2012 Garmin line has limited bluetooth phone compatibility

Wow! My phone is not even listed. Guess I'm going to have to hang on to my old Nüvi 660. Thanks for the heads up.

I have an LG enV™ and is not on the list of phones @ the Garmin page, neither is my Nuvi2460 with the listed enV™ but I had no problem pairing the two when I got my 2460, it shows in the Bluetooth setup that is paired to a LG VX9900 and it works just fine.

The only complaint is that from time to time it fails to show in the GPS the phonebook in my phone but all the features work as long as you know what number you are calling or calling you, it is a rare occurrence and 99% of the time it shows the phone book.

There have always been issues with Bluetooth & Garmin, but it was a heck of a lot better when Garmin used the Parrot chipset. They went with Motorola when they released the Nuvi XX5 series and it has been downhill ever since.

And support is no help there because they keep insisting that the problem lies with the phones - which, if that was true, would mean that it shouldn't work properly with my Nuvi 760 and my Zumo 550 - but they did and do and they don't with my Zumo 660 or my 3790.

After asking me to do all the standard stuff to try to connect my phone, Garmin support has indicated that support for the phone will be added to the gps in a future software release.

@sailornorm - it appears that you've been a Garmin customer for many years. So you must know by now that it's highly unlikely that Garmin will actually issue an update which supports additional phones.

If you are still within the return period I would suggest returning the 2495 and buying a gps which actually works with your phone.

Actually, they've always come through for me and I'm inclined to give them a chance. There seems to be so few phones officially supported on the 2012 models they must be planning a fix. Of course, I've been wrong before

I do rather like the new unit. There's a few things that don't make sense but I'm not aware of anything I'd rather have.

This is the easiest way to get you off the phone and you might call someone else in 3 to 6 months after your return period has expired.

I don't recall Garmin has ever fixed the Bluetooth issue, especially they are counting on you will change to a new phone in 2 years or less, much sooner than you will get a new GPS.

Don't buy a Bluetooth equipped Garmin GPS because of this particular feature. Only Buy it because it is on sale and the price is lower than the equivalent model without Bluetooth. (i.e. 1490 vs. 1450)

OK naysayers, Garmin has been releasing software updates about every week for the unit. My ancient, no longer supported by anybody, phone is now bluetooth connected to my Nuvi 2495LMT. The connection appears to be very stable and I'm able to perform all desired phone functions on the nuvi screen. The list of compatible phones has not been updated to reflect this. If anybody has problems connecting their phone to a "new generation" nuvi, I suggest they try the restore function on the menu of the bluetooth settings screen. That seems to help the pairing of devices.

Funny. You have been rewarded.

Which model you are talking about.

Glad to hear the bluetooth feature now works for your phone. But please be sure to update us if Garmin issues a future update which breaks the bluetooth feature. It has happened before and it will happen again.

I'm applying updates as they come and will confirm the bluetooth connection after each. The only other thing I've noticed after an update is that selecting supplemental maps works better now. I'm not seeing any release notes with the updates.

I just bought a Nuvi 2595 and, while the Bluetooth functions work, the volume of the caller's voice is so low as to render this function useless. OK, so I have to buy a new phone. Problem now is that I cannot obtain a list of phones that do work so I am faced with spending $$$ on a new Phone in the "hope" it might work.

What a useless company. I will try to send it back but, in any case, I will never buy another Garmin.

Garmin has always had Bluetooth issues, either with connecting, features, volume, etc...I've personally found that the best solution is to buy a $20 Bluetooth headset and use that instead of Garmin's "solution".

Same here. My phone pairs with the car's Bluetooth so I have no need for the one in the GPS. Even though I convert most of my files to GPX and the Garmin supports dialing a number it's just as easy to display it on the screen and tell the car to dial. Better integration and much MUCH better sound quality.

With you Box Car.

The volume level on my 2595 is awful. If I want to hear the person on the other end of the call I have to crank everything up to full blast, including the earpiece volume on the phone. Trouble with that is after the call, if you don't turn everything back down to normal, the next turn instructions from the Nuvi blast you into the back seat! Don't suggest adjusting the "mixer", it doesn't help. Garmin blames the phone, even though it works fine (BT volume) on other (older) Nuvi's without any adjustment at all and also loads my complete phone book, call history, battery level and signal level. All they need to do is add a separate volume adjustment for BT just like they did for the useless audio book feature that no one ever uses. GARMIN: Just fix the BT volume bug or explain why my phone works fine with other OLDER units!! (Can you tell this really bugs me?)

I've been involved in the development and support of a number of Bluetooth-based devices. There are good Bluetooth implementations. I think Garmin may have picked up theirs from a band of roving gypsies (nah, that's demeaning to gypsies)...

And I suspect Garmin's bug-fixing strategy is pretty much focused on priority one: navigation. If it doesn't involve navigation, it probably isn't considered a serious bug. (I'll tell you what the official company line undoubtably is: we treat each problem report as serious; we consider each problem reported to us, prioritize it, and ensure problems are addressed in a prioritized manner. In other words, with GPS and Nav being priority 1, Bluetooth is priority, oh, -34000, somewhat down the list.)

The Bluetooth implementation in my (BMW-built) Mini Cooper integrates wonderfully with the iPhone, showing contact information if available, and also using custom ringtones. And the only time I've had to re-pair car and phone was after a software upgrade (cars get software upgrades?).

Don't get me started on how often my Nuvi tells me it's found a new vehicle, or needs to completely set up the Bluetooth-connected EcoRoute-HD accessory... All problems that point right back to Bluetooth.

Actually, the rest of the implementation works fine. The Nuvi has a little problem re-pairing in a timely manner if the connection is broken (turned off) on the phone, but otherwise it does pretty good other than then low volume. (Remember the "Low Talker" episode on Seinfeld? ) I get all my phone book entries, call history, etc loaded when they pair. My phone is a Samsung Alias 2 BTW from 2008 I think.

I own 2 Gps the old C550 street pilot and a Nuvi 1490, The 550 as a bluetooth compatible the 1490 is not..ANd for this reason I use my C550 daily,and the 1490 when I do most long trip.the 1490 was given to me as a gift, But with today new law some State ,you can"t drive and talk at the phone at the same time ,and If I decide to purchase a new one.Also must be able to pair up with any phone.It is nice see who is calling you and be able to drive and talk on a gps while you drive with out be distracted.

Sounds like what you want is a Bluetooth-compatible external speaker, and not necessarily a GPS.