In the 30 years of its existence, Garmin has proven good at a lot of things, but its mastery of expanding niches into full-blown, must-have products is one reason it’s a $3 billion company. This spring, Garmin resurrected something we thought we’d never see again: the standalone panel-mount GPS. And not just one, but two, one of which represents a new product category.
At the Aircraft Electronics Association show in Palm Springs, Garmin unwrapped the GPS 175, an old-school standalone IFR navigator with LPV approach capability and a companion product that’s something we weren’t sure was even possible, never mind that anyone would want. The GNX 375 combines the standalone GPS navigator with ADS-B In and Out in the form of a Mode-S transponder. It’s essentially Garmin’s hot-selling GTX 345 1090ES transponder mashed together with the navigator. Neither of these units have comm capability, however, so they’re not a straight-up replacement for the GTN-series mapcomms nor a new-age GNS 430/530.