When it comes to sat nav phones, Nokia has been the dominant force ever since it was the first brand to really pick up on the technology. The 6710 is its third navigator phone and includes decent camera and email as well as the excellent sat nav.

 

Appearance

There's nothing new here when it comes to looks. In fact, the square slider format would have been equally at home ten years ago as it is now. Still, it's a popular design that has served Nokia well over the years. It feels good in the hand, it's easy to use and the keypad is well sized.

The Nokia user interface is as familiar and easy to use as ever. The home screen displays calendar and message notifications, Wi-Fi and a non-customisable shortcut bar. The main menu is the usual grid and most of the applications have keypad shortcuts, meaning you just have to hit a number to be taken to your required app.
There's none of your minimalist design here. Below the 2.6-inch screen are a D-pad, six keys for call, selection and menu operation, plus a dedicated key for launching maps.

Bundled in with the Nokia 6710 are an in-car holder, a headset and a lifetime’s subscription to Nokia Maps and City Explorer. City Explorer is a guide to landmarks and points of interest, designed to point you towards the places you may want to see when travelling.

The Nokia 6710's hefty 600MHz processor means you can run navigation at the same time as the browser or camera on standby, making for some handy multitasking without having to switch between functions.

 

A-GPS

The A-GPS function is flawless – we got a fix in under a second. Nokia Maps loaded quickly, too, and it's a wide-ranging and useful application. It gives you directions for driving, walking or taking public transport, and the Explore function shows you where to find useful places including shops, restaurants and landmarks. If you want to find somewhere specific, you can put in the details and get a map location and directions.

Turn-by-turn voice navigation is a bonus, and necessary, as the screen is a little small for using while driving. The bundled in-car holder makes it easy to slide the phone open, but really we would use this mainly for walking directions.

You can rotate the map views using keypad shortcuts, and zoom in and out by sliding your finger over the touch-bar beneath the screen. This touch-bar also acts as a zoom function for the camera and web browsing, and scrolls through your media gallery.

 

Web browsing

The Nokia 6710 is HSDPA enabled, and connects quickly to Wi-Fi networks. We're not keen on the browser page – it displays a list of download graphics, followed by links to social networking (Facebook, MySpace and YouTube) and Nokia sites. But once you wade your way in, the browser works well, with D-pad navigation that takes you between hyperlinks with small jumps.

You can scroll through your browsing history on a well-presented carousel that makes linking to a page easy. Keypad shortcuts let you go back, view the whole page, switch to full screen and search.

You can download Nokia's Ovi store to get access to the manufacturer's expanding portfolio of applications.

 

Nokia messaging

The always great Nokia Messaging service lets you add up to ten email accounts, and automatically searches and inputs download settings. There's no push-email but if you set your account to receive mail every five minutes, you won't have to wait too long for alerts. The email works as well as it does on a desktop computer – you can use attachments, view your messages as HTML for true colours and fonts, and copy and paste.

 

Five-megapixel camera

The Nokia 6710 has a five-megapixel camera with a Carl Zeiss lens, and a dedicated camera button to launch. It produces high-quality photos despite only having an LED flash. The camera modes are of the usual high Nokia quality – the auto and macro modes are particularly good. You can also geotag your photos.

 

The verdict

The Nokia 6710 is an excellent sat nav device enhanced with high-quality web browsing features, Nokia Messaging and a good camera. It's an effective personal navigator, but due to the small screen, we wouldn't recommend using it as an in-car sat nav.