Sony sat-nav

14th March 2008

Size matters. Sony’s latest sat-nav has the largest display we’ve tried, at 4.8 inches. The NV-U93T provides an easy-to-see widescreen view, while the slim design means it isn’t too heavy.

These strong first impressions don’t last, though. The mounting bracket is designed to sit on the dash or sucker to the windscreen, but it has a tight angle, so fitting is tricky in many cars. And while the unit passed our map accuracy test and hunted down our sample postcodes correctly, its points of interest (POI) were average. We liked the navigation, with clear, well spoken instructions given in ample time, large countdown pictograms and text-to-speech on main road numbers, yet you don’t get the latter on minor roads or street names.

You pay a one-off £20 to activate the traffic message channel (TMC) facility, and it worked well, although the aerial has to be stretched across the dash. Owners are also restricted to Sony’s Memory Stick media for extra space, which is limiting.

Speed trap warnings are free for a year, but some cameras were missed. The Blue­tooth hands-free was fiddly, too. Overall, the Sony isn’t as user-friendly as rivals.