N85 Review Part-5: Maps, Internet, N-Gage and FM

This part of the review we shall delve into the Maps, Internet, N-Gage and the FM transmitter. You can read the previous parts of the review by clicking on these links:

Part-1: Design

Part-2: Lighting

Part-3: Software, Music, Battery and Screen

Part-4: Camera & Accessories

Without wasting any time let’s get to the review.

Maps:

The Maps is now a standard feature in most Nokia phones and the same goes for a Nseries phone.

Maps on the N85 is really a good feature to have. However there is a big downside to this application with respect to N85. if you plan to use this where it is sunny, then I’m afraid it’s useless. The AM-OLED screen is just not visible in the sun. You crank up the brightness, but it will be of no help. Only if you can protct the screen from the sunlight is it of use. This means that in a car (if kept properly) it will work great.

I gave it a shot, though I did not load the India map for N85, I tried to see how fast would it lock on to my position using purely the GPS chip. Well the result of which was shocking! The thing took less than 2 minutes to get a lock on my position. That means it was faster than the N96 and the N82 also. from a cold start it takes only about 2 minutes to get a lock on. This is fantastic, I’m sure when you use the Maps with the internet on and everything else, it will be even faster.

What it means is that in case you are lost, you will know where you are in a couple of minutes only. I’m impressed, this is perhaps the tightest integration of Maps I have seen.

I would give it a very high 9.4/10. A good GPS solution in a phone, let down only by AM-OLED screen in the sunlight.

Internet:

Internet on the N85 is an experience that has changed little since I last reviewed the N96  or any S60 device. I did not find anything different in the N85’s internet experience except for one thing, the screen. The N85’s screen is perhaps the one thing that changes the whole experience in a lot of ways. Here too, the screen made all the difference. I found the colours to be richer, thereby improving the experience considerably. Also it was not a strain to read the small font.

It does not have tabbed browsing, which according to me is a very bad thing. I don’t know if other browsers and platforms have such a feature, but the need of the hour is tabbed browsing.

For everyday browsing and other things the browser is more than adept. I would give it a 8.9/10.

N-Gage:

The N-Gage is a pleasure to play on this phone. With dedicated keys for gaming, which by the  way I found to be small and a bit hard for gaming; and the beautiful AM-OLED screen you can enjoy gaming for many hours.

The TFT screen can strain the eyes, but the AM-OLED does not. I found this to be the case when after playing for an hour on the N85, my eyes did not feel tired or strained.

Since the N96 and the N85 are similar in terms of their form factor, I found little difference (apart from the screens) in terms of the gaming. But I must repeat myself by saying that the gaaming keys are a bit too hard for my tastes and I would have liked the N96 keys on this device.

The N85 seems to suffer from the same screen orientation goof up as the N96.  I don’t know what were the N-Gage and/or Nseries people thinking.

I would give the N85 a good 8.9/10. The screen orientation taking the score down by half a point. If gaming is your poison, then the N85 is what you absolutely must have. You can click here to read how the N96 compares to the N85 in this area.

FM Transmitter:

This is a unique feature found in the N85. First seen on the N78, the FM transmitter basically allows you to transmit your music on the FM band that is set by you. You can configure the N85 to transmit over a specific frequency. But please be aware this does not transmit to the entire city. Only to very close objects. These objects will in turn be able to tune in only if they catch your frequency. Perfect of using in the car. I have used this feature a lot in my car. Every time I wanted to hear a song on my phone while driving, I would simply tune the radio and the N85 to a set frequency and voila, my phone would play the music and the my car’s speakers would output it! This is an awesome feature and I love it!

The quality of the streaming music is okay and nothing great. One would really need to turn up the volume to hear the song ‘loudly’. For everyday listening it’s good. A convenient feature. This feature is available in countries that allow such a thing. In India, to the best of my knowledge it is not allowed. So chances are that you will not be having this feature on your phone.

One annoying thing with the transmitter is the amount of disturbance that comes in. At times there is so much disturbance that you probably would prefer not listening to the song. Considering it’s a new technology on phones, I would give it time before it’s perfected and incorporated into other phones.

The N85 gets a good 8.5/10 for providing this cool  solution.

With this comes to an end the review of the Nokia N85, the unofficial flagship of the Nokia Nseries. What do you think of the the N85, is it as good as it has been said by many people. do drop in your comments and let us know what are your thoughts on the N85. we at  www.adityasphones.wordpress.com are eager to hear what you have to say to us.

N96 Review Part-5: Maps, Internet and N-Gage

This is the final part of the review of Nokia’s flagship device, the N96. Over the course of last few weeks, I have had a chance to play with this handset and get a feeling of what the N96 is all about. I have posted a look at the device from 4 angles.

1. Design
2. Lighting
3. Software, music, battery, screen orientation
4. Camera & accessories

Today I shall review the phone on the following parameters – Maps, Internet and N-Gage.

Maps:

I have found the Maps feature to be very helpful to me at many a times. On the N96, the screen’s size is one of its biggest assets. Also the GPS chip on the N96 is very quick to grab a fix on the location. I tried the Maps V2.0 and it performed really well. But by the time I could write something on it, Nokia Beta labs outed the Maps V3.0 beta. I downloaded it to see how much had changed in the new Maps. Well, a lot has changed. Maps V3.0 is definitely faster than the old one, the menu has changed a lot, there are quite a few interesting add ons to the the new Maps. I thought that the application was a little zippier compared to the older Maps. But going away from the software and taking a look at the hardware, The N96’s GPS hardware is definitely a generation ahead of the ones found on the N82 and N95. This thing gets a location fix faster, what that means is that now you can see where your on the map faster. I did not have to wait for 10-20 minutes to get a location fix on the N96.

Probably the only thing that really kind of upset me is that the software has no way to change the direction of the Map. Imagine if you were taking a left turn and the map on the phone showed you going in the exact opposite direction. Or if you were driving straight and the application was showing you to be driving reverse. It is extremely irritating to see that on the phone, I used to just switch of the Maps application at such points. I understand this happens because of a lack of a compass, but atleast allow the user to manually change the direction of the map on the screen. I’m sure that can be done.

Just for this irritating niggle, the N96 gets a 6/10. I knows that it’s abit harsh, but just think how irritating a dangerous it could be for a perso using it when he or she is driving?

Internet:

The internet, one of the most important  ‘things’ to have on the phone. Now there is little that I can say about the web browser as it is the same as one would expect to find on any S60 device, this one has one additional feature – the N96 allows you to change the font size. This is a nifty and good feature. The huge also screen plays a very important role in increasing the UI’s functionality. Let’s face it, a bigger screen is always going to make a person want to surf the internet than a small one.

The web browser is the same that has been on all the S60 devices I have reviewed so far, so othing new to tell you. It does not have tabbed browsing, which according to me is a very bad thing. I don’t know if other browsers and platforms have such a feature, but the need of the hour is tabbed browsing.

For everyday browsing and other things the browser is more than adept. I would give it a 8.9/10.

N-Gage:

The N-Gage application on the N96 is a second generation iteration of the N-Gage gaming platform developed by Nokia. Since this is not a review of the N-Gage, I will only be writing about my experience of the N-Gage application.

The N-Gage performs really well on the N96. The games have good graphics and seeing them being rendered on the N96’s huge screen really provides a good experience. The two gaming keys on music player keys are good, but could have been made more clearly identifiable. Another thing that is slightly weird is that the horizontal orientation for the N-Gage is such that one cannot use the stand. I know the stand is of no use, but why is the orientation so different for the N-Gage? One type of orientation would have been better, don’t you think Nokia? plus I don’t think one should burden the consumer by making remember the orientations for various applications on his device.

The N-Gage application is really looking good on the N96. A lot of people might complain that the 2.8″ screen is not a VGA screen, when it could have been. Well I agree that a VGA screen would have looked killer, but it would have also made things a lot smaller to read and see. The N-Gage games would have looked a little dull and I’m sure that rendering would have eaten up a lot of processing power and battery too.

On the whole I would give the N-Gage feature on the N96, a solid 9/10. A good platform that looks great on the N96 and that also has been executed well.

This brings us to an end with the N96. With all its shortcomings, the N96 still has a few good things about it. This device can no doubt be improved. What it needs is few software tweaks along with a hardware revision. A faster processor, more RAM, a dedicated graphics chip, xenon flash and a bigger battery.

The positives of the phone are the speakers that are absolutely loud!, the huge screen, the very good slider action and S60 FP2.

What do you like or dislike about the N96. do drop in a comment and let us at Adityasphones know.

E63 Review Part-5: Internet & Maps

The 'Ruby Red' E63

This post is a rather special post! Chiefly because it’s the 100th post on this blog. I am very excited about it, and I would like to thank my parents, my girl friend, Ricky Cadden aka Symbian Guru, Rita aka Dotsisx, Clinton Jeff aka CJ, Ravindra, Renegade Fanboy, WOMWorld and so many more! Thanks to all of your love and support, I have accomplished this much.

Let me get down to the business at hand, This is the last part of the review of the E63. I have already looked at many aspects of the E63 like design, lighting, software, music, battery, screen. I have also looked at the camera and the accessories that are a part of the E63.

Let’s now see what the e63 is capable of in these aspects…

Internet:
The web browser found on the E63 has the same web kit that is found in the Apple iPhone, but S60 web browser can play ‘flash’ content within the website.

The S60 web browser is a good and sturdy web browser. This same browser does duty on all S60 phones of Nokia. Though, Eseries gets a slightly tweaked ’secure’ version as compared to the Nseries or even the regular series. It is the same browser which was doing duty on the E66 and E71. So, there is nothing new to talk about it as I have covered this aspect in great detail here and here. The only thing missing as I have stated many times is the lack of tabbed browsing. I really do not know what has prevented S60 and Nokia from implementing it. I don’t know if other browsers on other platforms offer tabbed browsing or not, I want tabbed browsing and I want it fast!

I have also been using ‘Resco News’, ‘Fring’ and Nokia Messaging (formerly NES), to get information, mail from the internet, and I did not face any problems getting these applications to work seamlessly. The internet radio application has also been reworked a bit, as the different screen orientation created a few issues with the earlier version.

Probably the one thing I did not like about the E63 is the speed it delivers when being used as a modem. With the E71 and the N82, I was getting speeds of 460.8kbps and with the E63 its not more than 115.2kbps. I was disappointed with that as the there was noticeable difference in speeds. The phone also lacks 3G support.

On the whole I would five the E63 an 7.5/10. The E63 losing out on the slow speeds it was giving when used as a modem and absence of tabbed browsing.

Maps:
Firstly before you get your hopes up, let me categorically tell you, the E63 does not have GPS functionality. If you do want to use GPS, then you must buy the external GPS devices which can connect with the E63 via bluetooth.

This is a rather glaring omission for the E63 considering the global market, but when you consider India, I don’t think many people know that it exists and/or know how to use it also. With India not being fully covered by Navteq, Maps or GPS for that matter becomes useless and an almost redundant feature like the PTT feature which does not work in India at all.

However, I doubt it becoming a deal breaker for potential customers of this device.
I will not be giving any scores for this aspect as it does not exist for the device in question.

Conclusion:
The E63 is definitely a new direction that Nokia has taken for Eseries. The E63 which is a ‘cheaper E71′ is very practical and good. The keypad can be a bother to many people because it is cramped and the size of the keys, small. I did not have any problems however. The ‘cost cutting’ carried out for this phone is mind boggling. When compared to the E71, there is a marked difference between the two. But mind you, in terms of fit and finish, both are on par. The E63 with its 3.5mm plug clearly shows its musical intentions and capabilities and mind you, it did not disappoint at all! The camera is lacklustre but I don’t think this phone will be bought for its camera. On the internet and maps front, I don’t need to say anything since oyu have just read about it.

With this comes to end the review of the E63. I hope that the review has given you a good understanding of the phone & its capabilities and at the same time, helped you in deciding for or against buying the device. I will be very happy to know what you think about the review and the phone too. Leave a comment below!

The ‘Ruby Red’ E63

E71 Review Part-5: Internet & Maps

This is the last part of my review of the Nokia E71. In my previous posts I have concentrated on the various aspects of the E71 like design, lighting, software, music, battery life, screen orientation, camera and accessories. In this last post I will tell you about my thoughts on the E71 with regards to the Internet and Maps feature.

Internet:
This feature of the E71 is most important since it is aiming to be a Blackberry killer (and a sexy one at that!). Connecting to the the web is a beautiful experience. I had no problems staying connected to the Internet during my trip to Rajasthan. The handset smoothly made the transition to GPRS in the absence of EDGE and reverted back when EDGE was available. I used the WiFi feature a bit. But since I was using the GPRS feature (still am at the time of writing this post) I really did not get to experience surfing through WiFi that much. Rest assured the speeds on EDGE were comparable to the speeds I would have got had I used the WiFi connection. I downloaded close to 300MB of music onto my phone through GPRS. The downloads were fast and i had no problems saving it. On the whole I must have downloaded close to 1GB of data (surfing, music, data, etc). That’s quite a lot. It was really great to have an ‘always on’ internet experience on the E71. Chatting through ‘fring’ was simple. I also downloaded and installed Opera Mini. I found that using Opera was slightly faster, though it responded slowly (typical of Java programs). I have not had so much fun using the internet on the phone. The landscape orientation with the ‘qwerty’ keyboard really helped things and turned it into a ‘mini -netbook’.

Coupled with the beta stage, Nokia Email Service (NES) I was getting all my e-mail pushed to my device, I was truly mobile. I wasn’t using my laptop for checking my mails and browsing the net. It was only for certain data intensive applications and blogging that I used the laptop. So what does this mean for the average user? it means that for your everyday surfing and checking your emails, the E71 is more than enough. As it is you can edit Office documents and view PDF files. You don’t need to buy a Blackberry for the ‘push’ email function. Heck you really don’t need a netbook also. the E71 comfortable achieves what a netbook can.

The only few problems with the whole Internet experience is the total lack of tabbed browsing. I have kept on saying this in so many of my earlier posts. Nokia must get tabbed browsing to its web browser. If it doesn’t, the whole ‘web’ experience will be lost. I was also unable to play Youtube videos. I wonder what went wrong there???

Other than that its a fantastic experience using the E71 for my daily internet needs. I will give the E71 a good 9/10.

Maps:
This is the first time where I haven’t used the Maps feature on the phone. Why? Simple, the amount of cities covered by Nokia is so little, I had no use for the application. I hope that Nokia is planning to add more Indian cities and soon. Tourist cities like Jodhpur, Udaipur and so on need to be included quickly into the India map. Once it is done, I am sure you will find a lot of usage for the service. Imagine the Chinese tourist will not need to ask for directions to the City Palace, Udaipur; Instead he will simply whip out his ‘Maps’ enabled device and go there. The usage can grow manifold, if Nokia can only realize that such applications need extensive coverage in terms of maps. With the current cities covered in India, so low. You got a useless application.

Still I am assuming that the service would have worked just as good as the E66. I would give the Maps feature a 8.9/10 on the basis that it performs just as well as the E66 performed. If anybody finds any discrepancy in usage, please let me know.

With this comes to end the my review of the E71. On the whole I have enjoyed using this device. It really is a fantastic phone. This phone is a boon for frequent users of the net, e-mail and messaging function. I would definitely recommend this phone to people who need these features a lot. Sure there are some chinks, but I am sure most of the people looking at this phone will overlook the chinks. Nokia sure has a true winner on its hands. Personally, I like the E66, though after two weeks of usage, I am liking this phone for all its looks and functionality. What are your views? Please put in your comments and let everyone know.

E66 Review Part-5: Internet & Maps.

E66

This is the last part of the review of the Nokia E66. Tomorrow I say goodbye to this wonderful piece which has amazed me with its looks and performance. The E66 has definitely moved ahead of the Nseries in terms of functionality. In this last part I will tell you about the Internet and Maps functionality. The two feature which are absolutely important for the business user.

Internet:
When it comes to internet, the E66 is ready to connect you to the web. Even though I have complained about the time it takes to connect to the web on a Nokia using WiFi, I will have to say one thing about the Eseries, it still works in the same way as any other Nokia, but for some reason is faster. I found connecting to the internet using WiFi to be very quick. Though I still miss the tabbed browsing functionality, I found the browser to be snappier than the browser found on my N82. (I can’t believe i said that!) The websites are rendered very quickly and the transitions used make the entire experience stress free. I wish though that the E66 had a bigger screen.

The internet experience has been superb on the E66. I would give it a good 8/10.

Maps:
This is a very important feature for a business user. Imagine going somewhere and you need to know certain details, like the nearest gas station, or the nearest restaurant, better still if your boss is with you. What a chance to impress him!
The Maps application works just like you have seen it work on other Nokia GPS enabled phones. It initially takes time (20-25 minutes) to get a lock onto your co-ordinates, but thereafter A-GPS kicks in and getting a lock on is fast. It could take a little more time if you were moving. I downloaded the maps for India throught the Nokia Map Loader. I haven’t faced any problems using it. Though India is not limited to just the 4-5 cities given in the maps. I hope Nokia realises that by providing maps for a handful of cities, it hasn’t covered India.

In terms of the software, the application worked very well, without any difficulty. I would give the Maps application a solid 8.9/10.

With this comes to an end the review of the Nokia E66.
Please leave your comments. Incase you want to read the other parts of the review, here are the links…

Part-1
Part-2
Part-3
Part-4