Review: Qstarz BT-Q1300 GPS logger

If you’re fond of country walks, bike rides or other outdoor pursuits, you’ve probably also got an interest in plotting exactly how far you’ve travelled.

A GPS logger, such as the Qstarz BT-Q1300 keeps tabs on where you’ve been, how fast you were travelling and even what altitude you were at.

Small and compact, the BT-Q1300 looks much like an ordinary key fob, complete with a keyring attachment. And, at just 21g, it won’t weigh you down on long walks.

There’s just a single button on the device, which is joined by a standard mini-USB port and four LED indicators – one each for power, GPS activity, logging and Bluetooth.

The unit is charged via USB (an in-car adapter is included) and will last for up to 12 hours’ continuous use.

Holding the button down for four seconds turns it on, while holding for two seconds starts the logging; tap the button and it will mark your current location as a waypoint.

We took the BT-Q1300 out on a variety of routes and, thanks to its uncomplicated nature, it caused no problems; the log icon flashes reassuringly each time a log point is created. Built-in Bluetooth means you can also use the BT-Q1300 as a GPS receiver for your mobile phone. We tested it with a Nokia E51 and, using Google Maps, were soon able to pinpoint our location.

When you return from a trip, simply hook up the BT-Q1300 to your PC via USB, click the Read GPS Log option in the software and the data will download. You can then view your trip within the software using Google Maps or export it to Google Earth. Hovering your mouse over the log trail brings up the date, time, speed and other information recorded at that particular point. Speed and altitude graphs are also available.

According to Qstarz, this is the first GPS receiver to use the MTK 3329 GPS chipset, which offers greater sensitivity. When we tested it in rural locations, accuracy was indeed very good. It wasn’t quite so accurate in central London, t hough – the high-rise buildings hampered GPS performance, resulting in the logged trail indicating we’d occasionally been walking around in circles and even through several buildings. It wasn’t far off track, but when the signal gets confused, details such as altitude and speed can go awry. Using the software, you can make adjustments to your trails.

Rather confusingly, versions 3 and 4 of the Travel Recorder software are included. Version 4 has a much clearer interface and is easier to use, although there are more advanced options to play with in version 3; it’s something of a surprise that Qstarz didn’t just add an ‘advanced options’ section to version 4.

Using the software, you can adjust settings, such as how frequently data logs occur – this can be a time interval (for example, every five seconds) or a specific distance (every 10m) – as well as specify a minimum speed at which logs should occur.

We suffered a couple of crashes using the software, but in the main it worked fine. A new software release is imminent, which will include an assisted-GPS (A-GPS) feature to decrease the time to first fix. This will be freely available on the company’s website.

GPS data loggers will always be something of a niche market, but we were impressed with this effort from Qstarz. Although the software could do with some tweaks and the occasional crashes were annoying, the BT-Q1300 is loaded with features, very compact and would be the perfect addition to any outdoor enthusiast’s rucksack.