TomTom Car Sat Nav GO 620, 6 Inch with Handsfree Calling, Siri, Google Now, Updates via WiFi, Lifetime Traffic via Smartphone and World Maps, Smartphone Messages, Capacitive Screen

Haven’t tried all aspects yet but i am pleased with item so far, feels robust and sturdy and I like the magnetic charging contacts, easy to use and quick reacting and a reduced price, would recommend.

Having returned Tom Tom Satnavs in the past that simply would not connect to their websites, I was pleasantly surprised that this one, with wifi connectivity, has functioned well so far. Advice, delete all maps except U.K. Ireland unless you’re traveling and need it. Otherwise, it takes forever to update!

Bought this as sadly my old tomtom was starting to slow down after doing a lot of research I opted for this model as I dont need a laptop to update the system as it has it’s own built in wifi the other selling points were the fact it has lifetime map and speed camera updates and European maps

Set up was easy and quick

Also impressed that it can be linked to my phone so phone calls and texts messages can be recived via the sat nav

After testing it out on a short journey I am more than happy that I picked the right model it was reasonably priced yet I fell like I got so much more than I expected to get for the money

Bought this as sadly my old tomtom was starting to slow down after doing a lot of research I opted for this model as I dont need a laptop to update the system as it has it’s own built in wifi the other selling points were the fact it has lifetime map and speed camera updates and European maps

Set up was easy and quick

Also impressed that it can be linked to my phone so phone calls and texts messages can be recived via the sat nav

After testing it out on a short journey I am more than happy that I picked the right model it was reasonably priced yet I fell like I got so much more than I expected to get for the money

I bought this to replace my 125 Via Live as it no longer can have map updates (too old), this has a much better screen and more responsive. Very easy to set up and a real bonus being able to do updates over wifi rather than connecting to a computer which used to take hours.

Traffic issues show up on the right hand side and are very clear, at first I thought the screen was too dim but in the settings it’s too low so a quick adjust now perfect. I particularly liked the magnetic mount clicked with a reassuring snap, however if you turn the unit upside down it doesn’t auto rotate like my old one.

The only downside I have found so far is the screen is too reflective my old one was matt finish so no glare. I found driving I could see the back window reflecting but if I turn it directly at me it’s gone, means it’s harder for the wife to see the screen now. I would also say that the viewing angles are not as good as my old one, but overall really pleased.

Generally good product, convenient and easy to use as you would expect from TomTom. My only complaints would be that the voice commands are unreliable -you’ll have no hope of entering a new address destination via voice, although some simple commands work (change volume and go home, but that’s about it), and web engaging some voice functions it then becomes unresponsive to further voice commands. Basically don’t get this if you want to use the voice commands.
The other thing is that the display can be a little confusing when specifying a lane at junctions, as it splits the display between high level map and lane view. I’m sure this was clearer on olds tomtoms.
Aside from the above, it works reliably and gives clear directions. A good buy for the price.

Good Sat Nav, especially as it’s got built in map and speed camera updates and it’s also got world maps installed.
Voice recognition isn’t that good, sometimes you can end up shouting at it as it doesn’t respond to “hello Tom Tom”.
Touch screen is OK, but can sometimes be a bit laggy. You end up touching the wrong thing because you keep tapping and then the screen respond.
User interface is good, if you’re used to Tom Tom, even if you’re not it’s pretty self explanatory as you navigate the screens.

I am a long-time user of TomTom satnavs, and I find that the latest series is in the main as good to use as previous versions. That is very good. However, some features from previous series have been removed, presumably to allow room for new features.
The options to modify the display colours and icons have been reduced or removed, and some of the voices which were available on previous series have disappeared, all of which I find a negative, and the new series appears to be more problematic when setting routes using postcodes.
I would also like to see the option to turn off voice control permanently. I do not wish to use voice control, but a loud noise inside the vehicle (perhaps a sneeze) will sometimes prompt the system to change the display to one asking whether I want to use voice control! Not great when driving, as inevitably I have to take my attention from the road to sort out the satnav.

I am a long-time user of TomTom satnavs, and I find that the latest series is in the main as good to use as previous versions. That is very good. However, some features from previous series have been removed, presumably to allow room for new features.
The options to modify the display colours and icons have been reduced or removed, and some of the voices which were available on previous series have disappeared, all of which I find a negative, and the new series appears to be more problematic when setting routes using postcodes.
I would also like to see the option to turn off voice control permanently. I do not wish to use voice control, but a loud noise inside the vehicle (perhaps a sneeze) will sometimes prompt the system to change the display to one asking whether I want to use voice control! Not great when driving, as inevitably I have to take my attention from the road to sort out the satnav.

if you want a Sat-Nav that tells you where speed cameras are, this is the only Sat-Nav I could find that you don’t need to pay a subscription, is it worth it, if you go over the speed limit even by accident and do not have a speed limiter in your car, then yes, the risk of a fine not even counting the points you could incur means that this is the best of the best.

The voice recognition is totally crap, and will not pick up your voice to activate it, and sometimes when I am driving it does think I am talking to it, so don’t use t, it is not worth it until they improve.

syncing with your phone is great, I have no issues calling/receiving messages is great, it can read your messages but it is not perfect, but I have always understood all my text messages.

please note, although this is a great Sat-Nav, it does need regular updating and relies on users noting where new speed cameras are, so it may miss a few cameras, so don’t behave like a speed demon and think you will be able to see all speed cameras, this is just a helpful reminder as to where most of them are.

Would I buy this again, in fact I have as someone stole it when I left it in my car, (don’t leave it in view even for a minute scumbags are everywhere).

I’d like to like this more than I do. Having used it replace my very old battered tom tom there are some obvious benefits – no more missing roads, and live traffic, quicker to access satellites-fewer deadspots. I have to say that the ETA is now pretty accurate although you still have to pay some attention to where it’s sending you – we’ve been on some interesting short cuts But there are some things that could make it soooo much better: ability to fully customise road colours, wider choice of voices, and a way of testing routes/journey times out between two locations that don’t include your current location (unless I’ve missed something from the manual). Some of my original frustrations where removed once I trawled the web and downloaded a proper user manual.

This was a really good buy. It never disappoints, gets me there and has many features that once in a while needs to be reviewed. The only annoying this is that the voice gets activated while I am in conversation with someone in the car. Not sure how, but it does. Other than that, I really like it and recommend it. Took it to Canada, updated the Canadian Map and it was perfect.

It also has saved me money and points with the community updates which tells you where the cameras are and the speed you should be doing. One really nice feature is the average speed camera zones, it tells you what the max average speed should be and what your speed is while driving through the zone, so you can adjust your speed and avoid a ticket.

The Tom Tom is a great devise but has glitched a fem times and The Phone funtion is NOT great the person at the other end of the Call finds it difficult to hear you, during a journey ,this is a problem! THIS stops it Being truly hands free one reasons for its purchase but it does get you exactly to whereabouts you want to og and refreshes very Quick something i like ! I purchased this because i wanted two to Toms svarede between two vehicles on a long trip abroad .we also had a garmin sat nav Thatcher Washington AS good for navigation but i preferencer the ease of USA of the Tom Tom !

As a high mileage driver, I utterly rely on Tomtom’s live traffic service and the sensible alternative routes that it suggests. In my opinion, no other device comes close. I’ve had a GO500 for 5/6 years and it has been brilliant. I’ve thanked that little tool many times. It relied on smartphone tethering (which involved ensuring that Bluetooth tethering was turned on) which was, admittedly, a bit of a faff. Sometimes it did fall off the network but it generally worked well and is now resident in my wife’s car (still ging strong).

I appreciated how Tomtom updated its software over the years; to the point that my old GO has the same operating system as the new one.

To the good news: The GO520 now connects through the Tomtom Mydrive App. which is utterly flawless. It has the ability to download global maps (obviously you only download the maps you need) and has live traffic throughout Europe (I don’t know about elsewhere but it certainly works in France, Belgium and Germany. The thing is amazing. If you select your destination on the app. and ‘Send to Device’, it will connect and have calculated your route before you’re ready to drive off. Whilst driving, the processor is faster, so you don’t get any lag recalculating routes etc.

I have driven about 10,000 miles (in the UK and Europe) since I bought this and it has not glitched once. Highly recommended if you don’t like sitting in traffic queues!

We spent hours researching sat nav’s. Tried a couple which were more like tablets, not dedicated sat nav as it turned out, fell off windscreen etc. etc. etc.

I have an aversion to maps, and as my husband does most of the big drives, he was looking for something to help him!! We did have an old tom tom, and Garmin in the car, but fairly old now, and the tom tom had stopped uploading maps to our old machine. Our main problem was ending up on roads which just were not suitable. To be honest it didn’t happen to often, as we used common sense, and got used to the garmin (in particular), and it’s obsession to go well out of it’s way to where we were going.
So after hours of research we settled for the tom tom 6200. Were going to get the tom tom professional, but settled on this. Firstly the 6 inch screen is helpful, nice clear graphics, it goes on the windscreen and stays there. We have a Dacia Logan, so are getting the round discs to place it safely on the dash board a bit closer. The 5 inch would fit anywhere on the windscreen. We changed the size of the writing on the tom tom to large font, and that was a helpful addition. It can be paired up with computer etc., although the tablet took some working out. We wanted this to work so we could plan our own routes, and transfer to tom tom. This feature works really well. With the voice recognition we found changing the “wake up” call to something other than tom tom wake up, was a good idea. Even discussing the tom tom in the car, puts it into command mode.
We live in Wales, so don’t really know how it would go just by programming here, as I believe Wales is one of the hardest places to navigate staying on “proper” roads, and we see semi trailers often enough in a bad place around here, to make me wonder if anything other than a good map and common sense should be relied upon. Fortunately we know most of the routes to take, even down to smaller lanes, but definitely would not be good for semi trailers or larger vans. I gather here, even putting a post code in can take you into a six mile radius of where you want to be.
We also tried Google maps – ok in itself. We have the sim in the tom tom on the 6200 for traffic updates, that works too.
What is confusing is the life time offers of maps etc. It appears the life time is 5 years, and with the 6200 you are supposed to get lifetime maps, traffic up dates, and speed cameras.
So all in all, this dedicated tom tom looks like it will come the closest to what we want and need!!!! My husband who has a technical mind found the setting up fairly easy, except for the pairing up with the tablet to plan the routes he wants to use, but he got it to work very well eventually. It also saves the routes you work out on the tom tom for further use.
I am not sure if there is much better for the cost. Maybe the professional?
Did try to get in touch with tom tom when we were trying too decide on which model to buy, but were unable to make contact!!!!!!!! So feel fairly confident we made the closest to right choice, and overall: so far so good.

We spent hours researching sat nav’s. Tried a couple which were more like tablets, not dedicated sat nav as it turned out, fell off windscreen etc. etc. etc.

I have an aversion to maps, and as my husband does most of the big drives, he was looking for something to help him!! We did have an old tom tom, and Garmin in the car, but fairly old now, and the tom tom had stopped uploading maps to our old machine. Our main problem was ending up on roads which just were not suitable. To be honest it didn’t happen to often, as we used common sense, and got used to the garmin (in particular), and it’s obsession to go well out of it’s way to where we were going.
So after hours of research we settled for the tom tom 6200. Were going to get the tom tom professional, but settled on this. Firstly the 6 inch screen is helpful, nice clear graphics, it goes on the windscreen and stays there. We have a Dacia Logan, so are getting the round discs to place it safely on the dash board a bit closer. The 5 inch would fit anywhere on the windscreen. We changed the size of the writing on the tom tom to large font, and that was a helpful addition. It can be paired up with computer etc., although the tablet took some working out. We wanted this to work so we could plan our own routes, and transfer to tom tom. This feature works really well. With the voice recognition we found changing the “wake up” call to something other than tom tom wake up, was a good idea. Even discussing the tom tom in the car, puts it into command mode.
We live in Wales, so don’t really know how it would go just by programming here, as I believe Wales is one of the hardest places to navigate staying on “proper” roads, and we see semi trailers often enough in a bad place around here, to make me wonder if anything other than a good map and common sense should be relied upon. Fortunately we know most of the routes to take, even down to smaller lanes, but definitely would not be good for semi trailers or larger vans. I gather here, even putting a post code in can take you into a six mile radius of where you want to be.
We also tried Google maps – ok in itself. We have the sim in the tom tom on the 6200 for traffic updates, that works too.
What is confusing is the life time offers of maps etc. It appears the life time is 5 years, and with the 6200 you are supposed to get lifetime maps, traffic up dates, and speed cameras.
So all in all, this dedicated tom tom looks like it will come the closest to what we want and need!!!! My husband who has a technical mind found the setting up fairly easy, except for the pairing up with the tablet to plan the routes he wants to use, but he got it to work very well eventually. It also saves the routes you work out on the tom tom for further use.
I am not sure if there is much better for the cost. Maybe the professional?
Did try to get in touch with tom tom when we were trying too decide on which model to buy, but were unable to make contact!!!!!!!! So feel fairly confident we made the closest to right choice, and overall: so far so good.

This was bought as a replacement for my older one which I have now passed on. The unit is robust and a very clear screen. It does what it says on the tin however I feel there are 2 issues which I never got with the previous one. Firstly, the unit is much heavier and as such it does not sit comfortably on the purpose bought anti slip mat which sits on my dashboard. When I go round a corner it flies off into the footwell with the mat which is not a lot of use. The second issue is the screen is very shiny and as such I see my own reflection in it. I have now needed to stick it to my windscreen by the steering wheel which is not ideal as I don’t want to give possible thieves the knowledge I have a sat nav as the wet ring remains on the windscreen. I am still getting used to the new toy and being fair have only used it once however it is wireless and sim enabled so do get travel updates, but I just need to find a better place for it which does not hamper my visibility at all so trying to work out how I can use the mat as before which was excellent. Would have given it a full high 5 if it stayed where I wanted it to but overall am/will be more than happy with the purchase.

I initially bought a garmin to replace my ancient tomtom, but sent it back as I couldn’t get on with it and got this instead.

My advice to anyone buying a satnav is twofold.
1. Don’t bother with garmin, tomtom is easier to use.
2. Don’t buy an entry level tomtom. The better units (such as this one) are worth the extra. Get one with a capacitive screen, it is so much more responsive than the screen on cheaper models.

It’s not absolutely perfect, some of the features of my old one have been deleted from this one (or I haven’t found them yet) but it has other features instead. I love the ability to store personalised routes, for example.

Overall I’m very happy. I just wish tomtom made a reversing camera for it in the way garmin do, so I didn’t have to have 2 screens on my vans dashboard.

This is a bit expensive but overall worth it I think. Once you’re driving with it, it is a much better experience than a phone and there are various positives to using a separate and dedicated device and no negatives owing to the built in SIM card. However, I wish they hadn’t scrimped so much on the hardware.

Positives:
– Comes with 3G built in, allowing route planning and finding addresses on the go. This has a lifetime data contract (of course you can’t use it for anything else) and negates a key possible shortcoming compared to a modern phone.
– It does have a better presentation than (eg) using google maps on a phone. Everything is very clear. It’s a minor thing but I like the way it always displays the current speed limit; I find this really useful.
– Although I only use it occasionally the voice control feature is handy. I mainly use it to “hello Tom Tom drive home” or to cancel the current route. In theory though you can use it to add detours mid route, eg for petroleum/food; like the idea of that potential. I think the reliability of the voice interactions is greatly helped by the fact this is a dedicated device. It is not something I can imagine trying with a smart phone for fear of getting in a mess with sending a text message I didn’t want to send and somehow cancelling the navigation.
– All your addresses etc get saved to a Tom Tom cloud account so you should never have to enter them again.
– The cradle in the car is nice and well made and it slots in easily and securely. A lot easier than faffing with one of those phone holders.
– Compared to using a phone; 1) don’t have to worry about incoming calls/message leading to accidentally cancelling the route or distraction at a key point 2) don’t have to worry about batter; it is always charging in the car when in its cradle (which is plugged in to the car USB or cigarette lighter).
– Standard micro USB connection on the thing which can also be used to charge it as well as the cradle. This means you could use one of those portable battery packs if it was ever required.

Negatives
– Woefully slow to interact with/use when not driving, eg adding an address or setting up a route in advance. They must have really scrimped on the CPU hardware in this thing. Although it’s fine for driving if you think of it like an android tablet the screen is also clearly very low end (like something on an Amazon fire non HD tablet). Annoying that Tom Tom are cutting these corners since it costs over 200.
– Battery life when not in use for a while. We only use it every few weeks or so and often find it is dead when we pick it up to plug in the next route the next time. It then normally takes 5 minutes to boot it up and do any updates. I guess it’s unreasonable to expect any different but a minor gripe nonetheless using this instead of a phone.

very good satnav, not very huge in size so good for keep your driving view clear. Response is quick. It HAS TO LINK UP with your smartphone via bluetooth in order to receive call/traffic/message. You have to launch the TomTom Go app on your smartphone (not install it only, but run it, otherwise the bluetooth connection won’t link automatically) to make everythings work. The voice volume is a bit low I think, in my van which fully windows shut with simple radio, I have to turn the satnav volume to 70% to hear clear all command and instructions.

very good satnav, not very huge in size so good for keep your driving view clear. Response is quick. It HAS TO LINK UP with your smartphone via bluetooth in order to receive call/traffic/message. You have to launch the TomTom Go app on your smartphone (not install it only, but run it, otherwise the bluetooth connection won’t link automatically) to make everythings work. The voice volume is a bit low I think, in my van which fully windows shut with simple radio, I have to turn the satnav volume to 70% to hear clear all command and instructions.

Great Satnav, easy to navigate features, displays a great amount of information, clearly and Quickly.
Was debating whether to go for the “go 520” or the “go 620”. So glad I went for the 620 the bigger screen is so much nicer.
This satnav actually works on round about and lanes, road positioning on the display is surprisingly accurate. and doesn’t lag!
Voice control works best within arms reach, any further and it will struggle. Still haven’t quite got the hang of using all the voice control commands.
Particularly trying to select a new destination whilst on the move I still find myself typing it in.
Speed camera alert pin points exactly where they are, shows you on the screen when they are coming up. super handy.
The magnetic mount is super strong so have no worries going over rough grounds, defiantly one of the best mounts I’ve used.

Likes:
* Fully independent, powerful, timely and useful live traffic updates;
* Automatic rerouting around delays where time can be saved;
* Operates stand-alone- does not requires a phone link to update traffic;
* All software, map and speed camera updates are wireless direct to router; no computer required;
* Lifetime free map, speed camera and traffic updates;
* Very flexible, feature-packed.
Dislikes:
* Software sometimes erratic- but always OK while en route;
* User interface not completely intuitive;
* Speed limit information strangely inaccurate from time to time;
* Voice control a little erratic;
* Windscreen mount places the top of the Sat Nav very close to the windscreen;
* Active screen area could be bigger- large black band around the edge;
* Some route bar information lettering is tiny and difficult to read.

This is a very impressive Sat Nav- my dislikes above are all minor. Its ability to detect and, where possible, re-route you around hold-ups and delays is not only powerfully accurate, saving much valuable time, but also painless to use and hassle-free. Traffic updates happen in the background via its own built-in SIM card and mobile connection- no need to link it to your phone, or even do anything- it just does it all for you and tells you where the delays are. Other Satnavs require a link to a smartphone to get the traffic information; but not this one. This is ideal for Pay-as-you-go phone users like me, who do not want to switch to a monthly phone plan just for traffic information on the move. The Satnav also seems very responsive, updating quickly and keeping up with changing traffic conditions well. It’s true that this Sat Nav isn’t cheap, but once paid for, all updates, for maps, speed cameras and traffic, are free for ever (or as long as TomTom support the device).
My old Garmin Sat Nav, although very useful, didn’t include live traffic updates. Having got stuck in just too many traffic jams on my long commute up and down the dreaded A303, I decided to take the plunge and get a new Sat Nav.
Setting up the unit was very straightforward. I entered my wireless router password, it connected and said that updates were required. This was understandable, given it was new and had probably been sitting on a shelf for a while. The initial update took around 20 minutes.
First time out with it and the maps seemed spot-on. It calculates the route, and any reroutes to avoid delays that arise during the journey, very quickly. Some roadworks near my place of work had started only recently, but they were shown. Other long-standing roadworks were also shown. I believe it also picks up timed closures for overnight roadworks and directs you round those, but I haven’t tested this yet. The arrival time takes any such roadworks into account and is surprisingly accurate.
Going home at the end of my very first day with it turned out to be the first real test of its abilities.
On the screen, roadworks and delays are shown along the relevant sections of road and on the route bar. Roadworks are brown, minor delays are orange, major delays are red. On this journey it showed a serious, red, delay approaching the Countess junction; it also suggested an alternative route in green to avoid the delay, labelled with the time it would save. I ignored all this and carried on, to test the Sat-Nav’s abilities. I shouldn’t have- the Sat-Nav was spot-on. I got stuck in a massive tailback. The Sat Nav tells you how long your delay will be, and it even tells you how long ahead of you the queue you are stuck in is. Its accuracy for both this time was spot-on- I drove past the obstruction just as the distance and time remaining went to zero.
Since then it’s proved its worth on several occasions. One time it directed me around a 20-minute hold-up via a complex route through Andover, which at one point took me over the clogged A303. I have to confess to feeling a bit smug and superior looking down on the queue of stationary traffic. The Friday before half-term usually means a slow journey home, but the Sat Nav plotted a very long route bypassing all the worst delays, reducing my journey time by around 25 minutes. Similarly, when there was traffic chaos in Basingstoke one evening, it routed me round the housing estates and back roads bringing me out at the next motorway junction down, saving around 20 minutes.
It also seems very quick to respond to changes. My Monday morning commute inevitably has a delay at the Longbarrow junction. Early in my journey, no delay is shown, then one appears on the route bar- for example, first two minutes delay, which quickly becomes four minutes, and then six minutes by the time I reach it. Such information can be useful for working out what time to leave to avoid the delay.
Going to 2-D map view and zooming out gives a good overview of where all the delays are. Sections of road with roadworks or delays are coloured appropriately and labelled with the delay time.
One morning it showed an extra speed camera on my route. As I approached the location, sure enough, a police speed camera transit van was parked in a layby, monitoring oncoming traffic. As I passed, the Sat Nav asked me: ‘Is the speed camera still there?’ with a ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ response. I pressed ‘Yes’, and it said ‘Thanks!’. A few days later, it did it again; this time, no temporary speed camera was there.
It pings at you as you approach a speed camera, but it pings at a reasonable distance giving you time to slow down. Also, you can turn off the voice instructions, but leave the speed camera alerts sounding.
The build quality is very high. It looks and feels a class product. It is supplied with a windscreen suction mount, with a neat ring to rotate to engage the suction. These mounts are advertised as magnetic, and indeed they are, but the magnet just holds the Sat Nav in place, not the mount to the car. The ball joint of the mount was initially very stiff, but this was fixed with a small squirt of WD40. The USB link goes to the mount so you can just unclip the SatNav and leave the connection in-situ. There is also a USB socket on the device itself, so you can power it without the mount. If purchasing this Sat Nav you may want to also purchase a case. It doesn’t come with one, and you probably won’t want to leave it in your unattended car.
You might ask: is the traffic information as good as Google maps traffic info? It may not be quite as good- but it really isn’t far off. If I was to learn that both TomTom and Google used the same data source for traffic info, I would not be surprised.
A satnav with no traffic information will always find the same route for the same start and end point with the same settings. However, with this one you have to pay more attention to it, as it will alter a commonly used route to avoid delays. Sometimes I’ve not paid attention and got stuck in traffic I could have avoided!
Downsides? Well, there are some.
Having used it for a few months now, I’m getting a good feeling for its capabilities and limitations. Its traffic information seems to be very accurate when it comes to trunk roads, quite accurate for non-trunk A-roads, but somewhat less accurate for minor roads. This is hardly a surprise; TomTom seem to be very good a processing traffic data, it’s just that minor roads are not monitored anywhere near as well as the trunk roads, so information on them is much more patchy. I believe that it gets most of its traffic data from vehicle smartphones (as does Google), and other TomToms, but this won’t work in mobile phone dead areas where you cannot get a signal. But even on trunk roads, it gets it wrong sometimes. Quite often queue lengths, start and end points are inaccurate, but these are very dynamic, so some discrepancy is understandable. It also seems that when traffic is moving, but moving quite slowly, as far as the Sat Nav is concerned this is good enough, and it doesn’t register it as a delay. There must be a break-off point somewhere, I suppose, for when a delay is a delay- for example, you have to stop at a red light so this is not a delay; unless the queue is huge, then it is. But this is nit-picking; on the whole, it’s very accurate.
Getting out of the business park where I work often involves a 5-10 minute delay and this has only ever been shown when the queue has been there for some time. So it will pick up minor road delays, but it takes it a lot longer. If you drive mainly along minor roads and are hoping that this Sat-Nav will help you avoid delays, you may be disappointed. If its suggested alternative route to avoid a delay is down a minor road, it often assumes that road is clear and that you can drive at the speed limit. This may be far from the case if the minor road is in a town or city and you are on it at a busy time. Another minor criticism is its inaccuracy on speed limits. Where I join the 70mph dual carriageway A303, it shows a 20 mph speed limit! It corrects itself after the first roundabout, and there is a function where you can tell TomTom the discrepancy. I’ve done this several times but all map updates still show the limit as 20 mph. I’ve also noticed that while the device knows where roadworks are, if these roadworks have reduced speed limits, these never seem to be shown, even where the reduced limit has been in place for weeks.
Its interface isn’t quite as intuitive as my old Garmin. I should say though, that it’s still not at all bad and that this is really a minor point- you’ll get used to it. So far, I’ve been able to get it to do everything I want it to do; it’s just that sometimes I have to Google the command first to find out how to do it! For example, to save a current location and give it name, you have to touch the pointer on the map, save the location to ‘My Places’; then you go to ‘Myplaces’ – ‘marked locations’ open the location, save it to ‘Myplaces’ and give it a name. Phew! With the Garmin, you just press ‘Where am I?’, and enter your chosen name and save it.
Some of the adverse comments about this device I’ve seen in reviews may be due to the reviewer getting frustrated with the interface.
Sometimes the display goes completely blank for a second or two when you give it a command. This is a bit disconcerting, but usually the display comes back. A few times it got stuck, and I had to repower it, but that might have been me being impatient; another time, the suggested re-route, normally shown in green, was on the route bar but not the map. After one map update, I was alarmed to discover that all my saved locations were lost. Fortunately, after power cycling they were all back! I should point out that it’s never misbehaved while en route; it has been 100% solid while in use.
The voice control seems to work well when there’s no background noise, but when on the go it’s a lot more hit and miss, mostly miss in my case. It takes a fair few seconds to respond, and often you have to repeat your instruction several times before it understands. Perhaps it struggles with my London accent? Also, the voice command menu sometimes appears at random, presumably because the device interpreted something from the radio, although I’ve never heard the radio say ‘Hello TomTom’. That said, I’ve hardly used the voice control. I find it easier to use the touchscreen.
There is just about enough space on my sloping windscreen (Honda Civic) to fit it using the suction mount. When fitted, the top of the device is very close to the windscreen. There seem to be very few alternative mounts available for this model to get round this problem.
It shows the fuel stations on your route, and you can easily get it to find one nearby, but it doesn’t tell you if they are open or not. Its accuracy here is not perfect- a service station on my commute has suffered a fire and is permanently closed until further notice, but the Satnav still shows it like any other, working, service station. If TomTom read this, it would be really good if the service stations could be shown open or closed, and even the fuel price. All this is available on line, so it should be possible to provide the info.
Another small criticism is the large black border around the active screen, unlike Garmin’s display area, which goes right to the edge. Also, some of the route bar information lettering is so tiny it’s very difficult to read- well, with my middle-aged eyes, anyway!
In summary, if you are looking for a stand-alone Sat-Nav that will tell you where the delays are and guide you around them where possible, then this is the one! If you do a long commute on trunk roads or busy main roads, like I do, and are subject to frequent hold-ups and delays, like I am, then this Sat Nav could make a real difference. I’ve only had it a few months and it’s already saved me more than four hours in total by avoiding delays. It would have saved me even more time if I hadn’t ignored it on occasion! In fact, if TomTom are reading this, why not add a function that tallies up how much time its re-routes have saved? It would be interesting to know!
TomTom have done a really good job with this Sat Nav. It could even save your licence, with its accurate speed camera detection. Although the user interface is perhaps not as intuitive as it could be, and the software is a little bit flaky, it is still very powerful and versatile- and you’ll get used to it. Having used it for a few months now, I find myself wishing I’d bought one ages ago- think the extra free time it could have given me!

Likes:
* Fully independent, powerful, timely and useful live traffic updates;
* Automatic rerouting around delays where time can be saved;
* Operates stand-alone- does not requires a phone link to update traffic;
* All software, map and speed camera updates are wireless direct to router; no computer required;
* Lifetime free map, speed camera and traffic updates;
* Very flexible, feature-packed.
Dislikes:
* Software sometimes erratic- but always OK while en route;
* User interface not completely intuitive;
* Speed limit information strangely inaccurate from time to time;
* Voice control a little erratic;
* Windscreen mount places the top of the Sat Nav very close to the windscreen;
* Active screen area could be bigger- large black band around the edge;
* Some route bar information lettering is tiny and difficult to read.

This is a very impressive Sat Nav- my dislikes above are all minor. Its ability to detect and, where possible, re-route you around hold-ups and delays is not only powerfully accurate, saving much valuable time, but also painless to use and hassle-free. Traffic updates happen in the background via its own built-in SIM card and mobile connection- no need to link it to your phone, or even do anything- it just does it all for you and tells you where the delays are. Other Satnavs require a link to a smartphone to get the traffic information; but not this one. This is ideal for Pay-as-you-go phone users like me, who do not want to switch to a monthly phone plan just for traffic information on the move. The Satnav also seems very responsive, updating quickly and keeping up with changing traffic conditions well. It’s true that this Sat Nav isn’t cheap, but once paid for, all updates, for maps, speed cameras and traffic, are free for ever (or as long as TomTom support the device).
My old Garmin Sat Nav, although very useful, didn’t include live traffic updates. Having got stuck in just too many traffic jams on my long commute up and down the dreaded A303, I decided to take the plunge and get a new Sat Nav.
Setting up the unit was very straightforward. I entered my wireless router password, it connected and said that updates were required. This was understandable, given it was new and had probably been sitting on a shelf for a while. The initial update took around 20 minutes.
First time out with it and the maps seemed spot-on. It calculates the route, and any reroutes to avoid delays that arise during the journey, very quickly. Some roadworks near my place of work had started only recently, but they were shown. Other long-standing roadworks were also shown. I believe it also picks up timed closures for overnight roadworks and directs you round those, but I haven’t tested this yet. The arrival time takes any such roadworks into account and is surprisingly accurate.
Going home at the end of my very first day with it turned out to be the first real test of its abilities.
On the screen, roadworks and delays are shown along the relevant sections of road and on the route bar. Roadworks are brown, minor delays are orange, major delays are red. On this journey it showed a serious, red, delay approaching the Countess junction; it also suggested an alternative route in green to avoid the delay, labelled with the time it would save. I ignored all this and carried on, to test the Sat-Nav’s abilities. I shouldn’t have- the Sat-Nav was spot-on. I got stuck in a massive tailback. The Sat Nav tells you how long your delay will be, and it even tells you how long ahead of you the queue you are stuck in is. Its accuracy for both this time was spot-on- I drove past the obstruction just as the distance and time remaining went to zero.
Since then it’s proved its worth on several occasions. One time it directed me around a 20-minute hold-up via a complex route through Andover, which at one point took me over the clogged A303. I have to confess to feeling a bit smug and superior looking down on the queue of stationary traffic. The Friday before half-term usually means a slow journey home, but the Sat Nav plotted a very long route bypassing all the worst delays, reducing my journey time by around 25 minutes. Similarly, when there was traffic chaos in Basingstoke one evening, it routed me round the housing estates and back roads bringing me out at the next motorway junction down, saving around 20 minutes.
It also seems very quick to respond to changes. My Monday morning commute inevitably has a delay at the Longbarrow junction. Early in my journey, no delay is shown, then one appears on the route bar- for example, first two minutes delay, which quickly becomes four minutes, and then six minutes by the time I reach it. Such information can be useful for working out what time to leave to avoid the delay.
Going to 2-D map view and zooming out gives a good overview of where all the delays are. Sections of road with roadworks or delays are coloured appropriately and labelled with the delay time.
One morning it showed an extra speed camera on my route. As I approached the location, sure enough, a police speed camera transit van was parked in a layby, monitoring oncoming traffic. As I passed, the Sat Nav asked me: ‘Is the speed camera still there?’ with a ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ response. I pressed ‘Yes’, and it said ‘Thanks!’. A few days later, it did it again; this time, no temporary speed camera was there.
It pings at you as you approach a speed camera, but it pings at a reasonable distance giving you time to slow down. Also, you can turn off the voice instructions, but leave the speed camera alerts sounding.
The build quality is very high. It looks and feels a class product. It is supplied with a windscreen suction mount, with a neat ring to rotate to engage the suction. These mounts are advertised as magnetic, and indeed they are, but the magnet just holds the Sat Nav in place, not the mount to the car. The ball joint of the mount was initially very stiff, but this was fixed with a small squirt of WD40. The USB link goes to the mount so you can just unclip the SatNav and leave the connection in-situ. There is also a USB socket on the device itself, so you can power it without the mount. If purchasing this Sat Nav you may want to also purchase a case. It doesn’t come with one, and you probably won’t want to leave it in your unattended car.
You might ask: is the traffic information as good as Google maps traffic info? It may not be quite as good- but it really isn’t far off. If I was to learn that both TomTom and Google used the same data source for traffic info, I would not be surprised.
A satnav with no traffic information will always find the same route for the same start and end point with the same settings. However, with this one you have to pay more attention to it, as it will alter a commonly used route to avoid delays. Sometimes I’ve not paid attention and got stuck in traffic I could have avoided!
Downsides? Well, there are some.
Having used it for a few months now, I’m getting a good feeling for its capabilities and limitations. Its traffic information seems to be very accurate when it comes to trunk roads, quite accurate for non-trunk A-roads, but somewhat less accurate for minor roads. This is hardly a surprise; TomTom seem to be very good a processing traffic data, it’s just that minor roads are not monitored anywhere near as well as the trunk roads, so information on them is much more patchy. I believe that it gets most of its traffic data from vehicle smartphones (as does Google), and other TomToms, but this won’t work in mobile phone dead areas where you cannot get a signal. But even on trunk roads, it gets it wrong sometimes. Quite often queue lengths, start and end points are inaccurate, but these are very dynamic, so some discrepancy is understandable. It also seems that when traffic is moving, but moving quite slowly, as far as the Sat Nav is concerned this is good enough, and it doesn’t register it as a delay. There must be a break-off point somewhere, I suppose, for when a delay is a delay- for example, you have to stop at a red light so this is not a delay; unless the queue is huge, then it is. But this is nit-picking; on the whole, it’s very accurate.
Getting out of the business park where I work often involves a 5-10 minute delay and this has only ever been shown when the queue has been there for some time. So it will pick up minor road delays, but it takes it a lot longer. If you drive mainly along minor roads and are hoping that this Sat-Nav will help you avoid delays, you may be disappointed. If its suggested alternative route to avoid a delay is down a minor road, it often assumes that road is clear and that you can drive at the speed limit. This may be far from the case if the minor road is in a town or city and you are on it at a busy time. Another minor criticism is its inaccuracy on speed limits. Where I join the 70mph dual carriageway A303, it shows a 20 mph speed limit! It corrects itself after the first roundabout, and there is a function where you can tell TomTom the discrepancy. I’ve done this several times but all map updates still show the limit as 20 mph. I’ve also noticed that while the device knows where roadworks are, if these roadworks have reduced speed limits, these never seem to be shown, even where the reduced limit has been in place for weeks.
Its interface isn’t quite as intuitive as my old Garmin. I should say though, that it’s still not at all bad and that this is really a minor point- you’ll get used to it. So far, I’ve been able to get it to do everything I want it to do; it’s just that sometimes I have to Google the command first to find out how to do it! For example, to save a current location and give it name, you have to touch the pointer on the map, save the location to ‘My Places’; then you go to ‘Myplaces’ – ‘marked locations’ open the location, save it to ‘Myplaces’ and give it a name. Phew! With the Garmin, you just press ‘Where am I?’, and enter your chosen name and save it.
Some of the adverse comments about this device I’ve seen in reviews may be due to the reviewer getting frustrated with the interface.
Sometimes the display goes completely blank for a second or two when you give it a command. This is a bit disconcerting, but usually the display comes back. A few times it got stuck, and I had to repower it, but that might have been me being impatient; another time, the suggested re-route, normally shown in green, was on the route bar but not the map. After one map update, I was alarmed to discover that all my saved locations were lost. Fortunately, after power cycling they were all back! I should point out that it’s never misbehaved while en route; it has been 100% solid while in use.
The voice control seems to work well when there’s no background noise, but when on the go it’s a lot more hit and miss, mostly miss in my case. It takes a fair few seconds to respond, and often you have to repeat your instruction several times before it understands. Perhaps it struggles with my London accent? Also, the voice command menu sometimes appears at random, presumably because the device interpreted something from the radio, although I’ve never heard the radio say ‘Hello TomTom’. That said, I’ve hardly used the voice control. I find it easier to use the touchscreen.
There is just about enough space on my sloping windscreen (Honda Civic) to fit it using the suction mount. When fitted, the top of the device is very close to the windscreen. There seem to be very few alternative mounts available for this model to get round this problem.
It shows the fuel stations on your route, and you can easily get it to find one nearby, but it doesn’t tell you if they are open or not. Its accuracy here is not perfect- a service station on my commute has suffered a fire and is permanently closed until further notice, but the Satnav still shows it like any other, working, service station. If TomTom read this, it would be really good if the service stations could be shown open or closed, and even the fuel price. All this is available on line, so it should be possible to provide the info.
Another small criticism is the large black border around the active screen, unlike Garmin’s display area, which goes right to the edge. Also, some of the route bar information lettering is so tiny it’s very difficult to read- well, with my middle-aged eyes, anyway!
In summary, if you are looking for a stand-alone Sat-Nav that will tell you where the delays are and guide you around them where possible, then this is the one! If you do a long commute on trunk roads or busy main roads, like I do, and are subject to frequent hold-ups and delays, like I am, then this Sat Nav could make a real difference. I’ve only had it a few months and it’s already saved me more than four hours in total by avoiding delays. It would have saved me even more time if I hadn’t ignored it on occasion! In fact, if TomTom are reading this, why not add a function that tallies up how much time its re-routes have saved? It would be interesting to know!
TomTom have done a really good job with this Sat Nav. It could even save your licence, with its accurate speed camera detection. Although the user interface is perhaps not as intuitive as it could be, and the software is a little bit flaky, it is still very powerful and versatile- and you’ll get used to it. Having used it for a few months now, I find myself wishing I’d bought one ages ago- think the extra free time it could have given me!

I think these reviews combine different models. I had reservations after reading them, bit bought the 520. It’s been faultless over 3 weeks European road trip, covering Holland, Germany, Italy, Austria, Switzerland and France.