We could instantly see the logic as you can't really engage in complex menus and extra features while driving, of course we are not meant to interact with a navigation system while on the move, but we all do. So the challenge for Navman has been to develop  navigation system that meets the need of their market and surprisingly this is now for those aged 35 - 55 and more female than male. The early adopters and techies are onto their second and third generation of devices, the iCN320 is for the GPS newbie's.

We managed to "borrow" a press sample while at the UK launch and what follows is a result of 2 days of mile munching testing around the London Streets and the M25.

The 320 is a small device compared to the TomTom Go and it's slim dimensions make it pocketable which is something a pair of clown sized cargo pants can't achieve with the TomTom! This reduction in size is due to the smaller screen size 2.83", normally we'd throw our arms up at this point as small screens are normally bad news, but the 320 is meant to be smaller and less should be more.

To enable the smaller screen to work the user interface is radically different from the rest of the Navman range, first up there is no real time scrolling map, instead we have next turn arrows and a countdown bar which shows graphically how long you have until that next instruction. As you approach the junction a map appears which shows the immediate area around the turn and your position on it. This is designed as a tool to reinforce the instruction not to be the primary interface as with many systems, the big arrows and strong voice commands are the way the Navman 320 does its job.

Fitting the unit into the car is nice and simple, the cradle has been changed and its new model clips in simply and does not require too much strength, the charger cable is supplied for 12 volt operation and the maps of the UK are on the SD card. Navman have really tried to make setup simple, the units are already configured for the region so the UK 320's have MPH set, it is even pre charged so it's really ready to go straight out of the box.

In our tests we found that the 320 was probably the fastest system to acquire the required satellites so you can start driving, the little fold out antenna on the rear of the unit feels robust and seemed to get very good reception even in the centre of London. Entering an address is by use of an on screen alphabet and a navigation pad, we'd have preferred a touch screen  but the screen size prohibits this method of data entry, there is the ability to store favourite addresses in the unit and most users will use this feature heavily. We were very pleased to see that the fiddly stylus of the 510 is gone from this model.

You can navigate to a postcode, full address or a point of interest like a petrol station or cash point, a nice touch is you can chose to go to the centre of an area if you don't know the exact address. The route calculation time was very quick and we were quickly on our way, the routes chosen were the obvious ones and the quickest, we did find that the 320 had a preference for A roads and shortest distance rather than the motorway bias of the TomTom Go. But this isn't a negative point.

On route the voice instructions are very loud and clear a vast improvement over the ICN510 we tested before and this is due to the fact that Navman have used the most powerful speaker that they could fit into the compact 320. The screen is very bright and has good colour reproduction, glare is kept to a minimum again better that the TomTom units.

The accuracy of the routes and the timing of the instructions are first class, we were really worried we'd miss the scrolling real-time map and the security it gives, but you soon learn to trust that the Navman 320 is going to take you to the right place. The wrong turn test proved that Navman have also improved their response to driver mistakes and gone are the infamous "make a U turn when possible" instructions, instead the unit calmly re routes you and gets you back on track.

It's not perfect by any means, we did get very frustrated that there is no way to make the unit rote round a traffic jam or avoid a certain road. There is a lack of in journey avoidance menus and this means you will always have to take the route that the 320 decides upon. Occasionally the Intel PXA-255 300MHz processor seemed to struggle with opening a menu or take a bit longer at start-up but this is a minor point.

Overall the simple approach does work and the removed features are rarely missed, certainly we didn't worry about a flaky Bluetooth connection or the lack of traffic data. This is simple navigation and it does what it says on the tin. The next step could easily be Navman mobile, we wouldn't think it would be too difficult to use the work on the user interface on a smartphone platform where screen size is also limited.

For now we can expect the iCN320 to sell well in the UK and because of the reduction in component costs it ships for just £169 which undercuts almost every system of the market making GPS navigation a possibility for more drivers. It's about time TomTom had some competition and with the Navman iCN320 it looks like they've got it by the barrow load.

Published - 10/09/2005

More GPS Reviews.-

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