Navigon Mobile Navigator
Navigon offers a free 30-day trial of its system, but don't download the demo from the Android Market or it will try to suck down all 1.8GB worth of European Maps not just the 131MB of UK mappage you're probably after.
Mobile Navigator is a more feature-laden system than CoPilot Live - I particularly like the at-a-glance colour-coded route options you can chose from, the A-one-two-three-four text to voice system and the ability to select address destinations from your phone book but within the app. It's not quite as easy to use on a small screen as CoPilot due to some rather small buttons and it's also nearly twice the price - the current iPhone special offer notwithstanding - making it less than spectacular value for money.
The maps are excellent, though, and quite the equal of any of the others on test. The Reality Pro junction views are handy for those so dim they arguably shouldn't be behind the wheel of a car to begin with. Confusingly for a major name system, features vary from platform to platform: for instance, live traffic is an iPhone-only option.
Reg Rating 80%
Price £20 iPhone (limited time), €50 (£42) Android, €69 (£58) Symbian, Windows Mobile
Platforms iPhone, Android, Windows Mobile, Symbian
More Info Navigon
Ovi Maps
Neck and neck with Google Maps as the best known free navigation app, Ovi Maps currently covers 180 countries, with voice guidance available for 74 of them. With its local services information sourced from Expedia, Time Out and Qype, as well as Michelin and Lonely Planet guides, Ovi Maps has all the POI bases covered and because it loads maps onto your phone's internal storage you don't have to worry about roaming charges as you do with Google Navigation and Wisepilot.
3D landmarks, multiple route points, Facebook integration and free traffic information all call into question the non-existent price tag. In fact, the only downside is with the hardware, with Nokia not currently punting a smartphone OS to match iOS4 or Android, though the arrival of MeeGo handsets will hopefully change that.
With map data from Navteq, which Nokia owns, accuracy is seldom an issue and the Own Voice feature, which lets you record your own voice guidance prompts, is the cherry on the cake. Several Nokia handsets now come with bundled screen mounts and if you don't like smartphones you can even get Ovi Maps on the C5 candybar.
Reg Rating 85%
Price Free with the majority of Nokia handsets
Platforms Symbian, Maemo
More Info Ovi
Next page: TomTom Mobile Navigation for iPhone 1.3
COMMENTS
T-Mobile UK PAYG
"Android users on contract tariffs with bundled data, but will raise issues if you are on PAYG or roaming abroad. "
T-Mobile UK PAYG does a really good data deal. I pay 20 quid for a 6 month booster which gives me 1GB of allowance each month. That equates to £3.33/month. You don't get charged if you exceed that limit, but they will warn you about it. You're not going to hit 1GB a month unless you're downloading videos every day or doing a lot of tethering. Perfect for navigation+web browsing+email though.
I'm not associated with T-Mobile other than as a customer.
I would hardly call that a review!
Altough based on the same dataset, its a completely separate application and approach (offline, vs online) than Skobbler....
Can I ask a silly question?
Why are Satnavs always Landscape? I use my Nexus in Portrait, as Im more interested in what is coming up than what is going on to the side of my route.
What am I missing?
Googlemaps route planning
You can use GoogleMaps on the web to plan your route in detail - dragging the little markers to add waypoints or avoid particular roads, then save it to 'My Maps', open it in GoogleMaps on the phone and then navigate it.
On device map data
Maybe I missed it, but a summary of which apps have the map data stored on the device and which ones download over your data connection would be handy. Otherwise a very useful review.
