This is my initial review of my new boys toy/outdoor gym assistant. This was a risk buy as not much feedback around on the web, nonetheless I went ahead anyway and purchased the OS Aventura to replace my Satmap Active 12 device. This was in part due to the large reduction in price during the 2020 January sale. My Aventura arrived very promptly along with some very clear and easy to follow instructions. However, upon trying to download some 1:25,000 tiles, I encountered an error, and was unable to download them whether using Firefox or Internet Explorer the fault was the same. This took a couple of days to resolve, the customer service team kept me up to date with the delay, so I can say their customer service is good, the fault was then resolved quickly.
The process of downloading multiple map tiles is a time consuming exercise and could do with some improvement.
The initial impression of the device has a feel that it is well built and indeed rugged - time will tell. It is not too heavy with the battery fitted, it has a fairly good balance and sits well in my hand.
The locking screw for the battery compartment could do with a quarter or half turn screw as it is a bit finicky without gloves, I can't imagine trying it with gloves. That said, the battery does have a long usage life, so I can’t imagine having the need to change the battery out in the field, providing I set out with a reasonable amount of charge in the battery. I have bought a spare battery, but with the long usage of the battery, I doubt I will need to use it. However, the dust cover for the USB socket is very small and not attached. It is very easy to lose which I have done a couple of times when loading the maps! - Improvement to these in future versions would be helpful, in the case of the latter this would be very helpful.
It would also be helpful if there was a means to fit a lanyard or some sort of securing clip direct to the device for ease of access and carrying securely - it is a lot of money to accidentally lose by dropping whilst scrambling or on a ridge walk.
Maybe OS will build/make available an accessory attachment that can be securely fitted to the device to support either a lanyard or a clip to reduce the risk of losing it, such as falling from your hand when on a windy wet mountain scramble/ridge climb with freezing cold wet hands. It would be saddening to accidentally drop it down a crevice or on a steep hillside and then not being able to retrieve it.
There is no 'breadcrumb' feature, if there is I haven't found it. This was a nice feature on my old Garmin and on my Suunto watch,
though there was only one occasion where I needed to use it (when visibility fell due to cloud cover descending), it was a nice piece of mind feature which alarmed if I went off track. Maybe OS can consider this in future updates/versions. That said the route displays well on the screen with good accuracy, and it is easy to follow back to a previous point or start.
Navigating the various menus either using the buttons or touch screen is very simple and easy to use. Each menu page is easy to read with a good size font. The screen brightness and display sleep time is easy to change and the wake up is very responsive with no delay, another plus over my previous Garmin and SatMap devices.
Carrying the device in my pocket, bearing in mind the touch screen is still active when the device is asleep, this was not a problem. I took the device out of my pocket with gloves on a couple of occasions to check my position, there was no accidental rubbing of the screen that interfered with the recording of my journey. This feature I am very happy with.
Two clicks of the menu button puts you on the compass screen which gives bearing and grid reference which is very easy to read. There does not appear to be a requirement to calibrate the compass, a big plus over my SatMap. Comparing the compass to my Silva compass, it is very accurate.
From the My Activities tab on the main menu, you can access your tracks, which gives you a very good range of different data, distance, altitude, speed, map analysis, stop times, movement times, etc. From the General tab, you can name and add descriptions, which is very easy to do via the qwerty keyboard, a very nice feature, and much easier than it was on my old Garmin and SatMap devices.
When switching on it takes about 40 seconds to boot up and load the maps ready for use, which is just a wee bit quicker than my Satmap 12. The touch screen compared when comparing it to that of a mobile phone or computer screen, has a very very slight jerky delay when reacting, it is not an issue. This feature is not surprising as it is a transflective screen, the payoff is that you can use a stick, pen or stylus or anything similar to move around the screen and access the menus, which in my opinion is a very good trade off, especially when cold and wearing gloves, something that you can't easily do with most mobile phones. The joystick is very responsive, and the buttons are easy to operate with gloves.
Am I sorry I bought it NO.
Value for money - I think so, a replacement of a basic SatMap Active 12 would be £270.00 (the map cards are expensive, but I already have them), or upgrade to SatMap Active 20 at £440.00 with full 1:25k UK coverage. Compare these to the Aventura RRP of £500.00 which was reduced to £370.00 hence I bought it at this more reasonable price. I did get 12 free map tiles, with further 1:25k tiles available at £5.00 each, though some are £3 and others £4. With my 12 free tiles, I bought 18 further tiles at a cost of £60 which gives me full coverage of the whole of the Peak District, North Yorkshire and East Yorkshire areas. This is a lot cheaper than buying map cards for my SatMap. Which means I only need to buy those tiles that I need, and I can spread the cost of buying map tiles. But I can still buy the whole of the UK if I need them, as and when I can afford it. This in my opinion is an excellent feature option – a very big plus over my previous devices – I like this a lot.
Would I recommend it to others, from initial impressions, YES definitely. I am yet to put the device through its paces and give it a full test. of all its features, as I have only used it the once on a short walk. But so far I’m very impressed and very pleased I bought it.
