Around me (SE Michigan) it's a huge improvement over both the old Maps app and any of the turn-by-turn iOS alternatives I've tried. Using Siri and saying "directions to..." any local business I can think of brings up turn-by-turn directions in a snap, and it looks great. Smooth animations, great fit and finish on the UI. I suspect that their European maps are of lower quality and/or the writer cherry-picked some entertaining but not terribly representative examples.
The maps around me in Brisbane, Australia seem pretty good, but I only spent five minutes playing around. All the searches I tried (some for street addresses, some for POIs) got the right address.
So far it seems no worse around the city than Google Maps but only time will tell if that's the case.
