message suggests that using Sprint Navigation would be a great use of this address. The problem being that you can't copy the address out of the un-editable Messages field. Hopefully Palm will add copy from uneditable text soon, I'm sure they are working on it.

Will this replace the Garmin? Not quite yet. The one problem is that cell coverage is required for map data. However, we will be using the Pre for all our driving near big cities and along interstates where cell coverage is good. The Garmin is relegated to navigational duty out in the boonies.

[Gaurav]

yup...telenav is pretty nice. I particularly like how you can share a waypoint via sms to some one else. Comes in handy when you want to meet at a common place. I've been using telenav since my 800w and have been impressed...

[sivan]

It's really a good piece of software. I wonder how it was developed on the Pre, a native or Mojo app, or hybrid? AFAIK, Classic is the only native app, via a browser plugin.

Google Maps is certainly built with Mojo but they already have a framework for drawing. I'm really curious how Telenav was done.

[Lucidlore]

Believe it or not but this was one of the main motivating factors that convinced me on a pre when my contract expired as opposed to any other smart phones. I suck at directions. I don't understand why since I've been living in the same general area for 17 years, but it takes me 3-4 times longer than most people to visualize a route in my head and sometimes, i can't even do it. Remembering names of highways and important streets that i dont use on a daily basis is virtually impossible. I tried going the route of buying a gps, but i found that there is so much development in my area that the gps gets out of date fast, and i hate paying upkeep to keep it current. Plus during the summer in texas, the heat can break 100 degrees easy. Since i keep my gps in a glove compartment, if i turn it on during the day when my car has been baking in the heat for several hours, the inside is just far too hot and my gps thinks its overheating and keeps shutting down.

In short, the pre is exactly what i needed. Free GPS navigation with no upkeep costs that works just as well if not better than most of the standalone gps units. When i found out the pre had this app - and that it was free of charge, i was sold. I put it to the test last week and it worked like a charm. Took me from work to meet several friends 30 minutes away and got me there on time. It told me to take a few highways that i didn't even have a clue existed and had it died in the middle of the trip, i would have been royally screwed since i had no clue where i was lol. But, sure enough i got there. What impressed me most was the ability to stream pandora while the gps navigated, and how seamless the fade in/fade out was. Now im finding excuses to give my friends rides in the car just so they can marvel at my new toy

[chrissurra]

Nice review, I have an older tomtom that take forever to update and is really not as great as the pre nav app. I used it to drive from ny down to fla and it was great with the gas and food especially with the ratings for food.

A nice feature thats included for free.

[Loonytunes]

I like the fact that it gets map updates several times a year. My garmin updates the maps once a year and you have to pay.. I have been using telenav with my treo, and now my pre and it always seems to know where the new streets are.
I live on a new street and it is already on my phone.. Awesome. Not to mention traffic.. Even better..

[Jonathan I Ezor]

I tried it today, and it wasn't nearly as loud or clear as my Magellan, but for a free app, it was handy. It also seriously heated up the back of my Pre, as does Sprint TV. I guess the cell radio runs hot for data. {ProfJonathan}

[zyxwv88]

I was kind of meh about it. Yeah, it works, but the garmin is better, and the garmin software I used with my Mogul would do the traffic and online stuff.

For me the single worst thing about the sprint navigation is that it doesn't work if you don't have a data signal. It doesn't work AT ALL. When I was traveling after getting my Pre, I found that a good chunk of going across nebraska and wyoming has cellular signals, but no data signals, so I could only use the sprint navigation less than half the time. I ended up giving up on it entirely and going back to the Garmin. At least it works with no data signal.

Other than that it was decent. I'd still prefer having a garmin based version I could load on the phone.

[jdale]

The big screen on the Garmin Nuvi is pretty nice. On the other hand it really, really, really wants me to get off the highway as soon as possible and take streets (even though I do not have it set to avoid highways) and sometimes the routes that result are not great choices. I haven't decided yet which I like better, the Nuvi or Telenav. Telenav could be better about what it does with no signal. Smarter caching, etc.

[sacherjj]

Garmin does often really jones for a certain street. There is one section going home the I can get 20 recalculates in two miles. And the street it wants me to take is 50% slower.

[Muxo]

Originally Posted by sacherjj

Garmin does often really jones for a certain street. There is one section going home the I can get 20 recalculates in two miles. And the street it wants me to take is 50% slower.

My TomTom is the same way. And my parents and I got stuck in freeway construction because I forgot to take a alternate route vs. following the GPS. There's always lots of construction in Metro Detroit so I look forward to having a Pre and using this someday.

[arhoolie]

Originally Posted by Muxo

There's always lots of construction in Metro Detroit so I look forward to having a Pre and using this someday.

I take I-275 between M-14 and 696 to work each day. Sprint Nav wants me to get off 275 at 8-mile take Haggerty instead, even though it's set for "highway". Why it does this I haven't the slightest idea.

[ccdoss]

I like it pretty well myself. I like being able to search for stuff fairly quickly. Something I'd like to see though:
1. Local (on the phone) maps. I had the thing navigate me somewhere where there were no good Sprint signals. When I navigated there, I had a heck of a time getting back since it wouldn't route without a data signal.
2. A quick way to add the current destination to favorites.
3. A quick way to switch preferences for current route. I'm always having to clear destination, changes preferences, then reroute what I was just on.

[Eguy]

It's nothing compared to my Nuvi 755t but if I need it really quickly and I am on foot or in a place where I don't have access to my Nuvi, I think it serves the purpose pretty well + it is free.

[taalibeen]

Has anyone noticed that sprintnav voice alert tells you to turn about .3 or .2 miles before the actual turn which is confusing if there's streets in between your current location and the street you're supposed to turn on?

[Nhyde]

Overall I enjoy SprintNav - I've it in the past when we're confused in a large metro and it has worked quite well. Would it replace a Garmin? No, but it'll be my primary navigation system for 90% of my trips.

[realistdreamer]

I think the app is great. I just hope they continue to integrate it with other apps like Where and any other apps that could benefit from navigation. Right now, they go to Google maps which is a good start, but they've gotta figure a way to get that data into Nav smoothly. Contacts is a good start, but I'm afraid they're going to make it only work with native Palm apps. Let's hope not.

[Loonytunes]

I like the option to select a pedestrian route. I am out of town a lot and like the option the have it tell me to turn while I am walking.

[balboadave]

Originally Posted by taalibeen

Has anyone noticed that sprintnav voice alert tells you to turn about .3 or .2 miles before the actual turn which is confusing if there's streets in between your current location and the street you're supposed to turn on?

Do you have the option turned on that includes spoken street names?

[smithwicks]

I've been going back and forth on what to do for my next GPS. I have a Garmin StreetPilot C320 which has served me well, but it's time for a unit with Text to Speech and traffic updates. I was leaning towards a Nuvi 265WT with lifetime traffic, but after reading the positive reviews here, it has me reconsidering whether to spend the dough. Has anyone here actually replaced with their standalone units with the Pre + Sprint Nav?