TomTom Via 135: GPS entirely controllable with the voice

The TomTom Via 135 GPS is a good, reliable and pleasant to use despite some delays. Under current legislation, it indicates that the “danger zones”, including those mentioned by users.

TomTom Via 135 GPS

The promise

TomTom Via 135 is a GPS is among the mid-range products from TomTom. It promises all the advantages of a good no frills GPS. Thus, the ease of use through a wide screen of 12.7 inches diagonally and voice commands. Bluetooth module offers the possibility to use it as hands-free kit. Side mapping, TomTom device integrates its coverage of European countries including 45 million points of interest and warnings of danger. Should we still be tempted by the Via 135? At 180 euros, a hefty price for a GPS now, the question arises.

Reality

TomTom Via 135 GPS looks to be mistaken in Via Live 125. A nice product, very fine, which should not be too difficult to fit in the glove box … or in a handbag. No surprises on the side of ease of use: it is always good. The touchscreen responds well and matte coating allows it to be free from sun glare.

Voice commands in the spotlight

TomTom Via 135 GPS offers a number of voice commands. TomTom announces no less than a thousand! Difficult to check everything. It is possible to dictate a particular address, increase or decrease the volume, zoom, increase or decrease the brightness, switch to 2D or 3D, calculate an alternative route, etc.. These commands in the menu to discover What to say?

There remains some work to do to catch up with competition on the subject. Implementation is less straightforward than the Garmin products (eg on the Nuvi 3590LMT ) where recognition is activated by a dedicated command. In TomTom Via 135 GPS, you press the mic button on the screen. For the rest, the quality of speech recognition is also good for both brands.

A guide to quality

To guide itself, the TomTom Via 135 GPS is a product with no frills, but very effective. The touch screen reacts very well and the directions are clear and precise. The good surprise was the free update mapping. The TomTom are sold off with an offer of free upgrades for 90 days from first use of the product. If a new map is available, you can download it free.

Under the rules, the TomTom Via 135 GPS informs the danger zones. Here, alerts concerning hazardous areas containing or not a fixed or mobile. It is even possible to memorize the position of a danger zone directly from the camera. Again, speech recognition can be tapped. Just activate it and say “report Radar”.

Attention TomTom Via 135 GPS is not a connected device, such as GO 1005 Live by example. It is therefore no question of sharing in real time the alert with the rest of the community. Via 135 merely records the georeferenced position of the radar in its memory, which will then be sent to the TomTom server via the PC interface “MyTomTom.” If the alert is not listed on the server, but frequent rise by users, it will be integrated with the mapping in the form of danger zone.

TomTom Via 135 GPS which meets some limits

TomTom’s maps are very rich in data. On our test period, the MapShare function allowed to recover any changes of cards twice a week. The system does unfortunately no details of the recent changes.

Meanwhile, the IQ Routes technology identifies millions of information fed back by users in order to offer optimal routes depending on the time and day of travel. A kind of traffic information based on statistical data, making the routes more relevant. But the calculation or recalculation of route can be found lying: you must often wait for the shot chart redraw. It is time for TomTom to update its technology platforms to give its products the fluidity that made the success of the brand!

The new generation telephony not quite at the point

Bluetooth technology in the GPS is not in itself new. However, on the TomTom Via 135 GPS, coupled to recognition, it can look up a number and start the call to the voice.

The command “call” gives access to the phonebook scrolling on the screen by five pages of numbers. With a large address book, scrolling is quite tedious, even to the voice! Moreover, when looking for a contact, one is tempted to set the screen to read … at the expense of attention on the road. This interface will have to be radically improved to convince anyone.

The verdict

TomTom Via 135 is doing its job. Its large screen and its guidance (voice or visual) are good and reliable. But if the voice recognition capabilities are successful, they still require improvements to the phone. And displaying a lack of fluidity. It is time for a little dope TomTom platforms of its technical devices for the user to make the most of the wealth of mapping.

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