Is a dedicated sat-nav still a good investment or are you better off using your phone? Let’s take a look at the PROS and CONS
If you drive, chances are you use either your car’s built in sat-nav, your phone or a combination of the two. I’m lucky enough to own a car with a relatively decent built-in sat-nav system, but before that I used my phone and, long before that, I used a dedicated sat-nav.
It is now 2016. We live in a world full of mobile phones; everybody has one — even your grandparents. We use them every day for everything from paying for goods to making calls and sending emails. A lot of people use them as sat-nav in their car as well, thanks to apps like Waze, Google Maps and Apple Maps.
Which begs the question: is the humble, dedicated sat-nav dead? Has it served its purpose? Is it ready to go the way of CDs, Mini Disks and David Cameron’s political career? In a way, yes — smartphones have killed off quite a bit of the space’s profitability.
But there is still room for brands like TomTom who are, more and more, refocussing their energies on apps for phones and new products for motorcycles as well as working closer with automotive manufacturers. A phone is more convenient, does not require you to pay additional monies for navigations services, and is always with you.
In this respect, a phone wins for most user cases. But there are areas where a dedicated sat-nav does still bring a level of utility you simply cannot get just by using a phone. I switched to a dedicated sat-nav last month to see if it could replace my phone full time.
I used the TomTom GO 5100 5 inch Sat Nav. I didn’t expect much, but after a month’s worth of driving I am convinced. The TomTom GO 5100 5 inch Sat Nav is now a mainstay in my car. Below I will try to explain what motivated my decision to use a dedicated sat-nav over my iPhone.
Navigation KILLS Your Battery Life
This one is a big issue, especially if you forget your charging cable — something I do all the time. Navigation is very intensive on your phone, it rinses battery at an alarming rate, so much so that if you’re driving over three hours you’re looking at a serious dent in your phone’s battery life — like, 60% hit or more, depending on the model.
Obviously the way around this is simple: keep a spare cable in your car. But like a lot of things in life, I tend to forget to do this. I cannot count the number of times I’ve driven somewhere, forgotten my charger, and been left with a decision: use a map or my phone and have no battery life when I arrive.
This no longer happens. The TomTom GO 5100 5 inch Sat Nav is attached to my dash and it lives there permanently, awaiting my instruction. Also, a nice feature of the TomTom GO 5100 is that you can configure it using your phone; simply type in the journey details in the MyDrive app and send it to the sat-nav and you’re done. No more fiddling around with buttons on the actual unit.
Ease of Use
The TomTom GO 5100 updates itself and is, as a result, very easy to live with. You set it up, configure it to your liking, and you’re done. I use the MyDrive app to plan routes, which means I seldom even touch the TomTom GO 5100.
For me, this was the biggest USP of a dedicated sat-nav. You don’t have to do anything beyond the initial set-up; just get in your car, ping over the routing information from your phone and get on your way.
No Issues With Data
Apple Maps and Google Maps require data to keep their navigation updated. Things like traffic updates happen incrementally throughout a journey and therefore are variable. If you’re in an area with limited or no data, your phone’s navigation app cannot update and this can lead to issues that can and often do affect your journey.
The TomTom GO 5100 has everything stored offline. But better than that it packs in a dedicated SIM card that ensures you are always connected to TomTom Traffic and other services, even when driving abroad. You don’t need to worry about data — or using too much data — as it’s all just taken care of by the unit.
Does Your Phone Have Enough Storage?
If you have a phone with less than 32GB of storage, a sat-nav is a very good option because downloading maps for offline use on your phone soon takes up valuable space which, if you’re using anything less than 32GB, is already at a premium.
I know a lot of people opt for 16GB iPhones or use Android phones with limited storage capacities. This is just a fact of life, as these phones are cheaper. However, once you start loading maps up on these for offline you’ll soon run out of space.
With a dedicated sat-nav everything is stored on the device, locally. Your phone can act as a conduit between the two for communicating routes and the like, but all the actual data remains on the TomTom GO 5100. Another plus? The world maps and other features are constantly updated, so you always have the latest information at your disposal.
World Maps + TONS of Traffic Features
It’s been a good long while since I used a dedicated sat-nav, but one of the most impressive things about the TomTom GO 5100 is the amount of content you get completely free:
- Lifetime TomTom Traffic Via Built-in SIM
- Lifetime world maps
- Lifetime Speed Cameras Including Average Speedcams
On top of this you get advanced routing technology which is designed to make driving aboard a lot easier.
It features things like predicative traffic planning as well as updates for other TomTom units in operation on the roads in order to build a more complete picture of your ongoing journey.
Sat-Nav Tech Has Come A LONG WAY in Recent Years
But I guess the biggest thing I got out of this little experiment is this: sat-nav devices have improved A LOT since I last used one. The wealth of features and updates combined with the ease of use and the way it interacts with my phone has been a revelation to me.
The process of getting from A to B with the TomTom GO 5100 was effortless. The more I used it the more I started to trust the technology and then something strange happened: I really started to enjoy long-distance driving again and, best of all, I stopped having anxiety attacks over driving on foreign roads.
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