THE NOKIA 6110 NAVIGATOR

With mobility and fancy motor cars becoming more accessible to India’s burgeoning middle class, it was only a matter of time before the much-hyped GPS device would follow suit. With the introduction of the 6110 Navigator, Nokia brings this technology a little closer home.

The look and the layout
The 6110’s elegant black and silver body, packs a handful of features in addition to its GPS built-in receiver. It has a 2.2 inch TFT screen which delivers crisp and sharp images but is prone to smudges and fingerprints. Weighing in at 125g, its smaller dimensions give it an edge over the Nokia N-series otherwise known for their bulky size. Its slider form factor has all the shortcuts and call management keys on the front while the alphanumeric keys are concealed below and are accessible when the phone is slid open. The GPS shortcut posed a little problem as we ended up launching it accidentally several times when we opened the slider.

The built-in GPS receiver is loaded with Nokia Maps application covering 8 Indian cities. More will be added later on. The GPS itself offers turn-by-turn voice assisted navigation to a location using the shortest way, the quickest way or by foot. The Search feature finds the location after you type one or two parts of the address.

The 6110 uses the latest Symbian S60 version for its OS. It packed many programs like GPS data, Quick Office, a PDF reader along with regular Nokia programs.

A 2MP camera with one LED flash but no auto focus is present at the back and the front has VGA camera for video calling. Its music player supports MP3, WMA and AAC while Real player takes care of videos. For connectivity, the phone supports EDGE, 3G and HSDPA; but no Wi-fi. Bluetooth 2.0 and USB 2.0 handle file transfers. Nokia bundled a 512MB microSD card with a mobile holder to use in a car and a car charger.

Test drive
Call handling is smooth and reception is clear but callers at the other end had a hard time hearing us at times. Typing messages was comfortable and control pads responsive. We loved the onboard loudspeaker which pumped out unbelievable volume levels. This enhances the voice guided navigation while driving in a noisy environment. Using its onboard GPS was fun. Navigating the route to our office in Bangalore using its shortest route feature was error free.

It took 40 seconds to 4 minutes to get the destination depending on the GPS signal strength, and track our position accurately. The Search Nearby function is useful to locate restaurants, petrol bunks, ATMs etc. The only problem is the 2.2 inch screen which is not big enough to provide clear contents when the phone is more than 2 feet away.

The 64MB RAM enabled smooth multitasking. The 2MP camera performed well in daylight but low light shooting created a lot of noise despite the LED flash. Transferring files to and from the PC via the USB cable was faster than other Nokia devices we have tested so far. Browsing web pages on its built-in browser was also smooth on EDGE connection.

Verdict
The Nokia 6110 as a GPS device performed admirably and for its price you get a decent phone plus a guide to make sure you don’t get lost. Currently, no phone offers a fully functional GPS receiver at this price.

WHAT A WAY TO REUNITE!!!!!!!!!!