Boy, TomTom sure has chosen the worstpossibletime to release its Car Kit for iPhone, and to make matters worse, its decision to not include the iPhone app is now set in stone. That's right, the hardware alone will set you back the cost of a TomTom ONE nowadays, and the $99.95 app works on the iPhone 3G and 3GS without it. So here's the question: is the car kit worth the extra $119.95? To find out, we got hold of a review unit for a sunny road trip around London. Surprisingly, the car kit uses Bluetooth to connect the GPS receiver and the hands-free function to the iPhone, even though there's a dock connector for charging. Bluetooth connectivity does have its advantages: according to TomTom it can work as a generic Bluetooth GPS receiver for any satellite navigation app -- including Google Maps -- on the iPhone, or any smartphones at all for that matter. TomTom even confirmed that the car kit could potentially compensate for the first-generation iPhone's lack of built-in GPS, but since its app won't run on anything but a 3G or 3GS we'll have to wait and see if that's actually useful. Meanwhile, the company is cooking up a compatible app for the original iPhone and the iPod touch, which could make the car kit more worthwhile. [Update: the app has now been updated to work with the iPod Touch and the original iPhone, but you'll need to get a separate (and slightly cheaper) model of the Car Kit for the iPod touch. Thanks, Philippe!] Read on for our hands-on impression and test videos.
Time to slip the iPhone in: ours fitted flawlessly in the cradle, cushioned by a soft round pad as well as a rubber overlay under the top arm to avoid scratches. On the left side of the cradle you'll find the volume switch for the rear-mounted speaker -- which is significantly louder and clearer than the iPhone's -- and its audio-out line jack, which is right next to a mini USB port for power. We almost missed the pinhole mic just below the dock connector, which worked fine for our driver when he took a call using the hands-free functionality. One of the more impressive features of this car kit is the flexibility of positioning the iPhone: the cradle can slide lengthways and -- for the sake of the app's landscape mode -- can also rotate 360 degrees freely, but it's detented, so your iPhone won't be spinning around while you do a few donuts on the tarmac. Flip over the car kit and you'll see the same EasyPort Mount as used with the TomTom ONE and TomTom XL, connected to the main body by a convenient ball joint. We found the suction pad to be very easy to use: a simple twist on the dial tightly secured the entire kit onto the glass or the supplied sticky disc for the dashboard, and releasing it was just a matter of untwisting the dial and then pulling the plastic tag like you do with most conventional suction pads.
So we're impressed by the car kit's hardware, but what really matters is its GPS performance. To see the difference we installed the TomTom app on two iPhones and placed them side by side on our dashboard: the iPhone 3G connected to the TomTom car kit, while the 3GS used its built-in GPS receiver and sat on a generic phone cradle. Sure, the two phones are different, but we know they share the same Infineon GPS chip, and we thought it would be interesting to see if the car kit can compensate the 3G's slower processor. In our first round of tests we drove around the motorway and intercity roads, and the only significant difference we noticed was that the car kit provided a slightly quicker positioning, shouting out instructions at more sensible times when approaching junctions. The 3GS sans car kit didn't do too badly, but had we driven any faster in the city streets we would have missed a few turns. See for yourself in the video below.
We had a feeling that the car kit would make a bigger impact on the smaller streets, so to prove this we ran a torture test in Central London: we left the route planner on and drove around small streets randomly to test the GPS' accuracy and speed. The result? Again, the car kit proved to be quicker -- even with the slower phone -- and more accurate most of the time. Depending on the complexity of the route the iPhone 3GS' faster processor may even save a further two or three seconds when used with the car kit.
Wrap-up
There's no denying that the TomTom Car Kit for iPhone can make your life a tad better, and it's also a much better looking iPhone cradle compared to a generic-style holder. For those often driving around small city streets you'll get a greater benefit from the car kit, but at a dear cost of $119.95 for iPhone or $99.95 for iPod touch (neither of which includes the app), it's probably worth it if you're still stuck with a GPS-less first-generation iPhone or any iPod touch, provided that you don't mind the lack of a compatible TomTom app for the time-being. For the rest of us, we'll just get a standalone TomTom device, thanks.
Epic Fail. Oddly the iPhone TOMTOM app doesn't work in landscape mode as all the dedicated TOMTOM hardware does. It's a nice design, but California and Minnesota prohibit affixing anything to the windshield of a vehicle. Users in these states must use an alternative such as adhesive disks or a bean bag to attach the cradle suction cup to. It doesn't appear you would have room to rotate the cradle 180 and still be able to attach the suction cup to a surface below the phone, due to the offset design. It's strange that TOMTOM would ignore this fact which they are well aware of (it's printed in their manuals) and that Apple would approve an accessory for use with iPhone which cannot be used in one of the two states with their highest concentration of iPhone users. TOMTOM programmers are going to have to modify their software to work in landscape if they want these markets to be able to use this product legally.
Yeah, sorry, but it IS legal to mount GPS devices to the windshield in California now (Senate Bill 1567). However, a GPS device must be mounted within a 7-inch square area in the lower passenger-side corner of the windshield or in a 5-inch square area in the lower driver-side corner of the windshield.
Never mind. I Read some review that said it didn't, but I see that on their website now that landscape is possible. I also see a picture of the phone upright with the suction cup at the bottom. Still, I wonder why every review shows the phone in portrait mode. It is because the menus don't rotate, only the map does?
now the most important question is, what happens when you receive a phone call like you usually would when driving hands-free? would the GPS tracking and tomtom software still go? or will it stop, leaving you stranded until u hang up the call.
will the gps signal get cut if there was a phone call??
One thing this review fails to mention is that instead of having a dock connector pass-through, it has separate audio output mini-jack and mini-usb port for charging. I have a nifty device that connects via the dock connector and provides audio out, power and pause/play/skip forward/back controls. I can't use that with this cradle. Instead I have to have two separate cables running to audio in and power, and I lose the remote functions.
Are you telling me that this one product doesn't please EVERYBODY??? What the hell is TomTom thinking? (note the sarcasm). This is for some, and not for others.
And for the "just wait for the motorola droid" people, weren't you the "just wait for the palm pre" people as well. Why is it that iPhone haters always have to jump into the forums and point out all of the other phones on the market when that isn't what the discussion is about?
I like the way this mounts and the fact that it has a GPS receiver, speaker phone and a charging dock. I see no other mount come close to its slick implementation. I will wait for the price to go down by about half, before I will buy it.
It is strange that first they made application for iPhone only and not for iPod Touch. For iPod touch which does not have built in GPS it has much more sense?
For those who think its $100 for the app, remember you can activate your account on up to 5 machines. Register a new account and split it amongst 5 friends and you have the tomtom app for $20 each.
The price of the app (even if GPS units alone are more expensive) is what I find super prohibitive. 99 dollars? No thank you!
One question I'm curious about and did not see addressed in the review, is the hardware dock able to accept an iPhone with a case around it or do you need to remove the case for it to fit?
What I want to know is if the iPhone is using its Bluetooth link to talk to the GPS Car Kit, does this stop it from also stop it from using a Bluetooth Handsfree Car Phone kit or Bluetooth headset at the same time? I have a built in Bluetooth handsfree kit in my car, which conveniently kills the radio/CD player when I receive a call, and pumps the phone call out the car speakers. I would not want to loose this functionality. Also, how does the Tomtom app behave when having a phone conversation at the same time? Can both run side by side? If not, then you either have a choice of navigating incommunicado, or chatting to your significant other for half an hour and getting hopelessly lost.
What Tom-Tom should do is give you a redeem code to download your first map for free when you buy the Car Kit. Then, if you need additional maps, you have to pay for it.
It is a lot of money to buy the map and the Car Kit. I think Tom-Tom made a mistake on this one. I am sure they will see that.
" can also rotate 360 degrees freely, but it's detented, so your iPhone won't be spinning around while you do a few donuts on the tarmac. "
WTF is "detented"?
Regardless, the unit DOES spin around. You cant keep it in horizontal position for any length of time. One little bump and it goes back to vertical position. Swivel is way too weak -- add the weight of the wires and it barely stays in horizontal position when in park.
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posted October 29th 2009 4:05PM
TomTom due the map being pre loaded will always be a better satnav than any over the air (OTA) download the map as you go solution.
but free VS £100 for the kit + £59.99 for the app = £159.99
no contest, I'll take the free option.
now, if it was say £75 for the kit AND the app, then, maybe.
I'll just use the updated google maps when they update the iPhone version for my 3GS.
@cirian75
Fail for waiting XD apple is sapping you up
Make it $39.99, and I'll take it.
Epic Fail. Oddly the iPhone TOMTOM app doesn't work in landscape mode as all the dedicated TOMTOM hardware does. It's a nice design, but California and Minnesota prohibit affixing anything to the windshield of a vehicle. Users in these states must use an alternative such as adhesive disks or a bean bag to attach the cradle suction cup to. It doesn't appear you would have room to rotate the cradle 180 and still be able to attach the suction cup to a surface below the phone, due to the offset design. It's strange that TOMTOM would ignore this fact which they are well aware of (it's printed in their manuals) and that Apple would approve an accessory for use with iPhone which cannot be used in one of the two states with their highest concentration of iPhone users. TOMTOM programmers are going to have to modify their software to work in landscape if they want these markets to be able to use this product legally.
Actually, the TomTom app DOES have a landscape mode.
Yeah, sorry, but it IS legal to mount GPS devices to the windshield in California now (Senate Bill 1567). However, a GPS device must be mounted within a 7-inch square area in the lower passenger-side corner of the windshield or in a 5-inch square area in the lower driver-side corner of the windshield.
Never mind. I Read some review that said it didn't, but I see that on their website now that landscape is possible. I also see a picture of the phone upright with the suction cup at the bottom. Still, I wonder why every review shows the phone in portrait mode. It is because the menus don't rotate, only the map does?
Both the menu and the map have landscape mode.
Buy a Garmin with a 4.3" touchscreen for $160 and keep the iphone in your pocket
If you search around you can find one for about $100, if not less.
Would it work with Navigon app?
now the most important question is, what happens when you receive a phone call like you usually would when driving hands-free? would the GPS tracking and tomtom software still go? or will it stop, leaving you stranded until u hang up the call.
will the gps signal get cut if there was a phone call??
One thing this review fails to mention is that instead of having a dock connector pass-through, it has separate audio output mini-jack and mini-usb port for charging. I have a nifty device that connects via the dock connector and provides audio out, power and pause/play/skip forward/back controls. I can't use that with this cradle. Instead I have to have two separate cables running to audio in and power, and I lose the remote functions.
Hey what device is it that you use? Could you post a link?
Are you telling me that this one product doesn't please EVERYBODY??? What the hell is TomTom thinking? (note the sarcasm). This is for some, and not for others.
And for the "just wait for the motorola droid" people, weren't you the "just wait for the palm pre" people as well. Why is it that iPhone haters always have to jump into the forums and point out all of the other phones on the market when that isn't what the discussion is about?
I like the way this mounts and the fact that it has a GPS receiver, speaker phone and a charging dock. I see no other mount come close to its slick implementation. I will wait for the price to go down by about half, before I will buy it.
It is strange that first they made application for iPhone only and not for iPod Touch. For iPod touch which does not have built in GPS it has much more sense?
I like it - so far it's the only iPhone dock I could find that clips all models in one movement and has both sound and charging covered.
I'm looking for an easy hands-free+music solution for my wife's 1st gen iPhone and this may be it...
For those who think its $100 for the app, remember you can activate your account on up to 5 machines. Register a new account and split it amongst 5 friends and you have the tomtom app for $20 each.
The price of the app (even if GPS units alone are more expensive) is what I find super prohibitive. 99 dollars? No thank you!
One question I'm curious about and did not see addressed in the review, is the hardware dock able to accept an iPhone with a case around it or do you need to remove the case for it to fit?
What I want to know is if the iPhone is using its Bluetooth link to talk to the GPS Car Kit, does this stop it from also stop it from using a Bluetooth Handsfree Car Phone kit or Bluetooth headset at the same time? I have a built in Bluetooth handsfree kit in my car, which conveniently kills the radio/CD player when I receive a call, and pumps the phone call out the car speakers. I would not want to loose this functionality. Also, how does the Tomtom app behave when having a phone conversation at the same time? Can both run side by side? If not, then you either have a choice of navigating incommunicado, or chatting to your significant other for half an hour and getting hopelessly lost.
Tomtom navigation already runs on 4G 1st Gen iPhone with bluetooth GPS receiver, if you know how to make it work. ;)
What Tom-Tom should do is give you a redeem code to download your first map for free when you buy the Car Kit. Then, if you need additional maps, you have to pay for it.
It is a lot of money to buy the map and the Car Kit. I think Tom-Tom made a mistake on this one. I am sure they will see that.
" can also rotate 360 degrees freely, but it's detented, so your iPhone won't be spinning around while you do a few donuts on the tarmac. "
WTF is "detented"?
Regardless, the unit DOES spin around. You cant keep it in horizontal position for any length of time. One little bump and it goes back to vertical position. Swivel is way too weak -- add the weight of the wires and it barely stays in horizontal position when in park.
HORRIBLE design flaw.