TomTom ONE Regional v2 review

Although TomTom has just released the ONE XL with its 4.5in widescreen, we wanted to see whether you could still benefit from the Navigator software without paying the best part of £250.

The ONE Regional v2 is the cheapest model TomTom offers and it's a compact, solidly built piece of kit. It's noticeably smaller than the Navman F30, but still has a 3.5in touchscreen. You don't get much in the box, though: just a basic windscreen mount and a car charger.

UK and Ireland maps are included on a 384MB SD card. You can select an address using a seven-digit postcode, or by city and street name. We like being able to plan a trip in advance and browse the map without a GPS fix. You can also plan multidestination trips and - using the Find Alternative option - calculate alternative routes, avoid any roads on the route and navigate around any roadblocks. Other brilliant guidance options include setting a preferred time of arrival and calculating bicycle, walking or limited speed routes.

As there's integrated Bluetooth, you can use a Bluetooth-equipped phone to download live traffic and weather updates, although both services are charged for as part of the PLUS extras scheme. It's good to see no fewer than 36 languages and 55 voices preinstalled.

There's still no other software that rivals TomTom's interface. Not only are menus intuitive, but the 3D guidance view is the clearest. The bottom third of the screen is customisable and shows a wealth of information, but voice guidance isn't as comprehensive as Navigon on the Fujitsu Siemens.

At this price, it's no surprise to see a few corners cut, but it's a shame a mains adapter and safety camera locations were casualties. You can download camera locations for free using the trial of the PLUS service, but there's no optional TMC module. A more serious problem is that the unit planned several illegal routes that told us to turn off on unauthorised slip roads. This doesn't happen on the HP, which comes with older TomTom maps.

As a result of these errors and a lack of features at this price, the ONE Regional doesn't challenge for an award.

Author: Jim Martin