Mio Navman M400 Sat Nav review
By Dean • Jul 7th, 2010 • Category: Sat Navs
- Photo: Navman
While industry leaders TomTom and Garmin get all the GPS device attention, Mio Navman continue churning out solid products to cater to the parts of the market the sat nav giants don’t care too much for. And the super cheap Mio Navman M400 Sat Nav continues that trend.
It’s no feature powerhouse, and it knows it
As you read this review, you’re likely to wonder where the value is. Features are sparse, at best, and way behind to non-existent at worst. And the aesthetics are solid, as opposed to remarkable. And its functionality is solid, as opposed to very impressive. So why should you care? Why, that price tag, of course. That’s why you should care. Hovering around the £50-80 mark if you look carefully, the Mio Navman M400 Sat Nav is one of the cheapest GPS devices from a reputable manufacturer on the market.
What are its features, though?
- Photo: Navman
If you’re still insistent on features, the M400 sat nav device has a 4.3-inch screen with an admittedly thin battery life of around 3hrs. It also has a limited traffic message channel and comes preloaded with maps for the United Kingdom, Ireland and 21 other Western European countries. Oh, and it has a search function for addresses and points of interest. Truthfully, we’re clutching at straws, but we keep coming back to that price tag.
Interfacing and routing concerns
The routing interface uses a riff on Navman’s old SmartST software, which hasn’t been seen for years (the last device to carry it was 2008’s S30 3D). Though the version of the software found on the Mio Navman M400 sat nav device is slightly tweaked, it’s mostly the same thing as it once was. This is not necessarily a good thing considered how lamented that software was for having bizarre, round-about navigation that often seemed like it was going out of its way to have you take the scenic route to your destination. Either we’ve become accustomed to the problem or Mio Navman have made slight tweaks, since this did not come across particularly bothersome to us.
The truth is, this does nothing particularly better than other contemporary GPS devices nor does it bring anything new to the table. It even looks dated – in only the way technology from 2007/8 can look dated. But, at the risk of annoying you with harping on about the same thing, the Mio Navman M400 sat nav device costs under £80 and even less if you shop around carefully. At that price for a reputable name behind the product, what did you expect them to throw in? Buy this if you’re on a budget.
Tags for this article: GPS, GPS devices, Mio Navman, Navman M400, sat nav device
