Dual personality

What’s more the XT5 software comes supplied on its own memory card (adaptors included), which works on either the Symbian or Windows Mobile platform out the box.

The only major gripe is due to proprietary/security reasons it's not possible to transfer the software onto a larger card, which can be annoying for obvious reasons.

Saying that installation was a breeze, simply insert the card into your chosen device and away you go. For a full list of compatible phones check out the specs tab from this link.

Note: If you happen to own an older version of XT, for example XT 4, you can upgrade to 5 for free, here is the link you will need. Also the software seems compatible with their WebUpdater PC software, so by sticking XT5 into a memory card reader you can check for updates.

For our main testing we used a Nokia N85 which features a built in GPS receiver, though the software will work with several phones that utilise an external GPS receiver.

Interface

Upon start-up you are greeted by the familiar ‘Where to’ and ‘View Map’ icons that adorn their dedicated nuvi range.

Graphically the interface looks superb, with the d-pad providing ample control for manoeuvring around the various options. The only gripe that we could see was a slight blemish in the ‘Where Am I’ option, as the bottom row of text was obscured by the small POI icons, hopefully by now this has been fixed with an update.

In terms of entering destinations you will have to traverse through a step-by-step wizard, first selecting your country, followed by city/postcode and then the house number. Whilst this is not as long winded as it is may sound we still would have preferred a more intuitive system.

However to some extents life is made easier by being able to route to destinations via the map, POI, GPS-coordinates, geo-tagged images, locations sent from other Garmin users and contacts – the list is endless.

The above is also enhanced by being able to add your own custom POI, with little icons showing up on the map, there's also travel guides, route planners/simulators, a track recorder, trip meter and the ability to tap into Garmin Online.

Online

The online features are similar to TomTom LIVE, in as much as you can use your GPRS /3G connection to download traffic reports, weather forecasts, Panoramio photos (geo-tagged images), flight status (arrival/departure times) and safety cameras (30 day trial).

The best feature is the Google Search option which we could use to search online for further POI of a given area.

Of course you will need a data plan in place, but the above certainly provides ample features for a product costing £60.

Testing

During driving initial route calculations can be slower due to the device downloading traffic alerts to the phone, however there are ways you can skip this process to speed things up.

On our N85 we found  route re-calculation speeds were fairly responsive but they were not as quick as we would have expected and a few safety cameras were missing on one of our test routes.

However the majority were found accurately and when it detects a camera it will alert you with a large visual aid on the screen and an audible warning sound.

Voice directions were loud and clear but you won't find text-to-speech support for prouncing road names.

As for the main map view this provided a near identical experience to the larger PND range, with threw main view types to choose from (which switch automatically to day/night mode) along with various settings to adjust the graphical detail to suite.

To be honest  like the larger range detail is kept to a minimal, which does prove less of a distraction when driving, but we would have preferred a schematic view to be added to the list as this would have provided an even better experience for smaller screens. As it stood we only ever used the 3D view mainly because you get a large directional bar at the top of the screen which clearly shows your next turn.

On a sour note it was a little bit frustrating that there was no keyboard shortcuts to quickly switch between the different views, especially as you then have to plough through several menus to get to them.

There are different profiles so you can switch to pedestrian navigation for example, but the view is the same as the car navigation, so compared to Navigons Mobile Navigator 7 we reviewed back in March it can’t compete.

In terms of the traffic alerts you have to rely on both your data connection and the reporting stations for complete accuracy. You can browse through a list of traffic problems - as seen in the image gallery - and then get more detailed information about the problem, however as we never had any traffic problems on our route at the time of testing we can't vouch for its accuracy in a live environment, but it did compare well to live traffic websites if this helps.