For “TheGearDude” Spencer Hill, dust is his vacation spot. The journey rider just lately added zūmo™ XT to his off-road expertise within the Pacific Northwest. Right here’s a snapshot from Spencer’s evaluation on XLADV.com.
Out of the Field: The 5.5’’ responsive, glove pleasant, glare-free touchscreen is spectacular, and the zūmo XT’s lack of bulk made it straightforward to mount above the show on my KTM 790. I selected to mount it within the “portrait” orientation as a substitute of “panorama” due to its location on my bike, however I do know will probably be an interesting possibility for some.
Seamless Setup (setup required): I downloaded Garmin’s native Garmin Specific™ and BaseCamp™ apps, together with the Garmin Drive™ app on my cellphone, however it was principally painless. I paired zūmo XT with my Garmin inReach® Mini*, Sena 50K BLUETOOTH® headset, and Apple® iPhone with no points and shockingly little problem. The truth is, the XT’s integration with my exterior gadgets was most likely considered one of its best attributes. After preliminary setup, all of them labored collectively flawlessly and didn’t require the pairing/unpairing/machine recognition cat-and-mouse video games that I’m accustomed to with this know-how. Wi-fi updates meant that I just about had no want to attach the unit to my laptop once more, and the maps/firmware had been by no means outdated.
Constructed-in Maps for Journey Riders: One other nice shock with the XT was the built-in maps. North America on-road and off-road come preloaded, and you too can use BirdsEye Satellite tv for pc Imagery as nicely. These maps proved to be adequate for my makes use of; the road maps by no means let me down. Wi-fi updates meant that I just about had no want to attach the unit to my laptop once more and the maps/firmware had been by no means outdated.
Usability: … one of the best ways to explain the zūmo XT is SLICK! Getting turn-by-turn instructions wile skipping via my Spotify® playlists was one thing I used to be not accustomed to with my earlier stone-age Montana! The truth is, the music “view” was considered one of my favorites once I wasn’t navigating, displaying the album cowl within the background, with the opposite particulars within the foreground. This all felt similar to a contemporary automotive stereo, nearly too good for a dressed-up dust bike.
Standout Options: One other characteristic that I grew to like was the “Go Residence” button that routinely calculated a route again to my programmed house tackle. As soon as navigating, you would select to show a number of choices together with time/distance to vacation spot, which was nice for projecting my return. Wish to seize a espresso or burger alongside the best way? Simply hit the “The place To” button on the house display and seek for what you’re craving. With TripAdvisor® built-in, you’ll be able to choose an possibility alongside your route and simply add it as a cease whereas nonetheless maintaining the identical last vacation spot.
Keep Linked: Going to be later than anticipated? Use the hands-free calling characteristic to name house or compose an inReach message (in case you are stationary)*. The power to put/obtain calls was nice and helped me keep plugged in once I wasn’t attempting to be completely off the grid. Seeing incoming texts/calls saved me from having my cellphone mounted on the bike and even worse, pulling it out of a pocket whereas driving. I discovered the diminished pace zones and hazard notifications significantly helpful once I was slabbing round.
Extra to Love: Truthfully, this unit is sort of a clown automotive in the case of options: Reside visitors and climate (if you find yourself inside cell protection); inbuilt: HISTORY® database Channel POIs, campgrounds, U.S. nationwide parks listing, and extra; Garmin Adventurous Routing™ for extra attention-grabbing methods to get to/out of your vacation spot; wi-fi sharing of routes, in addition to wi-fi import/export of tracks; direct-to-device downloads of BirdsEye Satellite tv for pc Imagery with no annual subscription; monitor recorder for documenting/sharing/re-riding your favourite routes.
Abstract: I feel that the zūmo XT is among the greatest GPS models presently accessible for journey driving. With its suite of helpful options and seamless integration with different good gadgets, it acts extra like an leisure system than a conventional GPS … it did every thing that I wanted it to (and extra), altering my perspective on what roles an onboard GPS unit might truly fill. Additionally, I got here away impressed that Garmin listened to rider suggestions and at last gave our section a worthwhile benchmark. I, for one, am tremendous excited to see the place they go subsequent!
Spencer Hill is well-known within the journey driving business for offering high quality critiques. Learn his full zūmo XT in-depth evaluation, “Is it every thing you want in an off-road GPS?” Observe Spencer on Instagram @TheGearDude.
*inReach machine and lively satellite tv for pc subscription required, offered individually.
