But not too long ago, devices like the were the kings of the road. I recently picked one up at a car boot sale for a fiver, and I couldn’t resist plugging it in to see how "old school" navigation holds up today.

2/5 stars for daily use. 4/5 stars for retro tech nostalgia.

Mio promised free map updates for the life of the device. The catch? "Life of the device" usually means until Mio stops supporting it. Spoiler: They stopped supporting the M614 LM years ago. The last official map update was likely around 2015-2016.

Have you ever owned a Mio GPS? Let me know in the comments below!

If you try to update it today, the MioMore Desktop software (which runs on Windows 7—good luck) will probably tell you the server is offline. Boot-up time is slow. Grab a coffee while it finds satellites.

Let’s be honest: In the age of Google Maps, Waze, and Apple CarPlay, a dedicated Personal Navigation Device (PND) feels a bit like finding a payphone or a DVD rental store.

But as a collector’s item or a backup for a rural road trip where the roads haven't changed since 2010? It’s a charming, clunky reminder of a simpler time—when getting lost was a real possibility, and "recalculating" was the most stressful sound in the car.