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Garmin nuvi comparison chart

It seems that Garmin is trying to create a nuvi for everyone, but with so many models in the marketplace, they’ve also created quite a bit of confusion. To help you navigate your way to the ideal nuvi, I’ve created the chart below. For a quick overview of the different series, you can also check out my dissecting the Garmin nuvi series post.

The nuvi links in the far left column below all go to my reviews of the unit. Discontinued nuvis are listed in their own chart further down the page.

NEW: Click on column headers to sort chart. You can also click here for descriptions and more information about various features.

Model/ review Maps Screen size Speaks street names Traffic Blue- tooth Powered mount Multi- point routing Lifetime maps Speed limit display Lane assist Voice command Amazon link
nuvi 30 48 states 3.5" Yes No No No No No Yes Yes No Amazon
nuvi 40 48 states 4.3" Yes No No No No No Yes Yes No Amazon
nuvi 40LM 48 states 4.3" Yes No No No No Yes Yes Yes No Amazon
nuvi 50 48 states 5.0" Yes No No No No No Yes Yes No Amazon
nuvi 50LM 48 states 5.0" Yes No No No No Yes Yes Yes No Amazon
nuvi 465T U.S. Canada 4.3" Yes Lifetime Yes No Yes No Yes Yes No Amazon
nuvi 465LMT U.S. Canada 4.3" Yes Lifetime Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Amazon
nuvi 500 49 states+ topo maps 3.5" Yes Option No No Yes No Yes No No Amazon
nuvi 550 U.S. Canada 3.5" Yes Option No No Yes No Yes No No Amazon
nuvi 1100 49 states 3.5" No Option No No No No No No No Amazon
nuvi 1200 49 states 3.5" Yes Option No No No No No No No Amazon
nuvi 1250 U.S. Canada 3.5" Yes Option No No No No Yes No No Amazon
nuvi 1260T U.S. Canada 3.5" Yes Lifetime Yes No No No Yes No No Amazon
nuvi 1300 49 states 4.3" Yes Option No No No No No No No Amazon
nuvi 1300LM 49 states 4.3" Yes Option No No No Yes No No No Amazon
nuvi 1350 U.S. Canada 4.3" Yes Option No No No No Yes Yes No Amazon
nuvi 1350LMT U.S. Canada 4.3" Yes Lifetime No No No Yes Yes Yes No Amazon
nuvi 1350T U.S. Canada 4.3" Yes Lifetime No No No No Yes Yes No Amazon
nuvi 1370T U.S. Canada Europe 4.3" Yes Lifetime Yes No No No Yes Yes No Amazon
nuvi 1390LMT U.S. Canada 4.3" Yes Lifetime Yes No No Yes Yes Yes No Amazon
nuvi 1390T U.S. Canada 4.3" Yes Lifetime Yes No No No Yes Yes No Amazon
nuvi 1450 U.S. Canada 5.0" Yes Option No No Yes No Yes Yes No Amazon
nuvi 1450LM U.S. Canada 5.0" Yes Option No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Amazon
nuvi 1450LMT U.S. Canada 5.0" Yes Lifetime No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Amazon
nuvi 1450T U.S. Canada 5.0" Yes Lifetime No No Yes No Yes Yes No Amazon
nuvi 1490LMT U.S. Canada 5.0" Yes Lifetime Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Amazon
nuvi 1490T U.S. Canada 5.0" Yes Lifetime Yes No Yes No Yes Yes No Amazon
nuvi 1690 U.S. Canada 4.3" Yes nuLink! Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Amazon
nuLink 1695 U.S. Canada 5" Yes nuLink! Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Amazon
nuvi 2300LM 49 states 4.3" Yes Option No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Amazon
nuvi 2350 U.S. Canada Mexico 4.3" Yes Option No Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Amazon
nuvi 2350LMT U.S. Canada Mexico 4.3" Yes Lifetime No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Amazon
nuvi 2350LT U.S. Canada Mexico 4.3" Yes Lifetime No Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Amazon
nuvi 2360LMT U.S. Canada Mexico 4.3" Yes Lifetime Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Amazon
nuvi 2360LT U.S. Canada Mexico 4.3" Yes Lifetime Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Amazon
nuvi 2370LT U.S. Canada Mexico Europe 4.3" Yes Lifetime Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Amazon
nuvi 2450 U.S. Canada Mexico 5" Yes No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Amazon
nuvi 2450LM U.S. Canada Mexico 5" Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Amazon
nuvi 2455LMT U.S. Canada Mexico 4.3" Yes Lifetime No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Amazon
nuvi 2455LT U.S. Canada Mexico 4.3" Yes Lifetime No No Yes No Yes Yes No Amazon
nuvi 2460LMT U.S. Canada Mexico 5" Yes Lifetime Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Amazon
nuvi 2460LT U.S. Canada Mexico 5" Yes Lifetime Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Amazon
nuvi 2475LT U.S. Canada Mexico Europe 4.3" Yes Lifetime Yes No Yes No Yes Yes No Amazon
nuvi 2495LMT U.S. Canada Mexico 4.3" Yes Lifetime Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Amazon
nuvi 2555LMT U.S. Canada Mexico 5.0" Yes Lifetime No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Amazon
nuvi 2555LT U.S. Canada Mexico 5.0" Yes Lifetime No No Yes No Yes Yes No Amazon
nuvi 2595LMT U.S. Canada Mexico 5" Yes Lifetime Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Amazon
nuvi 3450 U.S. Canada Mexico 4.3" Yes Option No Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Amazon
nuvi 3450LM U.S. Canada Mexico 4.3" Yes Option No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Amazon
nuvi 3490LMT U.S. Canada Mexico 4.3" Yes Lifetime Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Amazon
nuvi 3750 U.S. Canada Mexico 4.3" Yes Option No Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Amazon
nuvi 3760LMT U.S. Canada Mexico 4.3" Yes Lifetime Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Amazon
nuvi 3760T U.S. Canada Mexico 4.3" Yes Lifetime Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Amazon
nuvi 3790LMT U.S. Canada Mexico 4.3" Yes Lifetime Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Amazon
nuvi 3790T U.S. Canada Mexico 4.3" Yes Lifetime Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Amazon

Discontinued nuvi models

The following, older nuvi models have been discontinued, though many are still available online and are fully supported by Garmin.

nuvi model Maps Screen size Speaks street names MP3 player Traffic Blue- tooth FM trans- mitter MSN Direct Multi- destination routing Track display Speed limit display Voice commands
nuvi 200 49 states 3.5" No No No No No No No No No No
nuvi 200W 49 states 4.3" No No No No No No No No No No
nuvi 205 49 states 3.5” No No Option No No No No Yes Yes No
nuvi 205W 49 states 4.3” No No Option No No No No Yes Yes No
nuvi 250 U.S. Canada 3.5" No No No No No No No No No No
nuvi 250W U.S. Canada 4.3" No No No No No No No No No No
nuvi 255 U.S. Canada 3.5” Yes No Option No No No No Yes Yes No
nuvi 255W U.S. Canada 4.3” Yes No Option No No No No Yes Yes No
nuvi 255WT U.S. Canada 4.3” Yes No Lifetime No No No No Yes Yes No
nuvi model Maps Screen size Speaks street names MP3 player Traffic Blue- tooth FM trans- mitter MSN Direct Multi- destination routing Track display Speed limit display Voice commands
nuvi 260 U.S. Canada 3.5" Yes No No No No No No No No No
nuvi 260W U.S. Canada 4.3" Yes No No No No No No No No No
nuvi 265T U.S. Canada 3.5” Yes No Lifetime Yes No No No Yes Yes No
nuvi 265W U.S. Canada 4.3” Yes No Option Yes No No No Yes Yes No
nuvi 265WT U.S. Canada 4.3” Yes No Lifetime Yes No No No Yes Yes No
nuvi 270 U.S. Canada Europe 3.5" No No No No No No No No No No
nuvi 275T U.S. Canada Europe 3.5” Yes No Lifetime Yes No No No Yes Yes No
nuvi 285WT U.S. Canada 4.3" Yes No Yes Yes No Yes No Yes No No
nuvi 295W U.S. Canada 3.5” Yes Yes No No No No Yes Yes Yes No
nuvi model Maps Screen size Speaks street names MP3 player Traffic Blue- tooth FM trans- mitter MSN Direct Multi- destination routing Track display Speed limit display Voice commands
nuvi 350 U.S. Canada 3.5" Yes Yes Option No No No No No No No
nuvi 360 U.S. Canada 3.5" Yes Yes Option Yes No No No No No No
nuvi 370 U.S. Canada Europe 3.5" Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No
nuvi 650 U.S. Canada 4.3" Yes Yes Option No No No No No No No
nuvi 660 U.S. Canada 4.3" Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No
nuvi 670 U.S. Canada Europe 4.3" Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No
nuvi 680 U.S. Canada 4.3" Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No
nuvi model Maps Screen size Speaks street names MP3 player Traffic Blue- tooth FM trans- mitter MSN Direct Multi- destination routing Track display Speed limit display Voice commands
nuvi 750 U.S. Canada 4.3" Yes Yes Option No Yes Option Yes Yes Yes No
nuvi 755T U.S. Canada 4.3" Yes Yes Lifetime No Yes No Yes Yes Yes No
nuvi 760 U.S. Canada 4.3" Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Option Yes Yes Yes No
nuvi 765T U.S. Canada 4.3" Yes Yes Lifetime Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No
nuvi 770 U.S. Canada Europe 4.3" Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Option Yes Yes Yes No
nuvi 775T U.S. Canada Europe 4.3" Yes Yes Lifetime Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No
nuvi 780 U.S. Canada 4.3" Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
nuvi 785T U.S. Canada 4.3" Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
nuvi model Maps Screen size Speaks street names MP3 player Traffic Blue- tooth FM trans- mitter MSN Direct Multi- destination routing Track display Speed limit display Voice commands
nuvi 850 U.S. Canada 4.3" Yes Yes Option No Yes Option Yes Yes No Yes
nüvi 855 U.S. Canada 4.3" Yes Yes Option No Yes Option Yes Yes Yes Yes
nuvi 880 U.S. Canada 4.3" Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes
nüvi 885T U.S. Canada 4.3" Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
nuvi 5000 U.S. Canada 5.2" Yes Yes Option No Yes Option Yes Yes Yes No
nuvi model Maps Screen size Speaks street names MP3 player Traffic Blue- tooth FM trans- mitter MSN Direct Multi- destination routing Track display Speed limit display Voice commands


Garmin nuvi feature descriptions

  • Speaks street names – Formally known as text-to-speech, this function allows the device to call out the name of the street for upcoming turns, so you’ll get “in one-half mile, turn left on Oak Street,” rather than just “in one-half mile, turn left.” The only current nuvi without this is the 1100 series.
  • Live traffic – A nice feature that isn’t quite ready for prime time. Expect lots of inaccurate reports as well as incidents that aren’t reported. Delivered via FM, this service is provided by the Traffic Message Channel, hence you will sometimes see it referred to as FM-TMC. Here is a link to a coverage map. Most Garmin nuvis with a T following the model number have ad-supported traffic (see reviews for screenshots). One exception to all this is the 3490LMT, which features ad-free HD traffic.
  • Bluetooth for hands-free cell phone use – Generally speaking, the sound quality has gotten much better on recent models, but check the reviews (the first column links to these) as it does vary.
  • Powered mount – The power cord plugs into the mount, rather than the GPS. That’s one less connection to fuss with when you want to use your navigator. I’m a big fan of these, especially when combined with a friction mount.
  • MSN Direct – UPDATE: MSN Direct services are being permanently discontinued as of January 1, 2012.
  • Multi-point (multi-destination) routing – A very nice feature, but not a critical one. If the chart says “no,” you can only enter one destination and one via point. This isn’t problematic since you can easily find locations under Favorites or Recently Found. The one exception here is the nuvi 2×5 series, which allows multiple via points, even though it doesn’t have the other true multi-destination features such as sorting.
  • Lifetime map updates – Garmin has started selling units bundled with lifetime map updates, which you can typically download quarterly. Newer models with these have an LM or LMT (the latter includes lifetime traffic) tacked onto the end of the model number.
  • Track display – See where you’ve been. This shows up as a thin blue line as shown below. It can be helpful in finding your way in unfamiliar areas. Found on all current nuvis, but only some discontinued models.
  • Speed limit display – 100% of roads aren’t covered, but I typically find that most are.
  • Lane assist – Shows which lane you need to be in for Interstate exits and some surface streets in larger metros.
  • Voice commands – A killer feature and it actually works pretty well on most models.

Return to Garmin nuvi comparison chart


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Comments

624 Responses to “Garmin nuvi comparison chart”
  1. Mike Richardson says:
    January 14, 2012 at 7:11 pm

    Hi, I like your site. I recently upgraded from a Nuvi 350 to a Nuv 40. My old Nuvi gave me more advance warnings of an upcoming turn but the 40 seems to wait until the turn is maybe 50 feet away. Can that be adjusted? Also I liked the Austalian female voice on my 350.

    Reply
    • Rich Owings says:
      January 15, 2012 at 7:36 am

      It should give you a warning well ahead of the turn, and then again very close to it. There’s no adjustment, but if it’s not then something is wrong.

      Settings > Language > Voice Language lets you change voices. Let me know if you don’t see the one you want and I’ll tell you how to download it.

      Reply
  2. Mike Merritt says:
    January 15, 2012 at 10:55 pm

    Great site! I just got a Nuvi 40, should I upgrade the maps now or wait later until closer to the 90 day cutoff for a later version?

    Reply
  3. John says:
    January 16, 2012 at 10:10 am

    Does the 2595LMT provide bluetooth support for cell phones? On the chart on this site it says NO. However in the features discussion on this model is says excellent bluetooth sound on the 2495LMT even though I am looking at the 2595LMT? Thank you

    Reply
  4. Larry says:
    January 22, 2012 at 9:48 pm

    Which models have a video input for a rear view camera (physical jack or bluetooth)?

    Reply
  5. Jun says:
    January 27, 2012 at 6:28 am

    Can I load two maps on Nuvi 50, preloaded with Australia/NZ but I want to load US map because of my trip to US.
    What is the best approach to do this?

    Download or microSD card

    Reply
    • Rich Owings says:
      January 27, 2012 at 8:47 am

      MicroSD is definitely the easiest way. Your unit probably won’t hold all three countries, so otherwise you’d have to temporarily remove some maps or only install a portion of the US.

      Reply
      • Jun says:
        January 27, 2012 at 6:51 pm

        Thank you very much, this is my first time doing this so how easy is this to do. I know it takes a week to buy the map and I will be traveling in three weeks time so need to have this set up urgently.

        Reply
    • Doug Adomatis says:
      January 27, 2012 at 9:24 am

      I have a lot of maps and I keep them separate on SD-cards. In the past, you could have one supplementary map stored on the internal memory of the GPS and one supplementary map stored on a SD-card. The standard file name for supplementary maps is gmapsupp.img, but newer GPS units ( sorry, I do not have a nuvi 50 to test) have allowed for custom naming of the .img file type. I believe the supplementary maps on SD-cards must still have the gmapsupp.img file name. So when transferring supplementary maps be careful not to overwrite any gmapsupp.img files you already have. Note that maps that came preloaded on your GPS have a different file name or are not accessible by the usual means. Again, the safe way is to put each country on a separate SD-card. And remember you can always see which maps are loaded on your GPS on the Settings > Map > Map Info screen. Make sure the map you want is enabled and be careful not to have two maps enabled which overlap in coverage. More answers to frequently asked questions on my web site.

      Reply
  6. Jun says:
    January 30, 2012 at 8:47 pm

    Doug and Rich,

    I decided to buy Nuvi 2350 instead because of the free life time map offer in Australia against nuvi 50. Also I already ordered the US Map on micro SD as suggested by you both.

    Thanks again for your help.

    I hope nuvi 2350 is as good as nuvi 50 if not better..

    Reply
  7. Paul Kusumoto says:
    February 1, 2012 at 9:08 pm

    Terrific info you provide. This makes choosing so simple. I’m from Hawaii where many addresses outside the city are five-digit hyphenated numbers (eg. 98-300). My Tomtom One 130S could not enter these. I hope the later Garmin models have this capability.

    Mahalo (Thank You) from Honolulu

    Reply
  8. Paul Kusumoto says:
    February 2, 2012 at 8:46 pm

    O.k., here’s one: 92-605 Makakilo Drive Kapolei, HI 96707.

    Reply
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