TomTom Start 25: should you buy it?

tomtom start 25

If you're after a cheap sat nav to relieve the navigational burden on your overworked smartphone, the TomTom Start 25 could be an ideal choice.

It's by no means a new model, having originally gone on sale alongside the TomTom Start 20 back at the end of 2011. But it was a decent sat nav back then and it still is as long as you're happy with basic sat nav functionality.

The TomTom Start 25 is popular to this day partly because of its availability from many UK websites for a rather cheap price (check the bottom of this page for a quick overview of what the best TomTom Start 25 deals are at the moment).

It's actually a practically identical sat nav to the TomTom Start 20 which techradar reviewed in 2011 – the only real difference being the TomTom Start 25 has a slightly bigger screen, 5-inches instead of 4.3-inches.

A decent budget sat nav

In terms of its ability as a basic GPS sat nav device then, the Start 25 is more than capable, offering very clear directions both on screen and in its vocal commands.

There is no traffic info available through this sat nav – if you want smart features like that you'll need to go for one of the more recent TomTom sat navs. But what you do get is comprehensive coverage of UK and EU roads with free lifetime map updates ensuring that – as long as you remember to download updates – you'll always have the most recent road systems loaded up.

So for a sat nav that costs well under £100 in most cases, this is well worth a look. Not the best sat nav out there by any means, but one that offers fantastic value for money and will get the job done with minimal fuss.

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