Nokia 6710 Navigator Review

Introduction:

Nokia is one of the few manufacturers that offer their own solution to the navigational problems some of us face on regular basis. While most major players would rather play safe and take advantage of products by leaders of the navigation industry like TomTon and GoogleMaps, the Finnish company sticks to its guns and keeps developing the app that has been recently renamed to Ovi Maps. Although the program itself can be found on many handsets, there is a special cell phone series dedicated to proper navigation and today you are meeting its third family member, the Nokia 6710 Navigator coming out as a follow-up to the 6210 that in turn, did leave us quite impressed last year. With a larger display, more capable camera, Wi-Fi support and latest Ovi Maps with nice extras, the new cell phone seems to improve on all aspects of its predecessor. The accessories that come in the box also contribute to the nice feeling you´re not getting just a cell phone, but a fully functional navigational system. So, what´s inside?

•    The Nokia 6710 Navigator
•    Wall charger (220V)
•    Car charger (12V)
•    Car stand
•    Stereo headset
•    microUSB cable
•    4GB microSD card
•    Nokia Ovi Suite CD
•    User guide

The car stand is well made and will allow you to comfortably position the Nokia 6710 Navigator in your car. All told, this is one of the most comprehensive accessory packs we have seen to date and you just don´t need to buy anything else; the handset deal comes, so to speak, on all-inclusive.


Design:

The massive, solid feel is one of the things we like best about the Nokia Navigator series. The 6710 is by no means a beautiful device, but is exceptionally well made. You will immediately notice the slightly protruding chin that reminds us of the HTC Hero/G1 and makes using the send, end and navigation keys easier. Most buttons are large enough (the phone itself is huge) and easy to press with the exception of the small key in the middle of the D-Pad and the volume rocker that doesn’t have enough travel. The upper keypad row is not exceptionally handy to use either, since its keys are located way too close to the slider edge. We quite like the small cover on your left that protects both the microSD slot and the microUSB port and we love the fact that the phone comes equipped with a standard 3.5mm jack. As a whole, the phone deserves praise in terms of ergonomics.




You can compare the Nokia 6710 Navigator with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.

The phone display is awesome. It measures 2.6-inches, comes with QVGA resolution and supports 16mln colors. Fortunately, the light sensitivity sensor works like charm and we didn’t encounter any issues in direct sunlight. The touch-sensitive area below the screen makes for an exciting extra feature and you can use it to zoom in or out no matter the current application – during navigation, while surfing the Internet, using the camera or just browsing pictures in the phone gallery.



As a whole, the Nokia 6710 Navigator is a slider featuring pretty standard design that will certainly fail to appeal to fashion savvy people. The only element that lends color to the overall look is the pattern on the back panel and frankly, we would have liked it better if it was rugged like on the 6210 Navigator, so as to prevent the device from accidentally slipping out of your hand.

Software and GPS:

Just like its predecessors, the third Navigator series handset is Symbian-based. As a whole, the interface of the Nokia 6710 Navigator is pretty much the same as the one you know from other Nokia S60 handsets. If you want to find out more about the phone contacts, messaging (with integrated Nokia Messaging) or browser (with partial Flash support) functions, please read our full text review of the Nokia N86 8MP. The only major difference is to be found in the phone calendar that is now the same as on latest Eseries cell phones, say, the E55 that we recently reviewed. There is free space in your calendar screen, dedicated to showing upcoming events and the app delivers great event personalization options. You are allowed to add event location and activate the navigation to help you get there directly from within the calendar app.



As for the most important aspect of the device, i.e. navigation, what you get is Ovi Maps version 3.0. Moreover, the Nokia 6710 Navigator comes with life-long navigational license and maps for the region you bought it in. This is way better than the 6 month trial on its predecessor, the 6210 Navigator and one of the major reasons that makes us think the upgrade is well worth it.



The GPS is a snappy performer indeed. Getting our exact location pinpointed after hardware restart took us about 2-3 minutes and localizing got almost instantaneous afterwards (about 5 seconds).

The extra features the Nokia 6710 Navigator comes with are more than decent – voice navigation no matter whether you walk or drive, 2D and 3D views, compass, terrain visualization, traffic information (not supported in certain regions), dashboard that shows your velocity, pace, altitude and co-ordinates. Keep in mind that you need to place the phone near a window when driving so as ensure the best possible reception (this is where the car stand comes in handy). Zooming in or out using the touch-sensitive area feels smooth and extremely comfy.

Still, bear in mind that Ovi Maps isn´t as good an app for certain regions as other products. We noticed several major omissions that we hope get fixed soon, because there arent’t such problems affecting Ovi Maps competitor apps, like TomTom and Garmin. It´s just too bad that you will have to buy extra maps once if you´re leaving your region.

Camera and Multimedia:

Having made it to a nice, picturesque spot with the help of the navigational functions, you will be able to take pictures using the 5-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics and double LED flash. We are happy to say the phone is up to the task indeed. The camera interface itself is quite similar to the version running on the Nokia N86 8MP and offers rich functionality. Our only gripe concerns the camera sluggishness - you will have to wait for 5-6 seconds until you can take another snapshot.



Pictures taken outdoors look nice, especially if you don’t try and zoom on details. Colors are saturated and realistic, although purple fringing becomes an issue with shots taken in extremely bright light. If you transfer the pictures to a desktop computer and take a closer look you will see that even if not excellent, the level of details is above average. Snapshots look great on Facebook, which is, sadly, not the case with other modern camera phones like, say, the LG Viewty Smart. On the overall, pictures taken indoors are of passable quality and the LED flash provides enough light to objects that are about 3 feet away.




The phone captures video content at maximum resolution of 640x480 pixels and 15 frames per second which means you will be able to notice irritating stuttering. The image quality is acceptable and we are impressed by the good quality of the audio tracks - voices of people speaking 6-7 feet away got recorded and reproduced loud and clear.

Nokia 6710 Navigator sample video at 640x480 pixels resolution.

The music player is similar to the version found on latest XpressMusic devices and visualizes large size album art. Sound quality is decent through both the phone loudspeaker and headset – not too loud, but with clear trebles and pleasing basses. The phone is equipped with FM Radio with RDS. You can watch MPEG4/H.264 videos with resolution of 640x480 pixels, at least in theory, but playback is unpleasantly stuttering, so we would rather recommend that you stick to lower resolutions like 480x320 pixels. Image quality is quite good indeed and the 2.6-inch display provides decent experience even with full length movies.

Performance:

The Nokia 6710 Navigator can be used as both fully functional navigational system and cell phone. In-call quality is way above average and our only gripe is that voices tend to be a bit muffled. Fortunately, this doesn’t mean you won´t be able to catch onto what people say even in noisy environment. The battery life is way too important for any device that will be used for navigation and thankfully, the 6710 is a great performer. According to the manufacturer the battery should be able to provide 7hrs of continuous talk time and keep your phone operational for about 19 days in standby. Out tests included using the GPS for 30 minutes, taking about 30 snapshots and several short videos, about 10 minute Internet browsing session and several short talks, all this on a single day. We are happy to report the battery indicator didn’t even change its reading. 

We believe the Nokia 6710 Navigator makes for an excellent phone and decent navigational system. The handset series it belongs to has never been extremely popular, since there are not too many people who need proper navigation on their cell phones. The 6710 however, might make you think about investing in the standalone navigational system. The comprehensive accessory pack is a major advantage, because and you won´t have to fork out for additional things, plus the car stand comes in really handy. Finally, the phone comes with life-long navigation license valid for the region you bought it in and the camera is decent on the overall. The major drawbacks are the lack of proper maps for certain regions, the bulky size that no one will find irresistibly attractive and the necessity to buy extra maps once you´ve left your region.

Conclusion:

If you have been thinking about getting yourself a Navigator series handset, but something has prevented you from buying one this far, well, don´t worry, the 6710 is your best option, because the phone is better that its predecessors. Still, take a look at the 6720 Classic that is a candybar sporting smaller display and coming with more affordable price tag. If you are not a Nokia fan, the HTC Cruise is a viable option delivering TomTom-based navigation.

Software version of the reviewed unit: 021.013.

Nokia 6710 Navigator Video Review: