Three Reasons Not to Write Off Dedicated Sat Navs
It’s no secret that smartphones have evolved into the true swiss army gadget that it is assumed everyone has on their persons at all times. They are very good at performing nearly any task that we can ask of them and this includes countless things that were once ascribed to bespoke devices, such as calculators, fax machines, desktop computers and indeed Sat Navs. This ability to do anything does not however mean that smartphones are the best at doing everything, there are numerous factors at play when making this assumption and when it comes to Sat Navs, there are still some very valid reasons to use a specific GPS navigation device over a smartphone.
They’re not as universal as people think
The assumption that everyone carries and uses a smartphone constantly is actually somewhat of a fallacy. The actual data shows that a little over 36% of the world’s population uses a smartphone, so if you happen to be one of the 64% who does not, then you could hardly be expected to navigate using one. Getting into a vehicle in an unfamiliar country, at an airport for example, and being expected to find your way somewhere is a difficult prospect without help, but should your car not be fitted with a GPS and you are not a smartphone user, you’ll be frantically searching for physical maps before turning the engine on.
Dedicated Sat Navs are more reliable
Having a GPS unit in your car means that you don’t have to worry about having a phone that is powerful enough to run the navigation features, or one that has sufficient battery capabilities or enough charge in it. A dedicated GPS will always be ready to go, and many professional car navigation system installations have their own connection to the cars power supply and you don’t need to worry about it using up your data allowance. Also, if you have a built in navigation system, then it will always boot with the car and these systems are usually far more efficient and user friendly.
A GPS will often provide a better user experience
One of the biggest drawbacks to all but the latest smartphones is that they multitask so much, something as resource heavy as navigation can not only drain the battery rapidly, but also cause stuttering and stalling with the use of the phone in general. Using a GPS will also ensure that your smartphone is kept available for other tasks, and can be operated via a bluetooth hands free system without frustration of slowdown caused by the phone multitasking. Dedicated GPS units do not have this problem as all of their resources are serving their solely designed function. Couple this with the larger display that integrated systems can utilise and not only do you avoid the risk of having it fall off of your windscreen whilst driving, but it offers a much better view of your navigation and an all-round better user experience.
