Having tried the following - all paid for legit versions, with the latest maps.
Copilot
Route66
Navicore
Navigon
These all use the internal GPS.
Please note this is my opinion, and after a long journey with a fair few short ones.
The winner is -
Navigon.
Reasons why.
First is the menu system. Its very easy and simple to use, and you cant go far wrong. The options you get are not too bad.
Second is the routing. The routing seems to be as good as tomtom. With all the others I have tried, the routes they have done are not as good.
Third is the instructions. I havent had any problem with these, and the timings are set well. Also, it doesnt miss any. And it doesnt seem to suffer from 'slight bend' syndrome. This is where theres a sharp corner on the map, but its not actually a turn, and the sat nav tells you to go 'slightly left' or some such.
Downsides -
Theres no way to add your own POI. This makes it an immediate no for many, and something navigon should definatly address.
You cannot add your own voices. Although you can get the guidance in many different languages, you cannot add comedy ones for example. This doesnt bother me in the slightest, but for some it might.
You cannot scroll to a point on the map and add it as a destination. This is a huge minus for me, but the routing and correct instructions offeset this. Again, this is something navigon need to address.
If navigon could sort out those 3 issues, it would very easily be the best symbian satnav IMO.
As for the others, heres why I didnt get on with them:
Copilot -
Shocking menu system, very bad. Unusable for me, the way the favourites are handled is the best example of how they havent bothered. You cannot 'add' a favourite as such. Every destination you go to is added automatically, and is only named by the detail you use to get there. For example, postcode, and you cannot edit favourites, you can only delete.
So if you dont want something in favourites, you have to delete it, and if you have a lot of favourites, then you have to scroll through them all, and hope you can remember who or what an address/postcode is linked to what.
Routing seemed okish, but had a few of the same issues as Route66.
Route66
Usabilitywise, its brilliant. Map scrolling is great, can scroll to a point on the map and add it, it runs nicely, and the autozoom according to speed is nice.
Sadly, its let down by by actual use on the road. First is postcodes, dispite being the latest version many are completely out.
Next is the fact the routing is screwed. Some trips are ok, but some are a joke. Best example is when I went on the trip to Wales (hour and a half drive) it tells me to take the wrong way to get onto the motorway. Ignoring it, I went the correct direction. When it compensated, it kept telling me to get off at the next juction.
Bad instructions. A few seem to suffer this. First is the 'slight bend syndrome' I mentioned earlier. Route66 has this bad. And when theres is actual turns when it tells you to do this, its very confusing unless you look at the onscreen directions (which you shouldnt have to do). Thing is, its not actually classed as a bend on the map either.
Missing voice instructions. Occasionally, it doesnt tell you to do something. Dispite it being on the map as an actual turn, Ive found it misses voice instruction sometimes, enough to be annoying. I always maintain you should not have to look at the screen.
Navicore
Recently got working (thanks Nashmills) by using a seperate memory card, this was a real let down.
On the whole it looks good, everything you want, POI, scrolling maps able to add points as destinations, and a few other nice things.
However...
The routing seemed ok, but the main problem was bad instructions.
Like route66, it missed a few dispite being on the map. And the other main problem, is that many instructions come late. Main issue being roundabouts. Generally you want to know what exit you need to be in a while before you get to it. Yes, you could look at the screen, but voice should be good enough.
I couldnt see anything in the options to change this. Often theres options to change the amount of time of instructions before the turn/roundabout etc. Couldnt see any in navicore.
Late instructions and missing instructions make it a no go for me, dispite being good in all the other areas. Oh, and it also suffers a bit from the 'slight bend syndrome', but not as bad as route66.
It also seems to have issues with other satnav software. Mine would not work unless I used another memory card with nothing on there bar navicore. However, on my main memory card I removed all route66 stuff and it still didnt work. So it may have problems with such things like viewranger. I couldnt be bothered to mess about anymore, so I cannot confirm this theory.
It does have realtime traffic re-routing, but I didnt try this as my data charges are a joke.
Another minor annoyance is that it doesnt show road/streetnames when driving or on the map when scrolling.
Please note these tests were done using a 6110 navigator, but since its using the same GPS chipset and software (S60 V3) as the N95, I thought it relevant.
Tests were done on the same journey to and from a location in Wales which is an hour and a bit driving on motorways and rural roads. Also many trips to and from work, which is short.
All options where checked beforehand (such as tolls, method of transport, avoid motorways etc) and set to the same. No other programs were running, and none seemed to suffer from any slowdown or anything.
And I say again that the above is my opinion, and havent seemed to suffer the things I have with some of them. Perhaps Im just picky.
Prices: (UK maps)
Navicore £93 (I got a 2006 version with BT reciever from ebay for £25, and the upgrade was around £33). edit: its currently available for £67 download version
Navigon £69.99 but thats for the whole of europe.
Copilot £69.99
Route66 was preinstalled on my phone.
Hope this helps some people.
