Samsung YP-N1 Navigation Device Review

Reviewed by Sean, http://goitworld.blogspot.com

A navigation device has become a necessity in the modern era and made our life convenient and safe. Samsung released an intelligent navigation device with easy-to-use interface, stylish design and high technology.

I was quite impressed by the various functions of YP-N1 which is the Samsung’s newest personal navigation device released recently. The significant features are the Bluetooth support, Google’s KML compatibility, TMC for real time traffic and Emoture – a finger gesture UI. YP-N1 focused mainly on navigation and added all necessary features related to navigation. Following is the review of the YP-N1 navigation device.

Packages and Components

First of all, let’s see the components included in the package. The package consists of the personal navigation device, map manager DVD, user’s guide, cradle, suction cup mount, car charger, AC power adapter, TMC antenna, USB cable, and SD card. The detailed TeleAtlas map, one of the reliable and famous maps, was preinstalled in the SD card.

The suction cup was made in Germany and strong enough to hold the personal navigation device. I could easily set up the cradle by moving the mount horizontally and vertically without any problems.

Slim and Stylish Design

As you can see the side view, the upper right shape is slightly curved. The slim line design looks more delicate like a lady’s skinny leg. The slim design and light weight made the device portable, so it was easy to carry while many other devices were too bulky to carry and were not attractive.

The wireless hands-free Bluetooth feature is a must. Using a mobile phone while driving a car is prohibited by law in most countries. The built-in Bluetooth allowed me to receive incoming calls and send outgoing calls. I could easily place a direct call by using POI with only a few clicks on the touch screen. The POI is an abbreviation of Point of Interest which stores various information including telephone numbers about services, transportation, shopping, etc.. I was surprised that I did not have to use my mobile phone to place a call while driving. I used the Bluetooth feature whenever I received or made phone calls. The built-in microphone provided an easy usability. This Bluetooth feature for the mobile phone compatibility was very convenient and safe for driving.

Intelligent Navigation There are three automatic control features: auto zooming, auto sound, and auto brightness control.

The auto zooming feature automatically magnifies (zoom in) the map to provide accurate information when the car approaches an intersection or corner to change the direction. Thus, I was able to see the map in detail when I change the direction. As soon as I turned right or left, the map zoomed out automatically so that I could see road widely. The auto sound feature changes the volume level of the instruction voice automatically depending on how fast my car runs. Higher the speed, higher the volume. The auto brightness control feature changes the LCD’s brightness based on the light brightness. The LCD’s brightness of 540cd and the auto brightness control feature allowed me to read the screen clearly during the day and night.

In addition to the LCD information, I thought that a 4.3” LCD size was not big enough. But I was wrong. Samsung’s 4.3” WQVAG TFT touch screen LCD (480x272 pixels) was wide enough to display all navigation information I needed. This displayed more information than a normal 4:3 ratio screen could do.

Easy-to-Use User Interface

YP-N1 provides an easy-to-use interface. The intuitive menu enabled me to use the various functions conveniently. The menu for finding a location was categorized into family, home, work, favorites, recent locations, POI, and coordinate groups. Using these location groups, I could easily select a destination. When there are many items (locations) on a list, I used either the scroll bar on the right side of the screen, or the Emoture feature to see the next or previous pages on the list. The Emoture feature worked similarly as performing the drag and drop feature provided in Windows.

I could run a full simulation for a specified route path. The current speed, distance and time to the destination displayed on the left side of the screen were helpful information to estimate how long and how far I should drive to the destination. The Turn-by-Turn mode was a useful feature for driving since it simply showed the turning point with distance left.



Realtime TMC Traffic Service & Google KML Compatibility

TMC stands for Traffic Message Channel. YP-N1 uses full advantages of the TMC feature which provides the traffic information in real time. Although TMC and speed camera services are limited in some cities and countries, I could save time by avoiding heavy traffic areas. The safety camera alert made me reduce the speed and saved me some money as well when I approached a location where a speed camera was waiting for me in high speed.

One of the smart features of YP-N1 is the Google KML compatibility. I did not know what KML meant. But I found that KML was a file format that was used to display geographic data in a Earth browser such as Google Maps, Google Earth. I made a KML file including my favorite locations from Google Earth and downloaded the KML file to my YP-N1 device. I could easily search for the locations stored in the KML file from YP-N1.

The personal navigation device, YP-N1, is a mid-range multi-functional navigation device. YP-N1 has the most updated features and is the device that focused mainly on the navigation functionalities. Through the functionality of YP-N1, I could see the effort that Samsung tried to make a masterpiece in the navigation products and tried to become the world best.

Multi-tasking requires a high performance of CPU. YP-N1 used Samsung’s 400MHz S3S2440 chipset and SiRFStar III 20 Channel GPS module. These high performance reliable components enabled YP-N1 to do multi-tasking and support multi functions without problems.

I am pretty satisfied with Samsung’s personal navigation device, and hope other users of YP-N1 love the product.

Reviewed by Sean, http://goitworld.blogspot.com