Comments on: Garmin nüvi 855 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator with Speech Recognition

By: M. Acosta

M. Acosta — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 13:19:33 +0000

It’s pretty easy to use. I like the voice feature. The price was right. I thought it came with bluetooth. I’m really disappointed that it didn’t have elevation/altitude. Wish it was water resistant so I could use it on my bike.
Rating: 4 / 5

By: M. A. Mcduffie

M. A. Mcduffie — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 11:06:43 +0000

The Garmin nüvi 855 is one of Garmin's excellent voice command navigators. Updating the nuvi 850, the 855 adds junction view, lane assist and a speed limit indicator. It is also compatible with the third generation of MSN Direct services (an optional add-on), including doppler radar and flight status.

Comparing the nuvi 855 and 7×5 series

Despite these improvements, the 855 does not include all the features found in the 7×5 series. It is missing the following:

3-D buildings
A2DP Bluetooth
ecoRoute
Recent cities and streets folders that speed searches (though these aren't really necessary if you're using voice commands)
Customizable data fields
On the other hand, the 855 has the following features which are not present on the 7×5 series:

Removable battery
Dual speakers
Voice command
Custom avoidances (avoid specified streets or areas)
Backup camera input
This is unfortunate - there really isn't one top of the line Garmin nuvi. If you want the best, you'll need to choose between a 7×5 series and an 8×5 series unit.

Compare prices on the Garmin nuvi 855

One other note; the nuvi 885T adds Bluetooth and an MSN Direct receiver to the 855's feature set. Since the models are so similar, much of the information below is taken directly from my hands-on review of the 885T.

Rating: 5 / 5

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 09:42:20 +0000

My husband bought the Garmin, and paid a lot more money that Amazon has it for. I, however, just downloaded Navigator to my Verizon cell phone…I love it. It works just like Garmin, only better. I feel it is easier to use, and has more features that I like and find helpful. It runs 9.99 a month, and it is free with certain calling plans. I was going to buy a Garmin for myself…but not now.

Just thought I would throw that out there.
Rating: 4 / 5

By: Bernd M. Seidenthal

Bernd M. Seidenthal — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 07:05:07 +0000

This unit works just fine, I haven’t looked into all its features, but so far its done well, in FL, NJ, NY and NC.
Rating: 1 / 5

By: L. lien

L. lien — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 06:06:55 +0000

Currently I have the 780 model…reasons why I would not get this model:

>>no bluetooth, no mp3 player auto start, no 3-d buildings, no smooth scrolling<<< A small and not obvious feature in the 780 model BUT NOT in the 855 model is the mp3 player auto start. Think of it like a cd player in your car that would not turn off. For some people like me, my music is always on in my car. SO I need the music to be always on even if the gps powered OFF and ON. This way I don’t have to always fiddle with the gps mp3 player every time I’m in the car. Garmin is the only gps that has this neat feature. It’s too bad they took this feature out in the 855 model which means you have to turn the mp3 player on everytime the gps power on instead of the music turning on automatically for you. As far as the voice commands, it is pretty much useless. It is sluggish, there’s a lag when you talk to the gps like you have to wait for the response, certain commands required 4-5 steps in order to accomplish a task. “name place” command didn’t work well for me and I don’t even have an accent. You can get a task done faster using your finger than your voice on the unit. I had their top of the line model with this voice command feature and it was trash ….so i returned the unit. Better luck next time Garmin. You are on top of the gps war.
Rating: 2 / 5