NAVIGON MobileNavigator USA Review: Reliable Navigation with no Frills

After having spent many hours with a handful of the top navigation systems available for iOS, we’re ready for something special. Whether it comes in the form of a spectacularly low price or a better address-input system, the set of navigation apps could stand a breakout title. Sadly, NAVIGON MobileNavigator USA is not that app. It does, however, stand right alongside TomTom and Garmin as a perfectly competent navigation system, complete with all the features we’ve come to expect.  That in mind, you’ll have to take a close look at the specifics before deciding which provider is going to get roughly $50 of your app budget.

From the moment you pull up the main menu, it’s clear that NAVIGON is not trying to be anything other than a straightforward navigation tool. The color scheme is dark, and you are immediately presented with the options you’re mostly likely looking for—enter an address/search for a point of interest/show map, etc.

Entering an address works no better or worse than what you might hope: You start with entering a city, then proceed to street and number. The inability to copy and paste an entire address is painfully present—as it is with the other navigation apps—and the fact that we’re expected to pay nearly $50 for these apps, which continue to ignore this basic feature, is an aggravating truth . . . There is one workaround to consider with NAVIGON, however, and we’ll get to that shortly.

Once your address has been found, you are presented with current weather at the location, as well as its vicinity to gas stations, food, etc. Once “Start Navigation” is tapped, NAVIGON wisks you away to a screen presenting multiple route option. They will differ in time and distance, and depending on variables like highways or offroads, you’ll want to take a look before selecting which way to take. It’s nice being presented with these options as a default step, rather than needing to select them manually in order to see your options.

The actual navigation mode of NAVIGON does not inspire any complaints. Both the 3D and 2D presentations are clean and accurate, offering well-timed lane change previews and other necessary information. I haven’t experienced any issues of lag or “lost signal” that can frequently occur.

As you’d expect, NAVIGON is packed with all the extras that you’ll probably never use. Searching for points of interest remains an incredibly frustrating way to find what you’re looking for. And the app’s usefulness is still restricted to simply getting where you’re going . . .  One perk of choosing this over other similarly high-quality options is the option to purchase and use Navigon Now , a third-party application from Bacon Bear Productions which allows you to paste in addresses and launch NAVIGON. It’s a workaround that will cost you $1.99, but if that’s acceptable, it may give this one the edge over Garmin and TomTom.

True as that may be, we are still waiting for the hands-down winner in the navigation category. If one of these GPS providers offers a noteworthy price drop and builds-in the copy/pasting feature, then the decision will be made. However, at this point it remains a toss up, with your decision mostly dependent on stylistic differences and a few alterations . . . NAVIGON provides solid, reliable navigation for a fair price (relative to what’s out there), and therefore it gets our recommendation. But with a few tweaks, it could have been a home run.