Nokia Ovi Maps

Posted on 21 Jul 2010 at 15:32

VERDICT: A little fiddly to use, and its GPS handling is flaky, but boasts a long list of useful features

PRICE: Free on selected Nokia handsets

RATING: 4/6

Nokia was the first big player to give away satnav for free in Europe and the UK. But the initial excitement over the announcement of free navigation was tempered by the fact that fewer than 20 of Nokia’s phones are compatible. It’s a shame, since there’s much to like about Ovi Maps.

It has speed camera alerts built in, you can plan multipoint routes, its recorded voice instructions are far clearer than Google’s annoying text-to-speech, and they’re delivered in a timely fashion too. There’s also a series of alternative views – including a top-down 2D view for traditionalists – plus Nokia promises traffic information with automatic avoidance (although in our tests we didn’t encounter a single traffic warning).

Another advantage it holds over Google Maps is you can install maps on your phone. This can be a complex process - click here for our Nokia Maps installation guide. More impressive is the number of free maps on offer: you can start by downloading British roadmaps (160MB), but if you have space on your memory card why not take the whole of Europe (2.3GB)? The rest of the world is covered too.

There are problems, however. First, it doesn’t cope well with an unreliable GPS signal. Our test phone – an N97 – continuously lost sight of satellites in built-up areas, but instead of simply continuing on the planned route until connection was re-established, the location indicator would flit about all over the place. Second, it’s far fiddlier to use than Google Maps. Buttons and icons vary in size, and generally feel too small for a touchscreen.

Despite these faults, Ovi Maps should be downloaded by anyone with a suitable Nokia. It isn’t as slick and easy to use as Google Maps, but it boasts more features and offers greater flexibility.

Other reviews

Google Maps Navigation

TomTom Go 950 Live

CoPilot 8 for iPhone

Advice

Tips for satnav drivers

Author: Jonathan Bray

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User comments

Ovi Suite sucks

I can only speak for my own experience with an X6 but Ovi is dreadful at file transfer. The 160Mb or so of UK maps took the best part of 25 mins to transfer to the phone. You can't do mutiple country selections other than the whole of Europe.
Obviously once it's loaded it's there for good, but it could do with some serious review as a piece of software.

By milliganp on 22 Jul 2010

Ovi Doesn't Suck

Yes, it might take 25 minutes to load all of the UK data on - so what?
You do it while having your tea.
Once on it is there forever.
Whereas yer Android or iPhone apps rely on a solid 3G signal, something our reviewers might be surprised to learn is less common outside the M25.
And my N95 has NEVER lost GPS signal while driving - I used it happily all of last week.
I'm no great fanboy for Nokia, but feel your review has done it a dis-service.

By Tony_Yeah on 5 Aug 2010

Ovi not stunning but it works

Ovi is neither intuitive nor fast, but after an evenings relaxed progress-bar viewing I've got all the UK and selected lumps of Europe onto my n6250.

I've not had any problems hanging on to a satellite signal above ground, but when it loses it in a tunnel I'd agree that "continue assuming current status" would be better than "oops I'm lost".

It's certainly fiddly to use on a small screen compared to a dedicated unit, but (1)one should only be fiddling when stationary and (2) I don't leave my phone at home by mistake like I have done with my SatNav.

I didn't expect that I'd dump my SatNav for the phone quite this fast but the convenience factor is quite compelling for me. You have to use in-car power though, SatNav eats the battery.

By MacAllcock on 5 Aug 2010

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