Technology, Data Recovery, Cell Phones, Latest Gadgets, Game Reviews

This is no ordinary phone -- it actually has GPS turn-by-turn navigation!

The 6110 proudly boasts of being the first phone - from Nokia or any other manufacturer - to provide GPS turn-by-turn navigation; hence the name. There are many phones with GPS built in, but none that actually provide navigation.

I asked the Nokia head who handles the company's navigation profile, "Why weren't the higher-profile phones -- like the N95 or E90 -- released with this service?" I was told it was a licensing issue that has now been sorted out. So never get lost again -- provided you own a 6110!

The Bundle

Nokia 6110 Navigator
512 MB microSD card
Stereo headset
Charger
USB cable
Nokia PC-Suite
User manual
DVD with extra maps

Specifications Network: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
Dimensions: 101 x 49 x 20 mm
Weight: 125 gm
Screen: 16 million colors, 2.2-inch TFT (240 x 320)
Battery: 900 mAh (talktime: 3:30 hours)

Build and Design

Nokia has used the sliding form factor for the 6110 Navigator. You'll indeed feel the phone isn't the slimmest around, but isn't as bulky as the N-Series handsets. It's comfortable to hold and people won't see a lump in your pocket.

The mechanism seems pretty strong, but prolonged use could see some issues cropping up -- because the build is plastic. It's got a complete gloss finish and features a silver-black color combination, which gives the phone that neat, business-phone touch.

The layout is simple: there's a videoconferencing camera, a large 2.2-inch screen, and navigation keys on the face. The navigation keys have a 5-way D-pad in the center, and there's also a hotkey to start the GPS Navigation app. The volume controls and a camera hotkey are on one side, while the other side features the My Own Key, miniUSB port, and memory slot.

The miniUSB port and the memory slot have plastic doors (which feel fragile) for protection against dust and such. The charging port and 2.5 mm stereo headset port is at the top, while at the bottom is a loop for the lanyard and a button to release the battery cover.

At the rear, the phone features large stereo speakers and a camera with an LED flash. The camera lens and the LED are hidden behind a thin metal slider.

Sliding open the phone reveals the alphanumeric keypad, which has white back-lighting.
The Interface This is a Series 60 v3.1 phone, and runs the latest Symbian, v9.2. The phone has the same processor as the E51 does: an ARM 11 369 MHz, with 64 MB of SDRAM. The 6110 has a reduced user internal memory; just 40 MB, but it's still OK - the phone runs pretty smooth. Navigating through the menus is smooth, and lag is considerably lower than on most Symbian phones (though it still isn't as fast as the E51).

The Nokia 6110 comes bundled with 512 MB microSD card, which is pretty sufficient for installing various software - but not for carrying around music collections (unless it's limited to a couple of albums). The phone can handle a large memory capacity, but 2 GB is the suggested max. You get an unlimited capacity for contacts and messages. Contacts have unlimited fields and also a photo option. Call log details are retained for a max of 30 days. Then there's MIDP 2.0 support and a WAP 2.0 browser.

The phone comes loaded with the GPS software, of course. The standard list of applications reads Adobe, Quickoffice, Landmarks, GPS Data, Converter, Notes, Calendar, and Calculator. Under multimedia you get the Camera, Radio, Real Player, Flash Player, Recorder, and the Music Player applications. I installed many apps on the phone and it worked pretty fine -- no issues, just that it got a little slow.

GPS Navigation Pre-loaded on the phone are maps of India that have eight cities covered: Delhi and NCR, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Pune, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, and Hyderabad. Nokia plans to increase the list in the next couple of years. These maps have locations and details of 75,000+ km of roads, 10,000+ restaurants and hotels, and more. For more info, click here.

The selling point of the Nokia 6110 is navigation, and it has a single touch key to activate GPS navigation. The navigation experience on the 6110 is brilliant, much better than with the MapMyindia GPS Device I reviewed earlier. You just mark a spot on the map that you want to navigate to, and you get directions. The 6110 is a complete solution for navigating the world -- you only need the maps. At the moment, you only have the aforementioned cities covered; they're free for life with the purchase of the 6110, be it updates or new maps.

The first thing you do is choose your Travel Mode - Fastest Route, Shortest Route, and Pedestrian. Fastest Route picks up highways and flyovers, while Shortest Route takes you through inner roads. Pedestrian is for when you're walking, and will provide the shortest route - but not necessarily by road.

You can store addresses of your home, office, contacts, or any spot that you're often at. There's also a history of the routes that the phone navigated, so you can go back and save any, or re-use the destinations without the need to search. These points, once saved, can be sent to your friends via Bluetooth. Moreover, if your friend uses a 6110, you can directly message it to him/her. You can view the maps in various modes - standard, night mode (where the coloring is high-contrast), and 3D perspective. You can choose from a few color schemes -- and even download more. There are options in the voice commands as well: male / female in English, Hindi, and few foreign languages.

The navigator is even more useful: it can provide traffic updates, safety cameras, and weather updates. These services aren't active right now, but in due time, we'll reap the benefits of Nokia's hard work!

The maps have lots of info points like hospitals, ATMs, fuel stations, places of worship, and more, so you can search for any of them through the Free Text search option and select it as your destination. While traveling to a point, if you need to fuel up, for example, you can search for a petrol pump along the way, and the closest one can be selected as your detour.

The phone can be easily used to commute and locate places in the cities mentioned, and you will not get lost, at worst you might find yourself going the wrong way on a one-way street; the maps aren't updated with the latest change in roads.

Multimedia

The 6110 is a decent multimedia phone. Music playback quality is pretty similar to that of the E51 we recently reviewed. The default headset provided is OK for the occasional music listener. The radio player is pretty good, with reception held well. The video playback on the large screen is good fun, especially because of its supported resolution of 240 x 320. The screen isn't sharp enough, though, for you to be able to enjoy watching a video for more than 10 or 15 minutes.

The best part about the 6110 (apart from the GPS!) is the stereo speakers at the rear. They are loud and pretty clear. In fact, I had to keep the ringtone set to a lower volume so it didn't disturb people.

The Camera

The camera is 2MP with flash assistance; max image resolution is 1600 x 1200. The flash LED helps in capturing images in low lighting. The images, though, didn't seem of the right color: those captured in daylight were much better.

Video resolution is QVGA, i.e. 320 x 240 pixels, and the video recording is good. You can capture images and also record video via the secondary camera which is on the face of the phone. The secondary camera is a QVGA, too, so max resolution of images as well as video is 320 x 240.

Connectivity You get a decent list of connectivity options with this phone. It has Class 10 GPRS as well as EDGE. It is also equipped with HSCSD for faster GPRS and EDGE data transfer rates. The phone is 3G-ready, with 3.6 MB/s HSDPA. It has a Bluetooth 2.0 interface for wireless transfers and an A2DP profile for wireless stereo audio. The specs state USB 2.0 through miniUSB. This covers synchronization and file transfers between phone and PC. The only missing feature is Wi-Fi, which does make the Nokia 6110 an incomplete business phone.

Battery Life

The Li-Po 900 mAh battery specifies a talktime of 3:30 hours. When I used it, it lasted me just over a day and a half, which included 2 to 3 hours of turn-by-turn navigation, a little over 2 hours of talktime, and some music playback. This is surely decent battery life, but I'd have expected the battery to last a little longer considering the phone will be used for trips (the navigation could drain the battery). But then, if you're taking the phone along on a trip, you might as well carry either a spare battery or buy the car kit.

In Sum

The Nokia 6110 Navigator sells for around Rs 14,500, and comes with a one-year warranty. For now, at this price, it's a brilliant buy. There are no phones below 15K that provide GPS navigation, and think about what you get: it's loaded with maps that are free for life, with free downloadable updates. The phone does have a few negatives like its plastic build and no Wi-Fi, and the battery life is average, but it's still a brilliant buy! Well, until other manufacturers come by with GPS navigation, and offer a little more, at a few grand less...