When comparing HERE vs Be-on-road (Offline Maps & Navigation), the Slant community recommends HERE for most people. In the question“What are the best GPS navigation apps for Android?” HERE is ranked 2nd while Be-on-road (Offline Maps & Navigation) is ranked 10th. The most important reason people chose HERE is:
HERE maps allows users to download maps from more than 200 countries.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Wider availability of downloading maps from various countries
HERE maps allows users to download maps from more than 200 countries.
Pro Interactive 3D maps
There are interactive 3D maps for shopping areas and airports for 70 different countries around the world.
Pro Find places near you
You can find places to shop, eat, and almost anything with HERE.
Pro SD card support
Pro Voice-guided navigation
HERE has voice-guided turn by turn direction built into the app and is even usable when offline.
Pro Save maps for offline use
HERE allows users to save maps to their devices storage in order to allow offline usage of the app anytime.
Pro Has multilevel floor layouts for many airports and large shopping centers
Many airports and large buildings have an icon on them which, when tapped, opens up a 3D view of the floor plan with labelled locations of services, shops & transport etc. Includes an index for selecting each level of the building.
Pro Great smartwatch companion app
Excellent companion app allows navigation from your paired Samsung Gear S3 smartwatch. Has clear turn-by-turn instructions, vibration alerts at intersections, and zoomable location map (using rotating bezel). (Smartwatch app works with phone app and is not standalone).
Pro Includes public transport routing & schedules
Has train, ferry, bus etc. routes and schedules for many cities. The routes are overlaid on actual maps (spatially correct, vs the typical simplified diagrams of public transport networks) which I find reassuring and useful when exploring new locations. Also shows the schedules for next few services for any given station/stop. I'm not sure how accurate the schedules are though - they were incomplete for the small town where I live, but seemed more complete for major cities.
Pro Offline transit and walking directions
HERE is probably the only offline navigation app which has transit directions and walking directions when offline.
Pro Display of speed and (current) speed limit
If exceeding the current speed limit by more than 10km/h, the current speed display turns red.
Pro Display of next speed limit change
When routing you can see the next speed limit traffic sign displayed, so you can better estimate when to release the right pedal to drive more efficiently.
Pro Easy to set up map data
It is easy to select for which country to download the maps initially.
Pro Navigation-orientated interface
Easy to select target(s), easy definition of home/work addresses, clear interface while navigating.
Pro Smooth update of the display while driving
Pro Good display of lanes to use
e.g. on Autobahn exits.
Cons
Con GPS location is inaccurate
Con Map file size
Map downloads are huge in size, ranging from a few hundred megabytes, to a couple of gigabytes, depending on the size of the map being downloaded. Luckily, the app can be set to store them on external SD memory.
Con Does not provide lane guidance
Con Needs quite some time to recalculate and select an alternative route
When intentionally driving a different than the suggested street, it tries a long time to get you back onto the initially suggested route though alternatives would be faster and shorter.
Con Speed limits often are incomplete or outdated
Con Outdated map data
Con Unclear what map data source is used
If it would use Open Street Map data, it would add the option to fix something, e.g. the speed limits, yourself.
Con No routing options
E.g. there is no option to configure average speed values to use for certain kind of streets.