This article reviews the Navman N40i GPS navigation system. I’ve tested a couple of Navman systems before which have been disappointing so I was interested to see if the N40i would fare any better. The N40i does have one trick up its sleeve, a built-in camera so you can navigate to photos you’ve taken elsewhere.

This is what you get in the box.

Box Contents

• Navman N40i GPS with built-in camera
• In-car windscreen mount
• 12V DC in-car power charger
• 100/240V AC adapter
• USB cable
• Protective soft cloth carry case for your Navman
• Documentation pack

Key Features

• Integrated NavPix camera
• Navigate to pictures
• Pre-installed safety camera data
• Nearest parking and petrol buttons
• Real-time traffic information (optional requiring subscription fee)
• POI (Points of Interest)

Mapping Data

• 2006 Tele Atlas map data
• SmartST 2006 SE (Second Edition)
• Local maps loaded to flash memory
• European street level maps included on 3 CDs

Technical Specifications

• Weight: 200g
• Size: 81mm (H) x 118mm (W) x 22.5mm (D)
• 3.5 inch (8.9cm) touch colour screen
• 1.3 megapixel camera
• Photo import/export by USB
• 64MB SDRAM, 256/512MB or 2GB flash memory depending on region
• SiRFstarIII Generation 2 GPS receiver
• SD/MMC slot
• Samsung 2440-400 Mhz processor
• Rechargeable battery 1200mAh 4-5hrs life (depending on usage)
• USB 1.1

First Thoughts

The Navman N40i looks of reasonable build quality. It is slim and compact fitting easily in a coat pocket if required.

The front of the device has several buttons for accessing commonly used features:

• Nearest petrol stations based on current location
• Nearest car parking areas based on current location
• Preferences button
• Navigate To button
• Screen toggle button to cycle through 3D map, 2D map, Next Turn and Turn-by-Turn screens

The on/off button is situated on the top of the device and there are volume control buttons on the side. Overall the button controls are well laid out and easy to access.

My only complaint is the position of the camera button. This is situated on top of the device next to the on/off switch. Whilst holding the Navman I found it too easy to accidentally press this button and activate the camera features. The camera button would have better placed either on the side or on the front of the device.

The Navman comes with a quick reference manual covering 30 pages. This provides ample information to get you started. There is a more detailed instruction manual on the provided CD if you need further information.

A soft cloth carry case is included which is a nice touch. This might not offer much protection if you drop the Navman, but it will offer protection against scratches.

GPS Signal

The GPS receiver on the Navman is excellent. As good as any GPS device I’ve tested so far. I had no problem establishing a GPS signal, even inside a building providing you are situated relatively close to a window.

The strong GPS signal can be useful for planning routes inside a building, but will also mean the GPS will draw more power from the batteries. An option to turn off the GPS receiver would have been useful.

Mapping Software

The Navman comes pre-installed with street level maps of the UK. There are also 3 CDs included which provide street level maps for several European countries. You can install any of these additional maps using the SmartST Desktop software that comes with the Navman installation CD. The free European maps are a welcome addition to the Navman, but it falls short of the coverage offered by the Garmin Nuvi 250W.

Despite the good map coverage the mapping software was not as accurate as other GPS systems I have tested . The Navman N40i is the first GPS system I’ve tested which mistakenly identified a major trunk road for another road a couple of miles away.

Another example was the voice instructions telling me to join a motorway but the road was a dual carriageway. The map on the screen showed the correct road so this must have been a blip with the voice instructions.

These examples are probably just minor faults in the mapping software but it was a bit disconcerting nonetheless. Hopefully a future update to the mapping software can correct these faults.

SmartST Desktop Software

The Navman comes with a CD containing the SmartST desktop software which I recommend you install. SmartST allows you to do the following:

• Keep your Navman software up-to-date
• Install additional maps
• Create custom POI (Points of Interest)
• Purchase additional subscriptions like safety camera updates
• Backup your Navman

I encountered no problems installing this software onto my computer. Updating to the latest Navman software is a simple process, you just click the “Check for updates” button within SmartST. You can also configure it to automatically check for updates each time SmartST is started.

Upgrading to the latest software went smoothly. Once the latest software has been downloaded onto your PC the SmartST application then transfers it to your Navman. This transfer process can take up to an hour so you have to be patient.

Preferences

The preferences screen allows you to customise various aspects of the Navman.

Routing Options
The typical features you would expect from a GPS system are supported such as planning routes by the fastest time or shortest distance. If you want to avoid motorways, toll roads, unsurfaced roads or ferry routes this can be set too.

There is also a driver alert feature which will alert you when you exceed a certain speed. You can configure this to whatever speed you like. By default this option is turned off.

This screen also allows you to turn on/off the demonstration feature. With the feature turned on the Navman can demonstrate a route for you without a GPS signal. This feature hasn’t been well designed though. Whilst demonstrating a route the Navman travels at a speed of 29mph which is fixed. There is no way to speed up or slow down the demonstration. This makes demonstrating a long journey completely impractical.

System Options
This screen provides access to various system settings. These include a GPS Status screen which shows satellite signal strengths. A power screen showing battery status and options to conserve power such as turning off the Navman automatically after a set period of time. You can configure this to whatever time you like.

A language screen allows you to select from Danish, German, English (AUS, UK or US), Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch, Swedish. The voice guidance instructions can be set to either a female or male voice.

The Saved Info screen allows you to quickly erase all saved data, such as recent locations and favourite destinations.

Display Options
This screen allows you to adjust the screen brightness. I recommend you keep this on the maximum setting. There is also an option to change the map colour scheme if you wish. The Navman will automatically change the map display between day and night mode, you can switch off this feature if required.

The time format can be set between 12 and 24 hour mode. Distance units can be set to either metric – kilometres, Imperial – fractional miles or Imperial – miles and yards.

Navigation

Many GPS systems allow you to set the navigation mode, such as pedestrian or bicycle. The Navman N40i does not support these different modes. It assumes the vehicle being used is always a car. For most people this is probably not an issue but bear this in mind before purchasing.

Full 8 digit UK postcode entry is supported but there is no way to navigate to a house number in this mode. This is a shame as it prevents navigating to a precise point. House numbers are only supported when entering the city and street details manually.

Via points are supported if you want to create a route with several stops. This can be quite useful if you want break up a long journey into several smaller ones.

If you take a detour or wrong turn whilst travelling then the Navman will recalculate the route and get you back on track. I tested this feature several times and it worked fine. Initially the Navman will instruct you to perform a U-Turn but if you continue driving it will calculate a new route.

I found the maps clear and easy to read, showing a good amount of detail for the current location. At the top of the screen is a bar which shows the next instruction for your route. Directly below this is a small box showing the distance and direction of the next turn.

At the bottom is a status bar showing either the current road, speed warnings or active POIs. At the top right is an information box which you can toggle to show either current speed, current time, time to destination, distance to destination or estimated time of arrival.

There is also a zoom icon which allows you to zoom in or out to show more or less detail. Finally in the bottom right is a GPS signal indicator.

A toggle button on the front of the Navman allows you to easily cycle through the following screens:

• 2D map
• 3D map
• Next Turn screen (which displays information just about the next turn)
• Turn by Turn screen (which displays information about the next 4 turns). There is also a scrollbar which enables you to view all turns in the journey.

I found this button very useful allowing me to quickly toggle through the various screens. This is what the turn screen looks like for example.

The voice instructions I found clear and easy to understand. The voice instructions also include the name of motorway road names whilst driving, for example – “take the 3rd exit onto the M4”, although this feature does not extend to non-Motorways roads. It would be nice to see this feature extended to ‘A’ roads too.

Despite the small glitches in the mapping software mentioned earlier in this review, the Navman had no problems navigating to a destination.

Camera

The Navman N40i includes a built-in 1.3 megapixel camera. When using this camera the Navman will record the GPS co-ordinates of each photo taken (providing a GPS signal is available).

The Navman on screen photo browser allows you to view each photo, view the photo position on a map, or navigate to a photo position.

The installation CD-ROM includes NavAlbum which you can install onto your PC. This allows you to manage your photos, as well as import/export photos from the Navman to your PC. You can also upload photos to the NavPix online web site to share with other users. Alternatively you can email these photos to other Navman users.

NavAlbum can be useful if you want to import photos with no GPS co-ordinates, such as those taken with another camera. Using NavAlbum you can input the GPS co-ordinates for the photo, and then import to your Navman.

I had no problems managing my photos using NavAlbum. The software is easy to use and both import and export worked fine.

Screen

The touch screen controls are on the whole well laid out and easy to use. I had no problems navigating around the system to access the various screens.

Some GPS systems use an on screen keyboard with buttons so small they are fiddly to use, even with a stylus. I’m not a fan of GPS systems that require you to use a stylus so I was pleased to see the Navman N40i not going down that route.

The size of the Navman on-screen keyboard buttons are hampered slightly by the screen size. A bigger screen would have allowed more area for the keyboard. The keys are just about large enough to use with your fingers, although a couple of times I found myself pressing the wrong key.

Volume

The volume levels can be adjusted on the side of the device. The volume control will not automatically adjust depending on the speed you’re travelling. This means if you set the volume level to an acceptable level for motorway driving you may find the volume too loud when driving on slower roads.

Safety Cameras

The Navman N40i comes with safety camera warnings out-of-the box. When approaching a safety camera an audible warning sounds. The map on screen will show the location and distance of the speed camera.

The safety camera database installed on the Navman only covers fixed safety camera. It does not cover mobile cameras (such as those in roadworks), red light cameras or average speed cameras.

In my tests the Navman had no problem detecting fixed safety camera locations.

If you want to include red light cameras then consider the Navman speed camera plugin. This plugin does not support mobile or average speed cameras though.

You can also consider buying a subscription from Navman, but that will only cover fixed safety cameras.

Points of Interest (POI)

The Navman has a reasonable POI (Points of Interest) database although not as good as the Garmin Nuvi 250W. Based on my current location it did a pretty good job of finding nearby restaurants, hotels and petrol stations.

The following POI features can be customised:

• Alerts – this screen allows you to enable/disable the safety camera warnings. When enabled you can specify whether you want an audible alert, a visual alert or both. You can also specify at what distance the alert first appears, such as 60 yards, 0.3 miles, 0.6 miles, etc.
• Enable POIs – this screen allows you to specify which POIs are enabled, such as airports, restaurants, cinemas, etc. If you’re only interested in specific POIs then you can specify those preferences here.

You can navigate to a POI using either of these methods:

• Search by Name allows you to search for a POI by specifying the name
• Search Nearby allows you to search nearby POI based on your current location.

Once you have selected a POI you can view the position on the map or get further details such as address, phone number and GPS co-ordinates.

You can also specify your own custom POI using the POI editor from within the SmartST desktop software. Custom POI can either be downloaded from 3rd party web sites, for example safety camera locations, or you can create your own POI.

Summary

The N40i is a welcome improvement over the Navman Pin 570 but it still falls short in a few areas. If Navman could iron out these issues then it would be a more impressive device.

I’d like to see more accurate mapping software, the ability to enter a house number when navigating to a postcode and a more intuitive demonstration mode. A higher specification camera rather than the 1.3 megapixels currently on offer would also raise the Navman’s appeal, allowing it to double up as a standalone camera.

The price tag currently I consider a little high. If Navman could improve on some of the items mentioned above then it would offer better value for money.

I’m still deciding whether the NavPix is a useful feature or just a gimmick. If you like the idea of navigating to pictures then give it a go.

Pros

• Built-in camera
• Navigate to pictures
• Excellent GPS signal
• Well laid out easy to use controls
• Free European street level maps

Cons

• Cannot navigate to a house number when entering a postcode
• Mapping software inaccurate
• Volume does not automatically adjust to the speed of your vehicle
• Demonstration mode impractical for viewing long routes

Where to buy

Buy the Navman N40i from Lemon Digital. Quote “Technical Itch” when ordering to receive a special discount.

Buy the Navman N40i from Amazon.

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