Bikeradar - The world is for riding

The buzz around the Active 10 is that this is the latest 'must-have' hand-held GPS navigation device.

It certainly ticks many of the right boxes: big 3.5in colour screen, a solid shock-proof case, weather proofing, robust and reusable bar mount and – first and foremost in our opinion – it displays the unsurpassed Ordnance Survey (OS) mapping.

Keep pressing the Zoom In button and you'll focus closer on, and then through each scale of map to the more detailed one below; from UK road map (whole of UK except northern Ireland provided as standard) through to road cyclists' favourite OS Landranger maps, then through again to the incredibly detailed Explorer maps.

Having these maps in your pocket or on your bike's bars will transform any ride, or walk for that matter, and the digital map package we tested with the unit (the Cotswolds National Park Series) equates to a veritable bag-full of paper map equivalents.

Once you get used to the button and menu navigation – not helped by initially stiff buttons – the Active 10 is turn on and go. The unit is stand alone, so no need for a personal computer to get the best out of it, and your chosen mapping is on a removable SD memory card.

The good news is that Satmap assures us that new 'Satsync' routes transferring software will be available by the time you read this, which will both give access to an online route sharing community and let you transfer routes and data between the unit and your PC.

Initially we had battery life worries when using standard cheap AA batteries with the unit. These issues disappeared completely when we started using the rechargeable battery pack which is available as an optional extra.

At the same time as we started using the rechargeable battery, we also upgraded to an improved operating system – one with apparently better power management – so which had the greater effect is still up for debate. Suffice to say battery life was no longer an issue!

For my money, the only rival to the Active 10 is Viewranger's 'smartphone' based navigation and route tracking software, as it uses OS maps in much the same way. Unlike my smartphone though, the Active 10 is a shockproof, waterproof, bar-mountable unit with a very big, easy to read screen.

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