Navman F35

The folks over at Mio have been hard at work producing affordable GPS systems for the masses, we managed to get our hands on one of their latest models, the Navman F35 and put it through it’s paces. Read our full report below.

The Good

The moment you pull the Navman F35 out of the box it is ready to use, no pesky updating to do beforehand, even though you can of course update it whenever you wish. On first look the unit looks stylish and sleek with it’s 3.5 inch touchscreen LCD display, the picture quality is crisp and runs at a resolution of 320×240 pixels.

To keep the F35 affordable Mio have done away with all the bells and whistles you tend to find on the latest high end sat navs, but make no mistake the F35 is an excellent sat nav and has all the features that matter without the feeling that it is a cheaply made device.

The unit measures 77mm x 111.5mm x 20mm and weighs approxiamtely 140g so it certainly isn’t heavy and bulky like some others. It incorporates a Samsung 2450 CPU running at 400MHz along with the SiRFstarIII and InstantFixII GPS receiver which helps it aquire a satellite connection up to 5 times faster than it’s rivals.

Setting a destination is a breeze and there’s no need for a masters degree to operate it, just plug in a postcode or address and it will suggest the best routes, the F35 also has a points of interest feature, whereby if you are lacking a postcode or address you can select points of interest and find the route to a wide range of attractions and landmarks.

As with most GPS devices, the Navman F35 will speak giving you turn by turn directions and warn you of approaching speed cameras with it’s in-built safety camera database which is a must to avoid those horrible fines and points on your license.

One nifty thing the F35 offers is the intelligent night/day feature, it automatically adjusts the brightness of the screen, ie dimmer at night time, so as not to be too distracting while driving. The same feature can be found on the higher end Navman models so we’re glad to see they’ve included it in this unit.

The Bad

There really isn’t a lot you can grumble about for a sat nav system in this price range, while a things like a bluetooth connection for you phone to provide hands free calling or Wi-Fi may have been nice we completely understand why they didn’t include all the frills in some other sat navs.

Conclusion

For an entry level GPS the Navman F35 is a solid product, it provides everything you need to get from A to B at a price that isn’t easy to match. If you are looking for an affordable sat nav then we whole heartedly recommend giving this one a look.

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