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No matter how hard we try to convince you satnavs are sexy, nobody really believes us. But Navman, with its S-Series navigation boxes sporting a flashy silver surround and brushed metal backing, is really trying to bring sexy back. Maybe that S stands for sexy?
Assuming you don’t drive a FIAT, the Navman S50 3D looks the business mounted on your windscreen. But it’s not the S50’s aesthetics that we’re supposed to be cooing over, because this budget navigator sports 3D representations of landmarks! Seriously, you haven’t seen Big Ben until you’ve seen it in 3D on a 3.3-inch touchscreen.
And while we’re on that touchscreen, it’s bright but annoyingly erratic at times, with swipes turning to button presses and vice versa. Luckily, it’s backed up by some pretty handy touch-sensitive buttons to make things a bit easier.
Elsewhere, the Navman S50 3D has some spot-on free safety camera data, a solid Bluetooth connection so you can search for local restaurants or Burger Kings, and a nifty automatic switch from Day to Night mode.
NavPix, which has been doing the rounds in Navman’s satnavs for a while, rears its geo-tagging head again. And while it was a bit of gimmicky fun when we first saw it, it now seems like a bit of an outdated function in this iPhone age.
The Navman S50 3D does add some style to the budget satnav proceedings. It’s a shame about the flawed touchscreen because this has plenty going for it (512MB internal memory, SD/MMC card slot, 3D representation of landmarks). Still, at around £100, it’s worth a punt!
