SOLVED: What Are The Differences Between The Garmin Drive GPS Products?

We have been looking at car GPS systems for some time and for a variety of reasons have settled on Garmin products.  However, Garmin has a lot of product and they do a very poor job of explaining the differences between them.  So we spent 2 hours grinding through Garmin.com and other sites trying to create a list of the meaningful differences between the current generation “Garmin Drive” products.  Below is the product Garmin GPS feature table we developed.

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GARMIN DRIVE NOTES:

Before you get to the table be aware that there are a few gotcha’s:

1. Garmin has several model updates to their DRIVE line.  In particular, they released the “Garmin Drive 50” line in 2016 and the “Garmin Drive 51” line in January 2017.  We expect a “52” line by the end of 2018, so be careful with your selection.
2. On some of the older “50” line, only US maps are included and you need to buy a slightly different model with both Canada and US maps.  The “51” line seems to include Canada and US as standard, but we recommend you confirm before purchasing
3. There are 5″ and 6″ models for all but DRIVE ASSIST (which only has a 5″) so make sure you are getting the model you want

We settled on the Garmin DriveAssist because it has a front facing webcam that:

1. records everything that happens in front of the car
2. provides the driver with several useful safety features like lane departure and collision avoidance

If you want to see a video of the unboxing, core configuration and review of the Garmin DriveAssist 51, we have ours HERE.

Take note that we are not Garmin experts so, while it is unlikely, it is possible there are mistakes in the table.  If you are using this table for a purchase decision, please double check your specs before buying.

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GARMIN DRIVE PRODUCT COMPARISON GRID:

We highlighted the main features of the current generation “51” line we thought you would care about.

Feature	Garmin Drive	Garmin DriveSmart	Garmin DriveAssist	Garmin DriveLuxe
Lifetime Live Traffic data from FM???	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Lifetime Live Traffic data from Cell	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Lifetime Live Parking Data	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
WiFi For Updates	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Smartphone App	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Voice Activated Navigation	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Bluetooth	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Display Texts  (from your cell)	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Speaker Phone (from your cell)	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Lifetime Map Updates in NA	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Two Finger Pinch & Zoom Touchscreen	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Powered Mount	No	No	No	Yes
Screen Size	5 or 6″	5 or 6″	5″	5 or 6″
Screen Resolution	480×272	480×272	480×272	800×400
Colour Screen	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
MicroSD Expansion Memory Slot	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Dashcam	No	No	Yes	No
Lane Departure Warning	No	No	Yes	No
Collision Avoidance Warning	No	No	Yes	No
Driver Alerts (i.e. sharp curve ahead)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Red Light & Speed Camera Warning	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Weather Related Routing	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Can Pair with Garmin Backup Cam	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Battery Length in Mins	60	60	30	60
Weight	170g	243g	191g	231g
Chassis Material	Plastic	Plastic	Plastic	Metal

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GARMIN DRIVE VIDEOS:

Garmin Drive 51:

 

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Garmin DriveSmart 51:

Garmin DriveAssist 51:

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Garmin DriveLuxe 51: