Garmin Nuvi 250 Review

• Pros: Easy to use, solid and compact enough to put in your pocket.
• Cons: Slightly confusing maps.

The garmin nuvi 250 follows the newly implemented Garmin trend of trying to be more than just a sat-nav.

To achieve this task, Garmin set up the Nuvis as travel companions, with useful extras such as city guides available on SD card, as well as currency converters and foreign phrasebooks. These can be useful functions if you don’t mind been seen out in public with your nuvi 250.

The Nuvi 250 is a small and compact unit and with its integrated GPS aerial and simplistic design, it is easily one of the most unassuming satellite navigation devices on the market.

The Garmin Nuvi 250 has proven itself as capable of being more than just a sat-nav so I suppose the question remains; How well does it function as a Sat Nav? Well its size and simplicity are a good start.

It starts up very quickly, and as with all sat-navs kitted out with the SirfStar III GPS chipset, speedy in establishing its position. You are presented with just two options on start up, ‘Where to’ or ‘View map’. This ease of use is reflected throughout the rest of the menus and during navigation.
During navigation your route is very clearly marked out with a bold line that is very easy to see – even on the Nuvi 250s compact screen. However, more complex junctions and roundabouts can sometimes be a little confusing.

Despite this flaw most confusion is cleared up by the clear verbal instructions provided by the Nuvi 250 and the navigation provided on one-way gyratory road systems is as good as any of the sat-navs I’ve seen on the market.

There’s not much auxiliary information on-screen while you drive though: no information about nearby petrol stations or other POIs, other than on-map icons. Plus, apart from the travel tools, the bells and whistles have been omitted, there’s no Bluetooth, no TMC traffic updates, and MP3 playback is absent.

Still, at around ?90, these features aren’t expected. The Garmin Nuvi 250 is a small, but capable sat-nav that handles the basics well, and its optional travel guide features are justified better than any of the other models in the range. Great Buy if you want to keep it functional and simple.