Mio Spirit 695 LM satnav review These be tough times for satnav makers when, for under £100, you can pick up a good 4in smartphone like the Huawei Ascend G300 which comes with Google’s ever-evolving and improving free navigation, and even entry-level eight grand motors, like VW’s new Up!, feature low-cost optional navigation packages. To compete satnav makers …
I have bought Mio kit, and the first thing to disappear were the free map upgrades. So I had a brand new device, the promise of map upgrades and, well, no map upgrades. Tech support couldn't tell me anything else than that the device was of a company they bought and they had not integrated maps yet - well, duh, that's the most vital part of a GPS - and then don't promise what you cannot deliver.
About 4 years later I suddenly got an email I could now buy map updates for the device. Buy, mind you, not get for free for a year as was originally claimed to be included in the purchase price. By that time I'd ditched the things and switched to TomTom on an iPhone, which works great because I rarely forget my phone. Map updates are frequent in mini (download) and macro form (iTunes updates of the whole App) - if they had only stayed away from doing anything with social media inside a device that has to work in a car (generic disadvantage of TomTom is that it requires FAR too much screen interaction - it's clearly not designed by people who use this kit themselves, or who see taking their eyes off the road as a safety problem).
Apropos the feature of repeating the last instruction: I don't know of other devices, but TomTom does it by tapping on the bottom of the screen. It also reduces the volume of any iTunes playback in progress for an announcement, and it shuts up when you have an incoming call (which I tend to avoid - I don't like driving and making calls, even though I have very good handsfree kit)..
So, no more Mio for me. There are better alternatives, alternatives you can actually trust..
>For relatively small-name players like Mio, you also need to bear in mind that "lifetime updates" are "updates for as long as the company continues to exist / feels like supporting this".
As opposed to large companies like Nokia who have a well-regarded map system? Okay, your's is a valid point and I'm being churlish, but a even a big name might not be around in a half a decade, let alone a lifetime. [See Palm]
My wife has a Mio and it's the biggest pile of manure i've ever had the displeasure of using.
The menu layout is illogical and overly nested (to make the buttons bigger for the crap touchscreen)
It is immensely slow!
As stated above the free map updates never materialise and the compulsory, buy your map updates email appears.
Maybe recent Mio devices are a step forward; technology does change and improve, you know. I have a Mio Spirit 685, which looks almost identical to the reviewed model, and it's been very good; very simple, clear interface, good big responsive touchscreen, and seems to work very well. It did not come with free lifetime map upgrades sadly, just a one-time free upgrade to the latest maps, but that worked fine. The only issue I have is that it doesn't always pick up a TMC signal; the TMC antenna is integrated into the power cable, and so can't be ideally positioned for reception, unlike my previous satnav.
I read "TomTom-licensed IQ Routes", I have a TomTom XL IQ routes and its the most frustrating thing we have used.
In fact I had to disable the IQ Routes, because of its odd behaviour, which included taking side and B roads instead of Major A roads and getting us completely confused and stressed.
I have had to submit so many error reports to TomTom that I feel they should be paying me for my time!
I do not drive, but my partner does, and I am responsible for the navigation, I have to check what route the TomTom 'thinks' it should take every time now and each time I find a problem, its not something I can rely on and I worry whenever my partner goes out alone with it, I wonder what nightmare journey it will take her on.
The unit is only a year old, they tell me to update the maps, right at £45 a pop, I don't think so.
So something like this with, maps for life, seems ideal.
But before I part with any cash, I want to test it, I know the routes that will let me know if its worth buying or not.
I'll not be buying another TomTom device, and not keen on devices that use TomTom code, but if the IQ Routes rubbish can be disabled, then it might be worth a look.
I wouldn't bother with the TomTom map updates, to be honest. I only use it in Madrid now. The 2nd businest motorway in Madrid was changed and a major junction was closed and a new one added. 2 years later, it's still not in the update. Another junction changed, and if you follow the TomTom, it takes you the wrong way down a slip road, heading the wrong way along a dual carriageway. Guess what? 2 years later, still the same
A favourite game in our car is annoy the sat-nav. Ignore the instructions and wait for the mandatory "u-turn when safe to do so". However it would be far more fun if the sat-nav voice got more and more frustrated, ending with "Oh please yourself"
A back seat nag mode. "your going too fast","mind the traffic at the next junction", etc. For those times when your normal co-pilot is not with you
Maybe it's just a crap example, but from the image on the first page:
Fastest = 50.3 miles, 1h16m.
Economical = 37.7 miles, 0h58m.
Easiest = 52.7 miles, 1h17m.
Erm, that means economical is a whole lot faster than fastest, assuming fastest means shortest time.
So does fastest maybe mean highest speed? Well no, 'cos easiest is a higher average speed than fastest.
Maybe the maps are brilliant, but it looks to me like their maths is crap!
Unless I'm mistaken, lifetime support, lifetime warranty, lifetime guarantee, lifetime updates, on any gadget, refers to the lifetime of the gadget rather than the owner.
This means that you will get map updates for the time the device is on sale plus some unknown time that mio will continue to support the device for. My guess is that you will get 2 or 3 years of map updates which is still better than nothing.
Google maps & navigation on a smart phone is not a good alternative for a dedicated GPS device. The biggest problem with Google maps is that it requires internet access. Without access, maps & navigation don't work. And that is a big problem when you're traveling abroad and paying for data roaming.
Also, the Mio is much better in handling complicated intersections.
As someone who owns an Evesham Nav-Cam 7700 GPS that hasn't been updated in years due to the company going tits up, I honestly don't see the selling point in offering 'lifetime updates'. Why not just say it comes with 'free updates'? At least that would not raise expectations too much!
I bought a tomtom for my wife about 10 years ago, and we've never updated the maps on it. It's very rare that it can't get us to where we're going. There is some amusement factor as we appear in the middle of a field on its display due to some bypass or other and it screams "Turn Left!!! For the love of god turn left!!!"
Well it doesn't swear. But you've got to get your kicks somewhere.
It has saved our marriage mind. We never argue about directions we just set the tom tom off, and then we can both swear at it if it drives us into a field.
It still takes her through the centre of Bath though! I normally get a phone call "I'm stuck in a bus lane. Somewhere in Bath." First advice is to stop. Then I have a hope at locating her. Perhaps I'll turn on the GPS on her android ;)
Bought a Mio Spirit 595 on previous Reg Hardware recommendation. What a piece of rubbish! Out of date maps, unresponsive touchscreen, unpredictable routing, one single horrible voice which can't be changed. It won't record favourite locations, so I have to enter EVERY destination EVERY time I use it. But the worst thing is that she has a speech impediment and isn't able to pronounce round-a-bout or High ("hig-her", really?). Pathetic piece of crap, I shall stick to Tomtom
The above on my N8 has made my previous device look a bit Fisher Price. 15k miles and counting.
Offline maps, huge poi database, clear visial lane guidance, nice lady voice who also warns of cameras, traffic info/rerouting too and all for free. Public transport update the most recent I think.
Plus of course, I only have one device in my car also handling music and the inevitable pita call concurrently.
Gets a bit warm when I'm also shooting images/video with it but hey.. I take a charging cable.
Lumia has a big trick up its sleeve in the mapping content Nokia has.
The Register 
Biting the hand that feeds IT
Copyright. All rights reserved © 1998–2024
