Navman Qube 300 Review | A Crude And Bulky GPS Tracker

Navman is a well-known brand when it comes to GPS, so you’d naturally assume that the Navman Qube 300 would be one of the better systems out there.

The most common Navman GPS tracker unit I’ve seen here in NZ is Qube 300. It’s a big unit so I was expecting it to be packed with features.

The first challenge is that Teletrac Navman website does not provide any decent information about the hardware.

Here is the official Teletrac Qube 300 page.

Testing the Navman Qube 300

Word is starting to get out that I’m testing these, so a quick thank you to Brent for sending the unit to me. I was told it was a tidy installation which makes a change!

Where is the Navman GPS manufactured?

There is a sticker on the back of of the unit that states it is assembled in China. The unit is a Cal/Amp CB300H201-NAV01.

How big is the Qube 300?

Size

It measures in at 128mm x 117mm x 33mm. Note that the 117mm needs additional space for the cables to exit, so it is effectively 140mm.

It’s very big and heavy (1.6kg with all the additional cables and modules) so from an installation point of view it is horrid. Add the cables, aerials, etc and it looks like old technology.

There are a number of inputs and outputs that can be customised, but it lacks CAN-BUS capability.

How much current draw does the Qube 300 put on your battery?

Well, according to the manual that I found online, it draws >3mA once in sleep state.

There was no mention of how long it takes for the unit to get into sleep state, which is frustrating.

Real world current draw

Video Time Stamps:

0:00 Qube 300 introduction.
0:30 290mA current drain.
1:45 Installation document claims >3mA in sleep mode. No info on length of time for sleep mode to be activated.
2:43 Installation concerns with the size of the unit.
7:42 Over 7 minutes in, and it is pulling 243mA (over 100 X more than the Vodafone Automotive SCD40 at this stage in the same test).
8:08 Fast forward to 1 hour. Current drain 222mA.
9:16 Fast forward to 2 hours. Current drain 95mA. Why does this charge when the ignition is off? Time for me to go to sleep, will the Qube 300 go to sleep?
10:39 I wake up after a good night sleep. It is now 12 hours and 30 minutes into the test and its current drain is 53mA.
11:35 13 hours in and the Qube 300 finally drops down to 12.5mA. Not quite the 3mA the paper work suggests!
11:59 24 hours in and the tracker is still pulling 12.5mA. I show that a gentle tap will wake the tracker up and cause the current drain to increase.