Review: Navman N60i satellite navigation

The Navman N60i is the top model from the new range, which now includes the revolutionary Navpix system, allowing you to navigate by photographs of locations you’ve visited.

You’ll find full maps of Europe included on the 2GB of flash memory, along with eight-digit postcode searching and SirfstarIII navigation.

The ‘i’ models include a built-in digital camera to simplify the Navpix features. This new form of navigation allows you to take photographs of landmarks or particularly memorable locations at a destination in order to navigate to them in the future.

Photos are stored on the built in flash memory and record the latitude and longitude of the position you were in when you snapped the picture. The 1.3-megapixel camera even includes some basic image-correction tools, including a brightness control and range of mode settings.

It’s a bit of a gimmick, but with the camera already built in it’s very easy to quickly snap a picture and add it to the database, so you might end up using it more often than you’d think.

To try and drum up interest Navman has also added a Navpix library area to its site to encourage users to snap photos and share their results.

In a more conventional sense the N60i is an extremely effective GPS; Navman’s new maps make it straightforward to navigate even the most complex road networks.

It’s compatible with a subscription-free traffic pack as an optional extra and includes pre-loaded speed camera data. You’ll get a lot out of it before having to plug it in as well; the enhanced battery lasts up to five hours depending on usage.

Perhaps the most attractive aspect of the N60i isn’t the clear and accurate mapping software, but the fantastic degree of usability. An excellent 4.3in widescreen display certainly helps, but it’s clear that Navman has done its research in working out which functions are most commonly accessed on the move and provide dedicated controls on the unit.

Still convinced that motorists are frequently on the look-out for parking spaces and petrol, Navman has provided shortcut buttons to these points of interest (POIs) alongside the display.

The other controls take you to the main interface, the route interface and, best of all, directly to the map view from whichever menu you’re currently on. The same key also cycles through 3D view, 2D view, map-and-waypoint display and the itinerary.

The most common functions you’ll need to access or change while driving are available at the touch of a button, so you won’t find yourself frantically clicking through menus on the touchscreen display to get the information you need.

Even options such as the zoom control have been simplified with shortcuts, three preset degrees of zoom are available at a single press, so no more frantically tapping the magnifying glass to get to the desired distance.

This usability continues through the menu interface, you can tweak and change just about every aspect of the journey as you’d expect with a high-end device, but we can’t remember the last time it was this painless to make adjustments.

The POI database is very comprehensive and you can easily decide which you want flagged en route, as well as configuring alert status for safety cameras and if you have a traffic module, traffic warning configuration.

This top-of-the-range Navman certainly isn’t cheap; you won’t get much change from £400 and based on this it would have been good to see a few additional utilities such as an mp3 player, or Bluetooth support for mobile phones.

As it is, the N60i is purely a navigational device, but in this light it’s almost flawless in its capabilities. If you don’t need European coverage and aren’t bothered about the camera you’ll still benefit from the excellent maps and usability with cheaper models in the series such as the N20 for around £250 or the mid-range N40i for about £300.

Cost aside the N60i is the most straightforward and most enjoyable GPS we’ve used in a long time, yet still comes packed with everything you need to completely customise your journey.

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