Garmin Zumo XT Motorcycle GPS Review

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The Garmin Zumo XT is a motorcycle-specific GPS, which offers full functionality, fast response, and a full color 5.5’’ TFT HD (1280×720 pixels) display for a delightful user experience, everything at an affordable price-point.

On top of that, this state-of-the-art GPS can duplicate your smartphone features in a glove-compatible form, which is kind of cool if you come to think about it. Moreover, this tiny device is blazing fast, boots almost instantly and connects to the GPS constellation reasonably fast, while arriving with North American or European maps preloaded, depending on your geographical location.

Routing is almost smartphone-fast, which is rare in a motorcycle-centric GPS,  and you’ll get literally millions of points of interest, plus an awesome built-in Trip Advisor with ratings. Finally, the Garmin Zumo XT comes loaded with apps and various third-party software which make it useful beyond navigation.

Garmin Zumo XT

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Specifications

• Height: 3.5 inches
• Width: 5.8 inches
• Depth: 1.0 inch
• Weight: 9.2 ounces
• Waterproofing rating: IPX7
• Drop rating: MIL-STD-810
• Display size: 4.8 x 2.7 inches (5.5 inches diagonally)
• Display resolution: 1280 x 720 pixel
• Battery: Rechargeable lithium-ion
• Battery life: 3.5 hours at 100-percent backlight

Features

Here’s what makes the Garmin Zumo XT different from its competitors: first, the retail box comes with useful accessories besides the GPS itself: a car mount kit, universal bike mount, power cable, charging cable, plus lifetime access to Europe/US maps and lifetime traffic and route updates.

Moving along with our story, the Zumo XT features Seamless Setup, so you can pair it easily with your smartphone via the Garmin Drive app, or a Bluetooth helmet, and anything in between. The installation/pairing process works shockingly fast even if you’re not very tech-savvy, with almost zero hassle. Integration with external devices is arguably one of the best attributes of the Zumo XT, and everything works flawlessly after the initial setup phase.

Moreover, since you’ll benefit from free wireless updates, you’ll never have to connect the GPS to your computer/laptop, while firmware/software/maps will get updated automatically.

We must mention the built-in maps for “adventure riders”. What does it mean, you asked? Well, this cool GPS comes with preloaded on-road and off-road, depending on your geographical location, and that’s great news for off-road bikers. On top of that, you can always use BirdsEye Satellite Imagery, and the street maps feature is as good as gets.

In terms of usability, the Zumo XT is as slick as they come and easy to live with, meaning that you’ll get accurate turn-by-turn directions every time while skipping through your YouTube or Spotify playlist. Before you ask, yes, that means you also get a Music View feature, that displays the album cover in the background when you’re not “navigating”. Basically, the Zumo XT is as good as any modern car stereo system. Isn’t that something, folks?

Since we’re talking “visuals”, we must mention the fantastic 5.5” capacitive display, which is beautifully clear with excellent sunlight legibility. The screen is usable by gloved hands, and the sensitivity of the display can be altered depending on the thickness of your gloves. We must mention that the menus are fairly easy to navigate even with padded leather gloves.

Another feature you’ll definitely love is the Go Home button. This feature automatically calculates a “take me home” route back to a preprogrammed address, and in navigation mode, you can select from several options to be displayed on your “home screen”, stuff like time and/or distance to destination. This feature comes in handy when you get lost in the middle of nowhere, and if you want to grab a bite or a coffee during your trip back home, you just smash the Where To button and you’ll get directions to the nearest McDonalds or whatever.

Everything but the kitchen sink is built-in: you’ll have access to current weather radar within a 250-mile radius, weather forecast and current location temp plus 6-day forecast, road conditions, your music library, incoming texts/calls, hands-free calling, traffic conditions, rerouting suggestions via GPS, built-in: HISTORY® database Channel POIs, national parks directory, Garmin Adventurous Routing™ wireless sharing of routes direct-to-device downloads of BirdsEye Satellite Imagery, track recorder for documenting/sharing/re-riding your favorite routes, and many, many more.

Motorcycling is a tough sport, and the same stands true for the Zumo XT, i.e. this GPS comes with IPX7 rating, which means it meets and exceeds the industry standard for waterproofing, and it’s as tough as a coffin nail.

Battery life is pretty good too, as the Zumo XT offers up to 6 hours of autonomy, that if you don’t hook it up to your bike’s battery. The device can be also charged easily via USB.

Pros

• Looks and feels premium, build quality is on par with the best of them, installation and usage are a child’s play, data fields are very easy to read
• Tons of features, including live traffic and weather, seamless setup, especially if you download Garmin’s native Garmin Express™ and BaseCamp™ apps, not to mention Garmin Drive™ for smartphone, you’ll get lifetime wireless updates for free
• Comes with built-in maps for adventure riders, features Birdseye Satellite Imagery and street maps, on-road and off-road maps come preloaded
• Outstanding usability, more than decent battery life, the screen is a killer, very readable and bright even if used with polarized sunglasses, and 5,5’’ seems to be the ideal size; finally, the device secures safely into place
• Excellent customer service team will assist you 24/7 for a satisfying road experience, intelligently designed user interface, quad-core processor for smooth scrolling, 32 GB of storage, IPX7 waterproof rating

Cons

• Kind of expensive, but we’re reaching 😊

Conclusion

Garmin Zumo XT

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After all, is said and done, the Garmin Zumo XT is an excellent choice if you’re looking for a premium GPS for your motorcycle, and it comes highly recommended without reservation, that provided you can live with the price tag, which is, let’s say ample.