Holidays, Cameraphones, Navigation and Getting Closer to Replacing the N82

I’ve been away for the last two weeks. I took two smartphones and a netbook with me which is a slightly different setup to my usual phone/umpc/netbook combo. Fortunately I wasn’t caught-out on my outings where all I took were my smartphones but I was conscious of having to do any sort of site support with just a touchscreen phone! I took my X10i and my N82 as phone companions and the N82 was about the only device I used as a camera although I did find myself doing a few shots with the X10 just because it was easier to tweet / send to Facebook and that’s one of the features I really love using on Android. The sharing ‘bus’ that allows any application to link into the ‘share’ menu and get a message from an application is just killer.

Two things remain that keep me tied to Nokia though and this week one of them was scrubbed from the list. The cameras on Nokia phones are still ahead of most of the competition. At least the N82, N86 and the latest N8 are and my N82 is still untouched by any Android phone 2.5 years after its launch. The N8 will push the envelope further. The element that dropped from my Nokia-is-best list was the navigation. I guess I’m not comparing apples to apples by comparing a slow, small-screened device with an outdated version of Ovi maps to the large-screen, fast processor SE X10 but having tested Google Navigation last week, I can safely say that Google Maps and Navigation is going to satisfy my needs 99% of the time. The speed of search is fantastic. The quality of the search results top-notch, cached navigation works until you deviate from a route (but re-routes if you have a data connection) and I love the way that my favorites are synced across all my Google devices. I can add a favorite to my desktop and there it is on my phone when I need to navigate to it. I thought I would need cached maps but it’s just not the case. Even GPRS data is enough to get search and re-routing working well. Ovi Maps is no longer the must-have for me.

What does it leave for Nokia then? The camera. I want that N8 camera for sure but do I really want to pay for another high-end touch-enabled superphone just for the cam? And will I still be using the X10 if I want to share my images? The N8 is showing up in pre-sales for over 450 Euro and that’s as much as any of the latest smartphones. I just can’t justify 450 euro for a camera, even if it does have Wi-Fi, BT and 3G.  The N8 is a no-go for me now.

So how about that Motorola XT720 then? (Pocket-Lint have a review up) It’s a lower-powered phone than the X10i (although way more powerful than the N82) and there’s a hint of a plastic lens in the review photos I’ve seen, it’s ugly and also rather expensive but it looks like it’s up there with the N82 in terms of quality and features and even runs Android 2.1 which beats the 1.6 version I have on my X10. The exposed lens makes me think twice but I’m prepared to give it a go because it combines Android and a high-end cameraphone in a way that hasn’t been done yet.

If I can find someone to buy the X10i or swap an XT720 with me, I’ll definitely be up for it and the end result will be that Nokia will be out of my life.