Navi XXL
by Volker Weber
Axel recently asked me whether the Lenovo Yoga Tab 3 Pro has a GPS. And indeed, it does have one. That is usually a feature that comes with the mobile network modem. Devices that have 3G/4G access come with GPS, those without don't. The Yoga Tab 3 Pro is a an exception to this rule. But is it any good? I had to try this out.
Yesterday we were driving to meet up with @micspehr and he lives out in the the countryside, where I needed some assistance to get there. Of course, the car has built-in navigation, but it was also an opportunity to try out the Yoga. Before we left, I opened Google Maps and downloaded the map I needed. This has become pretty straightforward. Tap on the hamburger button, select offline maps and add a new area. The download was quick and we were ready to go. I could also have used HERE, but that was not already installed.
GPS acquisition was quick although I had turned it off before. Without network connectivity (and thus A-GPS) the Yoga had to get the almanach from the GPS satellite but it had no difficulty doing that. It lead us to the destination on a quick route that was 6 km shorter than what the car suggested. I was even able to mount the device by sticking its kickstand into the glove compartment slot. Power wasn't needed since the Yoga can stay on for up to 18 hours.
So, it indeed does work. However, in offline mode you have no information about current events. You don't know what is going on ahead of you, you cannot avoid traffic. It's like a blast from the past when we had PNDs from TomTom that were not connected. Today, your smartphone can do better.
