If you want to quickly find the right way to your destination, you can also be well guided for free. This is the result of the Stiftung Warrentest, which examined 17 navigation solutions. Of the 15 navigation apps, seven are free and are “good”. The two paid apps are “satisfactory”.

The magazine “Test” (issue 8/2021) rated a total of 13 apps as well as two classic navigation devices “TomTom Go Discover 7” (299 euros) and “Garmin DriveSmart 65 and Digital Traffic” (250 euros). “Good” Here, testers compared only the two most expensive models from major providers. With the growing popularity of smartphone navigation, some such demand has “significantly decreased.”

TomTom beats Google Maps

TomTom is included in the apps at times and is ahead of the pack with the fee-based app “TomTom Go Navigation” (Grade 1.9) for Android devices. Behind this is the free “Google Maps” (2.0) and the paid “Sygic GPS Navigation” (2.1). In iOS apps, “Google Maps” (1.9) comes before “Apple Maps” (2.0), which are also free, and “Sygic GPS Navigation” (2.0 for a fee).

Some apps, such as TomTom Go Navigation, save maps to the device. This drains the memory, but on the other hand the data consumption on mobile phones is less. Otherwise, depending on tariffs outside the EU, it could be costly. In the case of “Apple Maps” or “TomTom Amigo” (2.5) and “Waze” (2.2), which are free for both systems and rated “Good”, for example, the map content is on the Internet. Then it will be loaded for the respective route. Then it works the other way around: the storage space remains free, but the amount of data increases.