We tested several GPS and navigation software available for Symbian for you and have compared their different functionalities. We will not fully review the applications here, but quickly tell you what their pros and cons and their key features are. Also, depending on the device you are using, an application can offer better results than the ones we tried the applications with. Finally, some interfaces may not seem intuitive for someone who has never used an application before but could be very easy to use for accustomed users.

Nokia's integrated GPS solution, Ovi Maps, is a very complete application supporting both Car and Pedestrian navigation with advanced features, like travel guides, lane assist and automatic zoom. The application is also able to handle 3D landmarks (as shown on the screenshot) as well as Text to Speech voices (only German and UK English for the moment) that not only tell you what to do, but also call the names of the roads and streets, like most PND do. The application is very easy to use and, unlike all other applications, doesn't ask you for the town and zip code but provides you with a single text field where you enter your destination, exactly like on Google Maps.

In terms of navigation itself, Ovi Maps is very stable and won't crash during navigation. We used it without stopping navigation for more than 5 hours and didn't encounter any issues. Instructions are extremely clear and complete and help you drive safely as it avoids looking to the screen too often. Route calculation is also very fast, and the device will tell you when recalculation occurs, to avoid surprising you with what may seem like contradictory instructions. Ovi Maps is also a very safe application for several reasons: It lets you know what the maximum speed is and shouts a warning when you exceed it. Another excellent feature contributing to safety is the lane assistant, which highlights the lanes you should follow and therefore avoids changing lanes at the last moment, which greatly minimizes rear collision risks.

Concerning the pedestrian navigation, Ovi Maps helps you make your way through streets but also parks, squares and plazas to get to your destination as quickly as possible. Nokia's software makes all these even more pleasant by offering an extremely convenient addition: Instead of shouting instructions when walking (which generally allows everybody around to notice you), you can set an option that makes the phone vibrate when approaching the next turn to let you look at the screen for the next instructions. Ovi Maps also features satellite and terrain maps for best-in class navigation.

Finally, given the fact that Ovi Maps has free Map updates, is preinstalled on most Nokia devices, is very complete and offers flexible pricing conditions, we think it is one of the best GPS solutions for Symbian available at this time. However, some other applications may offer things Ovi Maps doesn't, such as information about gas rates nearby or integration with Google Maps or the Yellow Pages. Also, we believe information display could have been organized differently, as the phone uses a vertical bar on the right side of the screen when in portrait mode to display speed and other information. Another bad thing with the display is that even if Ovi Maps has an excellent feature that allows it to show the road signs to follow (and even in the exact same color as the real sign) and the exit numbers, it displays them in a very small font, which makes it hard to read when driving. However, these minor issues could be addressed very easily in a future update.

Sygic is becoming popular among the mobile GPS applications, especially thanks to its availability on several platforms (unlike other applications that think the iPhone is the only available mobile platform...). Another reason for its popularity is its user-friendly interface that is extremely similar to what TomTom offers on their PND, you even get mistaken and think you're using the latest version of TomTom at first. However, Sygic has more to offer than TomTom Navigator in terms of user friendliness as the way maps are shown doesn't make you feel you're using an old application. Sygic also has lane assist and displays important information very smartly to make them easier to spot when driving.

When using navigation, Sygic shows the signs you have to follow very clearly, using the same color as the actual ones. Thus, they look exactly like them and make navigation easy as you won't hesitate anymore when you'll see exit signs. The lane assistant also lets you know which lane you have to follow, but we feel it could have been bigger to make it easier to read. However, the speed limit indicator and next maneuver information are displayed very clearly and you won't need to look for them as they are immediately noticeable. Sygic doesn't feature Text to Speech but pre-recorded enthusiastic voices, which will let you know what you have to do next. However, we felt they weren't spoken very naturally (unlike Ovi Maps) which made instructions sound a bit awkward.

To conclude, Sygic is definitely a great choice because it's easy to use, user friendly and not too expensive. It also offers advanced features such as lane assist, safety cameras and automatic zoom, but also shows parking possibilities near a POI.  However, it still lacks a traffic information function and better voices, which would improve navigation. We believe Sygic is the best choice if you're familiar with TomTom as it's cheap and has a very similar interface.

Amaze offers a unique combination of what Google Maps does for free and guidance paid GPS software have, all for free. The application is a fully operational GPS navigation software, offering features such as pedestrian and car navigation, 3D view and even satellite pictures to help you visualize the surroundings. Like any other true navigation software, Amaze offers turn-by-turn voice indications and several visualization modes. Given the fact that you are unable to store the maps locally, Amaze may require high amounts of data to provide you with them (especially if you're using satellite maps), but you can easily prevent this by activating the arrow mode, which will only provide you with the remaining distance before the following maneuver. This avoids transferring huge amounts data and pay less for navigating, unless you have an unlimited data plan.

Being a free application, it is obvious Amaze cannot provide you with the same navigation experience as other solutions and therefore lacks some features such as AutoZoom (manual zooms constantly needs to be adjusted as zoom is very badly designed), route recalculation or lane assist. However, the application will soon support advanced features such as traffic alerts and already handles Safety Cameras throughout Europe.

To conclude, even though Amaze remains a very good freeware, it's not exactly what you expect from a GPS application, especially knowing the maps are not clear enough for car navigation. However, it can always help in case you don't want to pay or subscribe to a paid GPS solution as it still supports many options. If you think of using it, we still advise you take some time and really take a look at the maps displayed before hitting the road, as you may even wonder what the application is showing when driving. A last bad point with the solution is that it is not very user friendly and can sometimes mislead you when you try to set a destination.

Knowing Navigon offers one of the best interfaces in terms of GPS navigation on their PND, we were expecting to come up with the same great experience on our Nokia phone, especially knowing they did the same great job for their iPhone software. However, after installing and using the application, we were very disappointed as we simply found that the Symbian version was only compatible with S60 v3 devices and was offering neither Text to Speech nor Reality View Pro, which allows you to see a 3D view of most highway exits in order to take the right one.

Nevertheless, for the other parts, the navigation software remains very good as it offers lane assistance, weather info, a clear label of the exits to take and even safety camera alerts. Unlike Route66 or Ovi Maps, Navigon MobileNavigator displays the exit signs very decently which makes them easier to read. As with Navigon's regular interface, the application also tells you what maneuver you will have to perform after the immediate one, which is very helpful and avoids confusion.

In terms of pedestrian navigation, the Navigon solution doesn't do much more than what Google Maps does, which doesn't make it a very interesting choice. In brief, we were extremely disappointed Navigon has designed their software with a lot more features for other platforms, especially knowing Symbian is perfectly able to handle them all. It still remains a good navigation software even though others actually do more and are less expensive.

The very good thing Garmin did with their smartphone application is that it is very similar to the one most of users find on their Garmin PND, which doesn't require them to re-learn how to use it or to become familiar with the navigation software itself. Garmin Mobile XT offers features already made famous on their other products, such as lane assist, weather information and safety camera alerts as well as dynamic content such as integration with Google, gas pricing info, flight data info and Panoramio integration. However, like their other devices, the way maps are shown is awful, unless you really like the way Garmin maps look. What you see on the screen is generally overcrowded and even makes you wonder where you're heading.

The main problem with Garmin Mobile XT is its interface. Even though it's pretty user friendly, the navigation screens are generally confusing and bad looking. The only thing that's displayed properly is the next maneuver, the rest being very confusing. The application doesn't even display exit signs like other applications but only the text they show. It also displays your speed and remaining time in a confusing way. Information displayed is also very limited, as you're unable to display your current speed, remaining time and distance at the same time, unlike most of the applications. Other problems with Garmin are the fact that voices aren't good and feel very fake, but the most important issue is that using it in landscape mode causes display issues and makes your maps look very strange on the right.

To conclude, even though Garmin is a well known name in terms of GPS navigation, we do not encourage you to buy it unless you really like Garmin's interface. Its price and lack of clear information display make it hard to like. However, it still offers advanced features such as lane assist and safety cameras alerts, so you won't be disappointed by its features if you are familiar with Garmin's interface.

When we first heard about NDrive, it was described as a revolutionary application, offering what no other program could offer. We were therefore very exited to see what exactly it was, but we didn't need long to actually realize that people at NDrive were actually very conceited about what they program actually was. We're not saying NDrive is not a good application, however, it bring no revolution and lacks many features compared to other, cheaper, solutions.

The reason why NDrive pretends to be a revolution is because of all the graphics it brings, as it offers detailed 3D views of landmarks and handles up to 10 frames per second graphics during navigation. After using the application for a few minutes, you'll immediately notice the 10 fps video brings faster graphics, which is a nice addition compared to the slower graphics on other software, but not a revolution, especially knowing it brings nothing special when you drive. Concerning the 3D graphics, they actually are amazing because you can select them and move them around, which fully exploits the 3D capacities of the phone. Again, this is a nice addition as no other software lets you do so, even though several ones can display them, still in a less impressive way.

Concerning the navigation itself, NDrive has less to offer than most applications: Even though it has Auto and Manual Zoom, with the nice addition being that you can zoom with no limits, the maps are not well displayed compared to the other applications we reviewed here, especially Route66 and Ovi Maps. You can also rotate the maps when navigating to adapt them to the desired angle and also view satellite maps, which is great when used with Pedestrian Navigation but awful when driving as it makes the maps look very confusing, rather than helping you out. Talking about the maps and confusion, NDrive doesn't even display the name of the roads and streets in the maps, which is extremely misleading, even though the next maneuver indicator is very clear. Concerning other indications, they are too small to be seen easily when driving. We also have the same complaint about the signs you're supposed to follow, as even if it's a very good idea to display them at the top, they should be much bigger to be read correctly without having to stare at the screen for too long. We also appreciated the fact that the speed limit was written in a circle, even if a bigger sign would have been better. Finally, in terms of voice guidance, voices are not clear enough compared to other applications, especially Sygic and Ovi Maps, and you sometimes need to look at the screen to make sure you got the directions correctly.

For an application that pretends to be a revolution, the only additions are graphical, even though we prefer by far the way maps are displayed in Sygic, Ovi Maps and Navigon, as they are clear and show all the information you need to know. Another thing we didn't really like as well is the fact that when you select your destination, the route summary will remain on the screen for too long and make you think the application is blocked on this screen, which, again, makes it very inconvenient when you drive. In terms of ease of use, we believe NDrive is not complicated to use at all, and has intuitive menus, especially with touchscreens. However, although NDrive says their search engine is the easiest one to use, we must say that the single field input in Ovi Maps is a lot more user friendly that the one used by this application. To finish, we think this application is great for pedestrian navigation, as map rotation and zooming possibilities are awesome, especially when used together with satellite maps and 3D landmarks. However, if you're looking for a drive mode GPS, you'd better look at other applications, especially knowing this one is very expensive compared to others and doesn't have advanced features others offer. Indeed, not only NDrive lacks lane assist, it also isn't able to handle safety cameras officially, as you have to manually import them from a Google Earth file! To conclude, we really felt NDrive was still a beta application that shouldn't be a paid one for the moment as it still lacks many important features... especially if it wants to be revolutionary!

Even a few years ago, Route66 was one of the most popular S60 navigation software and was even used by Nokia as the default GPS software on "Navigator" phones. The reason for this is very simple: Route66 is a very complete application that offers what TomTom devices offer, directly on a cell phone. Indeed, Route66 supports 3D views, weather, night mode and has speed limit warnings as well as Safety Camera notifications. The application is even able to provide you with detailed travel guides to let you know the best things to see when visiting a new place.

Lately, Route 66 has released an all new version, compatible with both S60 v3 and v5 (not yet available in the US) that has even more features, such as 3D landmarks and lane assist, which are extremely useful features that help you find your way more easily. However, not only the navigation features are great, the way maps are displayed and handled is also very good. Route66 offers clear maps with the ability to automatically zoom when important junctions must be shown and displays maneuver information in a way that you may spot them immediately. Therefore, it becomes obvious that Route66 is an excellent GPS navigation system that can definitely replace a PND.

Nevertheless, like any other software, Route66 isn't perfect: Although offering lane assist is an excellent thing, the application shows the lane to follow in the very bottom of the screen and makes them very difficult to see, especially when driving; unlike Ovi Maps that shows them very clearly (but hides other information at that moment). Finally, like in Ovi Maps, Route66 also shows road signs using too small fonts, which makes them hard to read when driving, as the phone is generally hung to the windshield. The only reason why you may not go for Route66 is actually its price as it is pretty expensive compared to other GPS solutions, but paying for it is definitely worth the price, even though Ovi maps still offers a little bit more.

Already a famous web-based service on computers, Google Maps also has an S60 version software that allows you to create itineraries and lookup for nearby points of interest and addresses. It can use your GPS location and provide you with an itinerary to the desired destination using several transportation modes, including drive, pedestrian and public transportation. Google Maps also has built-in traffic information and generally uses the latest available maps for their services.

In terms of navigation, don't rely on Google Maps at all if you're looking for drive navigation, as you will need a co-pilot helping you out with the instructions. Also notice that the application doesn't take your updated location information when providing you with the route, it only considers your first position and will simply update your position on the map, but won't tell you how far you still need to go before turning. Another element making Google maps unusable as a car navigation system is the fact that it doesn't automatically move the map based on your position, so you will have to move it manually, which is extremely inconvenient to do when driving. Not to mention that Google Maps also lacks most of the features a GPS application has, but this is normal, as the application isn't a turn-by-turn navigation solution.

Nonetheless, Google Maps is very useful when using it as a pedestrian navigation system as you generally are able to manipulate your phone while walking. Its integration with Street View also helps you find your way very easily and know where exactly you have to go. Other aids include satellite maps that you can use in order to better locate yourself in relation to the environment. You can also share and view you friend's location thanks to Google Latitude, directly integrated into the application.

Therefore, even though Google Maps is not a car navigation software at all, it is a very good pedestrian navigation one knowing it provides you with street views, satellite maps and even public transportation information. However, you can still use Google Maps in car to get an idea about your itinerary, but you'd better not use it while driving, or the next destination you'd be likely to enter would be the nearest hospital (but you don't want that, even though Google Maps is perfectly able to provide you with it). Google is also working on a real navigation software that provides you with turn-by-turn navigation, this software should be available soon for US users and the rest of the world.

There are two things that surprised us when reviewing these applications. The first one is the fact that no Symbian application has yet a fully working text to speech module, when most Windows Mobile and iPhone solutions do. The second one is mainly about TomTom, given the fact that they were the first company to actually start producing popular PDA GPS navigation software, before even working on their PND. However, after releasing their iPhone software, the Dutch company completely forgot about Symbian and Windows Mobile platforms, as if Apple's mobile OS was the only one able to handle these features. We truly believe many of the software makers here should really think of making decent Symbian applications (especially for TomTom and Navigon), as they provide other platform users with better programs when they have the capability of making even better ones for S60.

Kindly note that we will write a similar review about Maemo devices as soon as there are enough GPS applications available. However, most of Nokia's Maemo device come with Ovi Maps and are have the same features as the ones mentioned above.