Garmin Oregon 550 Review

Likes
The Garmin Oregon 550 is a remarkably versatile and easy to use, yet also surprisingly powerful, GPS unit. It includes many of the same features as its more accurate cousin, the 62 series, but adds a larger and higher resolution touchscreen display. This display is the main reason to opt for the 550 over the 62sc: it allows for faster text entry and makes the unit more suitable for car navigation (because car navigation requires you to enter lots of addresses).

Beyond the 550’s screen there are many advantages to Garmin’s interface, software, and mapping capabilities. First, the 550’s interface is incredibly simple and intuitive. Anyone can pick up the device, mark a waypoint, and do basic navigation within minutes. Garmin’s navigation capabilities are also more extensive than other manufacturers: the 550 displays the distance to the next waypoint as well as to the destination (Magellan and Garmin only show distance to destination). Similarly, the 550 comes with tools that other manufacturers don’t include: you can calculate the area of a track and send data wirelessly to other enabled Garmin devices. The 550 is both easy to use and advanced in its interface and tools.

The Oregon series comes with six profiles that allow you to customize the display for various activities. For example, you can have four data fields for biking and two for hiking. You could track up (map orients in the direction the GPS is pointed or traveling) for hiking and north up (north is at the top) for kayaking. Or you could have a specific profile that displays certain maps or custom maps, such as Yosemite National Park trails on top of aerial imagery).

Garmin’s software, Basecamp, is equally powerful yet easier to use than Magellan’s VantagePoint and is much simpler than DeLorme’s Topo North America. One of our favorite features is its ability to show waypoints and tracks in Google Earth.

Our testers found the 550’s camera to be a very useful tool. By geotagging photos automatically the unit allows you to navigate to a photo and displays images in BaseCamp. The Oregon 550 comes with two rechargeable AA batteries, a charger, and a carabiner clip.

Dislikes
The main drawback to the 550 is its lack of push buttons. (The power button is the only button.) Magellan incorporates two customizable push buttons on its eXplorist 710 that, under the default configuration, take a photo and mark a waypoint. This is an excellent feature that would greatly improve the 550. Not having buttons can be problematic in cold weather when the screen tends to behave sluggishly (and requires bare fingertips). We found that it takes longer to move from one page to another with the current version of the 550’s interface. Exiting the map view to mark a waypoint can take three taps. A push button device can do it with one the touch of a button. Comparing the touchscreen interface of the GPS units we tested to those of iPhone and Android will leave the GPS user disappointed. In Apple’s iOS5, for example, two taps of the Home Button bring up the four most commonly used applications. A feature like this combined with the addition of two hard buttons would make the 550’s interface much more efficient.

The 550’s screen has the second highest resolution of the seven units we tested. This is advantageous when viewing a map and data fields, but we still weren’t impressed with the display compared to other electronic gadgets. Again, the iPhone 4’s display is orders of magnitudes better (higher resolution, more precise, improved visibility). The plastic touchscreens found on the GPS units we tested were considerably harder to see in direct sunlight than standard GPS screens. In sum, get a touchscreen if you enter lots of text. Otherwise we recommend push button units with standard displays.

Best Application
The 550 is best suited to GPS users who either want a GPS for hiking and car navigation or want the simplest, easy to use unit. With little explanation someone can successfully use the 550 with no prior experience with GPS. This makes it a great choice for geocaching with young children or working with volunteers. Those who want a more expedient workflow should consider the Garmin GPSMAP 62sc.

Other Models
We recommend the Oregon 450 if you don’t want a camera. We do not suggest the 450t or 550t models, which come with a 100k topo, unless you travel frequently and don’t want to bother with downloading free maps. (You can get plenty of maps for free from GPS File Depot.) Instead, consider getting Garmin’s 24k US Topo (~$90), whose finer scale is better for navigating in steep terrain and whose roads and trails are routable. The 450 and 550 can do turn-by-turn directions with Garmin’s City Navigator maps (~$80 for North American coverage).

Resources
Garmin Oregon 550 User Manual