Physically, the X 340 S looks and feels similar to previous TomTom GPS units. The 3.5-inch color LCD touch screen is framed by a black and silver colored casing. The 340 S is handsome looking, and feels well made.

 

 

 

Features:
Text-to-speech - speaks street names for easy guidance
IQ Routes Technology
Advanced Lane Guidance
TomTom Map Share: instantly modify street names, street direction and POIs on your own device and benefit from others' corrections
"Help Me!" Emergency Menu: easily access local emergency providers such as police, fire stations and hospitals
Maps of the US, Canada & Mexico
EasyPort mount: foldable, slim mount for easy portability
POI icons: easily find gas stations, restaurants, hotels and more along your route. Customize by adding your own points of interest
TomTom HOME: ensure that your TomTom is always up-to-date and access additional features with this free software application
Traffic ready: optional RDS-TMC traffic receiver accessory keeps you up-to-date on traffic events to minimize potential delays
Daily Fuel Prices Optional Service: find the lowest priced gas on your route

Specifications:
High-sensitivity GPS receiver
7 Millions Points of Interest (POIs)
4.3” QVGA touch screen
4.7" x 3.2" x .09", 7 ounces with mount attached
Internal Lithium-Ion battery (up to 3 hours operation)

With the exception of the power button on the top of the device, there are no physical controls on the XL 340S. All operations are performed via the touch-screen interface One of the most interesting physical features of the XL 340S is TomTom's new EasyPort Mount. The foldable EasyPort mount is designed to make it easy to remove the windshield mount and GPS device from the car.  TomTom says the silicon used on the EasyPort mount is stronger than previous mounts, which should make the EasyPort stronger and able to adhere to more surface types.

 

 

The EasyPort Mount can also be snapped off the back of the XL 340S if you don't want to bring the mount with you, and just want the GPS device. The 340's internal speaker is also located in the rear of the device.  The EasyPort Mount is attached to the glass by pressing the disk onto the windshield and twisting the bezel into the locked position. The On/Off button is located on the top of the GPS. The USB Data/Charging port is located on the bottom of the device. he USB port (located on the bottom of the device) is used both to provide power and to charge the internal rechargeable battery. A standard USB vehicle power adapter is included.

 

 

 

Mounting the TomTom XL 340S In The Car

Installing the XL 340S in the car is a simple process that requires no tools or professional installation.  Plug in the vehicle power adapter into an available cigarette lighter port. Flip open the EasyPort Mount. You need to hold the back of the GPS while you open the EasyPort Mount, otherwise the entire mount disconnects from the back of the GPS. Press the EasyPort onto the windshield glass. Twist the bezel into the locked position to secure the mount to the windshield.


To remove the XL 340S from the EasyPort Mount, simply pull the GPS until it "snaps" out of the mount. Similarly, you can quickly re-connect the GPS to the EasyPort by pushing the GPS into the outer mounting ring until it snaps back into place. The XL 340S looks good mounted in the car, and the windshield mount holds the GPS firmly in place while driving. However, the new EasyPort foldable windshield mount is a mixed bag. I found the mount frustrating to use at times. Frequently, when I tried to adjust the viewing angle, the GPS would detach completely from the EasyPort. I also found it difficult to twist the EasyPort bezel into the locked / unlocked position without the outer mounting ring interfering.

 

 

 

Powering on the XL 340S For the First Time

Before you can start navigating with the XL 340S, a number of setting and preferences must be configured, beginning with the desired language. Scroll through the list of available languages and tap the desired language selection.  Confirm the language selection by tapping Yes, or tap No to return to the list of languages. Once the language has been set, the XL 340S informs you that it must set a few more preferences before it's ready to begin navigating. The XL 340S can be configured for either right-handed or left-handed use.


The XL 140 S can report distances in Miles, or Kilometers. Choose the appropriate setting and press Done. The time can be displayed using any of the three formats shown above. Set the correct time by using the up and down arrows, then tap Done. The XL 340S includes a variety of male and female voices. "Computer generated" voices can announce actual street names using text-to-speech technology. Real human voices are also available to choose, but they can only announce generic maneuvers, such as "Turn left", or "Take Exit on Right" . The default voice selection is "Susan", for US English. Susan is a computer generated voice that will speak actual street names when announcing turn maneuvers.


Listen to the voice by tapping Test, or tap Select to choose that voice and continue. The TomTom XL 340S has a built-in light sensor that can automatically switch the display between "day" and "night" color modes. Day mode sets the display to full brightness and uses color schemes designed to be seen during daylight conditions. Night mode dims the display, and changes the map to use darker colors that are easier on the eyes when driving at night. TomTom provides four different day color schemes to choose from.

 

TomTom provides four different night color schemes to choose from. The blue scheme (top left) is chosen by default.  Next the XL 340S asks if you want to input your home address. The 'Home' address is a special saved address in your address book that makes it easy to route back to your designated home address with just a few taps on the screen. Now that all the start-up preferences have been set, the XL 340S asks if you want a brief tour on using the GPS and an overview of the features. If you're new to TomTom's GPS products, it's probably a good idea to take the tour (it only takes a few minutes).


We'll discuss TomTom's Map Share feature in more detail later in this review, but you should join Map Share when prompted to do so during the initial setup.

Navigating With The TomTom XL 340S

Whether navigating to a destination, or simply driving around, most of your time with the XL 340S will be spent looking at the Map Screen, shown above.

 

 

 

By default, the following information is displayed on the map:
Zoom In
Zoom Out
Highlighted Route (the path you'll be driving)
Navigation instruction for the road ahead (tap this area to repeat the last spoken instruction, and to change the volume)
Trip information: trip time, remaining distance, arrival time. The information displayed in this box can be customized, as shown later in this review

 

 

 

The Map Screen is one of the most critical aspects of any GPS. I personally find TomTom's map screen less refined than Garmin or Magellan's map screens, though many users find TomTom's map screen perfectly acceptable.  When approaching a highway exit or intersection, the XL 340S displays a visual indicator in the status bar that shows which lane you should be driving in, and, where available, a photo-realistic view of the turn, as shown above.  Advanced Lange Guidance coverage is constantly improving with each new TomTom map update. When 3D Lane Guidance is not available, basic lane guidance information is displayed in the lower-left information bar.


The XL 340S displays speed limit information when driving on most major roads or highways. If available for the road you are traveling on, the current speed and legal speed limit are displayed in the lower-right corner of the GPS. In this example, I am driving 45 MPH in an area with a 55 MPH limit.

Another handy feature only found on TomTom devices is the ability to tell the GPS what time you'd like to arrive at your destination address, and then see on the map screen how close to your preferred arrival time you'll be.  This feature can be turned on or off via the preferences menu. When enabled, the XL 340S will ask if you need to arrive at your destination by a specific time. If you answer Yes, the XL 340S will display how early or late you will arrive at your destination.

If you specify a target time you want to arrive by, the GPS displays how many minutes under (shown next to a plus (+) sign in green text) or over (shown next to a minus (-) sign in red) you'll arrive by. If the estimated arrival time is less than 5 minutes before the entered preferred arrival time, the number is displayed in a yellow font. I love this feature, and found myself using it regularly.

 

 

The XL 340S also allows you to specify which types of Points of Interest (POIs) you would like to see displayed on the map screen. Some POIs even display their logo instead of the generic category icon. For example, Shell gas stations are indicated by the Shell logo, as are many other types of businesses, such as McDonalds, Starbucks, and Dunkin Donuts to name just a a few.

The XL 340S can be configured to automatically switch between "Day" and "Night" modes, either based on the time of day or ambient light levels. The default setting relies on the time of day, and switches into "Night" mode at sunset.  Once a destination has been entered, the XL 340S displays an overview of the planned trip, as shown above. If you're happy with the route, you can begin navigating by tapping Done. If you'd like to see an alternate route, tap Find Alternative. Tapping Details lets you further customize the route, as shown below.


Tapping Details on the previous screen brings up the View Route screen, shown above. The screen offers the following functions:
Browse as text - View a turn-by-turn text list of all turns along the route
Browse as images - View a turn-by-turn series of images for every turn on the route
Browse map of route - Display the entire route on the map
Show route Demo - Simulate the route
Show route summary - Displays key statistics about the proposed route, such as time, distance, how many miles will be spent on a highway, and more

Tapping "Browse As Text" displays a turn-by-turn list of all upcoming maneuvers. Tap on a turn to view more details about the maneuvers, or tap Options to configure the information displayed on this screen. As with most aspects of the XL 340S, you can customize the information displayed to suit your own personal preference. Here, the "Information per instruction" options let you choose between any of the 7 different information settings to display at each turn.

Once a destination has been input, the route summary screen is displayed. Tap Done to begin navigating to the destination, Clear Route to cancel the route, or Details to customize the route or view additional information about the planned route If you're not satisfied with the route the XL 340S automatically calculated, tap Find Alternative to customize the planned route.

 

 

 

The XL 340S provides lots of route customization options:
Calculate alternative - automatically calculates a new, different, route to the destination address
Avoid roadblock - If you know a street is closed, you can indicate the location on the map and have the XL 340S route around the closed road
Travel via - Insert a stop along the route
Recalculate Original - Re-calculate the original proposed route
Avoid part of route - Browse a list of all turns in the planned route, and choose a specific road (or multiple roads) to avoid
Minimize delays - Calculate a route that avoids as much traffic as possible


Tap on the road or highway you want to avoid to exclude a specific section from the planned route. Once everything looks good, tap Done to begin navigating to your destination.

Finding An Address

The XL 340S provides several ways to navigate to a destination, but probably the most common method is to enter a street address as a destination. To begin entering a street address, tap the screen to view the Main Menu, shown above, and then tap "Navigate to..."


The "Navigate to..." screen, shown above, allows you to choose what type of destination address you want to route to:
Home - route to the saved Home address
Favorite - route to a saved address
Address - Enter a street address
Recent Destination - Route to a recently found address
Point of Interest - Search the POI (Point of Interest) database for a business (restaurant, hotel, gas station, grocery store, etc.)

In this example we'll be entering a street address as our destination, so we'll tap on "Address" to continue.

 

 

The TomTom XL 340S allows you to enter a street address in a number of useful ways:
City center - if you don't have a particular street address, and just want to drive to the center of town (useful for exploring small towns)
Street and house number - probably the method you'll most commonly use, this button allows you to enter a complete street address.
Zip Code - if you know the postal code for the destination address, entering the Zip Code can be faster than spelling out city names (and less error prone)
Cross street or intersection - allows you to enter two street names and route to a particular intersection

I'll tap on "Street and house number" to continue.

The XL 340S pre-populates the City screen with a list of the most recently found cities. You can choose one of the recently used city names, or use the on-screen keyboard to enter a different city name. n this example we'll be driving to an address in New York City. After selecting NY as the State, I start to spell out New York using the on-screen keyboard. As I enter letters (N-E-W-SPACE-Y-O), the ONE 140 S is constantly updating the list of matching names. Once enough letters have been entered, I can simply tap on the correct city name from the results list. I'll tap on "New York NY" to continue.

 

 

 

Unfortunately, there's no way to search across all States for a given city or town name. You'll need to know which State your destination address is located in. This may not sound like an issue (after all, who doesn't know what State their destination is in), but when driving to an address close to the border between two States, it's not always obvious which State you're driving to.

In this example I'll be routing to an address on Central Park West in New York, so I tap C-E-N-T-R-A-L and the XL 340S produces a list of all streets beginning with the word "Central". The on-screen keyboard can be hidden or shown by tapping on the triangle button in the upper-right corner of the screen (handy if you need to scroll through a long list of names and want to see more than 2 at a time). I'll tap on "Central Park W" to continue.

Using the on-screen keypad, enter the house or building number of your destination address. The XL 340S doesn't display the valid range of house numbers for the chosen street - a handy feature if you're not exactly sure of the house/building number. However, TomTom does provide a convenient "Cross street" option if you change your mind and want to enter a cross street instead of a house number.

This is a great feature unique to TomTom. If you want to arrive at your destination by a certain time, answer Yes to this question (you can also turn this feature off if you don't want to be asked each time). Route calculation on the TomTom XL 340S is slow compared to other GPS units. Route calculation times varied according to distance, with short trips calculating relatively fast and longer trips taking considerably longer. For example, an 80-mile trip took around 7 seconds to calculate -- not egregious but still quite a bit slower than competing GPS units.

Also annoying is that the XL 340S must finish calculating the entire route before you can begin navigating. Garmin and Magellan GPS units, by contrast, quickly calculate the first few turns so you can begin navigating, and then finish calculating the entire route.  If you the planned route will take you across toll roads, the XL 340S will ask if you prefer to find an alternate route that avoids tolls. This warning can be disabled via the preferences menu, if desired. The map screen is shown while navigating to the destination address.

TomTom Services

TomTom Services provide access to real time traffic, safety camera locations, and fuel prices, and other services available for purchase from TomTom. Unlike TomTom's GO LIVE models, the XL 340S is not a connected GPS. There is no wireless data connection. Instead, the XL 340S downloads updated data whenever the device is connected to a computer via TomTom's HOME software.

It's important to understand that unless you plan on regularly connecting the GPS to your computer and running TomTom's HOME software, TomTom's Services will be virtually useless, since traffic pattern data and fuel prices need to be recent to be of any value. TomTom Services can be purchased from TomTom for the XL 340S. As of this writing, 1 year of fuel prices service costs $19.95.

The XL 340S is compatible with TomTom's optional RDS-TMC traffic receiver (which currently sells for about $50). Lifetime traffic service is included with the traffic receiver. Once connected to the GPS, the optional traffic receiver will download real-time traffic data, and alert you to any traffic events that will cause a delay along the planned route.  In addition to setting up warning alerts when driving near a known safety camera, you can also report new safety camera locations directly on the XL 340S.

 

The options on this screen are:
Report safety camera - Lets you report a new safety camera location
Update safety cameras - Initiates a download of updated safety camera locations
Change warning preferences - adjust whether you want to see alerts when approaching known safety camera locations
Disable alerts - turns off all safety camera alerts
Enable Report button - places an icon on the map screen for quick, one-touch reporting of safety cameras

If you frequently encounter safety cameras in your daily travels, you may want to choose "Enable Report Button". This option places a safety camera icon directly on the map screen, giving you 1-click access to mark a new safety camera location directly from the map screen. Once a new safety camera location has been saved, the XL 340S can alert you whenever you are approaching that location in the future.

The XL 340S allows you to configure what types of safety cameras you want to receive alerts for.  Once you've downloaded updated fuel prices, the 340 S lets you sort gas stations by price, or distance, and highlights the cheapest gas found near your current position. Cheapest gas on route is only available when navigating to a destination address. Note that you cannot change the fuel type you want to see pricing for on the XL 340S directly. Instead, you have to select your preferred fuel type in TomTom's HOME application, and the GPS then downloads fuel price information for that fuel type only.

Conclusion     

TomTom's XL 340S is functionally identical to the ONE 140S, but benefits from a larger 4.3-inch screen, which makes every aspect of the GPS easier to use.

Advanced Lane Guidance, once the exclusive domain of $500 and up devices, makes it easy to navigate complex highway intersections. When approaching a highway maneuver, the XL 340S tells you which lane you should be driving in, and in some, but not all cases, also displays a 3D rendering of the highway exit.

IQ Routes, another feature found on the XL 340S, leverages real-world driving data from thousands of other TomTom drivers to help determine the best route. Estimated arrival times are also adjusted to reflect actual average speeds instead of posted speed limits. During my testing, IQ Routes significantly improved the routing logic, and helped the ONE 140 S choose routes that were on par with similarly priced units from Garmin or Magellan.

The XL 340S powers up quickly, and, in my testing, was able to acquire GPS signals without issue, even when driving behind tall buildings. QuickGPSFix technology also appeared to speed initial fix times further by pre-downloading GPS ephemeral data onto the device (tip: if at all possible, connect the GPS to TomTom's HOME software before heading out, and the GPS will almost instantly know where it is).

Text-to-speech lets the 340S announce actual street names, and TomTom's Map Share lets you make map corrections directly on the device, and download map corrections from TomTom on a daily basis.

The 340S ships with an unusually large POI (Points of Interest) database of about 7 million. The pre-loaded database was able to find everything I could throw at it, although the inability to sort restaurants by cuisine type is frustrating.

I also quite liked the XL 340S's ability to set a desired arrival time, and then see how early or late I will arrive.

While I liked the idea behind the new EasyPort windshield mounting system, the integrated mount fails to achieve its goal of a convenient collapsible mount that can be easily removed and transported with the GPS. Instead, EasyPort is cumbersome to use, and takes longer to attach or remove from the windshield than a standard windshield mount.

Map layout and design is more a matter of personal preference than definitive "good" or "bad" judgments, though I personally find TomTom's map harder to read than competing GPS units, and the text generally too small to be easily read from the driver's seat. Compared to Garmin's map screen, TomTom's map looks cartoonish. I also wondered why the XL 340S almost never announced what side of the road my destination was on.

Like other TomTom devices, the XL 340S allows you to customize nearly every aspect of the GPS. Of course, you can leave everything set to the default values and the XL 340S will function just fine. But if you're so inclined, virtually every setting can be adjusted to suit your own personal preferences. You can change map colors, pick which pieces of information you want to see displayed on the map, add or remove a compass, and adjust just about every aspect of the interface.

Depending on your own technical comfort level, some users may find the XL 340S' seemingly endless maze of menus and options overwhelming. If ease of use is your primary concern, or this is your first GPS, you may want to look elsewhere. If you love gadgets and aren't intimidated by a few menus, than you'll conquer all that the XL 340S has to offer in no time at all.

Those looking for real-time traffic can add an optional TMC traffic receiver to the XL 340S for around $60.

The XL 340S is a solid performing, wide-screen GPS that includes a suite of high-end features at a reasonable price.