Garmin Nüvi 205T sat-nav - tested

28th August 2008

Slimline sat-navs are all the rage these days, and Garmin’s new Nüvi 205T is the latest little wonder. Yet while it’s small, the feature count is anything but – there’s even a picture viewer function.

The 3.5-inch screen is more than adequate. We just wish the user interface made it more pleasing to operate. While the icons are clear, it isn’t as intuitive as some rivals.

Mapping graphics are well defined, but the colour scheme left us a little confused on more than one occasion. Routing is quick and accurate, and we liked the address-input screen, which allows easy postcode entry. A major frustration was that the Garmin displayed only our estimated time of arrival, rather than the distance to our destination – and we could find no simple way of altering this. Although the 205T doesn’t come with a mains charger, a good-quality in-car power cable is included in the package, as well as a sturdy windscreen mount.

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