Nokia Maps 2.0 is now a user-friendly and intuitive way of finding your way around. As well as being able to search and find addresses by road name of postcode, view them on the map and plan paths to them, you can search for businesses, entertainment venues, restaurants, services, tourist sites and so on. It’s a quick and efficient system - routes and favourite locations can be stored, and route instructions sent to other phones as messages.
With Drive and Walk activated you can get turn-by-turn voice guidance as you drive along. It looks good too, with the main viewpoint similar to what you’d expect from standard in-car satnav, with 3D and 2D views, night view options and simple turn only arrow option. Satellite views are also available, for a Google Maps-style overview.
The 3.2-megapixel snapper: good, but not great
On the road, the satnav guidance system worked efficiently, locking firmly onto satellites as it was moving. Map transitions were smooth. The cranked-up loudspeaker was loud enough in the car for voice instructions to be audible.
In addition to the voice guidance package, Nokia offers add-on extras you can buy, including Lonely Planet city guides and traffic updates. While the Nokia Maps application will update mapping info over the air when you go outside of your preloaded map area, you can cut data costs by downloading other country maps using a PC and the supplied Nokia Map Loader software.
If camera quality is an issue in your buying decision, the 6210 Navigator doesn’t press all the high-end buttons Nokia’s five-megapixel Carl Zeiss lens snappers do - but it’s not bad.
The main 3.2-megapixel sits on the back panel - there’s a secondary front facing low-res camera above the display for 3G video calls - and clicking the camera button on the side of the phone auto-rotates the screen viewfinder into familiar horizontal mode. The phone has an LED flash rather than the more precise and powerfully illuminating xenon option used on Nokia’s top shooters.
COMMENTS
@Trialware
I agree.
I have a 6110 Navigator, which includes (the use of, not updates) maps and full navigation for life. Why on earth would I want to 'upgrade' to the 6210 when the nav functions only last for 6 months?
I bought the phone specifically for the satnav, as I dont use it anywhere near enough (probably 10 times in the last year) to justify purchasing/carrying a dedicated satnav device. Nokia's offerings become a whole lot less attractive if the nav expires after a period; and anyway, with this government's attitude to roads its hardly as though map updates are essential to keep the nav up to date with the thousands of miles of new motorways opened every year, is it? ;-)
Trialware
"Nokia includes a six-month licence for its Drive and Walk step-by-step navigation package"
What happens after six months? Does it just stop updating the maps or does it stop working at all and requires to pay to extend the subscription? The sad thing is that it's very likely that such bait&switch phones will eventually push the cheap dedicated satnav devices out of the market. Same thing that happened with PDAs - why would you need one if your phone does everything? Except that you have to pay subscription fees for the privilege to squint at the small screen.
Re-using model numbers?
Have Nokia made more than 10000 numeric phone models now and having to start again? There is already a 6210 - it was a fine phone, no-nonsense business phone.
When are they going to remake the 2110?
Damn
I had a 6210 for years, and never worked out how to enable the colour screen, GPS, 3G, camera etc. I might have kept it if I knew it could do all that!
