External GPS VS Internal GPS
Devin Ballentina from The Nokia Guide has posted a two-part review of the Nokia LD-4W Bluetooth GPS Module. In part 1, he reviewed the looks and the usage of the LD-4W. He also noticed one interesting thing: the LD-4W has a better accuracy and faster lock time than the internal GPS on his N95 8GB. In part 2, Devin decided to compare the battery life he could take out of his phone, when using the LD-4W or the internal GPS. Using the LD-4W resulted in more than 6 hours of battery life (with the screen always lit), whereas using the internal GPS resulted in a bit more than 4 hours.
Clearly, in both instances, the LD-4W came out a glorious winner. In short, an external GPS provides faster lock time, stronger signals, more accurate positions on the Map, and drains the batter of the handset it is used in conjunction with to a lesser extent.
But a question remains to be asked, which is the eternal dilemma between portability and usability: would you rather carry a separate GPS unit and get an almost perfect positioning experience, or would you rather stick with a device with built-in GPS and sacrifice some of the speed, accuracy and battery life advantages of the external unit? I guess some people, who rely solely on navigation systems to move around will find an external unit still necessary if not indispensable in their life. Others, who need some navigation help every now and then, will find themselves perfectly content with the built-in GPS.
It’s the same dilemma that we have been going through for years now: separate digital camera or built-in camera? separate MP3 player or built-in MP3 player? With the development of the Nseries, some of these questions are becoming irrelevant to many people. For me, the answer has been clear since the moment I sold my phone, my PDA and my iPod to get an N95. I prefer to toss one gadget in my pocket, knowing that if needed it, this one gadget can and will do many things.
I noticed the exact same thing recently when trying out the N95 8GB. The accuracy and the start up times just weren’t good enough with the built-in GPS. I was using a Holux GPS Slim 236 (that’s almost as uncatchy as N95 8GB!) and it was leaps ahead of the internal GPS.
It’s a shame the internal GPS isn’t great as the convenience factor is er, great. But then sometimes you want to put a GPS ‘puck’ in a certain place and forget about it. Hmm, doesn’t sound right! Using Sports Tracker on a run for instance - it makes more sense to put a BT unit in a pocket or wear it around your neck rather than have it in the phone.
I did get the internal GPS working on a transatlantic flight though! It’s quite an achievement getting a lock whilst travelling at nearly 500 miles per hour.
I think this GPS move by Nokia is a pure marketing gimmick. First of all, there are two cases where the GPS doesn’t add anything except price to the phone. One is in emerging markets like India, where GPS navigation is useless due to scarcity of data, and secondly, due to the low-powered in-built GPS, the purpose of navigation isn’t fulfilled. Under these circumstances, Sony Ericsson has taken an interesting stance in our market. They are selling two packages of the P1i - one without any GPS whatsoever, and another with an external GPS unit at a higher price. I think, it’ll be better for Nokia to take this policy too. At least the customer gets to choose what feature they want in their phone. You may say, then many people don’t use camera, why give them to all? Actually, in a country/region, there may be some people (the majority) using cameras, while some others aren’t using it. On the other hand, in countries like India, hardly anyone can use GPS. That’s why, Camera:Yes, GPS: Conditional.
At the end, these days Nseries are becoming mainstream, that’s why many people who don’t even know what GPS is, are buying the phones. But once the market becomes mature enough for GPS, Nokia are going to be questioned about these low-powered units. And if they start giving higher-powered GPS units - God save the battery!
That’s funny. For me it was other way around. I thought that I won’t use GPS at all beacasue I’ve never feeled like I need to have one. I bought N95 for multimedia capabilities and now I’m using internal GPS and Garmin XT more often than watching videos and listening to music.
Anthony,
I guess it’s all about every single person’s usage. For me, the lack of proper maps in Lebanon make both internal and external GPSs as irrelevant as possible. Though I enjoy having it, because as I said, I know it’s here in case I need it.
Sandy,
I agree with the fact that it’s a marketing thing, but I have a different thought on it. See, if Nokia didn’t jump on the GPS wagon with the N95, it would’ve been eaten for breakfast by other companies who were still in the labs, implementing GPS’s in their handsets and testing. The other point I want to make is that Nokia’s marketing isn’t about getting the price of the added internal GPS, but more about the added benefit of taking some money from GPS software and services that have already (voice-guided navigation) and will further be deployed.
krisq,
heh, well I guess you’re a convert :p
On more thing to add is that I think that since the chip used in the internal GPS and the external GPS is almost the same these days, the limitation on the usage of the GPS is made by the phone manufacturer. Meaning the chip can perform better, but since it’s not functioning alone, and there’s a whole handset behind it, battery life as well as CPU usage should be limited hence the chip functions slower and less efficiently. I think when our devices have better processors and better batteries, the quality of the built-in GPS will be much more improved, because the engineers wouldn’t need these limitations
@ Dotsisx,
Yeah, I agree with you regarding the profit through Navigation services. That explains why Nokia is giving GPS in mid-tier devices like the N78. But, from a user’s perspective, I would have been happier, if they sold the N78 without GPS. That way, the user shouldn’t pay for what he/she CAN’T use properly.
I only use my GPS when I’m travelling overseas, which is why I opted for an external unit. Why put up with a chunky N95 handset 24/7 when I can have a slim E51 to cover my most frequent needs, and only grab my GPS when I need it? It’s not like a camera, where it’s useful for casual shots of whatever.
Sandy,
You do make a point, but I guess the way things are going, it would be a bit difficult for the company to come up with one more version of each device they have in their line. I do agree that for a lot of countries, having GPS is next to useless, and I for one, would go for a non-GPS unit if I had the chance, but I mean what can I say, do you think it would be wise to have 8 versions of the N95, or 4 versions of the N82? That’s just a bit more than they (or even us, lol) could handle.
See, I sort of have mixed feelings about this. I understand the strategy, but I also understand the customer. Nokia’s main focus now is on Europe and the US (mostly the US now because this is where they need market shares). In the 2 instances, having GPS is mostly very useful to the customer, because of the availability of Maps in most countries, the fact that the American consumer for one is already used to GPS’s,… On the other hand, I think that instead of trying to retract GPS from devices, Nokia should (and will?) try to do the opposite. Push it in every single mid-range to flagship device, so hard, that the demand for good navigation software for the devices will arise. They will also try to improve these units, as much as they can, to ensure a better experience. It’s the same thing we had with cameras, when they were 1.3MP with no flash, some of us preferred not having one. Now that it’s 5MP with a good lens, some good image processing, autofocus and xenon, we are all over it. I guess we’ll have to wait for the good times to come in the internal GPS life, but in the meantime we can only moan about it
alcatraz,
True, very true. And this is why I think it’s all related to every songle person’s needs and experiences. You found your solution
@ Dotsisx,
Yeah, you are spot on. I also hope that the situation of GPS improves everywhere. BTW, you misunderstood one of my points. I don’t want two separate handsets. I said, it would be better if there were two packages of the same handset in the market. One would be without any GPS hardware whatsoever, and another with an external GPS unit. I don’t think two types of packaging will be a big deal - just a sticker. Though it may be difficult for salespersons to make the customers understand.
Sandy,
My point was that if they were to make two different packagings, what would they put? A non GPS unit one, and one with an external GPS? That’s not right, since we’ve pretty much established that internal GPS’s is the way to go. They have to make internal GPS’s now, even if they suck, so that in 2-3 yrs of time, these GPSs are improved to the point that they replace the external one and are as efficient as it.
So, if one of their handset model SHOULD have an internal GPS, the other shouldn’t in order to have an external one like you suggested. That’s 2 different design models, and twice the marketing. I agree that it might come in handy for SOME models (say the new N78 for example or the 6220), but flagships I guess will always have EVERYTHING, that’s why they are flagships
Mar 29th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
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