The 1690 is the first Garmin nüvi GPS device that we have seen that features the new nuLink over the air pan-European services such as traffic, camera updates and Google local search, bringing them into line with the recent high-end live devices from TomTom.

Garmin are certainly going for broke by including the first year of connected services for free as part of the package, making it a much more attractive proposition compared to TomTom’s one month free subscription on their new GO 950 device.

The 1690’s design is along similar lines to the other recently remodelled nuvis such as the 1340T we reviewed a few months back. The only exceptions are a slightly larger profile and a more attractive black finish, though its framed 4.3” screen is still a touch old fashioned. Garmin’s interface is still quick and easy to use, and the new nuLink services are seamlessly integrated into the system as well.

Under the “Where to option”, for example you can gleam additional POI from Google Local search, view the nearest petrol stations based on fuel prices and even look up addresses or phone numbers. Using the Google Local search we were able to find POI effectively which would normally be missing from the internal database.

We were in two minds about the fuel price search. Mostly it showed prices that were a few days old so there wasn’t an absolute guarantee of their accuracy, although it is a useful guide nonetheless. The phone/address look up service was more effective as we could enter a last name (and optional first) and find all the addresses of people with that surname in our area – nice!

Under the Tools options we found a few more services to play with, like the 6 day weather forecast, notification of updates/alerts and flight status option..

We did not get chance to test the “send to GPS” feature and “Ciao” service (which works alongside social networking site Gypsii) as these were not available at the time of writing. On paper both could prove useful for businesses.

The “send to GPS” feature compliments the installed route planner by allowing you to send directions to the unit wirelessly using Google Maps. Ciao allows you to share your location with friends/colleagues, who can either view your position on a map or drive to your location if they so wish.

Live traffic kicked in during testing which alerted us to a possible disruption to our journey (alongside the time of the delay and an option to re-route around the problem). We decided to head straight into the traffic to test its accuracy. By the time we got to the traffic it had already filtered out but the device in fairness had been reflecting changes to the time of the delay quite frequently.

One of the issues you need to remember with these more sensitive real-time traffic systems is while they might alert you to more traffic build-ups, not all of them will result in a delay in your journey.

Before setting off on our journey we noted that location acquisition time was quick. The initial calculations were respectable with some useful ecoRoute information displayed alongside such as cost of fuel for each journey. However on a few occasions it seemed to take an age to recalculate the routes, especially when we were facing in the wrong direction.

Yet strangely at other times route-recalculations were pretty quick even when taking minor wrong turns! Our test device was not running the final firmware, and we would expect these issue to be smoothed out in the retail units.

Visually and functionally the map view is quite sparse compared to the likes of the eye candy-heavy Navigon. There were a couple of times when the text-to-speech directions could have been more informative.

But generally it had enough directional aids onboard, such as motorway/lane guidance, road speed warning symbols, and safety cameras, to get us safely to our destinations. Bluetooth hands free calling was also loud and clear, we could call contacts from our HTC Touch HD’s phone book and recall the phone’s call history, so thumbs up on this front.

The Garmin 1690 is certainly an impressive device. While it is undeniably expensive – and aimed at high-mileage drivers – the nuLink services do work well and the lack of subscription costs in the first year do add appeal.

Price: £349
Web: www.garmin.com
Map coverage: Europe

Verdict: 8/10

Written by Brett James. Originally published in Smartphone Essentials magazine.

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