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We test five GPS phones available in the market and see how they fare.
Ever gotten lost in some strange part of town and not knowing where you have to head to? Well back then, the only way you could get yourself “unlost” was to either ask for direction or find a local map to the area you are lost in. These days however, with the advent of technology, you don’t even need to open your mouth to ask questions anymore as all you need is a GPS device to navigate your way around. Now GPS devices like that from Garmin, Gophers and a host of others have started to gain popularity in the past year and not surprisingly so as these devices are very useful and accurate. However being Malaysians, the notion of just getting a standalone GPS device doesn’t really seem to be a good investment.
This is where the mobile phones come in. Considering that phone
manufacturers have almost managed to fit in everything under the sun
into their phones, it is without surprise that GPS capabilities were
also to be fitted and in recent years, GPS features are becoming more
common in every phone release. If you look at it, having a GPS in a
mobile phone makes sense. Firstly we carry our phones everywhere with
us which means we would never forget to bring the device with us.
Secondly, this would play with our need for a multifunctional and
converged device rather than a singular device that only does
navigation.
Now considering that there are tons of phones out there which do
come with GPS capabilities, this month we decided to take a look at
what we would think are five of the best GPS phones that are in the
market right now. Mind you, we can never expect the kind of accuracy
that a regular GPS device get but they do the job well enough. So read
on to see how these phones fare.
What to look out for
Before you go and buy yourself a phone
with GPS functions there are a few things you’d like to keep in mind.
We’ve compiled a checklist of things you’d like to look out for if
you’re going to purchase yourself a GPS enabled mobile phone.
Size
One of the key things of GPS phones is their size. They should be big
enough in order to house a screen that enables you to actually see
where you are on the map but at the same time small enough that it is
pocketable and easy to carry around. After all you don’t really want to
be lugging around a massive phone in this day and age.
Accuracy
Now you will never be able to get the accuracy that a regular GPS device does. However, a combination of using the GPS signals and A-GPS functionalities on the phone will allow it to accurately pinpoint your position. Seeing that this is a GPS phone test, we thought that we’d help a bit by comparing the phones with a stand alone GPS device which is the Gophers and we see just how accurate they were just as a point of reference for you.
Map bundle
Most phones with GPS functionalities usually do come bundled with GPS software. Usually it’s to add value and enable users to fully utilize the phone. However not all phones come with a GPS software. With Google Maps being practically free, some manufacturers have decided that bundling a standalone GPS map application is not much of a necessity. However having a software bundle does come with some perks as navigation software does give voice navigation that facilitates direction finding when you are driving. Considering that some of these software prices actually go for around RM100 - RM300 should they be bundled together with our phone that just adds a whole lot of value to it.
Value
When we mean value we don’t really mean the price, but more of the extras that the phone comes with other than just GPS functionality in comparison with its price. So if the phone is packed full with media features, a great camera and other stuff but still has a extremely high price, the value of the phone might not be so high. Ultimately it depends on what you’re looking for. GPS functionalities is still only one part of the phone and it only enhances the usage of it.
LG KC910 Renoir
Price: RM2,088
Size wise the LG Renoir is just pocketable measuring in at around 107.8 x 55.9 x 14 mm. Now combine that with the 114g in weight and the Renoir is pretty light making for a good mobile phone to be bringing around with you. Its large 3 inch screen is also a big plus for a GPS phone as this enables you to refer to the map without having to squint all the time. As the Renoir is a full touch screen phone though, certain functions like typing out locations to search become a bit difficult especially when you are driving. In our test, we found that to be on the safe side, it would be better if you were to stop your car first before inputting your destination. Either that or you should at least input your destination into the navigation application before actually setting off.
The Renoir does not come packaged with any retailed navigation application and instead utilized the free Google Maps for mobile. As much as we liked that there are free applications like Google Maps around, we thought that it would have been much better if LG could have packaged a full GPS Navigation map application like Map King to fully utilize the Renoir’s GPS functions.
As far as GPS accuracy goes, the Renoir does quite well. GPS location lock took us less than 30 seconds to lock and the positioning when compared to the Gophers positioning was only off by a couple of degrees. This was when we were in a stationary position though when in a moving vehicle like a car, the GPS lock did occasionally get lost and the GPS positioning data’s difference did increase a bit from the Gophers.
Now at RM2,088 the Renoir is actually one of the cheaper phones on test here. Add the GPS functionality and its nice 8 megapixel camera, and you’ve got yourself a really good combination for an excellent price. The only thing holding the Renoir back is its lack of a bundled map software which would have really increased the phones value. That and the fact that the Renoir is the only phone on test that isn’t your conventional Smartphone does work against it. However that being said, you still get quite a bit of value out of the Renoir.
Samsung i8510 INNOV8
Price: RM2,899 (8GB), RM3,299 (16GB)
The Samsung INNOV8 is one of the three 8 megapixel phones with GPS that we were testing for this article though as far as we were concerned that was the only similarity that the three phones had with each other. The INNOV8 had actually more in common with Nokia’s N96 seeing that both were running under the same S60 platform. This meant that anyone used to using a Nokia phone would have no problem using the INNOV8.
Size wise, the INNOV8 was pretty pocketable though a little thicker than we would have liked at 106.5 x 53.9 x 17.2 mm. That being said, the screen size of the INNOV8 was pretty big as well though not as big as that of the HTC Touch HD and the Renoir. At 2.8 inch, the INNOV8 screen was just nice for map viewing and we did very little squinting in order to make out the maps displayed.
The GPS on the INNOV8 gave us some varied results. Location locks were really fast at less than 10 seconds for the phone to pick up the GPS signals. Although the accuracy of the phone was spot on when you’re stationary, it was a different story when you’re in the car. Deviations could be pretty obvious without having to compare with our Gophers device. Sometimes we would end up in adjoining roads which could be at least more than a few hundred meters away. Though this didn’t happen often, we were nevertheless still quite irritated that it happened enough to make navigation with the phone a bit irritating.
We did like that Samsung bundled a full copy of Map King together with the phone which added value to it. Map King being one of the more accurate map and navigation application makers for this region, was a good addition to the INNOV8 especially if you’re driving around Malaysia very often. Add the 8 megapixel camera and easy to use interface and the price didn’t seem so high to us at all.
HTC Touch HD
Price: RM3,399
The HTC Touch HD is by far the most costly of all 5 GPS phones we had on test. It was also the biggest phone we had measuring at 115 x 62.8 x 12 mm. Being the largest of the bunch, this meant it also had the biggest screen with it measuring 3.8 inches. This actually made map navigation much easier than the rest. Like the Renoir, the HTC Touch HD is also a fully touch based mobile phone so keying in locations isn’t as easy at it would be with phones that have dedicated keypads.
The performance of the HTC Touch HD’s GPS was quite varied. At times we managed to get a fast lock with the device but sometimes, we couldn’t even get a lock on at all and this was in an open space with a clear sky. Even with its A-GPS functionalities, we still didn’t manage to get fast coordinate locks like most of the other units on test. Accuracy of the GPS was also variable as at times we would get similar location locks comparable to the Gopher or at times it would deviate a lot from the Gopher readings. Granted that even though the GPS isn’t the primary function of the HTC Touch HD we would have liked if it would have worked a little more efficiently.
The HTC Touch HD also did not come with any bundled navigation software which is frankly really disappointing considering the price of the phone. AT RM3,399, the HTC Touch HD was the most expensive phone on test and the lack of navigation software in the bundle was a real disappointment. We had to resort to using a free version of Google Maps mobile instead.
The HTC Touch HD is by all means a good Windows Mobile device, but as a GPS phone, we do have our reservations.
Sony Ericsson C905
Price: RM2,299
The Sony Ericsson C905 is the latest 8 megapixel to come out of SE’s stable and on top of having such a high CCD camera, it also comes equipped with GPS functions. Although being one of the biggest SE phones to date, it is still considered pretty small when compared to the likes of the HTC Touch HD, measuring in at a 104 x 49 x 18 mm. Although the thickness did bother us a little, it still was a very pocketable phone.
Due to its size, the C905 was also the phone which came with the smallest screen size which was a measly 2.4 inches. This is about the size of most regular phones which is usually alright except that when paired with a map, the 2.4 inch screen just won’t cut it. Most of the time when we tested the phone, we had to squint quite a bit or activate the zoom function to get a good view. It doesn’t help that due to the screens lack of real estate, zooming didn’t seem to help much either.
The GPS function on phone was rather good though with the phone getting a really fast and accurate GPS lock while we were stationary. While in a moving vehicle, the C905 did relatively well too although there were the occasional errors that would pop up like the map locking us on an adjacent road. However this didn’t occur as much as it did on the INNOV8.
For navigation there was an installed copy of Google Maps which was pretty good considering the amount of things you could do with the application. Of course since Malaysia doesn’t have all the Google Map services available, the best we could hope for was point to point navigation which still wasn’t exactly accurate. We were actually more interested in the trial copy of Wayfinder Navigator 7. This map software was pretty good and comparable to that of Map King so were actually quite disappointed that only a time trial was provided rather than a full version.
As a GPS phone, the C905 is worth considering but its small screen does make it difficult when it comes to navigation. In the end we find that the GPS function acted more as an add-on to enhance value to the phone more than an actual practical function.
Nokia N96
Price: RM2,999
Considering that the N96 is supposedly the crème de la crème of the current Nseries line by Nokia, we were pretty optimistic with it. As far as pocketability goes, the N96 is pocketable but due to its 2.8 inch screen, you would find that it is a little wide. The 2.8 inch screen though smaller than the Renoir’s and the HTC Touch HD, did provide more than sufficient space for us to view maps. Mounting the device at a suitable place on a car we found that we didn’t need to squint as much as we did with the Sony Ericsson C905. Of course like the INNOV8, sometimes a little squinting did become necessary at certain occasions.
Of all the GPS phones we had on test, the Nokia’s GPS was actually one of the more consistent performers. GPS locks were really fast which was usually under 10 seconds while accuracy when compared to the Gophers was pretty good with minimal deviation. Not to say that the N96 was perfect in this respect though as we found that the N96 had this high tendency to not get a GPS lock especially at night. Considering this, we chalked it up to some quirks the N96 has or us just being plain unlucky at night.
Nokia did not bundle any third party navigation software with the N96 but instead had Nokia Maps installed into the device. Now although Nokia Maps is a free download like Google Maps, it does have one key difference which is voice navigation. We really like Nokia Maps as the maps did have an accuracy that rivaled map and navigation applications like Map King. The best part though was that Nokia also gave three months worth of voice navigation that could be immediately activated. This was really good value considering a full year’s subscription to the service would have cost a whopping RM300 plus.
The only complaint we did have with the N96 was battery life as Nokia Maps works best with a data line. With the data line turned on together with the GPS, don’t expect the phone to last the whole day. In fact we were rather glad that Nokia also bundled an in car charger, just in case the phone suddenly ran out of juice.
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