Move over, nüvi 350! There's a new kid on the block, and it's one of your own. Last fall, I reviewed the Garmin nüvi 350 and awarded it one of the highest ratings I've ever given a product, as well as an Editors' Choice. Now, Garmin has come out with nüvi 360. The nüvi 360 is largely identical to its sibling the 350, but it costs $100 more and sports a Bluetooth phone interface that lets it double as a hands-free speaker phone. Like the nüvi 350, its language and travel guides are still optional, and it won't let you enter in a phone number when creating a new Favorite location, but these are minor gripes.
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At 3 by 3.9 by 0.9 inches (HWD), the nüvi 360 is designed to fit into your shirt pocket. But don't let its diminutive size fool you. It features a 3.5-inch (diagonal) color screen that looks great even in bright sunlight, and it comes preloaded with North American maps. It features the same easy-to-navigate menu system found in other Garmin products, and includes Garmin's text-to-speech technology that announces street names. Because other differences, such as a new "Where to" option that lets you navigate to a latitude/longitude, are only minor, I'll focus just on the Bluetooth phone interface. On the settings menu, there's a new Bluetooth icon that lets you set up the Bluetooth link with your cell phone. Setting up the link is quite simple. On the nüvi 360, just tap the Bluetooth icon, tap Change, and select Add Device. The nüvi 360 will then start searching. On your cell phone, enable Bluetooth and make your phone "visible" or discoverable. Within a minute or so, the nüvi 360 will discover your cell phone. Select it, and after exchanging pass codes, your cell phone and the nüvi 360 will be paired.
Once the phone is paired, a phone icon will appear in the right-hand column of the main menu. A tap of that icon displays a submenu that gives you access to the dial pad, POI dialing, your phone book, and call history. It's important to note that not all cell phones support features such as voice dialing and phone-book import. You can check the Garmin site for a full list of compatible Bluetooth phones. My cell phone, an LG VX8100, isn't specifically included on the site, but it connected without a problem, though it did lack the advanced features of phone-book import and voice dialing.
For incoming calls, the nüvi 360's screen switches to a caller ID screen that shows the incoming phone number, if it's available, and gives you the option to either answer or ignore the call. The nüvi 360, like the StreetPilot c550, fully integrates the phone with the POI database. For example, once you've found a restaurant, a tap of the phone icon next to the POI phone number will place a call to that number. Making dinner reservations couldn't be easier. The nüvi 360 appears to share the same Bluetooth phone code base as other Garmin products (such as the StreetPilot c550 and StreetPilot 2820), and thus shares the same user interface oversight. As you create a new "Favorite" location, you aren't given the option of also entering a phone number. You have to go back and edit the Favorite location to add the phone number once you've saved it. It's a small issue, but I hope that Garmin will address it in future releases.
The nüvi 360, like the nüvi 350, includes an MP3 player. During phone calls, the MP3 player, as well as directional voice prompting, is muted. In the test phone calls I made, the voice quality coming through the speaker sounded good, and there was no echo. I made test calls to a voice-mail box that generates a WAV file so that I could judge the outgoing call quality. The outgoing quality also sounded good, but as you would suspect, with the microphone approximately 16 inches away from my mouth, it sounded like a speakerphone.
Like its sibling the nüvi 350, the nüvi 360 also uses the ultrasensitive SiRF Star III GPS receiver. I've seen this receiver on a number of the newer devices that I've reviewed, and in every case, it locks onto satellites in areas where earlier generation GPS receivers would have lost satellite tracking. And for those who travel long distances on planes, the SiRF Star III's TTFF (Time to First Fix) is really fast. In normal use, the receiver will maintain a signal lock, but if you travel long distances or turn it off for an extended period of time, the device must reorient itself and collect that first fix on its location. In my tests, the initial satellite lock generally took less than two minutes.
The routes generated by the nüvi 360 were identical to those generated by the nüvi 350 and all other Garmin GPSs that I've recently tested. That's not surprising, given that Garmin uses data from Navteq in all of its automotive devices. Turn-by-turn instructions were given at the same intervals as those of other Garmin devices. Interestingly, on one recent test, I had two Garmin devices in the car, each with the same destination programmed in. The voice prompts were not only identical, but were almost in unison. Though I didn't have the opportunity to put on a lot of mileage on the nüvi 360, as I have on other devices, I did take a 200-mile weekend excursion with it. It reliably guided me through rural areas of western New Jersey and, according to a local resident, did find the shortest route. On my standard test route, the route it created was identical to that of other Garmin products, and it recovered from my intentional wrong turns quickly.
Overall, the addition of the Bluetooth phone interface did nothing to damage my opinion of the nüvi. The nüvi 360 is a winner. And for those who already have Bluetooth-enabled phones, or are planning to get one soon, the nüvi 360 is definitely a good thing.
by Craig Ellison
Navigator. Translator. Entertainer. Tour guide. Garmin's nüvi 360 is your pocket-sized personal travel assistant. This versatile GPS comes with hands-free Bluetooth® wireless technology in addition to the popular features offered in the nüvi 350 — making it the go-anywhere travel companion. Like the rest of the nüvi 300-series, you’re just a few screen taps away from anywhere.
Make Hands-free Calls
Talk about worry-free driving. nüvi 360 integrates Bluetooth wireless technology with a built-in microphone and speaker, so you can pair it with your compatible Bluetooth phone. Then talk hands-free through the 360 while staying focused on the road. Simply dial numbers with nüvi's touch screen keypad to make a call. To answer calls, just tap nüvi's screen and speak directly into its built-in microphone. You can also easily look up and dial numbers from your personalized phone book or from your phone’s call history log. With 1-touch dialing for points of interest (POIs), you can conveniently call ahead for reservations or information.
Navigate With Ease
nüvi 360 comes ready to go right out of the box with preloaded City Navigator® NT street maps, including a hefty points of interest database with hotels, restaurants, fuel, ATMs and more. Simply touch the color sunlight-readable screen to enter a destination, and nüvi takes you there with 2D or 3D maps and turn-by-turn voice directions. It even announces the name of exits and streets so you never have to take your eyes off the road. In addition, nüvi 360 accepts custom points of interest, such as school zones and safety cameras and lets you set proximity alerts to warn you of upcoming POIs. The European version even includes a preloaded safety camera database containing the location of safety cameras for parts of Europe.
Add Traffic Alerts
Avoid traffic jams with the addition of an optional FM TMC traffic receiver and traffic services. By adding these to your nüvi, you are notified of accidents or road construction ahead on your route. Simply touch the screen to view traffic details or recalculate your route to avoid traffic. Select nüvi 360 models also include an integrated traffic receiver and services (click versions tab to view all).
Take It With You
Like the rest of the nüvi series, nüvi 300 sports a sleek, slim design and fits comfortably in your pocket or purse. Its rechargeable lithium-ion battery makes it convenient for navigation by car or foot.
Go Beyond Navigation
Navigation is just the beginning. nüvi 360 includes many “must have” entertainment and travel tools including MP3 player, audio book player (subscription to Audible.com required), JPEG picture viewer, world travel clock with time zones, currency converter, measurement converter, calculator and more. It also comes with Garmin Lock™, an anti-theft feature, and configurable vehicle icons that let you select car-shaped graphics to show your location on the map. Optional software on plug-and-play SD cards for language translation, detailed travel guide and savings program allows you to customize nüvi for your travel needs.
nüvi 360: It's a whole nü way to travel.
