Hands on with the Garmin nuvi 295W
UPDATE: The nuvi 2×5 series has been officially discontinued. For current recommendations, see our auto GPS buyers guide.
The Garmin nüvi 295W
Garmin nuvi 295W ergonomics
Small, sleek and thin, the 295W will easily fit into your pocket. The 3.5” screen is a bit of a compromise for folks used to a 4.3” wide-screen receiver, but I found that I quickly adapted to it. The main place you’re likely to notice the smaller screen is when using the keypad, shown below. It wasn’t really an issue for me, but stubby finger types should beware.
The unit weighs in at 4.8 ounces. The top has a power button and 2.5 mm headphone jack (a 3.5 mm adapter is available). The left side features a micro-SD card slot, contacts for the powered mount and a mini-USB connector. Meanwhile the right side has two volume keys and a button to activate the 3MP geotagging camera.
Garmin nuvi 295W interface
An accelerometer allows the screen to switch between portrait and landscape modes. The main menu, shown below in landscape view, has two parts. Where To? and View Map are always present, while the sliding menu below offers web browser, email, music player, camera, contacts, weather, calendar, tools and settings. The order can be customized (Settings > Applications).
You touch and drag the slider menu to move along it. If you just try to flick it, you’re likely to open a menu item instead.
Once you tap Where To? or View Map, you’ll be in a more familiar nuvi interface. As you can see in the Where To menu below, Google Local search is available for when you have an Internet connection.
The Google Local search screen…
Then there is the familiar map screen, below.
One surprise here. Tap either data field to bring up the screen below, which reveals a tri-axial electronic compass (meaning you don’t have to hold it level), which should come in handy for pedestrian adventures with CityXplorer maps.
WiFi
WiFi setup is drop dead easy. Simply go to Settings > System > Wi-Fi. Nearby networks show up and you select one and enter a password if it’s protected. One note of caution — reception was a little weak at times. It would come and go in my basement, downstairs from the router in the opposite end of the house.
Also extremely easy. Just enter your email address and password. Multiple accounts are supported. The 295W works great for checking email. Don’t expect advanced functionality, like Gmail labels, but I’m guessing that if you want something like that, you’re probably going to end up with a smartphone. Also, the email client does not support HTML messages, so you just get plain text.
Browser
The browser is SLOW. For example, it took 50 seconds to load gpstracklog.com vs. 25 seconds for my Droid using 3G (SkyFire browser)! Nor is there pinch to zoom.
Weather
Touching the weather icon gives you a screen like the one below. Touch the menu icon (three horizontal lines) to update the information or search for weather info near your current location, a different city or a favorite.
Camera
The 3 MP camera is accessed via the slider menu or the camera button on the side of the case. A tap on the camera button initiates focus. When the focus box turns green, depress a bit further to snap the pic. There is no zoom function for the camera itself. Picture quality is about as good as I would expect from a 3 MP camera. From the gallery you can share by email, zoom, set an image as wallpaper or start a slideshow. I don’t claim to be a great photographer, but below are two photos I took. You can see geotagged, full size versions at Picasa.
Garmin nuvi 295W mount
One nice thing about the 295W is the fact that it has a powered mount, which means you don’t have to fiddle with a USB cable each time you use it in your car. It also enables the automatic saving of your last position (saved under Favorites) – awfully handy in those mega-mall parking lots! The unit auto-powers on and off with the car ignition when in the mount.
Garmin nuvi 295W battery life
The nuvi 295W’s battery is officially rated at “Continuous use – up to four hours Standby time – up to 250 hours,” another holdover from it’s nuvifone heritage (see below). You may find battery life much closer to two hours in actuality. You can disable WiFi, but it’s buried in the menus (Settings > System > WiFi). You could also disable GPS, but that’s just as complicated and even less intuitive (Settings > System > General > GPS Simulator – set to on). And you can turn down the backlight. But that’s about it. Short battery life is probably the biggest weakness of the 295W.
Navigating with the nuvi 295W
The nuvi 295W gave me just what I would expect from a nuvi. I saw no routing errors, sluggish behavior, delays in recalculating, etc.
I do have one complaint here though – the speaker is very weak. I’ve read where people say this about other models, but this has the lowest volume of any nuvi I’ve ever used. I doubt that anyone would be able to understand verbal directions given while a semi-loud radio is playing.
One other thing to note here; this model includes multi-destination routing, as shown below:
More nuvi features
The 295W includes the following features, found on many previous nuvis:
- Text-to-speech (so you’ll hear “turn left on Oak Street in one-half mile,” rather than just “turn left on one-half mile”)
- Where Am I? (find closest hospitals, police & gas stations, nearest address & intersection) – to access tap current location icon on map or Tools > Where Am I?
- Garmin Locate™ (marks position when removed from windshield mount) – saved under Favorites as Last Position
- Picture viewer
- MP3 player (though there is no FM transmitter)
- Speed limit display
- Trip log
What’s missing from the nuvi 295W?
Unlike some nuvis, the following features are missing from the 295W:
- Does not warn you when speeding
- Map screen data fields cannot be customized
- Voice commands
- Lane assist and junction view
- 3D buildings
- Bluetooth
- FM traffic compatibility
- ecoRoute
- Audio book player
- FM transmitter
The nuvifone G60 connection
The nuvi 295W appears to utilize components originally created for the nuvifone G60. The case is nearly identical, and the tri-axial compass and accelerometer appear to be holdovers from the design as well. Garmin has apparently found a way to recoup some of their losses from their initial and less than successful entry into the world of smartphones. The only real negatives are that it ended up with the external speaker of a phone, instead of that of a personal navigation device, and the battery isn’t up to constant WiFi access.
Garmin nuvi 295W pros
- Email access via WiFi networks
- Small, pocket-sized
- Easy WiFi and email setup
- Powered mount
- Multi-destination routing
- Fully compatible with pedestrian and mass transit features of CityXplorer maps
- Tri-axial compass
Garmin nuvi 295W cons
- Very short battery life
- Speaker is not loud enough
- 3.5” screen
- 2.5 mm headphone jack
- Very slow browser
- No traffic capabilities (not available as an add-on either)
Recommendation
As I said in the beginning, the nuvi 295W is a good choice for someone who would like email on the go, but isn’t ready to spring for a smartphone data plan. Were it not for the speaker and battery life (more deal killers than the weak browser, IMHO), I’d recommend this without hesitation. As it stands, caveat emptor.
More Garmin nuvi 295W reviews
- Consumer-authored Garmin nuvi 295W reviews
have been posted at Amazon
- A user review of the nuvi 295W posted at GPS Review
I’ll be posting more hands on GPS reviews as they appear, but in the meantime, here are some…
Other Garmin nuvi 295W resources
- A PDF version of the Garmin nuvi 295W owners manual
- Want to see how the 295W 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 295W web page
- Five tips for nuvi newbies
Compare prices on the Garmin nuvi 295W at these merchants:
- Check the current Garmin nuvi 295W
- Find the Garmin nuvi 295W Wi-Fi Portable GPS Navigator
for an awesome price at BuyDig.com, one of our favorite low cost merchants
- Get a great deal on the Garmin Nuvi 295W GPS 010-00916-00
at J&R Computer/Music World
About Rich Owings
Waht about the 3G function?? Does really have 3g connection??? or only by wifi
Just WiFi.
I read all the comments and just purchased this product only b/c first I noticed it was on sale on Amazon, otherwise I would have never seen this unit out of 100s of other GPS systems. This seems real ideal for someone like me who does not own a phone with a Data plan or a netbook. Personally, I hate lagging around a laptop everywhere and I usually just need to check mail or google something that can be read in text when I use my laptop. I can wait to see the other stuff until I get home (youtube etc).
I will be moving to DC soon so this seems very ideal since it is portable and I would love to learn all the little intricacies and history of the DC area while working there. Thanks a lot and I can’t wait to receive my product!
Glad you got the deal! Once you’ve had some time with it, come back and post your thoughts if you have time.
I have had my 295w for many months now and really like it. I use it mostly on a motorcycle but move it to the car when I need too. I use the mp3 player alot and it is nice to be listening to music and then have the voice command stop the song give the instruction and go back to the music. I don’t have to look down much, which is not good on a MC.
I have used the Wi-Fi. It works fine but I have one complaint. When you log to your e-mail the unit downloads all your mail. If you read your mail and don’t delete it you will end up with a buch of mail loaded on the unit. If you jump on a computer and do the same the 295w does not know this so mail you have read on the PC or 295w is not updated and you will have mail already read etc. on both devices. I believe this is called syncing and don’t know if this is possible. Would be nice.
Thanks,
David
Have you checked the email settings / options? I think there is a way around this. I don’t recall it doing it when I tried my Gmail account on the review unit.
Hi Rich,
Yes I have looked at the email settings but can’t find anything that has to do with syncing etc. Do you have any idea what type of setting I’m looking for.
D
The only way I know would be to tell it to take mail off the server, but then you wouldn’t have it on your home PC.
A web-based email interface, like Gmail, would probably solve it, but it won’t have an app-like interface.
Sorry. Probably not the answers you were looking for. You could call Garmin support and see what they say.
Okay, I got my unit yesterday (that was shipped really fast). It seems to work great and gives great listings when I’m in the middle of no where looking for food/fun and gives the phone numbers/address much like a phone book would (I know that is probably standard for GPS’s but I am new to this game
). Other thing, the wi-fi on my GPS or my router has excellent range b/c I was in my room last night which is many walls and many feet away from where my router is and I still got a connection and was able to surf the internet, when my laptop drops the connection in my room. So that was one interesting surprise after many people said the wi-fi was weak. As of now I am installing the new map update, I will let you guys know more when I have a chance to play with it here in the next few days.
(Different David) Rich, How can I sign up for email updates on certain forum review sites without posting a comment (which I may not have at the time)? Thanks
I’m not sure you can by email, though you’re welcome to leave a comment saying you just want to subscribe to comments.
Have you used an RSS reader? (http://gpstracklog.com/2006/09/what_the_heck_i.html). You can subscribe that way. In Firefox, in the URL box, there is an orange RSS icon. If you click it, one of the options is to subscribe to comments from this post.
Hope this helps!
Hello, i just purchased the 295W from Walmart.com where it is advertised it comes with Bluetooth. Is this false advertisement or am I missing something? On this website you describe Bluetooth as one of the things that’s missing. Please clarify. Thanks.
No Bluetooth. What do you need bluetooth for?
Yep they’ve got it wrong. FWIW, it looks like they are pulling the specs from CNet.
Rich,
Is this a no question pick up for the current $79 price? Is the downloading off the net really too slow to allow this GPS to be used as much more than for directions, and can that online voice modulator (well known) help the low voice.
I wasn’t impressed with the browser, but I think its great for email if you don’t want a smartphone data plan. Not sure what modulator you are taking about, but if you aren’t hard of hearing, don’t have a noisy car, or don’t expect to hear it above a loud stereo, you should be fine.
Thanks for the quick reply Rich. The voice modulator about which I’ve read to increase Garmin volume on other models is at http://turboccc.wikispaces.com/.
Why aren’t you impressed with the browser…..too slow or something else? Is it the best of its kind for the price (web navigating and email)? Thanks again
Ah, thanks. Hadn’t seen that site for awhile.
The browser is just too slow, and has no pinch zoom. The 295W is probably your best bet though. I certainly have no hesitation in recommending it.
Hi Rich and 295W owners:
The 295W is now down to $62.99 at Amazon. Is this a good buy.
How much slower is the internet loading compared to a PC, 5x slower, 10x ?
Thank you very much
Yes, it is a very good buy, but that’s a one day deal.
GPS Tracklog just loaded in Chrome in 3 seconds. At 50 seconds for the 295W, that’s 17x slower! Not a very large sample in my test, but it sure seems slow to me. Hopefully some current owners can weigh in.
…yeah, that $63 at Amazon today pretty much turns this into a no-brainer (I’ve been kind of shopping for awhile – and I’ve used borrowed, and my phone’s, GPS’sfew times – so I’m not a total newb’ …though close enough, heh).
Hello. The main feature that I am curious about is the accuracy of the geotagging of the images. I have a Samsung Intercept that also geotags photos with it’s built-in camera, but since GPS isn’t the main function of this (Android) phone – often the results are off by quite a distance. Either by taking the photo before the GPS is locked, or even due to slow updating… I’m not sure.
But did you do a test to see how accurate the placement of the photos really is when uploading to Picasa or Flickr or whatever? I’m hoping that since this is a dedicated GPS device that it will always be keeping the best active, locked signal that it can – and hopefully the geotagging reflects that.
Any comments are appreciated.
I just checked the two images in the post and they are spot on. They look like they are within 100′, and possibly much better. You should get better results than with your phone. Cell phones are often very slow to lock onto satellites without having a good cellular signal first.
My browser was slow I did a hard reset once.
Atith
Did doing a hard rest make the browser loading any faster
I’ve had mine for a couple of days. It’s a really slow boot-up (about 60 seconds from power on untill you get to the double-tap unlock screen), compared to about 1 seconds with my two 265WT’s in the vehicles. I just loaded gpstracklog.com in 23 seconds on a sort of slow wifi connection. My main use of the 295W will be on my bicycles. I’ll consider getting an extra battery or two for longer rides. Can anyone suggest a suitable external power suppy that would allow me to not have to swap batteries? I’m very happy with the unit, Cost $90 CAD via tigerdirect.ca
Hello,
I am in the same situation; as I far as I know the battery won’t last long (device on it’s way) and I would like to use it on my bicycle rides. I think purchasing 1 – 2 back up batteries is the best option but if you know a better solution please help me….!!
Thanks in advance
After surfing around, I found a $20 4AA battery pack from Gomadic: http://www.gomadic.com/brand-garmin-accessories-garmin-295w-accessories.html
I ordered a couple, but 4 AA’s should give loads of run time. $9 extra to ship to ON Canada.
More specifically,
http://www.gomadic.com/garmin-295w-portable-aa-battery-extender.html
Here’s a 2AA battery pack for $10:
http://www.amazon.ca/Portable-Battery-Powered-Emergency-Flashlight/dp/B003M9Z5F6/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1295983102&sr=8-3-fkmr0
Thanks Steve. Those look pretty handy.
Thought I’d throw in my thoughts, I really like the unit. I dropped a text book into the notes and can us it as a reader also.
I’m working on getting the browser to work as a reader so I can play with font size
I’ve now got both the 2AA and 4AA cell USB power packs mentioned above. The larger Gomadic unit is pretty much exactly the with of the 295W plus a 90 degree 2.5 to 3.5mm headphone adapter on the side. It’s also pretty much the same depth, and maybe 1.5″ wide. It will easily fit into Arkon’s GPS032 case which I’ve mounted on 4 of my bicycles. At $5 the smaller unit is half price, also has a flashlight, and using a short (18″) USB cable will fit more compactly into the case. I’ll have to cut some foam to fill in the unused space and stop the various pieces from jiggling around too much. The larger Gomadic unit has an attached 8″ cord, with a 3.5mm adapter dongle on the end to supply a mini-USB connector. Since the 295W’s USB slot is on the bottom of the unit, this means the Gomadic unit will addan extra 2″ of height vertically, which is going to be challenging in the Arkon case. I’ll look for a 90 degree USB connector to try and reduce that. I’ll comment more later, when I’ve had a chance to use it on the road, which here means April.
I can get my garmin nuvi 295w to connect to the internet. I got it for Christmas and it work then. three week ago I use it is the car,plug in vehicle power cabe, map work fine but not me internet don’t. how come??? I reset wi-fi and encryption key. I miss the email and web browser. blessings joy ce
I miss up I can’t get my garmin nuvi 295w to connect to the internet.
I would first back up favorites and then try a master reset. I’ve pasted instructions from Garmin.com support pages below…
To backup favorites…
In order to backup your favorites from your Garmin device you will need to follow the steps below:
Instructions for a PC:
Connect your Garmin device to your computer using a data transfer USB cable.
Double-click on My Computer or Computer.
Right-click on the Garmin device drive and select Open.
Locate and double-click the GPX Folder. (On some devices you may need to open the Garmin Folder first then the GPX Folder)
Right-click and copy the Current.gpx file.
Locate your computer’s Desktop.
Right-click and select Paste to save the Current.gpx file onto your Desktop.
To send the file back to the GPS, please follow the steps below:
Right-click on the Current.gpx file on your Desktop and select Rename.
Name the file Current1.gpx and then press Enter.
Right-click on the Current1.gpx file and select Copy.
Connect your device to your computer.
Double-click on My Computer or Computer.
Right-click on the Garmin device drive and select Open.
Locate and double-click the GPX Folder. (On some devices you may need to open the Garmin Folder first then open the GPX Folder)
Right-click and select Paste.
Disconnect your device from your computer and allow it to boot up.
Your favorites will now be restored on your device.
To perform a reset…
To perform a master reset on the nuvi 295W:
Touch Settings from the scrolling menu on the main menu screen
Touch the menu button (three horizontal lines icon)
Touch Master Clear
Touch Yes when asked “Restore all settings to factory defaults and remove all user data?”
The device will restore the settings and then reset itself. Follow the on screen prompts and then place your device in an area with a clear view of the sky until it acquires satellites.
Note: A master reset will erase all your saved Favorites and Routes, as well as any photos and contacts.
Rich,
Could be Joyce is just in need of turning off WiFi and turning it back on again. This has worked for me on numerous occasions with my nüvi 295W.
Master Clear could be overkill but they say overkill works every time.
Maybe just this–
Settings>System>WiFi. If WiFi is on, touch ‘Wi-Fi On’ button>Off>OK. Then turn it back on and see if any networks appear.
Best of Luck,
David
Good idea!
Hama a German company makes an adapter from 3.5″ to 2.5″ plug stereo. It works very well with the Nuvi 295W. I paid about $1.00 for it.
seriously? Where at? I am looking for one myself but never found one that cheap. Thanks
http://www.monoprice.com/products/search.asp?keyword=headphone+adapter&x=0&y=0
Rich,
I just purchased the 295W to replace my iQue. There doesn’t appear to be any way to import, sync or backup the contact list or calendar. I have downloaded and printed the full manual, and haven’t found a procedure.
Dean
You can backup favorites using this procedure…
Our nuvi, zumo, dezl, and nuLink! devices allow you the ability to backup the locations saved in the Favorites menu on the device. To backup the Favorites from the Garmin device:
Instructions for a PC:
Connect the Garmin device to a computer using a data transfer USB cable.
Double-click on My Computer or Computer.
Right-click on the Garmin device drive and select Open.
Locate and double-click the GPX Folder.
Some devices may require you to open the Garmin Folder first, then the GPX Folder
Right-click and copy the Current.gpx file.
Locate your computer’s Desktop.
Right-click and select Paste to save the Current.gpx file onto your Desktop.
To send the file back to the GPS, please follow the steps below:
Right-click on the Current.gpx file on your Desktop and select Rename.
Name the file Current1.gpx and then press Enter.
Right-click on the Current1.gpx file and select Copy.
Connect your device to your computer.
Double-click on My Computer or Computer.
Right-click on the Garmin device drive and select Open.
Locate and double-click the GPX Folder. (On some devices you may need to open the Garmin Folder first then open the GPX Folder)
Right-click and select Paste.
Disconnect your device from your computer and allow it to boot up.
Your favorites will now be restored on your device. To transfer the saved Favorites from one mass storage device to another, connect the new device to the computer in Step 4 and then follow the remainder of the steps.
From https://support.garmin.com/support/searchSupport/case.faces?caseId={51c35d50-3dbf-11df-e655-000000000000}
I don’t know of any way to backup or sync the calendar.
RE:SYNC of calendar or contact list
I already tried Garmin’s own SyncAgent and it does not work. I am sure it works on the G60 Nuvifone phone version of this platform and I think it is a shame on Garmin for not maintaining that functionality. Oh, well, we don’t know what we’re missing. Not all synchronizing software is the same.
I have an LG plain vanilla phone and used their Outlook sync software. Contacts sync safely but calendar data gets FUBAR and I have no work-around.
Maybe _that’s_ why SyncAgent was crippled; we’ll never know.
Thanks for the quick response guys. I have spent the whole weekend trying to find a way to sync, and finally gave up. Is there a work-around for the contacts using a spread-sheet address book? I could live with a manual calendar, but would really like to have an address book I could carry around and backup, like myiQue 3600.
You need to get a new iQue!
Dean,
Short of rooting this red headed stepchild of a Garmin Nüvi, I haven’t been able to work around the calendar/contacts issue.
It seems that Garmin use Qtopia sQlite database software (qtopia_db.sqlite). There is software out there to convert Qtopia data to .vcf Outlook contacts but nothing to go the other way. I am not the final say here as I haven’t read the entire internet (yet).
I’m going to keep trying to ‘improve’ this unit.
I have a few gpx files that I saved into the Garmin\GPX folder. When I try to import them in the GPS by clicking those 3 horizontal lines in the Routes menu and selecting “Import Routes” its says no results found. What am I doing wrong??
Was just reading a thread on another site where Garmin suggested using the following program with .gpx files that don’t work. Not familiar with the Nuvi 295, so no idea whether that will address your problem but it might be worth a try: http://www.benichou-software.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4&Itemid=2&lang=en
@Boyd – Thanks! The import worked again after I re flashed the firmware so I’m good now. Thats a very handy program though! Thanks for mentioning it! I’m sure I could make some good use of it.