Garmin's GTU 10 is a handy GPS locator that combines a web-based tracking service with GPS technology, letting you keep an eye on children, pets, property-anything you want. The GTU 10 lets you choose. Web-based GPS tracking for your lifestyle-keep an eye on children, pets, or property. GTU™ 10 Updates & Downloads. Skip navigation links. Garmin Autoland. Protect your most precious cargo.
Garmin GTU 10 – There are all sorts of things that GPS devices can do other than give you driving directions and find the nearest McDonald's. One great service GPS can provide is the ability to locate anything—your bag, your kid, your dog, even your spouse—at any time. The Garmin GTU 10 is a small gadget that can be used to locate someone or something, it comes with a number of clever location features, and pairs nicely with mobile apps. Its $199.99 (direct) price is a bit tough to swallow, and only gets worse when you consider that, after the free year of tracking that comes with the GTU 10, you'll pay at least $50 a year for service. It also uses a Web interface that isn't always reliable, but if you've got something you need to find, the GTU 10 will help you locate it.
Design
The GTU 10 is about the size of a mini candy bar. Measuring 3.07 by 1.34 by 0.79 inches (HWD) and weighing 1.71 ounces, it's quite small and would easily fit in a bag or on a collar, but it's big enough to be easily noticed. It's all black with gray trim, and all you'll find on the device are a rubbery Power button, small LED status light, and a flap that lifts up to reveal a mini-USB port for connecting the GTU 10 to a computer and charging it. Also included in the GTU 10's package is a combination case and carabiner, which you put the GTU 10 into to clip it onto a backpack or collar, and an adhesive mount for attaching the device to your car.
The device itself is simple on purpose: all your interaction takes place on your browser, or through the free Garmin Tracker apps available for Android or iOS smartphones. You get the GTU 10 set up by connecting it to your computer, downloading a browser plug-in, and connecting the device to your free-to-create Garmin account. The process sounds simple, but in practice, it wasn't: It took a few tries and reboots to get the plug-in (which only works with Firefox and Internet Explorer) to detect the GTU 10.
Once everything's set up, all you have to do is log in to your Garmin account in an app or on the Web, and you can manage all your trackers. You give each GTU 10 unit a name, and you can see where it is whenever it checks in (by sending its coordinates to the GPS satellite), or tap a button to locate it manually on a map. The GTU 10 can be set to check in every 30 seconds, every 5 minutes, every 15 minutes, or only when you ask for it—though the more frequently it checks in, the faster the battery will die. (You'll need a daily recharge on the 30-second intervals, where the 15-minute option can last up to a month.)
Tracking Performance
There are a lot of things you can track with the GTU 10. If you misplace your purse often, or forget where you parked, if you have a dog who is prone to run off, or you just want to make sure your kid makes it to school safely, the GTU 10 could be a huge help. There are a couple of features that help even more: In the app, you can 'fence off' designated areas that Garmin terms 'geo-fences,' and when the GTU 10 enters or exits a geo-fence you'll be alerted via text message or e-mail (the GTU 10 has a GSM connection built-in to handle that), but while they're in the fenced area they're not tracked.
That means that instead of tracking your kid's every step, you'll just be alerted when they make it to school, and then when they leave—it's less intrusive for everyone. You could also, for example, create a geo-fence around your yard, and put the GTU 10 on your dog's collar. Then, if your dog takes off, you'll know he's gone and where he's going as soon as he's out of the yard . Or, put a geo-fence around your daily commute, and if your car gets stolen or lost, you'll know about it right away; you can track its last 10 check ins to figure out where it is, and where it might be going. (You'll also get alerts if the GTU 10's battery is low, or if it ever powers off.)
A smartphone running Android or iOS is a particularly useful companion, because the Garmin Tracker app will plot both your location and the GTU 10's, and can even navigate you from your location to the tracker's. One tap, and you can locate the tracker wherever it is at that moment. The apps work nicely and reliably, far better than the finicky Web app, which I found to be slow and quirky at times, and wouldn't even load a few times I tried.
There are a couple of issues with GPS tracking in general, which limit the device's usefulness slightly. If the GTU 10 isn't outdoors, with a clear view of the sky, it's not likely to get a GPS signal and thus it's unable to report back its location. And once it is outside, the device often takes some time to lock in a signal. If your car is hidden from you in an indoor parking garage, the GTU 10 won't help you find it. Also, if all you're doing is crossing the street or walking outside, that might not be enough time for the GTU 10 to get a signal. I had to linger in the street for about three minutes before I could find the GTU 10 and plot it on a map on my Android phone. When it had a signal, though, it worked very well, providing accurate times and locations.
A quick note about the tracking service, which you'll need to pay for after the first year, which is included with the GTU 10's purchase. The Standard Tracking plan ($50 per year per device) buys you the ability to track your device whenever you need to, as well as access the last 10 points of your daily tracking history. For $5/year more, you get Deluxe Tracking: this gives you access to 7 days of tracking history, and as many data points over that period as you want. Once your free year expires, you'll need at least the Standard Tracking plan to do much of anything with the GTU 10.
There aren't a ton of uses for a device like the GTU 10, but if you need to track a kid on the go, or a pet with an eye on freedom, it works nicely. $200 is a high price, but it's a small one to pay for easy retrieval of a purse or luggage, finding a lost pet, or parental peace of mind.
The Garmin GTU 10 is Garmin's first significant entry into the live GPS tracking market. The small device pictured above can send its location to your computer or phone on demand. The possibilities are nearly endless. Got a wayward pet that likes to run off? Nervous about taking your young child to a big festival? How about that teenager just learning to drive? Or perhaps you're a builder leaving expensive equipment on a construction site. I think you get the idea. If it can be moved, you can pretty much track it anywhere.
Quick links
More Garmin GTU 10 reviews
Garmin GTU 10 resources
How much does it cost?
Garmin GTU 10 tracking plans
One of the nice things about the GTU 10 is that the first year's service is included in the plan. All GPS trackers that allow you to ascertain the device's location remotely rely on cellular service; hence the continuing service plan. With many devices the cost can be downright usurious.
The GTU 10's included standard tracking plan allows you to view the the last ten points of daily tracking history. After a year, the plan costs $49.99 annually to renew. A deluxe tracking plan allows you to see seven days of full tracking history, and will run you an additional $4.99 per month.
Once you add up the hardware and tracking plan, the total cost of the device is pretty reasonable compared to other solutions on the market.
Garmin GTU 10 hardware
As you can see from the image above, the device is very small, measuring only 1.34″ wide, 3.07″ long and 0.79″ deep. And at 3 ounces (including case and car abiner), it's as light as it is small. Hardware wise, it's quite simple. There's a power button, an LED, and a flap that hides a mini-USB receptacle (shown below).
Setup
Setup was very easy. You just connect it to your computer, go to my.garmin.com to register the device, and on screen instructions will guide you through it. The device is charged via USB, as shown below. The LED is red while the device is charging; it turns green when fully charged.
One thing that might throw people is setting up geofences (though this can always be done later). Geofences are zones you set up, allowing you to be notified when the tracker enters or exits a geofence. Notifications can be delivered via email or text message. Simply click on the geofence icon, click Create New Geofence and then start clicking to put points on the map, as shown below. The line in the lower left of the image shows where I had moved the mouse/cursor to, but had not yet clicked. As soon as you click, it connects to the first point to fill in the polygon. You can use up to ten points to create a geofence.
So let's look at an example use case — a contractor leaving a generator on site would want to create a geofence letting them know if the device left the site. You can set up geofences to be notified when the device enters the area, leaves it, or both.
Finally, you'll need to carefully review the settings that govern battery usage and reporting; the various options are shown in the screenshot below:
Garmin GTU 10 in action
To power the device on, hold the power button down for three seconds. It will flash green while connecting to the network; the LED will turn off once connected. When you power the device off, the LED turns red.
The my.garmin.com tracking page takes a little getting used to. In the screenshot below, the three icons on the left underneath 'GPS Tracklog GTU 10″ do the following (left to right):
- Keep map centered on GTU 10
- GTU 10 settings
- Get the most recent location of the GTU 10
If you click anywhere in the rectangle surrounding these icons, you'll see three more icons slide out to the side (as shown above). These show location, history and geofences.
Mobile apps
Garmin has a free Tracker app available for Android and iPhone, allowing you to check in on the device's location on the go. Here are a few screenshots:
Garmin GTU 10 performance
The Garmin GTU 10 relies on AT&T for transmitting location; here is a coverage map. I had no trouble getting location information, even in areas limited to 2G EDGE coverage. Again, you need to pay close attention to the battery and usage settings to get the desired results.
One complaint I have about the GTU 10 is the fact that it usually takes a minute or so to get results, whether online or using the Android app (I did not test the iPhone app). And the Android app actually failed to deliver location results a few times. Usually I just had to refresh it to get it to show. I imagine that the slowness of reporting (and occasional failure to do so using the mobile Tracker app) could be maddening if you were tracking a lost child or pet though.
Battery life left a lot to be desired. Using the Balanced plan (checking location every 5 minutes), I expected 'recharge needed frequently' as Garmin says. But they forecast 3 days of battery life outside of a geofence and 10 days inside. I was mostly outside of the two geofences I had setup, but got a low battery warning after 27 hours. There is a car charger available, but this may not be a useful or practical solution for many users.
The GTU 10 successfully transmitted my location when placed under the seat of a vehicle. It even did so in the trunk of my car! In the latter case, the reported location was off by about 120', probably due to the fact that it had to rely upon cell tower triangulation for location, since the metallic enclosure would have blocked GPS reception. Otherwise, location reporting was very accurate.
Setup
Setup was very easy. You just connect it to your computer, go to my.garmin.com to register the device, and on screen instructions will guide you through it. The device is charged via USB, as shown below. The LED is red while the device is charging; it turns green when fully charged.
One thing that might throw people is setting up geofences (though this can always be done later). Geofences are zones you set up, allowing you to be notified when the tracker enters or exits a geofence. Notifications can be delivered via email or text message. Simply click on the geofence icon, click Create New Geofence and then start clicking to put points on the map, as shown below. The line in the lower left of the image shows where I had moved the mouse/cursor to, but had not yet clicked. As soon as you click, it connects to the first point to fill in the polygon. You can use up to ten points to create a geofence.
So let's look at an example use case — a contractor leaving a generator on site would want to create a geofence letting them know if the device left the site. You can set up geofences to be notified when the device enters the area, leaves it, or both.
Finally, you'll need to carefully review the settings that govern battery usage and reporting; the various options are shown in the screenshot below:
Garmin GTU 10 in action
To power the device on, hold the power button down for three seconds. It will flash green while connecting to the network; the LED will turn off once connected. When you power the device off, the LED turns red.
The my.garmin.com tracking page takes a little getting used to. In the screenshot below, the three icons on the left underneath 'GPS Tracklog GTU 10″ do the following (left to right):
- Keep map centered on GTU 10
- GTU 10 settings
- Get the most recent location of the GTU 10
If you click anywhere in the rectangle surrounding these icons, you'll see three more icons slide out to the side (as shown above). These show location, history and geofences.
Mobile apps
Garmin has a free Tracker app available for Android and iPhone, allowing you to check in on the device's location on the go. Here are a few screenshots:
Garmin GTU 10 performance
The Garmin GTU 10 relies on AT&T for transmitting location; here is a coverage map. I had no trouble getting location information, even in areas limited to 2G EDGE coverage. Again, you need to pay close attention to the battery and usage settings to get the desired results.
One complaint I have about the GTU 10 is the fact that it usually takes a minute or so to get results, whether online or using the Android app (I did not test the iPhone app). And the Android app actually failed to deliver location results a few times. Usually I just had to refresh it to get it to show. I imagine that the slowness of reporting (and occasional failure to do so using the mobile Tracker app) could be maddening if you were tracking a lost child or pet though.
Battery life left a lot to be desired. Using the Balanced plan (checking location every 5 minutes), I expected 'recharge needed frequently' as Garmin says. But they forecast 3 days of battery life outside of a geofence and 10 days inside. I was mostly outside of the two geofences I had setup, but got a low battery warning after 27 hours. There is a car charger available, but this may not be a useful or practical solution for many users.
The GTU 10 successfully transmitted my location when placed under the seat of a vehicle. It even did so in the trunk of my car! In the latter case, the reported location was off by about 120', probably due to the fact that it had to rely upon cell tower triangulation for location, since the metallic enclosure would have blocked GPS reception. Otherwise, location reporting was very accurate.
Garmin GTU 10 pros
- First year of monitoring service is included
- Very small and lightweight
- Reasonable total cost
- Well designed Web interface for setup and tracking
- Accurate location reporting
Garmin GTU 10 cons
- Standard tracking plan limits you to viewing only the last ten points of daily tracking history
- Website and mobile app are slow to display results (takes a minute or two)
- Android app occasionally failed to retrieve location
- Short battery life
Garmin GTU 10 conclusion
Garmin has done a good job with this, their first mainstream GPS tracking product. Battery life is a concern though, especially if you need the location ascertained frequently (e.g., every five minutes). Otherwise, my biggest gripes are about speed of reporting and app failures, both of which seem like they could be addressed and improved on Garmin's end (i.e., these don't seem to be hardware issues associated with the GTU 10). The most important use tip I can give is to pay close attention to the battery/usage settings. You may need to experiment some with the various options to ensure that you are getting the desired results in terms of being able to receive tracking history and how long you can go between recharges.
More Garmin GTU 10 reviews
- Consumer-authored Garmin GTU 10 reviews have been posted at Amazon
- CNET gives a 3 out of 5 star rating in their Garmin GTU 10 tracker review
- PC Mag gives the same 3 out of 5 star rating in their Garmin GPS tracker review
- About.com gives a 4 star rating in their Garmin GTU 10 Locator review
- A user-authored Garmin GPS locator review on the m4carbine.net forums
- The GTU 10 Tracker gets reviewed by the Miami Herald
- Pocket GPS World gives a 9 out of 10 rating in their GTU 10 tracker review
- BikeRadar reviews the GTU 10 from a biker's perspective
- The Mac Observer gives a 4 out of 5 star rating in their Garmin GTU 10 GPS tracker review
- The Chicago Tribune reviews the Garmin GTU 10
I'll be posting more hands on GPS reviews as they appear, but in the meantime, here are some…
Garmin Gtu 10 Hack
Other Garmin GTU 10 resources
- The Garmin GTU 10 owners manual
- Tracking a runner at the Boston Marathon with the GTU 10
- Experimenting with the GTU 10 at a triathlon
- Coverage map for the Garmin GTU 10
- The official Garmin GTU 10 web page
- A video showing how to use the Web interface to locate your GTU-10
- A video demo of the geofences feature
Garmin Gtu 10 $200
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- Check the current Garmin GTU 10 price at Amazon
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- Check out the deal on the Garmin GTU 10 Tracking Unit at REI.com, where satisfaction is guaranteed and members get 10% back on eligible purchases
- Get the GTU™ 10 direct from Garmin
