Nokia Maps Comparison Lumia, E7, N9

Nokia Maps & Navigation on 3 Platforms (and coming soon to a few more !!)

13/03/2012

So I was trying to think of something to post here on my Hub Pages, and had been chatting to @SteveYoungs on Twitter, and he asked me why I raved about Nokia Maps Suite on my E7 (Symbian phone) compared to my N9 (Meego Harmattan) well I had planned to have a rant, and still think that Nokia tend to hide there light under a bushel, but fortunately I can multitask (well I can do two things at once, and not necessarily do either well !!) and whilst starting this piece, and taking screen shots of the different platforms, I noticed on Twitter that Nokia Maps and navigation were being made available to other platforms, and also that offline mapping and navigation for Nokia Windows Phone was to be released as V2.0 as soon as next week !! So a good part of my rant was diluted and so I can just concentrate on the comparison, hoping that the Chasm that exists between the Symbian version of Maps is drastically reduced shortly ? The rest of the rant basically consisted of criticising Nokia for simply never pushing the great services they actually have to the forefront and shouting about them, you should always play to your strengths and I just think Nokia are a little reserved in that department, still lets hope the US influence changes that, as they seem to shout a little louder.

So to Maps, a great service I've been using for a good while on my Nokia phones, it's free, very accurate and it gets you where you want to go and finds you services you may need, the ultimate itteration , in my opinion is the current Maps Suite beta from Nokia Beta Labs which gives you a number of applications on your Symbian^3 Belle phone. Despite all three versions I use work really well, on the Lumia 800, N9 and E7 the other versions are somewhat diluted in my opinion, and although they do get you where you want to go, and you can preload map data on your handset, the flexibility of the Lumia and N9 versions are somewhat limited. I can understand this a little on the N9 which is a 'one off' phone and OS, but as Windows Phone is the 'Future' for Nokia Smartphones the Lumia version really should be the best and most feature packed version available, and as of now , it's NOT !

Full review Maps Suite 2.0 from AAS

http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/news/item/14211_Nokia_Maps_Suite_20_in_Beta_La.php

Full article on Nokia Maps availability for other platforms via Nokia Conversations

http://conversations.nokia.com/2012/03/13/nokia-maps-brings-voice-navigation-to-other-platforms/

Nokia Drive 2.0 for Windows Phone coming next week, full article Via WMPoweruser

http://wmpoweruser.com/nokia-drive-2-0-with-full-off-line-gps-navigation-coming-next-week/

The Symbian version of Drive will work offline, something that is a major plus when comparing maps and navigation to that on other platforms, which is apparently due on WP following todays announcement, and following the recent update for the N9 it's Drive and Maps have the feature. Also features like 'Safety Camera' warnings do not feature as they do on the Belle version, something I find extremely handy when away from my local area and something I feel is essential for a fully featured sat nav system ? Although speed notification has been added with the latest update to the N9, it doesn't warn of cameras and I feel a lot more confident when my phone is beeping and flashing when I'm approaching one. The whole menu system in the Belle Maps Suite is also vastly superior from settings to search, you have a much better choice, although the N9 version is very pleasant to look at and functional, it really doesn't match up, and whilst I'm at it, every sat nav system I've used on a phone offers a 'Satelite View' , so why on Windows Phone can't I find it ? Well because you need to be in the map and select 'Ariel View' it then changes to satelite from map view, where's the consistency ?

Don't get me wrong, both Meego & WP versions of Maps & Drive work well, and have good features, the Scout feature for finding local services and POI in the Lumia through Bing is excellent, the menu in the N9 version is intuitive, they just both need a polish, and those extras that Symbian has.

It's not that I am ungrateful for the Mapping services that Nokia have provided for me free of charge on all my phones, and I use them on a regular basis, but when they've produces the quality and depth within Symbian, it feels like a minor downgrade when I use Navigation on my N9 or Lumia, and I can appreciate there are restrictions in Windows Phone at present, and obviously additional features are on the way, and one of the things that will give Nokia and Windows a massive edge is the best Mapping and Navigation available in the market, I think Nokia alkready have it, so the sooner it fully hits WP the better, oh, and continue to share a little love with the N9 whilst you're at it !!

Well that's about it and thanks for reading

Stephen Quin