A refresh in Nokia's Navigator series has become an annual event. The 6710 is the company's third Navigator and its best, though its shortcomings are still glaringly obvious.
The optical inch
It's no secret that men constantly wish things were bigger: their cars, their biceps, the size of the steak that is served at the local Surf'n'Turf. We also wish the Nokia 6710 had a bigger screen, but for different, less selfish reasons. As it stands, the 6710 has a 2.6-inch screen (a respectable size for a phone), but for a navigation tool we want at least an extra inch. When it comes to following maps while you're driving, size matters.
The screen is, however, fantastic for everyday use. Its colours are bright and the menus are easy to follow. But as soon as you mount the 6710 in your car — as Nokia suggests you do by including a car mount in the sale package — the screen is far from the best for the job. And it's not just the size either, the glossy display also means you have a higher chance of losing visibility thanks to reflections off the glass, more than you would if you were using a stand-alone navigation tool with a matte-finished screen.
Aesthetically, the 6710 doesn't break any new ground for Nokia and its Navigation range. It's a slider with a standard numeric keypad underneath and a straightforward navigation panel on top, with a dedication Maps button standing out as the only point of difference from other Nokias in its classic range. Interestingly, the 6710 makes use of an older style proprietary charging pin, rather than the more common micro USB connection Nokia has been using on recent releases.
Zoom-zoom-zoom
Discreetly tucked below the colour display is perhaps our favourite feature of the 6710. Navigating around Nokia Maps was never one of the software's strong suits, but it has gotten a lot better with the introduction of a touch panel. Drag your finger left or right across the panel and your map view zooms in and out. If you want to move your view a great deal, from street level to a global level, simply slide in one direction then hold your finger at the end of the move until you reach your destination.
We were pretty thrilled when we first started zooming in and out of maps with this neat little tool, but imagine our hand-flapping joy when we discovered it also works in the media gallery, web browser and the camera app too. All functions across the phone that would otherwise use keystrokes to zoom are now covered by this simple addition.
Show me the way to go home
OK, so we've established that we'd like a bigger screen, but that issue aside, what's the navigation experience like with the 6710? It's surprisingly good. GPS reception is up to par with portable nav devices, with the occasional drop-outs in the city, but otherwise alright; much, much better than the iPhone's, which can fail on a quiet suburban street.
The bundled car mount is excellent; compact and sturdy with a solid suction pad. You can rotate the display to landscape mode, though strangely this option wasn't turned on by default so we had to dig around in the general phone settings to find the "turn on Sensors" option. Nokia Maps is good, with a clear, colourful display, but the Navteq maps that power the service still need refinement in Australia. During our test drive we encountered a couple of incorrectly marked streets, with no-right-turn signs not listed and similar minor grievances.
Camera fantastico
Our most pleasant surprise came in the form of gorgeous 5-megapixel pictures. To be honest, it has been hard to get too excited about phone cameras in 2009. This year has seen a backwards step in terms of quality, even if we have seen a lot of high resolution camera phones hit the market. Brands that delivered decent camera phones in 2008 have disappointed in the last six months or so.
The 6710 is the exception. We took the phone out for a stroll around the CBD in Sydney on a crumby, overcast afternoon, but even the vile weather couldn't hold this camera back from delivering some really vibrant colours and good focus with a decent shutter lag. The camera software boasts a respectable range of options including a macro focus mode, panoramic image stitching and a sequence shot mode for shooting a series of shots consecutively.
Once we transferred these images back to a PC in the office, the results spoke for themselves. We saw significantly less noise and image grain than we saw across all of Samsung's Icon range, and we saw much better colour reproduction than on the LG Crystal and Viewty Smart. In short, the 6710 proves that Nokia is still very much in the lead when it comes to camera phone technology.
Overall
As you can see, there is plenty to love about the 6710 Navigator apart from its limited abilities as a navigation device. We appreciate the effort of including a car-mounting kit with the phone, and though the navigation hardware is sound, this Nokia is definitely better suited to life outside an automobile. The maps, the zoom bar, the digital compass and the excellent 5-megapixel camera make it the perfect tourist tool, and one that can take you to beautiful new locations and let you capture your experiences through the lens. Anyone hoping to ditch their TomTom should still wait until Nokia, or someone else, gives this space a bit more thought. A great mobile phone with maps won't replace your stand-alone navigation device.
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