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1253 Review
47 Karma

Review on 🌊 Garmin GPSMAP 86Sci: Floating Handheld GPS with Button Operation, BlueChart G3 Charts, InReach Satellite Comm, Boat Data Streaming by Keith Alvord

Revainrating 1 out of 5

Connection issues and it gives you gauges and "badges "

This Garmin is very disappointing for a flagship handheld marine GPS navigator. It was very difficult to connect to my phone (which was required for a software update) after connecting to the "Garmin Connect" app, readings were being sent to the GPS. The last thing I need on my GPS device is advertising. It also gave me notifications that I had earned "badges" for activities like walking and standing up. This is the penultimate type of information I need in my GPS. When planning a route between two points of interest, navigate to Directions, and then select your points. When you select points, you get a large list of POIs sorted by distance from you. So if you want to find a specific buoy that is 5 miles away, you have to look at several hundred buoys that are closer than 5 miles away. There is no way to shorten the list. The weather charts are nice and colorful, but there is no scale so you know which color indicates their meaning. I was looking for a robust GPS navigation system with nautical charts. There's a ton of gingerbread attached to the 86Sci that I don't want or need. This device doesn't live up to Garmin's reputation.

Pros
  • Marine electronics
Cons
  • No automatic