Simply amazing. That’s pretty much all we can say about MotionX GPS Drive, the iPhone app that not only measures up to its competitors, it flat out trumps most of them and at an eye-popping “wtf!” price. If you’ve been in the market for a GPS app with turn-by-turn voice prompts, then you’ve probably familiar with Magellan’s app for about $60, or the ever popular TomTom at $50. When these apps were released these prices seamed reasonable. As consumers, we’ve been trained that GPS driving applications were an investment and anything under a hundred bucks would be a good bargain. That was until MotionX GPS Drive showed up in the App Store for a mere .99 cents.
The price was so low that we convinced ourselves that the app was probably garbage and couldn’t possibly be any good. But then two weeks ago we found ourselves in a pinch. On our way to ski country with dubious directions and unwilling to part with fistful of Hamilton’s for a brand name GPS app, we threw down a dollar for the MotionX GPS Drive iPhone app. This app blew us away, The directions were accurate, the interface is better than most other onboard GPS systems we’ve tried including those on BMWs and Range Rovers. This amazing little iPhone app provided voice prompts when we needed them, including a much needed gas station at a critical moment during our trip. The graphics are fantastic and work in both portrait and landscape mode. And much to our surprise, the routing information was seamless, even as we passed through AT&T dead zones. Trust us on this one, if you have an automobile and and iPhone, this app is an absolute must-have.
Feature by feature, MotionX GPS Drive keeps pace with with the likes of Tom Tom and Magellan which cost over 50 times as much. It’s true that our expectations were not very high after spending only a dollar for this app, but that feeling went away quickly as we became just as dependent on this app for navigation as we would have from a more expensive version. Whether you paid 1 dollar or 100 dollars, price doesn’t matter as much when you are weary from travel and just need to find good lodging, food or supplies as soon as possible. Even so, why spend the money when you don’t have to? MotionX GPS Drive could very well be the best .99 cent value you can find today in the App Store. Unless you already spent a ton of money on another GPS system for your vehicle, there is no reason why you shouldn’t buy MotionX now.
During our travels with MotionX, we found the maps and locations to be precise. The interface has big buttons for navigating by points of interest and other common stops for any driver. Gas stations, restaurants, hotels, parks, and many more destinations are easily found. And of course, you can also navigation by address.
You might be wondering why you’d need this app when you have a native Google Maps app on your iPhone. Google’s iPhone app is excellent for providing directions and traffic conditions, but you really can’t discover places along your route without knowing exactly what your are looking for. MotionX offers discoverability of locations and it does it all in an simple interface that’s easy to read even while your driving. Fortunately, turn-by-turn voice prompts allow you to keep your eyes on the road.
We did experience one minor snafu with the voice prompts as we entered a roundabout. We went around too quickly and the GPS didn’t catch up in time so the voice command “turn left” should have been “turn right”. For a buck we can let that slide especially since roundabouts are fairly rare in the U.S. However, if you should miss a turn for some reason, MotionX is great about recalculating your route automatically to keep you on track. And in a couple of thousands of miles of testing on various road types, that was the only time MotionX missed a cue. Like any GPS iPhone app, it’ll chew up battery time so be sure you have a charger for your vehicle if you plan any trips over an hour long. Also, a dashboard or windshield mount bracket for our iPhone would have helped keep the map in view, although it wasn’t necessary, at least for us.
Like we said early, this app is packed with features that put it on par with very expensive GPS systems at the rock bottom price of almost nothing. How do they do it? Very smartly, the makers of MotionsX GPS Drive have made the turn-by-turn voice commands a monthly subscription option for $2.99 per month. New users get 30 days of this for free before they have to start paying. If you don’t want to pay, then you still get all the other features of this app for free (after the initial .99 cent app store fee). The great thing about this pricing model is that people who don’t take trips very often can get the voice prompts only when they need it, as opposed to paying $50-100 dollars up front for a feature they might not use very often. For us, 3 bucks a month for voice prompts is totally worth it and we can opt out any time.
We should also warn you about another low cost GPS iPhone app called AT&T Navigator which is listed as free, but it’s actually $10 per month. If you download it and don’t read the fine print, you’ll end up with an extra ten dollar charge on your iPhone bill and they don’t make it easy to opt out of that expense. We had to call AT&T to complain about this after which our next bill was reimbursed for the charge. Granted, the first 30 days of AT&T Navigator is free during a trial period, but let us tell you that even if this app were free for a year, it’s not worth it. It’s a sub-par GPS product priced at $120 per year. A total rip-off, especially compared to MotionX GPS.
Don’t be fooled by the miniscule price of MotionX GPS Drive. This is one of those rare cases where you don’t always get what you pay for, you get so much more. So much more, in fact, you might feel guilty for getting such a high quality iPhone app for practically nothing.
- MotionX GPS Drive – Free [app store]
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