What Android sat nav for no data? Co-pilot or tomtom?

[Emeye]

I'm off to France soon and my tomtom one maps are probably too out of date to rely on, and I don't fancy spending a fortune on new maps for this ancient tomtom with crappy battery life. My wife has a Garmin Nuvi 205 with just European maps , but that's getting on a bit too at 4 years old.

So, as I've got a Galaxy S3 I thought it might make sense to spend a lot less on an Android Sat nav app, but trying to decide on tomtom or copilot is a bit of a struggle.

Anyone else using them?

Edited by Emeye on Tuesday 21st May 17:51

[Geekman]

I could be completely wrong here, but I'll say it anyway

I seem to remember phone sat-nav applications are a very bad idea on long trips, as the battery ends up draining faster than the in-car charger can charge it, so the phone dies before you get to your destination. Not sure if this is the case with every phone / every car charger, but it did used to be the case on my old galaxy note, and my iPad does the same thing.

[Emeye]

If you have the wrong type of USB cable your phone may not charge fast enough as it thinks it is connected to a low power PC port.

[NiceCupOfTea]

Copilot is very good, been using for years on a tytn 2, hero, and now a sensation. Make sure you have a decent charger that powers ac rather than USB level, and run the phone with out a cover to keep it cool.

[lescombes]

I have Co-Pilot on Galaxy S3... superb... using a Ring brand ciggy socket usb charger...it's fine... even manages to charge to 100% while the nav is on... Co-Pilot is brilliant...love the choices of routes..

[mrtwisty]

Another vote for Co-pilot here. If charging/heat build up become an issue, you can set the screen to only come on before junctions - my S3 will go for hours even without a charger connected.

The customisation options like that for Co-pilot are excellent imho.

[Heartworm]

I used NavFree in France last year on a Samsung Note without problems, also used a Nokia the year before with no issues, used a really cheap car cigarette lighter to USB with no problems.

The iPhone 3G would use battery quicker than it would charge but things have moved on since then.

[Emeye]

I have read that since the latest update navfree now requires a data connection to plan the route.

Thanks for the replies. I have found a way to upgrade the maps on my my wife's Garmin Nuvi.

I was thinking of going down the French sim card route for data so I could use Google maps.

[Alex]

Copilot is excellent. It improved greatly over the last few years whereas TomTom has hardly changed.

Regarding charging, as long as you get a 2amp charging adaptor, it will be fine.

[Eugene7]

I've tried them all, and Sygic is my preference by far...

[devnull]

CoPilot drives me nuts. It's great until you run in a situation where it dynamically reroutes you and it is pretty hit and miss. In fact, I once ran copilot on my Android phone against tom tom Android on a same 200 mile route. Both apps detected an issue at roughly the same time, but the decision CoPilot took was really crazy, where as Tomtom's was much more accurate.

[jamiebae]

I use Tomtom on a Nexus 7 and it's great, but even with a high power charger it drains faster than it can be topped up, I probably lose about 5% per hour when plugged in.

The software is great though, and free lifetime map upgrades too.

[kazste]

Google maps does allow you to download some areas o to your phone so no data needed after the initial download. Therefore can download the area of france in the UK and then still use just google navigation without incurring data charges. Some areas dont allow this though so check in plenty of time.

I think you find it by going to the area you want, pres the button left of the home button at bottom of phone and select something along lines of make map available off line.

Here you go,

Edited by kazste on Wednesday 29th May 20:18

[Emeye]

kazste said:

Google maps does allow you to download some areas o to your phone so no data needed after the initial download. Therefore can download the area of france in the UK and then still use just google navigation without incurring data charges. Some areas dont allow this though so check in plenty of time.

I think you find it by going to the area you want, pres the button left of the home button at bottom of phone and select something along lines of make map available off line.

Here you go,

Edited by kazste on Wednesday 29th May 20:18

Cheers for that, I did wonder but ran out of time getting ready for he holiday.

My faith in my wife's 5 year old Garmin with updated maps was rewarded by it rerouting us through the Blackwall tunnel when the M25 was blocked on our way down.

To further add to the pleasure, we ended up an hour late for the Eurotunnel, only to find all trains running 2 hrs late. Once we were given a train, we were told our departure time in 3 hrs would also probably be delayed by a further 30mins.... Oh joy.