Garmin Geko 301 GPS Handheld Review

The Garmin Geko 301 GPS is sized to fit in a shirt pocket. It is at just under 4-inches high and 2-inches wide and weighs in at just 3.4-ounces with batteries installed.

The Geko 301 carries the smallest display screen of any handheld GPS we’ve tested. The monochrome screen measures just 1-inch wide and 1.5-inches high. Screen resolution is 64 by 100 with a 1.8-inch diagonal measurement.

Viewability was good in sun and shade daylight conditions, however curved lines and small fonts appear jagged. Using the screen backlighting at night we found the upper right hand corner slightly brighter, though the screen is still quite readable, and pushbuttons are lit.

Geko 301 Handheld GPS by Garmin

Five pushbuttons located just above the screen control all functions. When holding the unit in your right hand and operating pushbuttons on the left side you’ll find your thumb and hand partially block your view of the screen. Pushbuttons are clearly marked with easy to understand symbology.

Six main pages provide the user access to all the Garmin Geko 301 GPS functions. The Satellite page shows the number of tracked satellites and their signal strength.

Map is basically a blank screen showing a present position icon with range displayed in the lower left and current heading in the upper right. Any user waypoints or tracks are also displayed. Due to the small size of the screen we found the Map page of little use.

The Trip Computer page is far more useful for navigating to a waypoint. Four user selectable data boxes are displayed, we chose to use course, bearing, distance, and speed to make navigating to a waypoint easy.

Other main pages include Menu, Elevation, and Navigation. The Navigation page can also be used to track to a waypoint. It displays a compass rose as well as heading in degrees, distance to the next waypoint, and a single user selectable data box at the bottom of the screen.

The Garmin Geko can store 500 waypoints and 20 routes. Access to the battery compartment and data port is on the back of the unit. The battery compartment holds a pair of AAA batteries and uses a snap lock lid without a gasket or seal.

Even though this Garmin handheld GPS unit is rated waterproof to IPX7 standards and can be submerged to 1 meter for 30 minutes with sustaining any damage we advise checking the battery compartment for water should you dunk this unit. The Geko 301 passed our submersion test with no problems.

The Garmin Geko 301 has both an altimeter and compass in addition to its GPS functions. We found the compass accurate as long as the unit was held steady and level when taking a reading, otherwise accuracy was seriously compromised. We did not test the altimeter.

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