The main selling point of the new Tomtom XL is that it comes with an attached windscreen mount that folds flat onto the device when it’s not in use.

This means it's not necessary to cart around an additional mount. In theory this is a good idea, but in practice it falls down a bit.

The mount on our device was stiff and quite short meaning that getting the right position on the windscreen was difficult.

Getting it to stick also took quite a bit of time and patience.

Another part of the redesign is that the now has an improved voice, which is supposed to be clearer and louder than that of its predecessors, something we bore out in testing: even over a loud car radio the navigator's voice could be heard clearly.

It's purely a matter of taste, but we're not big fans of the default voices in the Tomtom units, which haven't changed. It is possible to change the voices by downloading new ones (including, famously, John Cleese) from the website, but that costs extra.

That said, the instructions given were very good, providing plenty of warning of the next turn, or even the next two if they were close together. The directions are also repeated as you approach the junction, to make sure you've got the message – although it was a bit slow in calculating routes.

The main map display covers the 4.3in widescreen and is free of much distraction. The distances to the next turn and to the destination are displayed in a panel that stretches the full width of the screen and occupies almost a third of its height, making it clear and easy to read.

The Tomtom Traffic comes with a traffic information receiver that connects to the USB port on the device. After taking a few seconds to connect we were presented with a traffic sidebar on the right-hand side of the driving screen, which warns of any traffic incidents on the route, estimates how long the delay will be and advises on alternatives. This worked surprisingly well, and was a good complement to a competent satellite navigator.