Navmans S range is fully featured and this S50 is the 2nd rung on that ladder but the added 3D tag suggest more than the bog standard S50 a bit like the difference between an LX and a GHIA (for those that remember the Ford Cortina). The 3D is a new dimension (literally) for Nav systems and Navman have decided that major landmarks on the map should be in 3D!  We were quite excited to go for a our first trip with the S50 suckered to the car windscreen to see some local landmarks, what would show up in 3D the village pond? the church? or perhaps the massive block of flats down the road, perhaps more of an eyesore than a landmark.

SO using the now familiar S range interface we popped in a known destination and the Navman pick the route, a task it performed quickly and the route selected was fairly standard and would get us there on time and without any daft wrong turns. The Navman interface is very simple to use and each iteration seems a bit tidier as they remove clutter of the old iCN range and they seem to have avoided bringing over any of the Mio software from the two companies merger.

Based on the Sirif Star III chipset the S50 provides a highly accurate and smooth journey, the 4.3" widescreen is clear bright and also quite colourful which makes it easy to read even with the sun reflecting a bit on a rare September day. The maps scroll very smoothly and the directional arrows make for a stress free drive with ETA , Distance to destination and all the expected info on screen but neatly done. The voice prompts are loud and yet not too obtrusive and easily overcome a car stereo at normal levels.

By now we had completed a good 2/3 of our journey and nothing had yet shown up in 3D and we were afraid that the 3D nature of the S50 3D was a bit of a was out. This shouldn't mask the flawless routing. Our unit had the optional traffic information which uses over the air TMC data available from 2 sources in the UK. As per other models this is useful to a point but its only as good as the data which once again on our first test run proved to be several hours old.

As we pulled into our first destination we decided to use the Bluetooth connection with our N95 to make  call back to base. The phone was paired easily which is often half the battle and the call was great while stationary. We decided to route back and try the hands free from the inbuilt speaker / microphone of the S50 on the move. It works quite well but at motorway speeds callers started to struggle to hear us and we had to give up, so once again on a par with the TomTom  Go range on the hands free.

To find our way back we opted to use the Nav pics, this is a Navman unique selling point where images are stored having been taken with the inbuilt camera (or downloaded to the device) to represent the address book. You pull up a photo gallery and then select the image you want in order to navigate. Its a cool feature and a nice interface but again not a real decision maker when choosing a Nav system.

We tried a varied route back to base to take in a few more landmarks but once again no 3D symbols appeared on the map, so it seems that unless you are diving past Big Ben or the angel of the north the 3D element is worth about 3D in old money. A nice idea but poorly executed and more of a marketing gimmick than useful navigation aid.

As a navigation system priced at around £110 the full colour Navman S50 3D is a nice gadget, its slim (read portable) feature packed and a good alternative the the now common TomTom. Navpics makes it a bit different and the 3D well we'd have to say opt for the Standard Navman S50 and save a few quid. We await the day we get true 3D mapping something a bit more like Google maps or local live driving across real maps not just computer generated maps.

Published - 28/092/998

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