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I haven’t bought a new GPS for the car since I’m unable to decide on a specific model or brand. Garmin units have served me well, but the recent availability of the German-made Navigon range has piqued my interest. Since I haven’t tried any turn-by-turn GPS product on the iPhone, I decided to spring for the USD 79 Navigon MobileNavigator for the iPhone to gain access to an interim solution. As far as I know, that price is valid until the end of December 2009. After that, the price of the software will probably jump back to USD 99.

For the claimed map coverage, Navigon’s MobileNavigator is extremely compact: the download is only 130MB in size and downloaded reasonably quickly over my wireless network. The map set includes South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Swaziland and Lesotho. For the South African map, Navigon indicates 82468 POI’s in 71 categories. With so much crammed into such a small base file, I was interested to see what extent of detail the application could provide.

The iPhone‘s GPS is rather quick to acquire a signal and in conjunction with the Navigon application that aspect does not disappoint. On first use, my location was determined in an extremely short period of time and I was immediately impressed with the quality of the display. Some options need to be changed, particularly the units of measure. Somehow, I just prefer metric values…

I stay in the sticks – sand roads lead from the main road to the estate. Whereas Garmin Mapsource includes these, Navigon does not and I started driving on an area devoid of any map detail.

As soon as I hit the tar, things started looking up: my initial test showed that the maps are fairly accurate and up to date, at least in the far West.

Calculation of a route is generally speedy – deviations are handled with the normal “prepare to make a u-turn” remark or a deft recalculation. The voice prompts are provided timeously. Though not always up to date or accurate, MobileNavigator includes speed limits and will warn the driver when a speed limit is exceeded.

MobileNavigator features an extensive array of customization options.

One attractive feature, in my opinion, is the provision of small company logos to designate points of interest. Obviously included by the mapping company in exchange for advertising cash, the colourful logos make maps more attractive and make certain features easier to spot. It is possible, though perhaps a bit tedious, to disable various POI‘s as required.

The usual routing options are included, as is a pedestrian mode that is suited to exploration on foot.

Finding an exit when travelling on a highway is no problem: MobileNavigator clearly indicates the name of the exit along with its number and the main city that road will lead to.

The POI database isn’t as extensive as that found on the Garmin, but the search function is easy to use and makes finding what is available hassle-free.

Searching for an address takes a much more intelligent approach than the standard offered by Garmin: instead of starting with a suburb, MobileNavigator permits searching for a street immediately. A list of matches is displayed and the desired on is selected – this is far easier, considering suburbs have strange names, streets split on suburb boundaries and suburb names often cannot be identified.

As a further test, I took the MobileNavigator to the Northern Cape to assist me in finding a specific location. To my relief, I was routed there without issue, even if the initial instruction upon leaving Kimberley Airport was a rather boring “follow road for 147km”.

The inclusion of smaller locations with good mapping detail is is a further indication that map coverage is generally very good.

Battery drain is quite significant with the GPS constantly running and the screen always on. I place the iPhone in the Griffin RoadTrip FM where it is easy to glance at and interact with. Navigon thoughtfully provide access to the iPod playlist. Audio content is interrupted briefly whenever an instruction is issued.

Navigon have produced an exceptional product that performs very well, has sufficient map detail and calculates routes quickly. Though still expensive at the sale price of USD 79, this application competes extremely well against dedicated GPS units that cost quite a bit more. If you have an iPhone and are considering the purchase of a dedicated GPS unit, this may be a better investment.

Here’s the iTunes App Store link.