UPDATE: This model has been discontinued. For current recommendations, please refer to our auto GPS buyers guide.
The Garmin nüvi 1350T
The 4.3” touch-screen nuvi 1350T comes with preloaded maps of the US and Canada, and offers speed limit display, as shown above.
Related units
- Step up to a new introduction, the Garmin nuvi 1350LMT, to add lifetime map updates
- Or choose the nuvi 1390T to add junction view and Bluetooth for hands-free cell phone use to the 1350T’s feature set
- Going the other direction, the nuvi 1350 has the same feature set as the 1350T, minus the live traffic
- To see how the 1350T compares to other models, check out my Garmin nuvi comparison chart
Portions of the following were adapted from my hands on reviews of the nuvi 1200 and nuvi 1490T.
Here is a brief look at new features found on the 12xx, 13xx and 14xx series, but not on previous models.
CityXplorer maps
The nuvi 1350T can utilize the pedestrian / mass transit navigation features of these maps, as shown below. CityXplorer maps are priced at $9.99 to $14.99 per city; you can read more about them in my CityXplorer review.
POI feedback
This feature, added with the recent version 2.70 firmware upgrade, allows you to give feedback on points of interest (POIs). You can follow that link for more details, but basically, POIs can be rated and you can also report errors, removing them from your searches.
Custom data fields
The nuvi 12xx, 13xx and 14xx models allow you to customize the map screen’s lower left data field, a feature we first saw on the nuvi 7×5 series. Press this field to bring up the options listed below. When not navigating, the options are:
- Direction of travel (default)
- Elevation
- Time of day
When navigating, the options are as follows:
- Estimated time of arrival (default)
- Estimated time to destination
- Distance to destination
- Direction of travel
- Elevation
- Time of day
Furthermore, in the nuvi 13xx and 14xx series, you have the option to shift data fields to the right side of the map screen, as shown below. The top three fields can then be customized with the options discussed previously. This gives you the ability to display two more fields than can be shown in the traditional display mode.
Speeding warning
Also new, your speed changes to red if you are exceeding the speed limit (assuming the unit has the speed limit for the road you are on). This is a nice feature, but I wish Garmin would allow you to customize this to changes colors at 5 or 10 MPH over the limit, so it’s not constantly switching back and forth if you drive right at the limit.
More nuvi 1350T features
The following features were first introduced on other recent nuvi models.
Trip log display
Trip log display, or as I prefer to call it ;-), tracklog display, shows where you’ve been and can be downloaded to your computer. Tracklogs can be cleared and the feature disabled for those of you with something to hide! The tracklog is the thin blue line trailing behind the car / current position icon, as shown in the screen shot above.
ecoRoute
This feature adds a “less fuel” option to your routing choices and gives you fuel and mileage reports, estimated fuel cost for trips, and even a “driving challenge” to improve your fuel efficiency.
Here is a PDF version of the ecoRoute manual. ecoRoute is available for the nuvi 2×5, 7×5, 12xx and 13xx series.
NAVTEQ Lifetime Traffic
The nuvi 1350T comes equipped with NAVTEQ lifetime traffic, which is ad-supported. You can read all about that in my nuvi 755T review, but don’t despair, the ads are very low-key. What is more of a concern is NAVTEQ’s very limited traffic coverage, only 52 US cities at this point. You can see a full list at traffic.com.
Lane Assist
While the nuvi 1350T includes Lane Assist, as shown below, be aware that it does not include Junction View, a photo-realistic image of freeway interchanges.
Recent cities and streets
This feature was first seen on the nuvi 700 series. A folder icon appears in the upper left corner of city and street search screens. Tap it for a list of recent entries. This is so much better than having to re-enter your hometown all the time!
Where am I?
This emergency location feature provides your current latitude and longitude, the nearest address and intersection, and the closest hospitals, police stations and fuel stations. 
Garmin nuvi 1350T pros
- Lifetime traffic
- Bright display
- Text-to-speech
- Quick access to previously entered cities and street names
- Customizable fields on map screen
- Automatically powers on and off
- ecoRoute
- Compatible with CityXplorer maps’ enhanced pedestrian navigation features
- Trip log display
- Visually warns when speeding
Garmin nuvi 1350T cons
- Power lead must be plugged directly into unit (not the mount)
- Has lane assist, but not junction view
- Traffic coverage limited to 52 US cities
- When you search for a POI, the POI balloon obscures a significant portion of the map
- Does not include standard mini-USB cable to connect to PC
Conclusion and recommendations
As with the entire nuvi series, I expect that most buyers will be quite happy with the 1350T. If lane assist, the ability to customize the map display, or use of CityXplorer maps is important to you, I highly recommend this unit.
More Garmin nuvi 1350T reviews
- Consumer-authored Garmin nuvi 1350T reviews
are being posted at Amazon
- Gizmodo has posted a brief Garmin 1350T review
- GpsPasSion has a nuvi 12xx, 13xx, 14xx review thread
I’ll be posting more hands on GPS reviews as they appear, but in the meantime, here are some…
Other Garmin nuvi 1350T resources
- The Garmin nuvi 1350T owners manual in the language of your choice
- Want to see how the nuvi 1350T stacks up against other models? Check out this Garmin auto GPS comparison tool or my own Garmin nuvi comparison chart
- There is a dedicated Garmin nuvi message forum at GpsPasSion and another nuvi forum at GPS Review
- The official Garmin nuvi 1350T web page
- How to access archived nuvi trip logs
- Five more tips for nuvi newbies
Compare prices on the Garmin nuvi 1350T at these merchants:
- Find the low price on a Garmin nuvi 1350T at GPS Now, where shipping is free on orders over $99 (and the upgrade to overnight shipping is dirt cheap!). Order by 5 p.m. Central Time for same day shipment
- Check the current price of the Garmin nüvi 1350T
- Check out the deal on a Garmin nuvi 1350T GPS
at REI.com, where satisfaction is guaranteed and members get 10% back on eligible purchases
- Get the Garmin nuvi 1350T
for an amazing price on eBay
About Rich Owings
I am purchasing my first GPS. I have it narrowed down to:
265WT
765T
1350T
My husband says buy the newest/greatest.
Afraid I’m going to make it hard on you…
Newest = 1350T
Greatest = 765T
🙂
You’re right you didnt make it easy! but at least narrowed it down to 2. He says newest cuz it has the speeding warning! I say all the bells and whistles that I will need at the best price! hmmmm, got me thinking now.
note this: panning in 765 is very slow duo to older hardware, 1350 is much faster. i choose it clz of this.
Have you used the 765T? It has a very fast processor.
yes i have, maybe the 3D building slows down the map panning quite bad.
and as days passed, i totally agree with you on the annoying bubble on 1350t, it is not quite as useful and clear as the older interface. I am not buying that feature neither.
But on Garmin product page it says it support also Canada traffic.
http://www8.garmin.com/traffic/fm/navteq.html
who is right?
Yes, this has improved, and they now offer coverage for a few Canadian cities.
LOVE the 1350T…. it was a great investment for me and user
friendly. I am very glad I went with it.
Your site is wonderful! I love the comparison chart! Thank you for all the work you put into this! I just order a 1350T.
Thanks! Glad you found it helpful!
Now there is another down point on 1350t, that is the Samantha TTS is not supported, Jack and Jill just sounds very strange to me, and they spell street names in weird way… other British and Australia TTS are worse. Glad that I am not heavily dependent on TTS though.
I just received my Garmin 1350T which I bought on a whim from the Home Shopping Network (HSN). I received the unit complete with the standard box equipment, (windshield suction base, sticky option mount, car charger), along with a USB computer cable and a two-way splitter so I can charge the unit and my cell phone at the same time in the car. I paid $189 total after S&H. Was that a good deal?
Not bad. It’s $173 on Amazon, but that doesn’t include a splitter. Great unit BTW!
Hi there. I was wondering, I bought a Garmin 1300 that was on sale to replace the Tom-Tom 130-S I had as it was always wrong. Then I saw a 255W on sale a week later. The 1300 was $30.00 more, and did not have all the features of 255w. So I now have both. Which is best ? I like the 255W and the price, but when it speaks the “street names” in an accent,(australian or english), it is very hard to understand clearly. The 1300 speaks flawlessy no matter which accent it is set to. Do all 255W’s have the same problem ? I called Garmin and they have never heard of this problem. They wanted to hear it speak, so I let them, and they said it should not sound that way. Please let me know if you have ever heard of this. Thank you very much !
You might want to update the firmware on each unit, including voices, and see how they perform then. You can do this with WebUpdater… http://www8.garmin.com/products/webupdater/howtoinstall.jsp Run it a couple of times for each unit to be sure you have all the updates.
The 255W displays the speed limit and includes maps of Canada and Alaska. The 1300 can utilize the advanced mass transit / pedestrian features in Garmin’s CityXplorer maps… http://gpstracklog.com/2009/06/garmin-cityxplorer-review.html
These are the main differences, so the question is what feature set is more important to you.
I am considering Garmin nuvi 1350T or 1390T; I can get the 1350T with lifetime map upgrades for $50. more. Is it worth it?
Yes, that’s a good deal. The best price I’ve seen for lifetime map updates is $70. If you travel much or live in an expanding metro area, I’d go for it (unless you plan on replacing the unit within a year or so).
I purchased a Garmin 1350T December 2009. In January the GPS the screen turned black and would not work. I returned the GPS to Target and they exchanged it for anther Garmin 1350T. The next day i tried to us that Garmin 1350T and the click screen would not work so i exchanged that GPS at Target and they gave me another Garmin 1350T GPS. In January when i received my 3 Garmin 1350T GPS in a month this only work for 5 months when the screen froze and would no longer work. I will NEVER purchase a Garmin AGAIN!
Wow, sounds like there could be a bad batch of 1xxx series units out there. Thanks for sharing that.
Do the maps on the 1350T include Canada or just U.S.??
I forgot to check off the email response. Does the 1350T cover Canada maps??
Yes, they include Canada.
I am deciding between the Garmin Crossover for $199 or the Garmin 1350T for $169. Which would you recommend? No city driving usually just one city to the next.
Do you mean the Magellan Crossover? Garmin doesn’t make a unit with that name. They make a similar nuvi 500/550, that is designed for off-road/trail use. It sounds like the Garmin nuvi 1350T is better suited for you though.
I purchased a Garmin 1350T with the impression it had Bluetooth. Can I and purchase that feature after the fact?
Thanks…
Afraid not. The 1350T doesn’t have the Bluetooth hardware.
My 1350T froze up 2 days into a 14 day trip. I was able to exchange it by mail, and got an email that the 1300 series has a software glitch; everyone needs to download software from the company website. I did this on the new one, and so far so good, but I am nervous about it shutting down again. We used paper maps and didn’t get lost, but we missed monitoring the elevation as we drove through the rockies. 🙁
I would suggest avoiding this model.
Thanks, Rich…
I guess I should have read the box a little better instead of listening to the salesman. I appreciate your reply.
is there a weather program for garmin to show current forcast of mapped area
Not as an add-on, but the 1690 has it built-in…
http://gpstracklog.com/2009/11/garmin-nuvi-1690-review.html
I have seen many bad consumer reviews of the 1300 series – many reports of reboots and freezing. I think it’s probably best to avoid this line. I notice that Garmin already has a new line-up ready to replace it this fall.
I have the Nuvi 1350 T and have never experienced the problems that I keep reading about. If I have any issue, and want to be nit-picky just for the sake of complaining, the keys aren’t always responsive when typing…but that is no big deal to me because i’m parked when typing.
The freezing issue was supposedly solved with a firmware update in July.
Best Buy had the Garmin nuvi 1450T LMT on sale last week. When I purchased it, the salesman gave me the 1450T with lifetime maps. I mentioned that it didn’t say LMT, and he said it was the same, just the older box. Are these GPS’s the same? I see that the model numbers are different. The gps I bought also says Rev. B.
They are basically the same. As long as you received a lifetime map updates card with it, it’s fine. Garmin recently moved to the LMT nomenclature. Before that, lifetime map units were just bundled with a map update card, and sometimes listed as LMU.
doese the 1350t come with mounting brackets
All nuvis come with a suction cup mount, which is all you need, though some people like to buy a dash mount instead.
I recently received both the Garmin nuvi 1350T and the Tomtom XXL 540TM. What is your opinion as to which unit is better?
On paper, the TomTom. Its got lifetime map updates and a historical road speed database for more intelligent routing.
The Garmin has a brighter screen and a better mount. Personally, I prefer the Garmin interface and would probably choose it for myself. I also prefer 4.3″ models to 5″, just because of portability and taking up less space on the dash. Finally, I’m seeing a fair number of reports of problems with the TomTom 5×0 models, though that could just be an indication of how many are out there. They were very popular over the holidays.
Im wanting to know if the 1350T comes with a mounting system or is it hand held
Answered above: http://gpstracklog.com/2009/07/garmin-nuvi-1350t-review.html/comment-page-2#comment-156274
hi rich,I am stay in Iran and need iran and tehran city map software for gps 1350 model,pls helpe me and send software to my email . TQ
Answered at http://gpstracklog.com/compare/garmin-nuvi-comparison-chart/comment-page-16#comment-246754
Please don’t post multiple comments.