Garmin 1490LMT compatible phones

[VirginiaJim]

Is anyone using this Garmin?  I'm in the market for a new phone and need to find compatible bluetooth phones.  The Garmin site has a lookup based on the phone but no lookup based on the Garmin unit specifically.  I've come to find out that Bluetooth is not standardized and varies from phone to phone and Garmin unit.  I'd like to be at least in the ballpark.

[Assassin 11B3P]

what is it you're needing the phone to do? if you're trying to pair a new device with a much older one there could be some issues, but if they are both recent and meet the same standards, you shouldn't have much of a problem.

[VirginiaJim]

That's the problem....'standards'.  I'm finding even if they have the same 'standards' they may not communicate via bluetooth the same way so I'm looking for someone that has this GPS to see what they are using.  I do agree that they should pair up but that's not a guarantee from what I'm seeing.  I hate to get a phone and it doesn't work correctly with that GPS.

[DonB]

I have one in my Subaru
I use an Android phone and my wife has a blackberry
they both pair and work fine

[B.D.F.]

You are exactly right- the whole bluetooth 'compatibility' issue is a mess. Some devices just don't play nicely with others and there does not seem to be any way to predict which ones will work and which ones will not work.

What I have done is to take the GPS into the cell phone store and see if the potential phone will mate up with the GPS I am using. You can do it quickly and easily but may have to fumble through the menus and controls of the different phones to test them; the salesman should be able to do it in 15 seconds or less and all have been happy to do so when I have asked.

By the way, after having spent a lot of time trying to get a Scala headset, Zumo GPS and a cell phone (don't remember which one) to play together, I called Garmin. They were helpful but in the end said that it was a turkey shoot as to which device would or would not work with which others. They gave me all the bluetooth drivers they had for the Zumo (something like 9 of them) and said to try one after the other because some versions work better than others. I sent the Scala back and avoided bluetooth other than between the Zumo and the cell phone, which works very well.

Brian

That's the problem....'standards'.  I'm finding even if they have the same 'standards' they may not communicate via bluetooth the same way so I'm looking for someone that has this GPS to see what they are using.  I do agree that they should pair up but that's not a guarantee from what I'm seeing.  I hate to get a phone and it doesn't work correctly with that GPS.

[Assassin 11B3P]

find a retail store which has the gps unit on display and see if you can play with it. you should be able to return a unit if it doesn't work as you want, though you may have to pay restocking fees, etc.

my nuvi 780 only had some problems with the motorola q9m...it would pair and play music and make phone calls, but the address book wouldn't always transfer and sometimes the gps wouldn't disconnect after the call ended. my blackberry tour works just fine and without issue.

[BruceR]

I have the 1490LMT and an Droid X phone.  They pair, but the GPS had problems consistently importing the contacts list.  Also, even if I pushed the button on the phone to answer, I had to go through the menus on the Garmin to return the audio to the phone and not through the gps.  Ultimately I figured out the Garmin, phone, and Sena SM10 wouldn't all play together the way I wanted on my motorcycle so I've taken to using the phone to do my music, mapping, and talking to the Sena and the Garmin stays in my work truck.