Garmin StreetPilot c320 review

In days gone by, the StreetPilot range was always a tad fiddly, and best suited to those who either knew GPS systems or were moving from another of Garmin’s many outdoors, marine or aviation GPS ranges.

The c320 promises to be more user-friendly, and from the moment you open the box this appears to be true. Even the packaging offers helpful suggestions on what to unpack next. The unit itself is real pretty, and refreshingly uncluttered: there’s just a touchscreen, plus power and volume control on one side.

No avoiding the cable

Its suction cup cradle looks confusing but turns out to be easy and sturdy… with one caveat. The 12v power cable is hardwired to the cradle, despite the c320 having a decent battery life, so you’ve always got a cable draped over your dashboard.

Once that’s squirreled away, clear graphical icons, finger-friendly touch-screen text input and plain Point-Of-Interest (POI) categories will soon help you find an address, a petrol station or whatever.

Interestingly, it doesn’t start an address search with postcodes, as do most systems: in practice, these are fiddly to enter. Proceeding from country to city to street works admirably.

The female voice instructions are clear, and a choice of views – map, next turn detail, turn list or trip computer – are all a single screen prod away.

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When in doubt, look at the diagram

Occasionally the voice would trip on a multiple turn instruction – ‘turn left at the roundabout, then immediately turn right’ – but the on-screen diagrams always saved the day. Few systems are innocent of the odd truncated instruction anyway.

There are five colours to choose from, Lunging Lilac, Psycho Yellow, Kroovy Red and Captain Black, so you’ve no excuse for being anything but entirely satisfied.