ViewRanger / Nokia 5800
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Review
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Price:
£146.80 (whole of GB 1:50,000 and ViewRanger software) -
lots of alternative options
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Weight: 114
grammes (Nokia 5800 touchscreen phone)
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Features: GPS Smartphone-compatible
mapping software, OS mapping downloadable or buy on DVD or microSDHC
memory card, maps delivered with ViewRanger software,
mapping also available for many European countries and the
USA, software allows route planning, tracking, panoramic
views, tracking 'buddies', trip, upload and download GPX
files from your phone to your computer.
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What's It
For?
ViewRanger is downloadable software which transforms your Nokia
smartphone into an OS-mapping compatible GPS navigation unit and gives
you the ability to select and download mapping either direct to your
phone or via your computer, or on DVD. It allows you to download routes
in the universal GPX format and follow them on your phone or to track
the route you do take then transfer the data to your computer or a
routes site, so you can share your route with others.
If you already own a compatible phone, then it's the easiest and most
economical way to acquire a GPS unit that's compatible with Ordnance
Survey mapping.
The Techy
Bits
We're more interested in how ViewRanger works as a
navigational tool than in listing huge amounts of technical
specifications. The most important thing is that ViewRanger is
compatible with most Nokia Smartphone built on the Symbian
S60 platform -
list
here - and has been re-written to work with
touch screen phones like the Nokia 5800 Xpress Music with its internal
GPS, which is the phone we've been using with version 2.7 of the
software.
ViewRanger doesn't need mobile coverage to work - simply GPS access -
but it does need an internet connection to download new mapping and
software updates.
The software itself is a bit like a multi-layered onion. You can use it
in quite a basic way simply to see where you are on a map, or you can
access more complicated features like a panorama feature that lets you
view the skyline from your position with the main geographic features
named.
There's a search facility that works with place names or, by connecting
to the ViewRanger server, you can search for post codes as well.
How It
Performed
It says something that it's taken us ages to review ViewRanger on the
XpressMusic touchphone, the bottom line is that we simply didn't want
to give it back, the combination of compact size, light weight and
smooth, easy to use software makes it arguably the best OS mapping GPS
solution out there.
Our test phone came loaded with the entire UK in 1:50,000 scale OS
mapping in a package weighing just 114 grammes making it incredibly
easy to carry about, particularly as you're likely to be carrying a
phone anyway.
On a day to day basis we mostly used it on quite a straightforward
level and it excelled. The phone locks onto your location reasonably
quickly, the mapping is displayed with admirable clarity and is
readable even in sunny conditions and using the touchscreen
you can pan and zoom in and out smoothly and quickly.
The screen on the Nokia 5800 is large enough to be useable too and the
touchscreen interface works well, even when carried in a suitable
protective case. A stylus or plectrum made for precise selections and
made the tiny on-screen keyboard useable.
The crucial bit is that ViewRanger does the basics brilliantly - it
shows you exactly where you are, displays your position and direction
of travel clearly, leaves a customisable snail trail behind you and has
an easy to access trip computer that tells you how fast you're going,
time elapsed and so on. You can also check your elevation data on the
fly.
The interface is mostly straightforward and easy to use via the touch
screen, though occasionally it felt like we were having to burrow
through one too many menus. All good, then at the end of the day you
can convert the track to a route and download or share it.
Alternatively you can either plan a route on the phone itself by
clicking between points or download one in GPX form and follow it. If
you choose to do that, you can pre-set alarms to go off at target
waypoints and simply follow handy arrows on the screen.
All this is as good or better than anything else we've tried, but there
are lots of additional pluses. Downloadable mapping, for example, is a
real boon if - say - you're on a road trip, you can simply select and
buy relevant mapping as you go.
Then there's the neat panoramic view feature. Select it and the phone
will draw the skyline and label the peaks for you, so no more wondering
what the big, rounded peak on the right is, ViewRanger will tell you.
Or you can add Waypoints. Or take pics and connect them to their
location.
The Buddy location facility which will let you track your friends on
your handset and could work brilliantly for centres and clubs on the
hill.
One point to be aware of is that GPS use on phones is battery hungry
and even with parsimonious power saving, we found the phone was good
for a day's use on foot or bike, but needed a recharge to cope with a
further day.
You also need to bear in mind that phones aren't generally designed for
robust outdoors use, so you need to be careful and almost certainly
invest in a protective case to keep it in one piece.
Everyone who used ViewRanger on the Nokia 5800 phone was blown away by
it, to the point where our test unit spent some time on tour all over
the UK. It has an unbeatable combination of compact size and low
weight, a clear and readable screen with beautifully rendered mapping -
take note Garmin - and a reasonably intuitive menu that allows you to
use it in a basic but effective way or to take advantages of its more
advanced features.
The bottom line is that the basics are excellent, the unit runs fast
and smoothly and whenever we wondered if it was capable of doing
something more, it almost always was. And then you can download mapping
direct when you're on the road, which could be a real lifesaver.
If you already own a smartphone then ViewRanger is a no-brainer in our
opinion and works really well with a touchscreen interface too - watch
for news on the iPhone front as well - and even if you don't, it's a
massive incentive to switch.
Buy if you
own or are considering buying a Smartphone and want a versatile,
rapid-computing, OS-mapping compatible GPS option.
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Versatile, easy to use, quick and powerful, downloadable
mapping. Advanced features.
 Not as robust
as purpose-built GPS units, battery life good for a day depending on
phone.
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Performance
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Value
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Know more or want to?
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Jonathan Quirk
