Garmin Nuvi 350 Review

Our Garmin Nuvi 350 review found the Nuvi 350 to be a step up from entry-level automotive GPS devices. Garmin calls it "your pocket-sized personal travel assistant ready for adventure."

The Garmin Nuvi 350 GPS is designed to be accurate, easy to use, and portable. It gives you a few enhanced navigation features, as well as a "travel kit" with audio entertainment and reference tools for added value.

This Garmin portable GPS is an outstanding device that lives up to its promises. It is small, slim, and portable. You can use it in your car, then slip it into your pocket or purse for walking forays.

Garmin nüvi 350 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator

It acquires satellite signals very quickly and holds a strong lock on those signals with its high-sensitivity receiver.

This Nuvi GPS comes preloaded with maps of the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico, which includes a very large database of points of interest, such as restaurants, hotels, and airports.

Our Garmin Nuvi 350 review found that perhaps the best feature is its right out of the box ease of use. It has a touchscreen with large, easy to read menu options.

Simply tap Where To? on the touchscreen and choose your destination. The device will give you a route based on your choice of shortest distance or fastest time.

A voice prompt will tell you the distance to the next turn and even pronounce the street name for you. This is an extremely useful feature as it allows you to keep your eyes on the road instead of reading the street name from the screen. It will even tell you which side of the street your destination is on.

The Garmin Nuvi 350 GPS has a nice bright, anti-glare screen. One smart feature we noted was the automatic lowering of screen brightness at night.

Another nice feature is the power management. If the unit is plugged into your car's power, it will sense when you turn the car off and turn itself off, saving your car's battery. It will turn itself on again when you restart the car.

The Travel Kit includes some fun and useful extras such as an MP3 player, an audiobook player, and picture viewer. A USB jack allows you to connect it to your computer and easily transfer files. It has 700MB of available memory that will allow you to load about 10 hours of music.

If you are an international traveler, the Nuvi 350 GPS has a world clock and currency/measurement converter. You can also add Language and Travel Guides, turning your Nuvi GPS into a travel guide and translator. The text-to-speech function will even pronounce the words for you.

Our Garmin Nuvi 350 review found a few frustrating issues. Probably the biggest one is the lack of an external volume control. You must tap the Settings button to change the volume. Not very convenient when you're driving.

The Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) is usually too optimistic. Don't count on it to get you to work on time.

Our Garmin Nuvi 350 review also found that this Nuvi GPS lacks advanced routing features. You can choose only one destination, although you can add one "via" point. This is fine for most users, but will disappoint people who often drive routes with multiple stops, such as delivery drivers or sales representatives.

When you are entering an address, you must type in the first part of a state's name rather than just the abbreviation. For example, to get Alabama, you must type "ALAB" (to distinguish it from Alaska) instead of just "AL".

Searching for your destination by name can be a very slow process.

The speaker works well for voice directions and audiobooks, but falls short when playing music. It's better to use headphones or, if you have a line in port, connect it to your car stereo.

In order to take full advantage of the Garmin Nuvi 350 GPS features, you'll have to shell out some dough. Audiobooks require a subscription to Audible.com. You must purchase a receiver and service subscription to get live traffic updates. Travel/Language Guides, additional maps, and map updates must all be purchased separately.

This is not to say that the Garmin Nuvi 350 GPS is not a great value--it is. Just be aware of the extra costs involved if you intend to use these features.

Final Thoughts

Is this Garmin automotive GPS worth the price? Absolutely.

Our Garmin Nuvi 350 review found this Nuvi GPS to be an excellent unit for most users. It is accurate, very easy to use, and full of smart features. Although it lacks advanced routing capabilities, it will more than satisfy most budget-conscious drivers.

Smart GPS Reviews HOME - from Garmin Nuvi 350 Review