What's It For?
We first tested the Satmap Active 10 GPS almost a year ago, this is a follow-up to our original test, since Satmap has upgraded the unit several times since then. Essentially it's an outdoors-specific GPS unit that shows your track, direction of travel and exact position on an on-screen Ordnance Survey map.
It can be used either in conjunction with mapping software or web sites or as a stand-alone unit which you can use to plan and record routes and see route statistics like distances, speeds, height gain on screen. Or you can do both.
The Techy Bits
Since the Active 10 launched originally, Satmap has made a number of changes to the unit to improve performance. These, along with any future updates, are downloadable from the Satmap web site. Quite a few are based on user-feedback from both customers and testers including OM.
We won't detail all the changes, but one of the most crucial is a significantly improved power consumption. Essentially the unit now calls on the GPS signal far less often which reduces power consumption at a stroke meaning you no longer need to eke out battery life by juggling power settings. Which is really what you need to know.
We've also been using the optional £44 Power Bundle which comprises a rechargeable Lithium Polymer battery and various charging options - mains, can and USB.
The hardware remains basically the same, but there have a been a raft of software changes to make the Active 10 easier to use. They include a new, blue circular GPS position indicator complete with a direction indicator, the ability to switch inactive routes off so they don't clutter the screen and - one of our fave changes - a confirmation for the power off function, so it's nearly impossible to switch off the unit accidentally and spoil your track, which happened to us several times.
On top of those changes, the screen now updates and zooms in and out faster and more smoothly than originally, the OS grid reference is now in 10-figure format, map scales are displayed continuously during zooming.
How It Performed
We've been using the Active 10 for about a year now and while Garmin's new units with OS mapping and Viewranger on Smart Phones, do have some similarities, it's still our favourite GPS unit by some way. Not only has the one-off outdoors friendly design survived some proper thrashing, it now works even better than originally with an intuitive interface.
Battery life is now much improved, but we'd suggest that if you're investing in an Active 10, you bit the bullet and invest in a rechargeable Power Pack. The Lithium Polymer cell replaces the 3 x AA tray and together with improved software, means you no longer need fret about battery life.
Upgrades to the software have helped too and the faster, smoother zooming and in particular, the new location icon complete with direction of travel arrow, has made routes easier and more intuitive to follow.
And because you can use the Active 10 as a standalone unit with join the dot on screen route-clicking planning, it means you're not dependent on mapping software run on a computer to plan routes - great if you're on an extended trip and your plan change.
And it's still great being able to review a comprehensive Trip Log on screen together with elevation chart and pretty much any other stats you might want to see. It's now also easier to re-set as well.
There are down sides still. The screen can he hard to read in direct sunlight, moisture tends to get behind the replaceable polycarbonate screen protector, though it just sits there harmlessly rather than doing anything bad and, if you already own OS mapping in another format, you'll need to buy it again in Satmap format. To be fair, that's more a fault of the OS digital mapping licence, but it's still annoying and potentially expensive.
The mapping itself is affordable if you stick to 1:50,000 scale - you can buy all the UK's national parks on one SD card for £39.14 for example - but the Premium National Park maps with both 1:50,000 and 1:25,000 maps of the same area are £98 or so per park, though they work brilliantly with a seamless shift between scales.
And while the screen is big enough to use for navigation, it's harder for planning purposes. Satmap has an online route planner due out shortly, but for now, you have the choice of either planning on the unit with a paper map for a bigger perspective or using mapping software or an online routes site to download a GPX file to the Active 10.
Finally, the promised support for Apple Macintosh users still hasn't materialised though Satmap says they are working hard on it. That means Mac users either have to rely on the GPS as standalone unit or dual boot into Windows to upload or download .GPX files and software updates.
Verdict
The series of rolling updates to the Active 10 have improved it significantly. Battery life is now much better, some irritating glitches in the interface have gone and touches like the direction arrow on the GPS position icon simply make routes easier to navigate.
We find the user interface intutive and easy to use, the screen is big enough to make the excellent OS mapping useable and functions like zooming in and out are faster and smoother than when Satmap first launched.
And so far we've found the unit robust enough to put up with all sorts of outdoors abuse from muddy Peak mountain biking through to soaking wet walks.
If you want a pure outdoors navigational device that gives you an exact fix on your position on a familiar OS map, then it's hard to beat. Online route planning and Mac compatibility would improve things still further. And we like the absence of gimmicks and frills. The best GPS we've used for pure navigtion purposes.
Buy if... you want a robust outdoors navigational device with the ability to display tracks, routes and your position using real OS mapping. Self-contained software and planning capabilities also make it a versatile option for longer trips when you can use it without needing to cart a lap-top around with you.
