The term GPS backtracker is quite new – usually referring to small handheld GPS devices dedicated to routing you back to a waypoint you’ve marked. This could simply be the spot you parked your car, your favorite camping site, or even the spot where your buried the body in the middle of desert. This is nothing an advanced GPS device can’t do but it’s nice to have a small easy to use GPS handheld for the job. You could even claim your smartphone can get the job done – but good luck with that battery life. Since acquiring GPS signal usually eats up a lot of power your Android/iPhone may be out of out juice within the first hour of your adventure. You might as well keep the last 5 minutes of your battery life to record a voice message for your loved ones.
But anyhow – back to GPS X-Guider. First thing you’ll notice with this GPS device is its simplicity. Simple menus, only two buttons, but still a lot of features.
Hardware
We’re not sure what kind of GPS receiver chip is in this GPS back tracker but we’re happy with it. Out of the box (cold start) it took less than a minute to get a satellite fix and after that it was literally seconds for GPS X-Guider to figure out where it is.
GPS X-Guider is super light. Without the two AAA batteries it pretty much weighs nothing – really good if you’re anal about how much weight you’re taking with you. The batteries actually add some needed weight – so it feels good to hold. Speaking of battery life; all we can say is that it is really decent. After 3 days of on and off review it still has one bar left but we’re never patient enough to actually run it out completely and give you a specific number. The manual claims 16 hours of straight use. And you can always carry spare batteries with you.
The screen is not very exciting but it gets the job done without wasting power. It is definitely sunlight readable and when it is dark out the neo blue backlight comes in handy and makes it a pleasure to use GPS X-Guider.
GPS X-Guider comes with a really durable silicon case that fits tightly and makes it IPX6 water resistant. Pressing the buttons with the case is still very easy; so no worries there. There’s also neck strap / lanyard in the case so it is ready to attach to your backpack or put around your neck.
Software
Software of GPS X-Guider is very comprehensive. It lets you organize your theme destinations, back tracing way points, route plans, and the tracks you’ve logged. One side of the window is the options we listed and the other pane is live Google Maps. You can drag, zoom, switch between map, satellite, hybrid views just like you’d in your browser. If you don’t like the software for some reason you can always export your tracks to other formats which include KML, GPX, and NMEA.
Say you’re planning a trip: the software even allows you to name each point on your route so you know which waypoint you’re headed to. To be more specific you can call your waypoints as such: “1)car park, 2)trail head, 3)good place for pics, 4)cross over creek here, etc etc”.
Firmware
When we say firmware we’re talking about the menus and options that are actually on the device itself. There’s isn’t much to say here. Once you get used to it is pretty easy to navigate around.
One screen shows the time that gets set automatically using your position and satellite time. Another screen shows compass; arrow pointing north, and the smaller arrow around the edge pointing to your destination. Another screen is the speedometer; which also includes the direction of your destination. In the actual guider you’ll get a giant arrow pointing to where you need to head, and the name of your next waypoint. And then there’s the trip info screen which shows details such as speed, odometer, distance, altitude, etc. Like we said; small device packed with features.
Long story short we found GPS X-Guider to be a very handy and inexpensive hanheld GPS back tracker. We do recommend it. You can grab one at GPS X-Guider for $109. Good deal.
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