Garmin Zumo 590LM, £549.99
Tester: Andy Davidson
Time tested: Three months/4500 miles
What’s good? While there’s no denying a sat-nav is going to get you there quicker than using a map or guesswork, they can take the fun out of a trip by planning the quickest route on long motorways and straight A-roads. I like planning my own squiggly routes, which is why in the past I generally haven’t ridden with a sat-nav - but that tends to make me either late or lost. Luckily, I’ve found the 590LM with its squiggly road function. If you’ve got a little extra time or fancy taking an undiscovered, long way to work, then the clever little device will pick a fun route using back roads peppered with twists and turns. It’s great for spicing up a trip. The premium Zumo is a fantastic sat-nav, certainly one of the best I’ve ever used. There’s no jabbing my gloved hand on the screen in frustration, I can read the screen in the sunlight, it works well off-road following set waypoints (perfect on a recent 24-hour rally in the Italian Alps), comes with special search functions and is a hard wearing, tough bit of kit.
What’s not? You’re paying top dollar for this sat-nav, but it comes with a tonne of special features and it’s incredibly easy to use, which evens out the pain of the price tag.
Contact: garmin.com/en-gb
Quality rating: 5/5
Value rating: 4/5
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