Garmin Rino 520 Review

The Rino 520 measures 5.8 x 13.0 x 4.6 cm (W x H x D) (antenna closed) and 19 cm (antenna open). Together with the battery, it weighs 290 grams. The TFT screen is 2.1” in size and supports 256 colors. The battery is a rechargeable lithium-ion one with 16 hours of life.

The receiver is not disclosed by Garmin, and it is not a high-sensitivity receiver.

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The power button is located at the top. Keeping it pressed turns the device on and off, and pressing it simply adjusts screen brightness. As is the custom with handheld radios, the call button is placed on the left. The thumbstick, which is used for menu navigation and panning is located at the bottom of the screen, and the zoom button immediately to the right of it. To the left of the thumbstick is the volume/squelch button.

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The FRS/GMRS radio has 5 to 0.5 Watt transmission powers. Rino also has the capability to display nearby people. Using the same device and with a push of a button, you can have them see your location. Since the radio is FRS/GMRS compliant, you can use it to communicate with any device that supports the same protocols.

The Garmin Rino 520 is available for USD 331.67 from Amazon.com. There are new products from Garmin that have lower prices, but many of them do not support transmission power of more than 1 Watt. This makes the Rino 520 stand out in the market.

The price of the device may make it seem more attractive, but instead of going with the “limited” Rino 520, we suggest looking into either the Rino 530 HCx, which is available at USD 379.29 or the Rino 520 HCx which is offered for USD 400.29 from Amazon.com, both supporting microSD cards. The differences between the 530 HCx and 520 HCx are an electronic compass, a barometric altimeter and NOAA weather radio which are present in th 530 HCx but not in the 520 HCx.