Road warriors: Smartphones with built-in GPS
Bonnie Cha, Senior Associate Editor May 14, 2010
GPS on smartphones is no longer an emerging trend. It's almost a must-have feature nowadays, and more and more handsets are offering it. With the embedded GPS receiver and a mapping service, you can get real-time position tracking, text- and voice-guided directions, and points of interest. However, taking advantage of GPS, and the navigation powers that come with it, sometimes come at a price. If you want features, such as voice-guided directions, you often have to subscribe to a location-based service (LBS), such as TeleNav or VZ Navigator, which require a subscription fee. However, Google and Nokia are shaking things up by offering the premium features for free on such devices as the HTC Droid Incredible and Nokia 5800 Navigation Edition. Microsoft has even jumped on the bandwagon by offering free, voice-guided directions with an updated Bing app for its Windows phones. How this will affect the LBS business remains to be seen, but one thing's for sure: if you're forever getting lost or are constantly traveling, there's help out there for you. Here are six of the most recent smartphones with built-in GPS.
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| Product name | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $109.00 to $129.95 | $3.99 | $280.00 |
$199.99 with 2-yr contract |
As shown: $199.99
| |
| CNET editors' rating | ||||||
| Average user rating | ||||||
| Review date | October 28, 2009 | April 01, 2010 | February 03, 2010 | April 18, 2010 | June 01, 2010 | |
| The Bottom Line | Despite some design issues and a couple of missing features, the Motorola Droid is the most powerful and fastest Google Android device to date. It fully embraces the openness of the Android platform and offers Verizon customers a smartphone that certainly rivals the other touch-screen devices on the market. | The HTC HD2's size and older operating system aren't ideal, but you won't find a more powerful or entertaining smartphone in T-Mobile's lineup. | As one of the more affordably priced handsets from the company, the Nokia 5800 Navigation Edition is a good value, offering road warriors a midlevel device with decent navigation skills and the freedom of an unlocked phone. | With its polished design and user interface, and blazing fast speeds, the HTC Droid Incredible takes pole position as Verizon's top smartphone and is now the Android device to beat. | The T-Mobile Garminfone is a huge improvement over the Nuvifone G60, proving to be a capable smartphone just as much as it is a reliable navigator. | |
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| Features | ||||||
| Service Provider | Verizon Wireless | T-Mobile | Unlocked | Verizon Wireless | T-Mobile | |
| Cellular technology | CDMA2000 1X | WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM | WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM | CDMA | GSM / UMTS | |
| Band / mode | CDMA2000 1X 1900/800 | WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM 850/900/1800/1900 | WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM 850/900/1800/1900 | CDMA 800/1900 (Dual Band) | GSM 850/900/1800/1900 (Quadband) / UMTS 1700/2100 (Dual Band) | |
| Wireless Interface | IEEE 802.11b/g Bluetooth 2.1 EDR | IEEE 802.11b/g Bluetooth 2.1 EDR | IEEE 802.11b/g Bluetooth | IEEE 802.11b/g | Bluetooth 2.1 IEEE 802.11b/g | |
| Weight | 6 oz | 5.5 oz | 3.8 oz | 4.59 oz | 4.9 oz | |
| Full specifications | Full specifications | Full specifications | Full specifications | Full specifications | Full specifications | |
| Buying choices | | | | $199.99 with 2-yr contract | Pricing not available | |
