Navman S50 3D

The basics

Weighing in at 190g and sizing up at 79x139x19mm, the Navman's user-friendly satnav, the S50, packs in a 4.3-inch touchscreen, a SiRFstarIII chipset, 512MB internal Flash memory and an SD/MMC card slot. Navman's also thrown in integrated Bluetooth, pre-installed speed camera alerts, NavPix and over 500,000 POIs, with 3D representations of major landmarks.

The good

Using some satnavs can feel like a game of Pac-man. Well Navman's added some visual thrill to your journey with 3D representations (ooh!) of landmarks – seriously, this thing will make open-top bus rides to see Big Ben two dimensional. In use, it calculates routes quicker than Paris Hilton finishes lunch. Also the 4.3-inch touchscreen is bright, (free) safety camera data is spot on and the Bluetooth connection lets you search for local shops and services. The automatic switch from Day to Night mode is great and windscreen mount is one of the most solid we’ve tried.

The bad

Navman’s much-vaunted NavPix – really just geotagged low-res snaps – are outdated in the age of the iPhone. We didn’t like the voice commands either, which came a little late, especially when negotiating inner city routes.

The bottom line

Useful features (Bluetooth, safety cameras, full postcode search) just about outweigh the gimmicks (NavPix) in this decent budget satnav choice.