We have tested for you Tom Tom's great little satellite navigator, the VIO.
A small round screen that replicates smartphone information: the result is the practical Tom Tom Vio, a navigator for scooter e motorcycle that installs in minutes and resists falls and bad weather. A trusted friend for getting around in traffic, especially if you don't know the city.
Vio is not a real Tom Tom navigator, but it is a sort of external monitor which, synchronized with the smartphone, works as a navigator.
The smartphone is kept in your pocket, is used to manage configuration, route and stopping points, the round display hooks onto the handlebar and integrates an additional GPS antenna, battery and a small speaker for voice commands. A complete system, adaptable to any smartphone and equipped with a dedicated software with cartography included: on balance, the 169 euros of Vio's price list are not such an excessive request, because a good smartphone support costs 60/70 euros and the software Tom Tom is not free. If you calculate that with Vio the impact on the smartphone battery is much better, the expense is worth the money if you need a navigator for the scooter.
Vio is a round disk that almost looks like an additional mirror: the supplied supports allow it to be mounted, oriented, both on the knob (but not the gas one) and on the stem of a mirror if this is thin. It is obviously suitable for a scooter and designed for city mobility, but it could very well also be adapted to motorcycles as we did, around half a mile. Italy.
The screen is clear, very bright and legible even in very strong ambient light: at maximum brightness the autonomy is about 5 hours, with USB charging hidden behind a rubberized flap. Tom Tom has thought of an IPX7 level of protection, not so much for a possible immersion in water as for the possibility of driving rain.
Thanks to the rubberized edge and the silicone cover protection, the screen and the whole system are definitely safe. The screen can be used with the i gloves being touch, but honestly during the test we never considered it necessary to interact with the device. However, you can choose the quick destinations stored.
Just an Allen key and a few screws to tighten to install the navigator on the scooter: positioning is very simple, the supplied bracket allows you to reach every angle of rotation and total freedom in positioning. The grip is firm, and thanks to the 90 ° release lock, inserting or removing the Vio from the holder is child's play. The risk, and we have experienced it ourselves, is that we forget to have it hooked, leaving the scooter parked with the Vio on board: putting the smartphone in your pocket comes naturally, removing the Vio, perfectly integrated with the passenger compartment, a little ' less.
The guided configuration takes a few seconds, the only thing to do is to download the map of the desired area: all the European cartography is included. Once this is done, you are ready to go: just choose and configure some basic options, search for the destination on your smartphone and start navigation.
Once the navigation has started, you can also put your smartphone in the glove compartment or in your pocket, no longer needed: if you receive a phone call, the sender is displayed on the Vio screen and, with a handsfree, you can answer without problems in case. The only problem encountered was a disconnection which was fixed without even stopping, simply by turning the small device off and on again.
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