Garmin nüvi 1245 City Chic

Previously a man’s world, GPS navigation makers are finally starting to cater for women. Thus the little Garmin nüvi 1245 City Chic! Small and light, it’s easy to carry around and you can also use it in pedestrian mode. This doesn’t mean any compromises have been made in terms of navigation features – it has nothing to envy the larger models up the Garmin range.

Hardware: standard and compact

Deliberately compact the Garmin nüvi 1245 City Chic is equipped with a 3.5-inch matt screen. Legibility is good, including in full sunlight. The 320 x 240 pixel resolution is sufficient for this size of screen, although this naturally limits how much data it can display at any one time. A memory card reader in microSD format allows you to add cards available on option (paid) on the Garmin site.


It comes with a very standard suction pad that does its job well. The pad holds in place and is easy to set up. The base could however have been more compact, like the TomTom One for example. Here, you’ll want to leave set up.

Design and build: a clear display but usability can still be improved

Designed for women, the Garmin nüvi 1245 City Chic is more elegant and original than your standard satnav. Blacks and greys give way to a nice red frame and card wallet. This GPS has also been designed to be carried around. It’s just 16 mm thick and weighs 113 grammes, which makes it comparable to a mobile phone.
The plastics are of good quality and the finish is very good.


It starts up in 26 seconds and quickly links up to satellites. Generally responsiveness is very good, which isn’t surprising given the simplicity of the menus and functionality.
Entering addresses is a major weak point on this model. The keys are small and not well spaced, obviously because of the size of the screen. As a result, it’s difficult to write everything with just one hand using the thumb. It’s best to hold it in two hands to maximise precision with the index, or better, the tip of a nail or a stylus. A product designed for slim, feminine fingers!

Predictive text could unfortunately be better as here you simply get an alphabetical list when few possibilities are left. You often have to write a great deal of the address to find your destination, which obviously takes more time. While this isn’t too much of a problem in a town like London or Glasgow, destinations that begin with "North" will obviously take a bit more time. It’s a shame that there’s no QWERTY mode! Only the ABCDE and 123 modes are available.
Overall the design isn’t bad though as menus are simple. We would have liked to see an interface better adapted to this small screen however.
The volume setting isn’t very practical as you have to go through two operations to get to the setting, then two others to get back to navigation. A direct access on-screen button would have been welcome.

Route guidance: simple and effective, though there is a lack of real time info

The route guidance features of the Garmin nüvi 1245 are simple. Indeed they're now pretty much the same throughout the range. There’s lane guidance, speed limit alerts, display of signs with the direction to follow and text-to-speech. Unfortunately there isn’t an option for setting journeys anymore (motorways and so on). Traffic information is lacking, as is journey planning that keeps track of the day and time.
The ecoRoutes feature has been included and allows you to calculate journeys that better economise fuel.

The voices on the nüvi 1245 are quite nice and there are few glitches or drop-outs. A bit synthetic sounding perhaps however. You can no longer listen to the voice while you’re going through the menus, for those who like to be able to make their choice there. The vocal summary is a nice feature and helps when you’re working out which road to turn onto at intersections and roundabouts in large towns and so on.
The hiss and whistle of around a second each time it emits a sound is a little disagreeable.

Extra features: lacks connectivity and multimedia

This mainly city model doesn’t have Bluetooth. Connecting directly to a wireless ear piece would have been nice as it would have allowed you to leave the device in your pocket or bag when walking around town. It’s a shame that you have to keep it close to hand. There’s also no mp3 player, which means you can only use it for navigation. This is a shame as typically this is the sort of model that will be competing with GPS mobile phones that also have multimedia features.

The pedestrian mode (cityXplorer) is simple and effective. You can download additional town plans from the Garmin site, which is handy for trips abroad.