This review looks at the Garmin Nuvi 775T which is an update to the Garmin Nuvi 770 review we published last year.

The Nuvi 775T has the same core set of features and mapping as the original Nuvi 770, but with a few extra features and enhancements. These new features include lane assist to help you navigate complex motorway junctions, 3D building view, photo navigation, ecoRoute, and increased memory.

Since the navigation is essentially the same as the original Nuvi 770 we will just cover the differences between these two models.

Box Contents

This is what you get in the box:

• Garmin Nuvi 775T
• Preloaded City Navigator® NT maps for North America and Europe (full coverage)
• Vehicle suction cup mount
• FM traffic receiver with vehicle power cable
• Dashboard disk
• USB cable
• Quick start manual

First Impressions

The Nuvi 775T looks very similar to the original Nuvi 770. The only visual difference is the colour scheme. The Nuvi 770 had a silver strip around the edges of the device. The Nuvi 775T has this same strip but it is the same colour as the rest of the device so is less noticeable.

Surprisingly, the Nuvi 775T does not include a free leather carry case which was one of the things we liked about the original Nuvi 770. These cases don’t cost much so it was a shame to see Garmin drop this.

Installation

Setting up the Nuvi 775T is straightforward. Using the provided power cable you plug one end in the cigarette lighter socket and the other end into a small socket on the side of the cradle. This is a good design as it enables you to connect and disconnect the Nuvi from the cradle without worrying about unplugging the power cable each time.

The Nuvi 775T includes built-in traffic. Branching out from the power cable is a thinner cable that you attach to the windscreen using the small suction cups provided. At the end of this cable is a small receiver which is used to send traffic reports to the Nuvi 775T.

Map Coverage

The Nuvi 775T has the same transatlantic maps as the Nuvi 770 covering both Europe and North America.

Memory

The Nuvi 775T has increased memory allowing you to store up to 1000 waypoints and favourite locations, which is twice the amount the Nuvi 770 can hold. This should be ample for most users.

Navigation

The maps looks almost identical to the Nuvi 770, although a few tweaks have been made.

The estimated arrival time has been moved from the bottom left to the bottom right of the screen. This makes room for the current speed to now be displayed in the bottom left of the screen. This is an improvement over the Nuvi 770 where the current speed could only be viewed by selecting the trip information screen, something that is not easy to do whilst driving.

The next turn information has been moved from the bottom right to the top left of the screen, we think this in an improvement over the original Nuvi 770.

One of the criticisms aimed at older Nuvi models, like the 770, is that you could only see the estimated arrival time on the screen. The Nuvi 775T has addressed this concern by providing more options.

If you tap the bottom right of the screen you can choose from a selection of routing data options, these are:

• Estimated time of arrival
• Distance to destination
• Estimated time to destination
• Direction of travel
• Elevation
• Time of Day

These new routing data options are a welcome addition to the Nuvi range and should satisfy most user needs.

The other useful new feature is speed limit displays. In the bottom left of the screen it will display the speed for the road you’re driving along. This can come in really useful if you’re not sure what the speed limit is for a particular stretch of road.

On the whole this worked pretty well. In our tests it displayed the correct speed and was quick to adjust when the speed limit changed. It was not 100% accurate though and a couple of times it got the speed wrong. This is to be expected though, speed limits on roads can occasionally change leaving out of date speed limit information on the Nuvi 775T. We also found on some occasions it did not display the speed limit at all, so don’t expect 100% coverage of ‘A’ roads.

Despite these new features, out on the road though we found the Nuvi 775T a disappointment. We don’t know if we reviewed a dud model or not but it was certainly not up to par with previous Garmin Nuvi systems we’ve tested.

We tested the 775T on the same routes as the 770 and found discrepancies between the two. The 775T on one occasion tried to navigate us into a layby on the opposite side of the road, on another occasion it asked us to turn left, off the main road into a housing estate, when we were clearly meant to continue along the main road.

We also found it had a preference for directing us through city centres when a better route was available. Sometimes this may be unavoidable, but we’d like to see a bit more intelligence built into the navigation so it could try and route us along an alternative route. It is sometimes preferable to take a slightly longer route rather than be stuck in slow urban traffic.

We updated our review unit to the latest firmware but this did not fix the issues we observed, so overall we were left disappointed with the navigation performance.

Safety Cameras

Just like the Nuvi 770, the Nuvi 775T includes safety camera warnings out of the box.

The only difference from the Nuvi 770 is a cosmetic one, the actual warning is now displayed on the map rather than the next turn banner at the top of the screen.

Over time though, new safety cameras will appear on roads across the country, so if you want to keep your Nuvi 775T up-to-date with these new safety cameras you will need to take out a subscription. These subscriptions typically last 1 year and allow you unlimited updates during this time.

There are several subscription options available. You can take out a subscription from Garmin, or another popular option is the Garmin speed camera plugin from SCDB.info.

Traffic Module

The Nuvi 775T includes a built-in traffic module which allows you to be notified of any traffic problems along your route. In our tests we did not encounter any traffic hold-ups so it is difficult for us to assess how accurate the 775T is at providing real-time traffic information, but we did notice differences from the Nuvi 255WT we reviewed last month.

The Nuvi 255WT gives you the ability to search for traffic problems both along your current route and other roads in your area. We couldn’t find any such option on the Nuvi 775T so it seems this area has undergone a redesign. We prefer how the Nuvi 255WT works so we’re not sure why the 775T has been changed.

We’d like to see a more standard approach across the newer Nuvi models so these features have a more consistent look and feel.

Bluetooth

As with the Nuvi 770, the Nuvi 775T can be paired with a mobile phone using bluetooth. This enables you to make hands free calling via the Nuvi, as well as send and receive SMS messages.

Like the navigation though, this was another area which let us down. We found the bluetooth temperamental, sometimes it would work, other times we would make a call but the person at the other end of the line could not hear us. So overall we found the bluetooth pretty unusable.

Photo Navigation

The Nuvi 775T includes the same picture viewer as the Nuvi 770, but the 775T takes this a step further by supporting photo navigation.

Some digital cameras can now automatically add the GPS co-ordinates to the photo metadata whenever you take a photograph. Even for cameras that don’t have this feature, there are software programs available that allow you to edit photos on your PC afterwards and add this location information.

This process of adding location information to the photo metadata is known as geotagging. If you transfer one of these geotagged photos to the Nuvi 775T you can navigate to that location.

It is an interesting idea but we think it is more of a gimmick and is not a feature we used, but it is nice to see Garmin offering features like this for those who may like it.

3D Building View

The Nuvi 775T includes 3D building view. The idea is to make the driving experience on screen more realistic by showing major landmarks in 3D.

As with the photo navigation we think it is a bit of a gimmick, but the feature is there for you if you find it useful. We managed to briefly capture the 3D building view in action whilst driving around.

Lane Assist

The Nuvi 775T includes lane assist which is designed to help you navigate complex junctions, helping you get in the correct lane when approaching a major motorway junction.

We ran out of time with our review model and did not get an opportunity to test this feature out, but it looks like it could come in useful.

Garmin ecoRoute

Garmin ecoRoute is designed to save you fuel. You can use it to monitor how much fuel your vehicle is consuming as well as examine your carbon footprint, it addition you can use it to plot the most fuel efficient route to your destination.

If you don’t see ecoRoute on your Nuvi 775T then you need to download the latest Garmin 7×5 firmware.

To use ecoRoute you first need to setup your vehicle profile, this includes the type of fuel you use, fuel cost and the average miles per gallon for your vehicle in urban traffic and cruising speeds.

Once you’ve entered this information you can examine each route you’ve driven and see how much it cost.

There is also a new Less Fuel option under the Route Preference screen. This allow the Nuvi 775T to plot a route to your destination using the least amount of fuel.

Garmin ecoRoute really deserves a whole review on its own, so we intend to go into this area in more detail over the coming months. From what we’ve seen so far it looks like it could come in useful.

Battery

Battery power is estimated at 3 hours, this is less than the 5 hours for the Nuvi 770. This shouldn’t present too many problems to users, but if you intend to use the Nuvi 775T for pedestrian use frequently then you’ll need to ensure 3 hours is sufficient for your needs.

Summary

Overall we found the Garmin Nuvi 775T a disappointment. Garmin have added some useful new features over its predecessor, the Nuvi 770.

These include lane assist, speed limit displays, new route data display options and ecoRoute support, but the basic navigation aspects of the device were not good enough when you consider the high price tag. The bluetooth malfunctioned in our tests too.

Based on our testing the Nuvi 770 is a more reliable performer and a bit cheaper too, so we suggest you save yourself some money and stick with the Nuvi 770 for now until the bugs with the 775T are ironed out. If you don’t need the North American maps then save more money and go for the Nuvi 760.

Buy the Garmin Nuvi 775T from Lemon Digital.

Buy the Garmin Nuvi 775T from Amazon.

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