It is no longer enough for a satellite-navigation device to get a person from A to B, it must now also look good and make a statement when placed in the front of a car.

Some sat navs do this by coming in a variety of colours, others offer the ability to display pictures from a memory card, and then there are some, like the Mio Digiwalker C320, which make their mark just by looking slick.

The Mio C320 is a sleek-looking, black unit that houses a clear and bright 4.3in touch-sensitive widescreen. The screen can be split into two, giving users the option to have the route displayed on one side while viewing speed, time, points of interest or route information on the other. It's something that may come in handy for those who don’t want to have to navigate out of the journey planner to view those details.

The C320 uses a fast and accurate GPS receiver, which can pick up satellite signals at a decent rate, but since this chip is common among navigation units nowadays, we didn’t notice much of a difference when we turned the device on.

Once it has found a signal and the driver or passenger has entered the destination, the C320 will bring up a good range of route-planning options, including bypassing major roads, or taking scenic routes. There is a handy name-and-number section, when looking for points of interest, which displays the contact details of restaurants and other places in the area.

It calculated journey times and mileage fairly accurately, although it felt at some points like the device believed we were driving a tractor – for instance, calculating that a one-mile journey would take 20 minutes.

Unlike some other GPS devices, the C320 only comes with one choice of voice, which is only good news for those who like listening to posh male butlers. Nevertheless, the voice is clear and the directions comprehensive, pointing out things like mini roundabouts in plenty of time. It doesn't come with any kind of traffic or speed camera information, which is a disappointment in a relatively expensive device, but the extended journey planning features and the device's good looks go some way to making up for this.

Vista compatible: N/A