Review: Binatone T430 satellite navigation

With its range of fairly basic, but effective, navigators that perform very well on the road, Binatone has impressed in the past.

Its new T430 comes with the rather innovative addition of a digital camera designed to be strapped to the boot of your car and act as a rearview camera.

The sat nav itself is a compact device sporting a 4.3in display, stylus and SD-card slot for multimedia files or additional maps.

You get UK and Ireland coverage preinstalled, along with a safety camera database, Bluetooth for pairing your phone and multimedia player for videos, photos and music.

We found the device quick to start up and easy to manage in terms of planning a route. While the on-screen buttons at first appear quite small, we managed to get by quite nicely without resorting to using the stylus.

Time to first fix was less than a minute and route calculations were extremely quick. Route information is more detailed, but otherwise performance is pretty similar to previous models.

This is no bad thing and, although the device omits useful features, such as advanced lane guidance and text-to-speech for road names, we found voice instructions to be clear and accurate, and the maps were very easy to follow.

Zoom and elevation controls are located on the main map view, along with route information, a mute control for volume and access to a tabbed menu that allows you to view the itinerary and further customise the behaviour of the display.

We were particularly impressed by the range of settings available to fine tune how the navigator guides you around, including advanced features such as off-route sensitivity. All of this works together very well and gives you a good feeling of control.

Elsewhere, the multimedia features are capable enough and, since the maps are loaded into the internal storage, the SD-card slot is free for use with your media. However, since you need to exit the application to get back to the route-planner, you can’t play back content while using the navigation software.

The Binatone T430 certainly succeeds as a navigator then, and we were interested to see how the digital camera works and whether or not it’s a worthy addition. The camera is designed to be fitted above or below the rear number plate of your car and comes with all the necessary attachments to help you do this.

It’s powered by the reversing lights, which not only makes it easy to keep wires tucked away, but also means that it activates automatically when the car is placed in reverse, turning the 4.3in display on the navigator into a rear-view camera.

We tested this out for ourselves and were impressed. The refresh rate is very good and the full-colour image is just about sharp enough to pick out smaller details.

When you slip the car into reverse the screen changes right away and the signal is transmitted via wireless from the docking cradle of the GPS to the camera itself.

The unit is fitted with a fish-eye lens so it can offer a wider angle of view and, while it does succeed in this, it means you’ll need to practice a bit to get used to exactly how far away from objects you are. How often you’ll use it is another matter, but it will certainly impress your passengers.

The T430 is an attractive package and, perhaps best of all, it’s very reasonably priced, particularly when you consider you’re getting a mid-range navigator and wireless camera in the same box.