Big Dogs, Big Country, Big Screen: Garmin Alpha XL Review

You can have the best collars on the market and a rock-solid handheld, but if you’re squinting at a 3-inch screen while navigating rutted-out mountain roads, you’re still flying blind. The Garmin Alpha XL is Garmin’s answer to the houndsman who lives half their season behind the wheel and needs to keep eyes on the chase without fumbling with a handheld. For those of us who actually use our gear instead of reviewing it from a parking lot, that matters.

Garmin has long been the name in hound tracking, and the Alpha lineup has become a staple among serious dog handlers.

We tested the Alpha XL alongside the Alpha 300i handheld and a fleet of TT15X and TT25 collars across Montana’s lion and bear seasons, running six hounds in conditions that ranged from post-hole snow to greasy spring gumbo. To be honest, I was skeptical that this was something I’d even want to use. I didn’t really understand where it would fit into our hunts. I can’t imagine running without it now.

In short: The Garmin Alpha XL really is a powerhouse add-on to the Alpha ecosystem. It gives you real-time big-screen tracking and training tools from your vehicle, making it a rad upgrade for hunters who cover big country, especially those who split up and run.

Garmin Alpha XL Review

The Basics

At its most basic, the Alpha XL is a 10-inch touchscreen on your dash that shows you exactly where your dogs are without forcing you to squint at a handheld or scroll through clunky menus on the screen. It links up with your Alpha 300i and TT25 collars like it was built for them. You get real-time tracks, direction, and distance for up to 20 dogs.

You can train straight from the screen, too. Use tone, vibrate, or stim without digging through layers of menus. It comes loaded with topo maps, satellite imagery, and elevation data so you actually know what kind of hell your dogs are getting into.

What’s in the Box?

Out of the box, you get everything you need to get rolling. The Alpha XL comes with a suction-cup windshield mount, magnetic mount with power contacts, a vehicle power cable, a USB-C cable, and both stubby and long-range VHF antennas.

You also get adhesive and screw-down mounting options if you want to hardwire it or skip the suction mount entirely. The TT25 ($350) collars and 300i ($850) handheld device are sold separately.

It mounts clean, powers straight off your truck, and stays locked in when you hit a rut hard enough to spill your coffee.

Field Testing: Montana Hounds, Snowbanks, and Spring Mud

We tested this device the way it was meant to be used. We chased mountain lions through snow-choked coulees and turned dogs loose on bears along muddy ridgelines. The Alpha 300i stayed clipped to our packs. The Alpha XL stayed mounted in the truck.

With six hounds running TT25 collars and the 300i doing the heavy lifting on foot, the XL lets a driver stay completely connected without constantly grabbing for a handheld. It’s added a level of safety to operating a vehicle while running dogs.

This became an all-new asset when I was hunting with multiple handlers. Even with only one handheld device, we could split, one hunter in the rig and one on foot, and stay completely connected with our pups while running backroads and ridgelines simultaneously.

Mind you, it isn’t often I have road access to where our dogs run to, but when I do, or when they decide to run 14 miles in a split second and I need to make up ground via any road that can at least get me a bit closer, this thing is beyond rad. More than a few times, we sent one hunter back to the truck to rip off the mountain and head off the pups at the other side, saving both time and cutting serious miles off the pups’ run.

The 10-inch screen provided a level of situational awareness I had never experienced before. The XL pulled power from the truck’s 12V outlet, and the magnetic mount made it easy to dock and undock quickly. Even in direct sun or bouncing over washboard roads, the screen remained totally visible and responsive.

It certainly takes up some windshield space (if that’s where you mount it), so keep that in mind. You may be flirting with the law a bit.

Setting Up the Alpha XL for Real-World Use

Mounting tips: The included mount works, but it might block too much of your view. I’ve considered swapping it for a lower mount, like a RAM mount or other vehicle tablet mount.

Powering the unit: The magnetic mount draws power from a 12V plug, but a hardwired install is cleaner. If you don’t want wires hanging and plan to use it fairly constantly, get it hard-wired.

Pairing: Pair your Alpha 300i to the XL via Bluetooth before the hunt. This syncs tracking and training data across both devices.

Field tip: Give the 300i to your foot crew (if you have one) and let the truck run the XL. This split allows everyone to stay locked in without playing hot potato with a single handheld.

What It Does Best

Big-Screen Dog Tracking While Driving

The Alpha XL provides a massive upgrade in visibility. The map is easy to read at a glance, and the touchscreen makes it fast to zoom, pan, and switch between map layers. You can see your dogs’ tracks, current direction, and distance without taking your eyes off the road for more than a second.

Perfect Companion to the 300i

The Alpha XL was never meant to replace your handheld. It was built to work with it. While the 300i handles the finer, in-field controls and quick decisions, the XL turns your vehicle into a command center. We found ourselves splitting duties between driver and foot crew, and this setup made that division of labor seamless.

Training at Your Fingertips

You can issue stim, tone, or vibrate commands directly from the Alpha XL’s interface. Every dog icon is actionable, and training functions are easily accessible without needing to dive into menus. It might not be quite as fast as the 300i in the moment, but for truck-based control, it’s more than functional.

Rugged, Reliable, and Ready for Abuse

We used it in single-digit temperatures and mid-60s spring thaws. Granted, it’s always in the truck, but the truck certainly isn’t always pleasant. It never shut down, froze up, or lost track of a single dog. Occasionally, we’d get some signal lag, but it’s always been temporary. The connection remained solid across varied terrain and dense timber.

Where It Could Improve

Mounting Location Needs Creativity

The included windshield mount puts the screen in a legal gray area. It can also block a lot of your view. If you plan to keep this in your truck long-term, you will probably want a dash mount.

Battery Life Is Minimal Off-Dock

The Alpha XL can technically function off the dock for about 2 hours, but that is not enough to make it usable outside the vehicle. This is not a handheld substitute. It’s a truck tool. Plan accordingly.

It Isn’t Cheap

At $1,200, this big screen comes in at a big price. It only makes sense if you are already running a full Alpha system. If you rely heavily on vehicle-based dog management, the XL becomes worth the price quickly.

Who the Garmin Alpa XL Is For

The Alpha XL was made for serious houndsmen who spend time behind the wheel when they’re not on foot behind their dogs. If you routinely hunt with multiple dogs, cover big terrain, and need instant access to tracking and training features, this device earns its keep quickly.

This is particularly true for those hunters who split up during the chase to cover more ground.

It is ideal for:

• Hunters managing five or more dogs
• Crews using both in-vehicle and on-foot tracking strategies
• Existing Alpha 300i users looking to enhance their setup
• Anyone who has ever squinted at a tiny handheld screen while dodging boulders and looking for a signal

I’ll also likely find some way to mount it on my snowmobile for mountain lion season. If I can rig up a way to make it work, it would be (and I don’t say this lightly) game-changing.

If you are a weekend upland hunter flushing pheasants on foot with one setter, skip this one. But if your hunting days start at 4 a.m. and don’t end until the last dog is loaded, the Alpha XL is an absolutely incredible addition.

Alpha XL vs. Garmin DriveTrack

If you’re trying to decide between the Garmin DriveTrack and the Alpha XL, there are some serious differences between them. The most significant difference is the hefty price tag.

Let’s break it down chart-style:

Bottom line: The DriveTrack is more affordable and still useful for basic tracking, but it lacks the Alpha XL’s screen size and ability to control dogs. If you are running hounds in serious country, the Alpha XL is the clear winner. If you need to run them and don’t want to take out a dang loan, the DriveTrack will still do the job.

Final Thoughts

Look, I love my hounds. Anything I can add to my hunting arsenal that helps me keep track of them and keep them safe is a win for me. The Garmin Alpha XL fills a gap I honestly didn’t really know existed. Once you use it, you wonder how you ever hunted without it.

It works best as part of a complete system, obviously, not as a standalone. It makes dog management easier, safer, and more efficient for your team.

The Alpha XL doesn’t replace the handheld; it just enhances it. And for those of us chasing dogs through the worst conditions Montana has to offer, being able to split up, drive, and still track the dogs makes all the difference.

If you’re a casual hound runner, this might not be for you. If you live and breathe it like I do, and you already run handhelds and collars, this unit is a seriously valuable upgrade to your system.

And yes, the price tag stings, but so does tromping all over the mountain after pups.