Do you want a dedicated GPS unit, or a navigation app on your smartphone?

We recommend any unit or app that is currently available and scores 80% or more overall.

This CHOICE Expert Rating is made up of: find an address (25%), ease of use (20%), verbal instructions (20%), screen quality (15%), points of interest for GPS units (10%) and map refresh speed (10%) scores. Points of interest assessment is not conducted on apps. Remaining weighting is evenly distributed among the rest of the scores.

Our tester selects various regional and city locations, and performs two sets of distance calculations for each location. The total of the predicted distances is calculated; the more accurate the predicted distance (compared to a reference map) the better the score. Note: models and apps tested before 2021 used different regional locations.

We assess how useful the GPS's instructions are, how easy it is to attach and remove the unit and whether it vibrates during travel. We look at how easy it is to use the menu structure on the touchscreen and, where supplied, whether it's necessary to use a stylus to navigate the menu.

We assess the quality of the voice, timing of turn and other instructions, how clear the instructions are, and whether it's possible to rely on verbal instructions without looking at the screen.

We assess map readability, including route and road clarity, as well as text size; visibility in a bright setting/daylight; and visibility in low light/at night. Extra points are also awarded if the unit automatically activates dimming when driving through a tunnel.

Assesses ease of use in finding a point of interest in a dedicated GPS unit. High-scoring units have clear categorisation of locations such as caravan parks, hospitals and public transport stops. Point of interest assessment is not conducted on apps. Remaining weighting is evenly distributed among the rest of the scores.

Our tester checks how long it takes the GPS to recover after a missed turn, and after coming out of a tunnel, with a planned turn-off immediately after the tunnel exit.

We changed the regional locations used in our "find an address" assessment in 2021, which is why we've noted the year of each test. Though results for models tested before 2021 are very similar, they are not directly comparable (strictly speaking).

'Tested' means you ought to be able to find this in shops or online. 'Discontinued' means you may have trouble finding this product as it's an older model, however you may find it online either locally or overseas.

The recommended retail price or cost of the app on the App Store/Google Play Store. Some app pricing is recurring – see product pages for more info.

Whether or not the price is recurring. We quote the price for a full year's subscription, but some products have multiple subscription options with different pricing (yearly, half-yearly, monthly, etc.).

Map automatically orients in landscape and portrait modes when the smartphone is rotated (apps only).

This feature allows you to read street names or destinations and have the GPS unit find it for you. Some work more effectively than others.

This feature allows you to set a route based on roads that do not demand a toll.

A nice feature if you don't need to get to your destination in a hurry, or if you want to avoid an incident on the highway.

Set route using touchscreen.

Includes public transport as part of the navigation options. Handy if you can't or don't want to drive the entire route (this feature does not include timetables).

Alerts the driver to upcoming speed cameras.

TTS stands for 'text to speech'. It will tell you to 'turn left into George Street' rather than simply 'turn left in 300 metres'. While most of the car GPS apps also have novelty voices such as Darth Vader or Homer Simpson, these voices can't perform this task yet so you have to cope with the computer generated voice if you want this very handy feature.

TTS stands for 'text to speech'.

Some devices allow you to take and make phone calls using the Bluetooth connection between the device and your smartphone.

Alerts you to traffic hold-ups as they're happening. Some models like the most expensive TomTom have an embedded SIM chip that uses any available mobile network to gather live traffic information access. An alternative is for the car GPS device to access live traffic by pairing with your smartphone via Bluetooth. The final option is via radio using SUNA traffic information, providing live feeds of traffic from motoring traffic authorities.

Allows you to download maps prior to travel in order to navigate with your smartphone offline (apps only).

Supports microSD storage expansion.