Magellan Maestro 4370 Review

In-car GPS systems have almost become a necessity as they not only provide you with directions but also traffic conditions and places of interest which are really handy while traveling. Garmin, TomTom and many other companies have come out with dedicated GPS systems for in-car navigation. Magellan has been dormant for quite some time now, but recently revealed its latest in-car GPS system named ‘Magellan Maestro 4370. Lets get down with the review.

Magellan Maestro 4370 specifications :

• Dimensions : 4.6″ x  3.2″ x 0.7″
• Weight : 7.4 oz
• Display : 4.3″ color LCD
• Accuracy : 3-5 m
• Connectivity : Hi-Speed USB
• GPS functions : ETA, distance, Traffic message channel
• Antenna : Built-in
• Memory : Built-in 2GB
• Card slot : SD Memory card
• Audio player formats : AVI , MP3 , Ogg , JPEG , Xvid , MPEG-4
• Battery : Integrated Lithium-ion
• Approx. cost : $300

The device has an attractive design and has a black exterior made up of fine plastic. It is quite thin at just 0.7″ but its overall dimensions are a bit large compared to its display size. The front portion has only the display with a thick bezel without any buttons on it. It can fit in to the dashboard and merge with the interiors comfortably. The device comes with a protective case that you can store it in without worrying about it getting scratched.

The display is vibrant and produces sharp and clear images. The 4.3″ display with a resolution of 480 x 800 has a full touchscreen QWERTY keyboard to take inputs. The widescreen display helps in accommodating enough space between keyboard keys, reducing typos and making keying in characters easy. The maps looks sharp and accurate on the display. The backlighting can be adjusted to suit the environment.

The device has a port for FM antenna input on the right side. Also along with it are the miniUSB port and a memory card expansion slot. The power button is located at the top. The speakers have been placed at the back, which is absurd as it you get it fit in a dash, it would reduce the sound reaching you. The accessories with the package include a protective pouch, vehicle mount, USB cable and manuals.

User Interface is of prime importance in a GPS system and Magellan has taken special care of it. OneTouch screen is the new addition to the interface that reduces menu navigation by providing you shortcuts to various function on a single screen. It lets you select your favorite locations, addresses and create shortcuts for them. The shortcuts are hugely useful as you don’t have to dig deep into menus for frequently used functions. You can access the OneTouch feature can be accessed by tapping the top-right corner of the screen. The menu navigation however does get sluggish at times showing you a waiting message.

The device comes pre-loaded with maps for US, Canada and Puerto Rico along with POIs. You can plan your travel easily by entering the destination, or by selecting a POI. You route can be customized by choosing road types, time based, route complexity among other things, which is pretty cool. Traffic conditions are displayed onscreen due to inbuilt receiver. Traffic is shown with different color codes and it also lists incidents on the route. The traffic service is free only for 3 months after which you have to shell out extra. Voice navigation helps you guide by speaking out turn-by-turn directions to follow.

Multi-destination trips can also be planned and it also has automatic route recalculation feature. The POIs cover majority of categories and there is a huge list of POIs that has been included in the maps. Maps can be displayed both in 2D and 3D configurations, but 3D views of every object should not be expected. The information displayed while travelling is extensive and gives you details of street, lane etc which you are passing through. It offers lane guidance while driving on highways and zoom in and uses arrows to show you which lane you should be for the next exit.

Text based directions as well as voice based navigation is present. It also has text to speech functionality built in to it. The simulation mode virtually takes you from the source to destination to give you an idea of the route you are going to take. The device has built in Bluetooth which allows you to pair your bluetooth cell phone and use device as a loudspeaker for calls. There are a lot of functions of your cell phone that you can control with the device.

The device has an inbuilt media player too. Major multimedia formats such as MP3, AAC, WMA, MPEG, MPEG-4 are supported. You can also create playlists on the device and has all the basic features of a media player. The built-in FM modulator can be used to broadcast the sound to your car stereo. This can be helpful in eliminating the low volume due to the speakers located at the back.

The performance of the device is good but not spectacular. The user interface is a bit slow and satellite lock takes up to 5 minutes from cold start. Route calculations/recalculations are fast and so are real-time updates on traffic etc. SmartZoom feature is great to have as it zooms in/out in accordance to what is best suited. Text to speech feature works well and same is the case with voice navigation. Overall it is a good performer with a few hiccups.

Pros :

• Attractive design
• OneTouch screen
• Great display
• Integrated Bluetooth
• SmartZoom feature

Cons :

• Sluggish interface
• Slow startup
• Bit large

Final Thoughts

Magellan Maestro 4370 is not a revolutionary device but it aims at doing everything just fine. It almost achieves that apart from a slow interface and slow startup. If you can bear with those two shortcomings then this is a relatively inexpensive device for the features it has got. Right from an attractive design to an inbuilt media player, this device has it all. OneTouch is a nice addition to the UI, display is crisp and maps appear nicely panned and zoomed on it thanks to the SmartZoom feature. The price is just right for the device.

Rating : 3.75/5