When we tested the Ease in the urban canyons of San Francisco, the tiny little GPS device held fast to our location, even in known GPS trouble spots. The Ease performed rather well during our testing, tracking our location on single-lane mountain roads and with heavy tree coverage. TomTom's Home software is where the updates for these services are downloaded/uploaded it also manages points of interest, custom routes, and map updates. The Ease also features TomTom's IQ Route's technology, which uses historical anonymous speed data to create time-sensitive routes, and TomTom's Map Share free user-generated map corrections network. Starting with the text-to-speech engine, the Ease will read street names aloud when giving turn-by-turn directions. Clicking anywhere in the map area returns the user to the home menu.Įven though the Ease is TomTom's entry-level navigation device, it still benefits from some pretty advanced features. Along the bottom edge are information fields for speed, direction, destination information, etc. In the upper corners are buttons for zooming in and out of the map. The live navigation map doesn't differ much in aesthetic from other TomTom devices. Clicking options brings up device options and, subsequently, advanced options the Done button returns to the live navigation map. The Help button brings up the 'Where am I?' menu that displays your current location and nearest cross streets, as well as quick links for phone numbers and driving directions to the nearest emergency services. The day/night button manually switches between the Ease's color schemes. On the main screen's submenu, the Sound icon only serves to mute or unmute the Ease's audio volume control is located in a completely different menu. The home screen also features a row of five smaller options for sound, day/night mode, help, options, and done. The Ease, on the other hand, features a home screen with two main options: Plan route and Browse map. Previous TomTom devices dump the user onto a home screen with six or more options. The Ease's home menu has been dramatically simplified, versus the standard TomTom interface on the One. However, the biggest change to the TomTom Ease happens beneath the surface. We also found the device's small half-inch speaker and a pinhole reset button. Beneath the shell, we were surprised to find a removable lithium ion battery. First, the EasyPort mount is removed from the back of the unit and then the shell is simply pushed off of the device and replaced. Changing the shell is a rather simple process. Ours was a black unit, but TomTom will be making replacement shells in a variety of colors for users who'd like a bit more flair. The Ease is available in three housing colors: black, white, and red.

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