Review of the Mio Technology H610 Sat Nav

Just the words ‘aimed at women’ get my back up (and I’m sure I’m not alone on this), so when I heard Mio had designed the H610, a sat nav device especially for the ‘female species’ I couldn’t get hold of it quick enough.

Design

Rumours had it that the new Mio H610 was going to come with a large false-nail friendly screen and mirror, but when I got it out of the box it became obvious the rumours were fictitious.  The most feminine thing about the Mio H610 is the teeny design.  Measuring just 22 x 60 x 87 mm and weighing 166g, it’s smaller than, but weighs slightly more than an average mobile phone.  The touch screen dominates the entire device, with just a tiny LED power light at the top left corner.  The device comes with three removable and very girly frames to accessorise it to go with your outfit.  One is white with a silver floral design, one is a lilac with darker lilac and blue flowers and one is plain white.  All frames have the Mio Digi-Walker logo at the top, and clip on easily without having to apply too much pressure.  A button at the top releases the frame, but once you’ve pressed the release button you’ll need a fingernail to slide in the back to pop the frame off.  Between the front and back of the device is a silver coloured metal frame which houses the SD/MMC card slot, reset button, lock/unlock slide key, mini USB connection, wrist strap hole, headphone jack, user defined key, and a power button.  The entire back part is white with a car antenna connector and speaker.  The Mio H610 comes with a cradle and windscreen connector for in-car installations.  We really liked the white leather pouch included with the H610, but being white we imagined it wouldn’t stay clean for long, so we gave it a black mark test which it handled well, wiping clean with a wet cloth.  From the opinion of a woman who loves to accessorize, the Mio H610 is a truly gorgeous addition any handbag. 

Just like a woman, the H610 is a sat nav device with many other qualities giving it the functionality to do lots of things at once.  Not only will it get you to where you want to go, the H610 will play music, videos, view photos, and organise you at the same time.  It really is a mini Personal Assistant in the palm of your hand.  For its primary use, it has Mio Map 3.0 software which provides directions, speed camera warnings, roadworks and traffic jams for up to 24 European countries.  It has thousands of points of interests which is perfect if you’re in a different city and need to find a place to eat or stay.  We had expected to see beauty salons or fashion-police stations on here, but unfortunately not.  It’s important to mention that in order to receive traffic updates you’ll need to buy an additional antenna and subscribe to the service.  Catering to your needs other than location and destination, the Mioplayer allows you to listen to your favourite downloaded tunes, view photos or watch videos.  The software CD included in the box downloads the transfer screen immediately, giving you the chance to listen to music within 5 minutes of getting the H610 out of the box.  Once the software is uploaded, all you need to do is connect the H610 via the included USB cable, and then you’ll see a menu which splits into two boxes, from here all you do is choose the file, click the arrow to transfer the file, and hey presto it’s on.  When the H610 is connected you’ll see a USB symbol of the screen, when this is showing, it will not perform any other requests.  Videos and photos are transferred just as easily in the same way.  Other features that I immediately fell in love with were the dangerously addictive games, of which there are five, and the Worldmate.  Now, this is where the personal assistant kicks in, and offers services that every girl would love.  For example there is a packing list, which is divided into editable categories, to this list you can choose to add, delete and edit.  The currency converter and world weather updates come in handy when hitting the shops on a jolly!  One feature that probably wouldn’t get used much is the contact directory, as most people use their mobile phones, it seems pointless to store addresses and telephone numbers on a device which can’t be used to communicate with. 

After handling what now seem like humongous devices from TomTom and Garmin, getting the H610 out of the box was a breath of fresh air.  However, a couple of weeks ago I reviewed the Mio C250 with the same unfriendly and difficult-to-use software.  The H610 requires a 5 second hold of the power button before the start-up screen appears for approximately 8-10 seconds.  Once it has whirred into action, the iconic menu system offers options including travel kit, miomap, contacts, settings, games and Mioplayer.  With the H610 being a sat nav device primarily I immediately went to add my home address, etc.  The first thing I noticed was how cramped the on-screen keypad is.  The keys are tiny and narrow, and my fingers are too, so anyone with average sized fingers would really struggle.  A colleague mentioned that a stylus would be better to guarantee precision and less incorrect key presses.  The wrist strap comes with a tab with two little stylus nibs sticking off it, but the whole strap gets in the way as it's leather.  Apart from that, all the usual Miomap 3.0 moans are still in existence I’m afraid.  The menu interface is horrible, and confusing to use and navigate.  In this stage in the technological age there is no excuse for paper-based instruction booklets.  The device should be easy-to use with on-screen instructions to guide the user.  Miomap confuses, irritates and if it wasn’t a sat nav device – I’d tell it to go and get lost.  Once the software has grown on you, if that is possible, you will find the sonic ability is basic but fab, both powerful and clear, but lacks any sort of advanced bass or treble. 

Mio H610 Device

Cigarette Lighter Car Charger

USB cable

AC Adapter with European and UK socket adapters

Earphones with forward and rewind, play pause and stop buttons and clip

Device holder

Windscreen Mount

Neckstrap

Wriststrap with stylus tab

Two additional frames

Carry Case

Application CD

Usual Warranty Details

Mio has completely raised the satellite navigation standards in terms of design, portability for women and optional functionality with the Mio H610 Sat Nav system, but has let itself down by not providing a more user friendly software.  If only TomTom would design a similar ‘girly’ device with their user-friendly software, there would be happy women going in all the right directions.