Garmin nuvi 350 review

The Garmin nuvi 350 has proven to be an incredibly popular touch-screen GPS navigator. Garmin bills the nuvi as a "a Personal Travel Assistant™ that combines a GPS navigator, language translator and travel guide capability, an MP3 player, an audio book player, a currency and measurement converter, a world clock, and a digital photo organizer." The nuvi has the newest generation of GPS chipsets, the SiRFSTAR III, resulting in fast satellite lock and improved reception. It also speaks street names, so you'll get "turn left on Highway 128" instead of "turn left in 200 feet."

Stepping up to the nuvi 360 adds Bluetooth for hands free cell phone use.

UPDATE: There are now so many models in the nuvi line, that it's easy to get confused about their differences. To help with that, I've put together a Garmin nuvi comparison chart.

Compare prices on the Garmin nuvi 350

Before we hear from other reviews, here's what the editors at Amazon to say...

"...The nüvi 350 is first and foremost a personal GPS device. Wherever you go -- in your car or on foot-- the device offers extremely accurate position data, thanks to a high-sensitivity integrated GPS receiver by SiRF and WAAS-enabled, 12-satellite reception. Combined with detailed maps of the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico the nüvi 350 provides automatic routing, turn-by-turn voice directions, and touchscreen control -- making it easy to find your way anywhere. Plus, the unique "text-to-speech" feature calls out turns by street name, and you can choose from either 2D or 3D mapping perspectives when you're viewing your route on the display. Additionally, the nüvi 350 is compatible with Garmin's GTM 10 FM TMC traffic receiver, which allows users to avoid traffic tie-ups by simply pushing a button that will calculate a new route..."

More Garmin nuvi 350 reviews

• The nuvi is garnering raves from Amazon readers in their Garmin nuvi 350 reviews.
• Consumer-authored nuvi 350 reviews have been posted at GPSNow.
• Signal vs. noise has a simple title to their Garmin nuvi 350 review -- Insanely recommended!
• PC Mag.com gave 4-1/2 stars in their Garmin Nuvi 350 review.
• CNet's Garmin nuvi 350 review rates it an 8.3 out of 10. Over 100 consumers have rated it there as well.
  
• GPS Information.net has now posted their Garmin Nuvi 350 review.
• Women's Health even gets in the game, posting a nuvi 350 review.
• Naga of RPV Blogster offers this great Garmin nuvi 350 review, complete with lots of screenshots.
• Gabriel Jones gives 4.5 out of 5 stars in his Garmin nuvi 350 review.
• This, That and the Other Thing reviews the Garmin nuvi 350.
• WizbangTech has posted a Garmin nuvi 350 review.
• Wackaloons has posted a nuvi 350 review.
• Great2Buy has also posted a Garmin nuvi 350 review.
• TopSpeed reviews the nuvi 350.
• The GPS Guy's Garmin nuvi 350 review gives it a near-perfect 4.9 out of 5.0 rating
• Crutchfield has posted a review of the nuvi 350.
• GPS Magazine has posted their typically thorough review of the nuvi 350.
• Associated Content gives 4 out of 5 stars in their Garmin nuvi 350 review.
• Raanan.com reviews the Garmin nuvi 350.
• CanadianDriver has posted a Garmin nuvi 350 review.
• NewsRoute reviews the Garmin nuvi 350.
• Stream Clips has posted a brief Garmin nuvi 350 review as well.
• Digital Trends reviews the nuvi 350.
• The Oklahoma Outdoorsman compares the Garmin nuvi 350 to two other GPS receivers.
• Here's a brief Garmin nuvi 350 review on Flixya.
• Nudjit has also posted a Garmin nuvi 350 review.
• I4U News gives an 8.5 out of 10 rating in their Garmin nuvi 350 review.
• Another consumer-authored Garmin nuvi 350 review.
• Geeks to Go has also posted a review of the nuvi 350.
• A comparison of the Garmin nuvi 350 and the Mio C230.

More Garmin nuvi 350 resources

• A PDF version of the nuvi owners manual.
• Want to compare the nuvi 350 to other models? Check out this Garmin nuvi comparison chart tool.
• There is a nuvi 350 message forum at Yahoo Groups.
• Finally, before we get to price comparisons, here is a Garmin nuvi 350 video demo:

Compare prices on the Garmin nuvi 350 at these merchants:

• Check for the low price on the nuvi 350 at GPS Now.com, where shipping is free on orders over $399. Order by 5 p.m. Central Time for same day shipment.
• Get the current nuvi 350 price at Amazon.
• Check out the Garmin nuvi 350 Portable Automotive GPS System NEW LOW PRICE at TigerGPS, where you get free shipping on orders above $250.
• Get a great deal on the Garmin nuvi 350 Personal Travel Assistant at TheNerds.net.
• Buy the Garmin nuvi 350 Personal Travel Assistant at REI.com. There are more customer reviews posted here too.
  
• Get the Garmin nuvi 350 for an amazing price at eBay.

From the official Garmin nuvi 350 web page:

Introducing the nüvi: A versatile travel assistant that’s approximately the size of a deck of playing cards.

The nüvi is a portable GPS navigator, traveler’s reference, and digital entertainment system, all in one. Combined with detailed maps, the nüvi provides automatic routing, turn-by-turn voice directions, and finger-touchscreen control—making it easy to find your way anywhere.

Travel Kit™

The nüvi also offers a travel kit of useful travel tools to help keep any journey fun: MP3 player, audio book player from Audible.com, JPEG picture viewer, world travel clock with time zones, currency converter, measurement converter, and calculator. In addition, optional software packages such as the Language Guide and Travel Guide (sold separately on SD Data cards) can be added for language and content support.

Language Guide™ software (optional)

Users can access an optional Garmin Language Guide, with data provided by Oxford University Press. This software suite contains a multilingual word bank, phrase bank, and five bilingual dictionaries. The multilingual word bank and phrase bank supports nine languages and dialects, including American English, British English, French, German, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese, European Portuguese, European Spanish, and Latin American Spanish. The Language Guide lets travelers look up and translate more than 17,000 words or 20,000 phrases per language. Through the unit’s text-to-speech interface (offered only on the nüvi 350) , users can get a spoken pronunciation of each entry in the word bank—along with gender and part-of-speech information.

Travel Guide™ software (optional)

The new Garmin Travel Guide is loaded with information provided by Marco Polo. These guides put in-depth travel information—such as reviews and recommendations for restaurants, tourist attractions, and more—at the user’s fingertips.

Travelers can use the nüvi to navigate to an address or search points of interest (POIs)—places like hotels, restaurants, shopping, and tourist attractions. The nüvi automatically calculates the fastest route and provides voice-prompted turn-by-turn directions along the way. Thanks to the nüvi’s text-to-speech functionality, the unit audibly announces the name of upcoming streets—letting drivers keep their eyes on the road while navigating through busy traffic and tricky roadways. If users stray off course, the nüvi automatically calculates the quickest way to get back on track.

This nüvi comes in two configurations:

nüvi 300
This unit is sold exclusively in Europe. (Contact your Garmin European distributor for pricing.) Customers can purchase one of eight regional coverage areas:

• Italy and Greece
• Switzerland, Austria, Eastern France, Northern Italy, and Southern Germany
• Germany and Czech Republic
• U.K. and Ireland
• France
• Spain and Portugal
• Nordics
• Benelux

The nüvi 300 is compatible with the GTM 10 FM TMC traffic receiver, which allows users to avoid traffic tie-ups by simply pushing a button that will calculate a new route.

The nüvi 300 comes with approximately 200 MBs of internal memory for storage of supplemental maps, MP3s, and audio books (available from Audible.com)

nüvi 350
The European version contains full European mapping right off the shelf. North American versions include pre-loaded City Navigator NT maps of the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico.

The  nüvi 350's unique "text-to-speech" feature calls out turns by street name. In addition, this text-to-speech interface, gives users the spoken pronunciation of each entry in the word bank—along with gender and part-of-speech information.

The nüvi 350 is compatible with the GTM 10 FM TMC traffic receiver, which allows users to avoid traffic tie-ups by simply pushing a button that will calculate a new route.       

The nüvi 350 also comes with an A/C charger and approximately 700 MBs of internal memory for storage of supplemental maps, MP3s, and audio books (available from Audible.com).

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Comments

[aaron morton]

I really like the 350 model but cannot find out about 2 features i'd like. First is creating track logs (so i can geo tags photos) and the second is feeding live gps data into my mac book via usb or blue tooth. Do you know if any of these features are available?

[Rich Owings]

Aaron,

No, you cannot create / export track files, and I don't believe you can stream NMEA data. The limited feature set has been a complaint about the nuvi in some quarters. See http://gpstracklog.typepad.com/gps_tracklog/2006/08/does_the_nuvi_h.html

[Carol Gorove]

I am very frustrated at trying to get information from the online manual. Can I buy one for my nuvi 350 rather than having to refer to an online manual? I cannot refer to my PC when I'm driving somewhere and have a question.

I set a route and now am having trouble "getting rid of it". Every time I open the GPS, it goes that old route (which didn't work for me anyway).

[Rich Owings]

Carol,

I don't know if Garmin made a hard copy manual for the 350. It's not listed for sale on their site. I'd call and ask for one.

In terms of the routing issue, you should be able to push "stop" or set a new destination. Barring that, try a full reset. You'll lose all favorites, recent locations and your home location though. To do this, hold your finger on the upper right corner of the screen while powering on. Press "Yes" when prompted.

[Simon Barnard]

Hi Rich, it was great to see you and Lisa this weekend. Congrats on your new baby boy! I like your site, very awesome with lots of info. Keep in touch and let us know when you go to NM.

Take care,

Simon and Emily

[Rich Owings]

Hey, it was good to see you and Emily too. I'll keep you posted on the move. Let me know if you have any questions about which nuvi to get.

[Emmanuel Etgar]

The reception indication on my nuvi 370 is Zero, not even one stick, unless I open the antenna. When I open the antenna however, the reception is great, but it's so cumbersome! I thought this unit comes with the highly sensitive SIRF chipset. Any body encountered this situation? And is this normal for this unit?

[Rich Owings]

Emmanuel,

Yes, this is normal. The 200 series has an internal antennae, so you could perhaps exchange it for a nuvi 270, but you would lose a lot of features. I expect that Garmin will ultimately upgrade the 300 series to include an internal antennae -- the 300 i-series perhaps!

[Musallam Khalifa]

Hi!
I'm looking for the navigation software for middle-east map ( Saudi arabia etc) of Garmin's nuvi-350 GPS unit.
Please guide me how to get it through internet.
Thanking You
Regards

Musallam

[James Lee]

Hi. I bought Garmin c330 streetpilot a year ago with an antenna and my dad also bought same model a year before me. The thing is that both of the Garmin c330 often give us "lost signal" signs and it happens alot to the extend that I do not think I can depend on this device. I was wondering if Garmin nuvi350 has a lot of better reception than c330. I am not really interested in options like bule-tooth or mp3 but I want a GPS device that can direct me to the place I want to go without too much of "lost signal" sign. I would greatly appreciate any advice. Thank you.

[Rich Owings]

James,

Yes, all the nuvis have a high sensitivity chipset, which will give you greatly improved reception under canopy, in urban canyons, etc.

[James Lee]

Thank you for the quick reply. For the nuvi series, do they also sell antenna separately? And also, do all the nuvi series have same reception quality and if there are differences among them which one has the best reception quality. This time I really want to buy a portable GPS device with strong reception even if I need to pay more. Thank you.

[Rich Owings]

James,

The GPS antenna is integrated into the design of the nuvi. There are reports that the internal (non-flip up type) antenna found on the nuvi 200 and 700 series is a little slower to lock satellites, but these reports are in dispute. To be safe, go with a 300 or 600 series unit.

[James]

I was checking out Walmart website and the description they have on the web is that 350 is external antenna and 360 has Built-in antenna. Does it mean 350 still have an internal antenna like all NUVI series? Because I believe the one that has a built-in antenna should have more quality reception signal. Thank you very much.

[Rich Owings]

James,

Their description is misleading. Both have the same, built-in, flip up antenna. I can see why some people might call it an external, but it is part of the unit, as can be seen in the images here...
https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=134

Notice the difference between the 200s, 700s and the other modes.

[James Lee]

Hi, thank you for clearing my confusion. By the way, while I was on the Garmin's website, I also downloaded the manual of nuvi 350 and 360 and what I noticed is that on the manual it says 360 has 12 channel SiRFSTAR III while 350 has just WAAS enabled. From these manual, I am assuming that 350 doesn't have SiRFSTAR III and 360 has SiRFSTAR III. Is my assumption correct? Thank you very much.

[Rich Owings]

James,

Looks like Garmin should be clearer on their site too. Both the 350 and 360 have the SiRFstar III chipset AND are WAAS enabled.

[omal]

Is there a navigation software for INDIA & BANGLADESH for a 350?

[Les Johnson]

I am about to venture into my first GPS purchase. I need one that gives me excellent regional coverage (with voice instructions) and will, on occasion, need it for North American travel. I deliver cars throughout the St louis metro area.

Any suggestions?

Thank you.

[Rich Owings]

Les,

You said North America. If you're going into Canada, check out the Garmin nuvi 250. The 260 will call out street names too, while the new 260W will add a wider screen. I definitely recommend a nuvi. You can see the details in this post...
http://gpstracklog.typepad.com/gps_tracklog/2007/03/garmin_nuvi_com.html

[Jack]

Hi

I b recently bought a NUVI 350.

As we have planned to go to Italy in august, I wouldlike to buy a map for that country or even for Europe. Is it possible? If so at what price and where can I buy it?

Thank you for your answer.

[Rich Owings]

Jack,

I'd recommend City Navigator Europe NT (http://www8.garmin.com/cartography/mapSource/citynavntEurope.jsp). You can get it from Amazon for $200-$300, depending on format, etc.

[nellie gibbins]

How can I program my gps nuvi 350 for my Utah streets? We have numbers for street names like (Harmon's Grocery Store, 1189E 700S. The gps will not accept it. Help!!!

[Rich Owings]

Nellie,

Hang on; I'm looking into it.

[Rich Owings]

Nellie,

Here's the answer from Garmin support:

To find addresses listed in this manner, enter only the numbers (do not enter N, E, S, or W).

1) Select: Where to?> Address

2) State (Utah)

3) City (Search All)

4) Enter House Number (1189)

5) Enter Street (700), select "700 (E, N, S, St...)"

6) Scroll down to Salt Lake City

7) The address "1189 E 700 S, Salt Lake City, UT 84102" should be a search result.

Of course you could go ahead and select the city in step 3.

[nellie gibbins]

Thanks Rich for your quick reply. Haven't tried it yet but will this afternoon. It's so good to find really smart people that will help you with your problem.

[lost in Europe]

I recently left the US for an extended work assignment in Western Europe. Before leaving the US, I paid the $300 that Garmin gouges people for the European maps and installed them in my Nuvi 350. I have never been more disappointed with anything I have purchased in my entire life. So far we've used this unit to travel the Netherlands from west to east, north to south and parts of Germany also. It has repeatedly and reliably lost itself on the route it chose. By that, I mean that you are travelling the route it chose(a main highway in some cases) and all of the sudden it shows that you are traveling off road and begins recalculating. I have several colleagues who purchased TomToms in Europe for less than I paid for the Garmin European mapset alone and their units work flawlessly. Very disappointed in the performance of the nuvi350 in Europe so far.

[Rich Owings]

Thanks for sharing that.

[Faith]

The 2009 North America update on maps will be released in April, according to the Garmin website. Will all new Garmins include the 2009 maps or what will be the cost to get the newer maps? We are in the market for one and this is a good time to find out this information. Thanks.

[Rich Owings]

Faith,

New devices should have the 2009 maps, but occasionally some will slip through without them. In the past, Garmin has offered a free upgrade to anyone buying a device with older maps after the update's official release date. If someone at Garmin support won't do this, call back and talk to someone else. Other than that, I would buy from some place with a good return policy.

[James Shawhan]

I am considering the Nuvi 350 and would like to know if.......
A. By using a second SD card it will increase the memory available for additional mp3 music files.
B Also will the unit play WAVE files created by a voice recorder and stored on my computer.
C. How is the speaker sound quality?
Thanks.

[Rich Owings]

James,

A. Sure, you just swap out cards
B. No, it won't play .wav files
C. It sucks. The best thing is to use the headphone / audio out jack and run it to an auxiliary input if your car stereo has one.

[Neil]

We purchased a Garmin Nuvi 350 last year in US, but we live in New Zealand. We are travelling to Western Europe Holland, France,Portugal and Switzerland soon and wondered if we can download off internet maps for these countries. Please guide us through

[Rich Owings]

Neil,

Yes, you can. This should get you what you need...

http://gpstracklog.typepad.com/gps_tracklog/2007/12/free-maps-for-y.html

[Patti]

I am purchasing a GPS for my husband. What is the best most up-to-date device at this point on the market?

[Rich Owings]

Patti,

That's a broad question, but...

Wait until the middle of the month for the Garmin nuvi 880 (tentative availability date 6/16). It should have the best voice recognition system of any unit in the marketplace. I'll put up a post as soon as it's available.

Or, if he is a commuter dealing with significant traffic problems, I'd get him the Dash Express. Here's my review...
http://gpstracklog.typepad.com/gps_tracklog/2008/05/dash-express-re.html

Hope that helps.

[Troy]

I want a GPS where I can enter the roads ahead of time then follow the entered route. What Garmin version(s) will allow this?

[Rich Owings]

Troy, You can't pick specific roads with a Garmin, but with a 700 or 800 series nuvi, you can construct a route with all your destinations. If I want to go a certain way, I just insert an extra destination (via point) on that street.