Magellan Maestro 4040 GPS Review

The Magellan Maestro 4040 GPS is an affordable mid-level auto navigation device.

With a wide screen and advanced features such as Bluetooth for hands-free calling and spoken street names, it offers an enhanced navigation experience.

Most of the features work well, although some leave a little to be desired.

Best Features

The Magellan 4040 sports a sleek, simple design. All buttons and slots are on the sides, leaving nothing on the bottom to interfere with device placement.

This Magellan Maestro GPS is thin and light, making it very portable. A 4.3 inch wide screen has plenty of room for the simple, easy to understand menu buttons.

Screen resolution is adequate, though not exceptional. A high-sensitivity chipset locks satellite signals quickly.

Quickspell is a nifty little feature that helps speed address entry. When you are entering an address, it will dim the letters which are not possible matches for any map name.

The Trip Planner feature lets you input up to 20 sequential destinations. Unfortunately, it treats each segment as a separate trip and does not calculate distance or time for the entire route.

The Magellan 4040 also has a SmartDetour function which lets you choose a detour starting at a specified mileage from your current location.

The Maestro 4040 comes with maps of the U.S. (including Puerto Rico) and Canada, with a good-size database of 4.5 million Points of Interest.

Magellan's partnership with the American Automobile Association gives you access to the AAA Tourbook, with AAA-approved auto repair shops, hotels, restaurants, and other attractions.

It will direct AAA members to money-saving Points of Interest, and if you have a vehicle emergency, the device will display AAA's toll-free number, your exact location, and your membership number.

Bluetooth functionality allows you to connect your compatible phone to the Magellan Maestro 4040 GPS in order to make and receive calls hands-free. You can search your phone's address book from the device's screen.

The text-to-speech function is very useful, reading out street names for each turn so you can keep your eyes on the road.

The 4040 can be upgraded with a Travel Kit to receive real-time traffic updates.

Drawbacks

Although the Bluetooth feature generally works well, it lacks the ability to download your phone's address book and does not automatically reconnect when your phone is in range.

Route recalculation on the 4040 is slow, sometimes giving a new route too late for the turn.

There is no external volume control. The volume must be adjusted by using an onscreen menu button.

The Bottom Line

The Magellan Maestro 4040 GPS is a solid, affordable navigation unit. Its driver-focused features and user-friendly design will greatly assist you in your travels.



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