The school of thought behind Navman’s NavPix is that you can take a picture of a destination using the device’s 1.3MP camera and then store it as a photo thumbnail shortcut.

Now, most sat-nav systems will let you store favourites, but a photo is useful if it’s of somewhere you might not recognise from just an address – that excellent Peak District picnic spot, say.

Don't be swayed by NavPix, though
Sadly, we couldn’t get excited about NavPix in practice. The concept works but it would never be a feature that swung a buying decision, especially as the Navman iCN720 has other shortcomings. Memory is limited to 412MB and the hi-res 4in widescreen is marred by a poor refresh rate and the whole package is not as attractive and compact as the TomTom. The windscreen mount is fiddly to fit and adjust.

Apart from the brilliant parking and fuel shortcut keys, the ergonomics and user interface are unintuitive. In its defence, you can add lifetime TMC (traffic alerts) for an extra $149 (through SUNA), and the voice instructions are clear and informative, with a speaker powerful enough for use in raucous sports cars.