Product Review: Garmin aera 660

In this age of multifunctional mobile devices, it might seem surprising that there is still a market for dedicated portable GPS navigators. Garmin certainly believes that this is a worthwhile pursuit, and its latest handheld navigator, the $849 aera 660 introduced in March, is a powerful pocket-sized device that eliminates the need to rely on a tablet computer for navigation advice. Obviously these devices, both the dedicated portables and mobile devices running an aviation app, which generally qualify as Class I or II electronic flight bags, do much more than conveniently store and display charts (although navigation and other features should be considered advisory only, as these are uncertified products).

The aera 660 furthers Garmin’s efforts to make users’ interaction with its devices a familiar process, and any pilot flying with a GTN-series panel-mounted com/navigator or touchscreen-controlled G-series flight deck will instantly recognize the aera 660’s controls.

While there are many similarities between the aera 660 and Garmin’s Pilot iOS and Android apps, they are really two different types of device. The size of the 660 with its five-inch bright sunlight-readable display makes it convenient to carry, and it even fits in a standard shirt pocket, but it is also a rugged unit that should withstand abuse better than typical mobile devices. The display works in either portrait or landscape mode, and the capacitive-type touchscreen uses standard gestures such as pinch-and-zoom, one-finger panning and so on. Battery life is four hours, and the device accepts external power from a USB port.

The navigation features are driven by a built-in GPS/Glonass receiver, adding to the convenience factor because there is no need for an external GPS. The 660 can also display ADS-B in traffic and weather information via Bluetooth from Garmin’s GDL 39 series, Flight Stream and GTX 345 transponder. The 660 doesn’t offer the option of connecting to Sirius XM WX.

It’s handy to have quick access to synthetic vision on the aera 660’s 3D Vision page, which depicts the outside view as seen from behind and outside an aircraft flying on the screen. I would prefer an option to delete the little aircraft, but that isn’t currently available. Even without connecting to attitude information via the GDL 39 3D, Flight Stream or GTX 345, the little airplane turns and pitches in response to GPS inputs. But with the attitude information, the 3D Vision shows accurate pitch, roll and skid information, making it a helpful backup for an instrument panel failure. The 3D Vision display includes GPS speed, altitude, vertical speed and flight plan information as well as lateral and vertical deviation bars and 360-deg HSI with CDI, track and bearing.

Databases installed on the aera 660 provide geo-referenced IFR en route and VFR sectional charts and Garmin FliteCharts terminal procedures. Garmin ChartView (Jeppesen) charts are also available with a Jeppesen subscription. Other databases provide worldwide nine-arc-second terrain, Garmin SafeTaxi airport charts, obstacles (U.S., Canada, Europe), AOPA airport directory, fuel prices, enhanced basemap for flying in Europe, helicopter charts and Garmin’s WireAware wire-strike avoidance technology with hazardous obstacle transmission lines (U.S., portions of Canada and Mexico). For helicopter operators, coverage is available in the Gulf of Mexico, which shows oil drilling platforms and other features.

The aera 660 has many other features such as Vnav, weight-and-balance calculator, flight log, Garmin Connext wireless connectivity, wireless database updates, Garmin Virb camera control, full flight planning, and flight plan sharing with installed avionics. The terrain page has a vertical profile and options for setting alert levels for descent rate, obstacles, wire obstacles and terrain.

After flying almost exclusively with iPad apps, I initially found it a bit strange to go back to a portable navigator, but the aera 660’s instantly familiar interface and ease of use, allied with its small size and powerful capabilities, make carrying one of these an easy decision.