As this is a lengthy review, those not wanting to wade through the entire text can find a summary under the 'Conclusions' heading.
Test Conditions:
All tests were conducted in the Northeast U.S. Although I don't own another portable GPS, I do have a factory installed navigation unit in my 2006 Audi which I've utilized for several side-by-side comparisons (the Magellan is actually for my wife's car).
Updates to the 4350's operating system and navigational firmware are available at no-cost from Magellan's website. These significantly improve the functionality and stability of the unit and if you own one you'd be making a mistake not to install them. The procedure is made relativity easy by the CD based instruction manual that comes with the unit. It took me about fifteen minutes to bring my unit up to date and in a month of testing since, it has never crashed, frozen, or seriously misbehaved. All findings posted here are based on a unit updated to the following: OS Version 00.42.01.0919 and Navigation Version 8.3.2.64084. As the 4350's were just released in September 2008 there are no map updates available or required.
Startup:
If powered by an ignition controlled power source the 4350 turns on/off with the car. Otherwise pressing the power button for about two seconds turns it on.
Acquiring satellites happens very quickly - we're talking seconds, not minutes. Only once, inside my house during a very heavy snowstorm, did it take longer (about two minutes) to lock.
Display Screen:
The display is plenty bright and the touch screen feature is very sensitive (sometimes too much so). An optional power-saver feature dims the screen somewhat between turns when using the built-in battery. I found this very useful as besides saving the battery it tends to catch your eye when it 'wakes up' to normal brightness. Since that happens about five seconds before the first spoken notification regarding the next turn it gives you a visual heads-up that a verbal instruction is imminent (so if you happen to be blaring Hendrix on the car stereo you have time to lower the volume a bit). Touching any part of the screen will also restore it to full brightness.
The menu system is well organized and intuitive. There are a few things I'd change but overall it's very good.
Audio Quality and the MP3/Photo/Video Player:
The audio is loud and clear even with the volume all the way up, which was never necessary for me. There's a male or female voice option for each available language (English, Spanish, and French).
Like most units in this price range the 4350 announces the actual street names along with the turning instructions. The pronunciations are occasionally off but they get the point across. One odd thing was although the male voice pronounced 'county' properly the female would say 'count'. I.E... "In one quarter mile turn right onto count route 513".
The built-in MP3 player and the photo viewer are nice enough and get the job done. The video player only handles Xvid .avi files, which limits its usefulness, but I believe this is the only GPS to have a video player so you probably can't do better elsewhere.
Now to one of the two big gripes I have with this unit...
There's no headphone/line-out jack! What good is an MP3 player without one??? This restricts you to listening through the single (mono) speaker or using the FM transmitter to send the signal to your car stereo (more on that later).
POI's (Points of Interest) and AAA:
Magellan claims 6 million POI's reside in the 4350's database (my Audi only has about 1.7 million). Locating one couldn't be easier. You can search by name, category, and/or area. In addition to this is a listing of all facilities reviewed by the AAA, complete with descriptions, ratings and member discounts. AAA members also get an additional year of warranty coverage and one-button access to local certified garages. Although it's not mentioned in the rather sparse instruction manual, you can import your own POI's as Google .kml or .kmz files. To do this you'll need Magellan's 'Content Manager', a free download, which if you updated your firmware you'll already have.
Route Selection:
Planning a route is extremely easy, as is adding interim stops (something you still can't do with many GPS models). The keyboard can be configured as QWERTY or ABC and it gray's out irrelevant letters as you type - a nice feature.
Once you've selected your destination the 4350 calculates four possible routes: Fastest, Shortest, Most Economical, and Simplest. The fastest route is chosen by default but you can examine the relative times and distances or see the routes compared visually on the map before selecting the best one for you. Some or all of these routes may be the same as multiple criteria are often met by the same route. I found the [post-upgrade] route selections to be very good, certainly on a par with my Audi's unit.
A 'One-Touch' menu allows you to store your favorite destinations as icons on a single menu. 'Home', 'Previous', 'SOS' (emergency), and AAA 'Service' icons are there by default. You can add five of your own which can point to specific addresses or POI lists. I.E... A list of all Starbucks in the current area.
Finally, being a portable device you can select your type of 'vehicle' from: Car, Bus, Emergency, Bicycle, or Pedestrian. In another undocumented feature, when switching to pedestrian mode you'll be asked if you'd like the unit to remember your car's location. Garmin makes a big deal of this feature; you'd think Magellan would at least mention they have it too. Go figure...
Guidance - On the Road:
On the road is where this unit really shines. The 4.3" screen packs in a surprising amount of map detail without looking cluttered. Maps can be displayed in 2D or 3D (I prefer the 3D view which my Audi doesn't have). Landmark buildings can also rise from the map in three dimensions but in my rural area I've yet to see this in action. Information regarding the next turn is displayed across the top of the screen and I especially like how the names of cross streets appear as I approach them, then disappear. You can select which POI categories appear on the map - I chose restaurants and gas stations. Unlike some other units this feature works in 2D or 3D mode. For major chains (BP, McDonalds, Dunkin Donuts, etc) the generic symbols are replaced by the company logos, allowing you to see at a glance what type of establishment is coming up.
An optional warning displays the speed limit on the left side of the map when you approach or exceed it by a percentage you preset from 70 to 130%. You can also set an audible alert for this if you wish (I have a wife who performs that function). Although I don't consider this an important feature, those who do should know that in my area it only worked on the interstates.
A new feature called 'Lane Guidance' is one of the primary reasons I choose this unit over the Garmin 760. At complicated interstate exits it displays a visual representation of the overhead highway signs to show you which lane you need to be in for an upcoming maneuver. The Garmin models with a similar feature called 'Lane Assist' are far more expensive. The only other GPS to offer lane guidance near this price range is Navigon's 7200T but its POI database is small and its search features are reportedly poor.
The verbal directions are extremely clear and precise. It always beat my Audi in giving me a heads-up regarding the next turn and was usually more specific as to what I needed to do.
Besides the detailed spoken instructions the 4350 also produces a 'doorbell like' chime at the point you should be turning. It even chimes differently for left, right, and U turns. This is a feature that several prior Magellan owners have mentioned missing after switching to another brand. For some reason Magellan initially omitted it from this model but the firmware update restores it along with another enhancement that tells you which side of the street your destination is on.
Lastly, recalculations (required if you go off the designated route) were very fast, taking about the same amount of time as my Audi's unit and often producing a better result.
Bluetooth, FM Transmitter, and Traffic Info:
At first the 4350 refused to find my Blackberry Curve but after doing a hard reset (as suggested by Magellan's website) the units paired right up. Bluetooth connectivity has been fine since then but all is not well... When making/receiving a hands-free call I found the audio on my end to be satisfactory but I had to shout at a distance of two feet from the unit in order to be heard faintly at the other end. In actuality I had to speak 1 to 3 inches from the built-in microphone in order to be heard properly. Compounding this issue is the fact that there's no external microphone jack like on some other brands. This was the most disappointing aspect of this test. Even though I don't use this feature, some of the people I gave these to might want to. Therefore if you need Bluetooth capability I must recommend you look elsewhere.
In my initial review I stated that the FM transmitter (which sends all sound from the 4350 to the car's audio system) worked like a charm in my Audi but didn't perform so well in my wife's Sable Wagon. I attributed this to the Sable's rear mounted antenna and the fact that the U.S. severely limits the transmitter strength of these units. However, further tests have resulted in excellent results with both cars. One thing I did notice is that the DC power cord seems to act like an antenna so if you're having reception problems plug the power cord into the 4350 (this seems to work even if you don't plug it into the cigarette lighter). My MP3's played back with FM quality and were automatically muted during turn instructions. As this feature draws universal complaints from Garmin users, I wasn't expecting much from Magellan but I'm pleasantly surprised by how useable it is. With that said, the volume from the 4350's built-in speaker is more an adequate for most applications.
The 4350 comes with a three month trial for a real-time traffic avoidance system but the service doesn't extend to my area (coverage areas are shown on Magellan's website) so I haven't seen it in action. According to Magellan's website a yearly subscription costs $39.95. Some competing GPS's come with free lifetime traffic alerts but be aware that those contain commercials.
Conclusions:
The best things about the 4350 are all to do with its core functionality - it gets you from one place to another with clear maps and explicit verbal instructions given in a timely manner. My Audi's navigation system sometimes fails to provide all pertinent information regarding an upcoming turn, or it alerts me too late to react when driving in heavy traffic. The Magellan unit never faltered in that regard. In fact some may consider the 4350's guidance to be too chatty but I like to feel confident that I'm prepared for the next move, even in traffic, and this unit gave me that feeling.
Magellan has produced a full featured unit with superior performance at a very competitive [street] price. This was why, despite the missing headphone jack, I gave it five stars. Had I discovered then that the built-in microphone was so lacking that it made the hands-free feature useless, I might have gone to four stars. Still, it's a great choice for anyone who doesn't need the Bluetooth capabilities.
Pros:
Brand new full featured model.
Excellent volume and audio quality on navigational prompts.
Highly detailed display with 3D maps.
Lane Guidance feature and informative audio prompts.
All accessories included (case, AC & DC cords, USB cable, sturdy mount, owners manual on CD).
2200 ma heavy duty battery.
Great value due to low street price.
Cons:
Terrible built-in mic and no external mic jack renders the Bluetooth hands-free feature worthless.
No headphone jack!(What's with Magellan and a few five cent jacks?).
Must update the firmware to have a ready-for-prime-time unit.
Power and traffic cables plug into the unit (instead of the mount).
See more reviews about: Magellan Maestro 4350 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Navigator with Traffic
I have been using the Nuvi 880 GPS for a couple of weeks now, and it is the best Garmin unit to date, and possibly the portable/handheld/car GPS available at this time.The Garmin Nuvi GPS units are probably the easiest to start using out of the box without reading any manuals.
