User Review
( votes)
The MotionX GPS Drive Version is a full-featured GPS Driving Navigation Application for your iphone/ipad and car. How does MotionX stack up against stand-alone GPS Units? How does it stack up against other GPS Navigation Driving Apps for the iPhone? Let’s start with iPhone GPS Apps.
Is MotionX the Best iPhone GPS?
After a recent trip to Texas with the MotionX, I am convinced that the the best iPhone GPS is not necessarily the one that costs the most. I still have a hard time believing that I paid only 99 cents for the MotionX from the iTunes store. Granted, it costs $2.99 a month or $20.00 per year to get the voice, turn-by-turn navigation, but the MotionX GPS is still a bargain when you compare it to other iPhone GPS apps which can cost $79.00 or more, with or without turn-by-turn, voice navigation; google maps, road maps, waypoints, etc…MotionX Drive has been greatly enhanced, upgraded and improved since I first downloaded it over a year ago. You will be hard-pressed to find more features on any other iPhone GPS. The MotionX is loaded with features – and many of them just recently added. Let’s look at a few of the features that impressed me during my recent trip:
- True Turn-by-Turn Voice Guidance
As I mentioned above, for $2.99 a month or $19.99 per year, you get true, turn-by-turn voice guidance. Even better, you now have a choice of voices:
- Two Voice Choices: Both Natural Voice and HD Synthesized Voice
MotionX gives you two options for voice navigation. Previously, only a natural voice was included which was great for pronouncing maneuvers but did not provide you with the actual street names. The new HD Synthesized Voice pronounces the actual street names for you and does it very well. The street names sound exactly like you would expect them to.
- Graphics and Display
MotionX has a beautiful, graphical interface with very accurate street names and road depictions. It works in either Portrait or Landscape mode and takes full advantage of the high-res retna display of the iPhone 4.
- Multi-Stop Routing
Multiple route selection was a feature that was missing in previous versions. This was a welcome upgrade which brings it up to par with other, pricier stand alone GPS units.
- Free Live Traffic Maps
MotionX provides both live traffic and predictive traffic information. That is something even my $200 Magellan GPS doesn’t do.
- Wilkipedia Integration
Look up information, articles, guides and tours as you travel. That’s a pretty slick idea!
- Other Cool Features of the MotionX Drive App
This is by no means an exhaustive list of the features and capabilities of the App. Here are a few more notable features: You can mark your parking place and locate your car by tapping on the screen; mark your places on Facebook; browse for restaurants, shopping, entertainment and services and pull up addresses from your iPhone Contacts List .
How does the MotionX App Compare to the real thing?
So, the MotionX GPS has most of the features and functions of a stand-alone GPS. It has turn-by-turn voice guidance, real-time maps, beautiful graphics, interface and the list goes on. But, none of these features, bells and whistles mean a hoot, if the app doesn’t provide you with instructions that are at least as accurate as a pricey, but tried and proven stand-alone GPS.
MotionX vs. Stand Alone GPS
On my recent trip, I brought my trust, 3-year old Magellan 3225 GPS and so I was able to compare the MotionX against the real thing. The Magellan 3225 might be old, outdated and not have the pretty graphics of the best iPhone GPS but I knew I could rely on it to find my brother’s house out in the country road boondocks of College Station, TX. As expected, the Magellan 3225 took me there without incident. I let the MotionX take me out of the boondocks and guide me to Austin, TX. How did it do? Well, it must not have done too bad, or I wouldn’t be sitting here writing this review: The MotionX GPS Solution got me out of the woods, onto the highways and into Austin, TX. I was also able to find my Hotel, Sight Seeing spots, Restaurant and airport the next morning. It was not without a hitch. There were a couple of times when the MotionX GPS Signal didn’t seem to keep up with my exact location. For instance, on one occasion, my entrance to a highway ramp was not announced by the turn-by-turn voice guidance until a couple of hundred feet after passing it. On these rare occasions, I had to rely on my visual instincts to get me on and off the road at the right time. I think there is a good explanation for this: I do not own a mounting arm for the MotionX GPS, so it may not always be in clear sight of the sky as all GPS instructions recommend. My Magellan sits securely on a mounting arm which is attached to the windshield and is always in clear site of the open sky which quite possibly explains why I have had fewer hiccups with inaccurate directions over the three years I have been using it. Knowing this, I wouldn’t hesitate to spend $20 – $30 for a good mounting arm for the MotionX GPS. I would also not hesitate to use the MotionX GPS again on my very next trip. For the price, the MotionX is the best iPhone GPS, if not the best GPS, period.
MotionX GPS Users: Leave Your Comments
MotionX Drive Update: 08/16/12
Finally, they’ve given me something I always wanted: MotionX Drive Version 14.0 now has a speed limit indicator on the map screen while your driving. Have you ever been driving along and wishing there was a speed limit sign? MotionX Drive gives you a very clear icon on the right hand side of your driving map which not only tells you the speed limit, but your current speed as well. One minor complaint: I noticed that on slower residential streets, with speed limits below say, 30mph, the MotionX Drive App was not displaying a speed limit. Perhaps it only works at 35MPH or above? At any rate, this is the best and cheapest driving GPS application on the market. I honestly have no use for my old, outdated Magellan any more.
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Having used the MotionX GPS a couple of more times since writing this article, I’d like to add a couple of things on my wish list:
Would love to have a speed limit indicator. Most of the inexpensive stand-alone GPS units have that these days. How many times have you been on an highway and wished you had bothered to look at the speed limit sign?
What else should the MotionX GPS have? I think there needs to be a very quick way to disable or mute the volume. Isn’t it embarrassing when you walk into the Grocery store, and your GPS Voice tells you in its very loud female voice: , “Turn Right in 200 Feet” ?
I have more comments on the MotionX GPS, but they are too numerous to mention all at once: Check back soon.
On a recent trip from Texas to Arizona, we decided to give our $200 Garmin a rest and see if the MotionX GPS for the iPhone could handle the task of telling us how to get places, etc. I was hoping the MotionX GPS would do a better job than the Garmin because I like it for it’s features, bells and whistles as well as not having to carry around too many electronic devices. One thing is for sure, you wanna use the DC Lighter charger full time while using the MotionX GPS. You will not get a full day’s travel on a single charge, so keep your adapter in your car at all times. This is not just a shortcoming of the MotionX GPS, but all GPS apps for the iPhone do the same thing. They use a lot of juice.
We experienced the same minor lapses in distance judgment as the author of this article. The MotionX GPS worked great about 95% of the time, but on a few rare occasions it was too soon or too late in telling us where to turn. We didn’t use a mount for the MotionX either, and the unit was placed kind of far back in the dashboard console. I am impressed enough to use the MotionX GPS over the Garmin Nuvi from this point forward and will buy an arm mount for it. Has anyone else tried it this way and has your experience been with accuracy of the MotionX when it’s properly mounted and in clear view of the sky?
Does anyone have any future MotionX GPS upgrades they’d like to see in the near future? Please post your MotionX Wish-List Here:
Here is what I’d like to see:
A Speedometer Indicator on the Map Screen
A Speed Limit Indicator on the Map Screen
One-Touch Toggle between Map and Other Screens
List your MotionX GPS wants and needs here: Maybe someone will listen. 🙂