Garmin nüvi 860T, the pleasure of a good guide

Thanks to our gadgets blog, the new Garmin nüvi 860T navigator has reached our hands. It features a 4.3-inch screen, weighs 172 grams and has voice recognition as its star feature, the first model from the brand to include it. In short, it is very practical, simple, portable and highly recommendable for those well-off users who want more than other brands offer, since the model has a recommended price of 499 euros.

If there is one thing this navigator stands out for, it is how pleasantly surprised we were by its speed in recalculating the route once we have missed a turn or street, without having to drive aimlessly for, sometimes, more than a minute. In our case, just 5-10 seconds, depending on the distance to the destination, were enough to show a new optimal route to the destination.

Furthermore, its extensive mapping of all of Europe allows you to travel abroad without having to load additional maps or swap them with other devices, so crossing the border will not be a problem. The maps of the Canary Islands are also included as standard.

When it comes to connecting it, there are two modes. The first is setting a destination, acting as a normal navigator. In this case, the main screen shows the next instruction at the top, the estimated arrival time at the bottom left and the distance to the next instruction on the right. If, on the other hand, we decide not to set a destination, the top will show the street we are driving on, the speed in the bottom left corner and a compass on the right. Although we mention it at the end of the article, we suggest a configuration option for this data, since each person is used to viewing different things and what one finds very useful, another does not.

When setting our destination, we can filter by cities and postal codes, but we can also set routes and destinations such as intersections and other configurations; nothing remarkable compared to others, except for the possibility of entering coordinates as a destination, the first time I have seen this on a navigator.

Among the configuration options, the popular choices stand out: route selection based on shortest distance or shortest time, avoiding tolls, bus and HOV lanes (the first navigator I have seen that includes this), and the option of sending the sound to the device’s own speaker or to an FM receiver such as the car radio. Although we tested this option, we could not hear anything through the car speakers, since in Madrid the FM band is very saturated with frequencies, leaving very few available, if any. It also allows you to enable display of the recorded track, which simply draws a line along the streets you have driven.

On the other hand, it is capable of receiving real-time road traffic information for the roads the route passes through, showing a triangle when there is congestion and the option to avoid that section, recalculating towards the optimal route without traffic. As can be expected, this service is not 100% precise, since there is a time lag between this update and the information servers.

If speed cameras are your concern, you will have no problem. On the official website it is possible to download, free of charge, the fixed speed cameras published by the DGT for Spanish roads, as well as the frequent mobile speed camera zones. Their indication on screen is automatic and a beep sound alerts you to the information.

Voice recognition, although very useful on certain occasions with just the press of a button on a remote control mounted on the steering wheel, has given us some headaches. With short and very simple voice commands, such as numbers, the device has no problem executing the instruction received, but when we put it to the test with more complex commands, it often fails. In our case, when we asked it to take us to “Comunidad de Madrid street“, it understood the village Guadalix de la Sierra and after several attempts, we gave up as impossible. Hopefully, with time and new technologies, this instruction recognition will improve.

Something we did not like and suggest for future models is the inability to customise driving data on the screen during navigation. On most occasions it is always very useful to know the actual speed, current time or final distance to the destination, and although an on-board computer is included, you have to change views to display the aforementioned data. A quick/direct access to adjust the volume quickly, either by wheel or via two buttons, has not been included either, so you have to go to the configuration options to adjust it.

Finally, after purchasing this product you will not need any additional multimedia device, as it is capable of playing MP3 music (useful when we go running or cycling), displaying images in several digital formats, or playing several of the included games, notably the popular solitaire, sudoku, bubbles and more. It also has other additional functions such as alarm clock, calculator, currency, measurement and world time converter, among others.

More Information | Gizig
Official Site | Garmin
Contact | Garmin – 93 357 26 08