Mio Moov A430 GPS

An entry-level GPS unit with a solid feature set

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The Mio Moov A430 is an entry-level GPS unit with a 4.3in LCD touch screen. It provides a decent selection of features for the asking price, including inbuilt safety alerts, an anti-glare display, optional live traffic updates and a gigabyte of inbuilt memory. It also comes with a generous two-year warranty. While not without its flaws — including an occasionally stubborn interface and an unappealing 3D map — we think the Moov A430 does a pretty good job for a budget GPS. Keep your expectations low and it won’t disappoint.

Pros

  • Good screen quality and speaker volume, impressive feature set, lots of user freedom

Cons

  • No headphone jack/line-out, exhibited some bizarre behavior, it's altogether 'too' Australian

Bottom Line

The Mio Moov A430 isn't a perfect product by any stretch of the imagination, but for the asking price it's hard to go wrong. If you're looking for something cheap to get from A to B, it will definitely get the job done.

Would you buy this?

  • Price

    $ 299.00 (AUD)

To display map data, the Mio Moov A430 uses the NAVTEQ-powered MioMap 2008, which combines Australia-wide road coverage and 12.5 million addresses. The main menu is divided over two separate screens, with separate submenus for each option. All the usual GPS settings are present and accounted for, including POIs (points of interest), favourite destinations, recent locations, a fuel locator, and a Tripmeter tool. If you’re new to GPS technology, the Mio Moov A430 provides an inbuilt tutorial that takes you through all the core functions with explanatory text. This should prove particularly useful for older users who aren't computer-savvy.

When it comes to choosing a destination, the Moov A430 provides an impressive amount of freedom. You can elect to input the postcode, street address, city/area or the nearest intersection — handy if you’re unsure of the exact address. As mentioned, it can also provide live traffic updates via an optional antenna, with congestion areas highlighted on the map. This is something that its predecessor — the Moov 360 — lacked.

During testing, the Mio Moov A430 proved to be a bit of a mixed bag. We weren’t particularly fond of its 3D map. The jerkily moving street labels were distracting at times, and the colour scheme is a bit on the garish side — both in night and day modes. That said, we suppose it gets the job done, and you can always revert to 2D.

On a more positive note, we found the 4.3in widescreen LCD to be of superior quality, especially for a budget model. The anti-glare coating did a reasonable job of deflecting sunlight, while the touch-screen interface remained responsive throughout testing. If we have a reservation, it’s that the screen doesn’t revert back to the map after you’ve dipped into the menu (to adjust the volume, say). This means you’re forced to fiddle around with the touch screen more than is strictly necessary — or safe.

According to Mio, the Moov A430 uses "clear Australian pronunciation" during turn-by-turn guidance. We found it did a fair impersonation of an Aussie accent, especially compared to the mangled cockney hybrids found in some GPS software (stand up CoPilot Live 7). Mind you, it’s also stereotypically broad (e.g. “tern riiiight”), so expect culture-cringe to take hold within the first minute.

Unfortunately, Mio has neglected to include a line-out jack with the Moov A430, which means you’re stuck with the onboard speaker. Thankfully, it’s surprisingly robust for an entry-level GPS unit; we could still hear directions on a busy highway with our windows open (albeit it with a fair amount of distortion).

The Mio Moov A430 proved to be a faithful tour guide for the most part, but there was one exception. When we attempted to travel from a McDonald’s restaurant in Blaxland to a house a few kilometres away, the Moov A430 took us on a curious detour involving a series of backstreets and U-turns (it took us down a stretch of Layton Avenue instead of pulling straight onto the Great Western Highway, for example). When we finally reached our destination, it claimed we still had 800 metres to go. This turned out to be an isolated incident though, which is a bit bizarre. [Maybe it was drunk — Ed.]

The Mio Moov A430 comes bundled with the usual GPS accessories, including a CD of Mio software, an in-car charger and a window mount. The mount is pleasantly compact and it remained glued to our windscreen throughout testing.

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