Best smart phone with GPS?

[DSM10000]

The contract on my Blackberry Bold expires soon and although I like it for ease of use and the software and hardware stability the inability to download full UK GPS mapping data on to the memory card is a pain.

It is fine if you have a data signal to start with and download that particular route but if you deviate from your route and do not have a signal you are stuck. I do not want a satnav stuck on the screen as I think they look awful and distract you when driving.

I am not a fan of touch screens in particular but am willing to try but am slightly anti Apple as my partner has an Iphone 4 and the reception is awful, we are both on Orange and I can have 3G whilst she has nothing. I need to look at a Samsung Galaxy etc but if anyone has experiences good or bad to share it would be welcomed.

Whatever 'phone I get I intend to look to integrate it via the interface Parts for Mercedes are currently offering at £170 for the Audio 10 as long as that does what it says and gives me voice dialing from the steering wheel controls and access to my 'phone book etc. If not then the Dynavin unit may well resurface as a (more expensive) alternative as there are increasingly positive reports on here and other forums about the latest models performance and reliability.

 

[Frankie]

I've tried Tom tom and iPhone sat nav and found they both lagged. My current phone is the Samsung Galaxy S2,I find the sat nav pin points my location quicker.Everything can be voice controlled also which is very handy.

 

[Whitey]

Android phones have the benefit of Google Maps but they do not work without a data connection like TomTom can (not yet anyway).

So Samsung Galaxy S2 or top HTC models are my recommendations

 

[cenobite]

samsung galaxy, hands down best phone i have owned

 

[219]

I have had TomTom Navigator 5 on my Treo , which was very good . Still keep it as a spare phone .

I currently have the TomTom app on my iPhone 3GS , also the Navigon app - both are very good , slight differences in mapping means that each will occasionally find destinations that the other won't recognise .

Having upgraded from the original iPhone to the 3G , then the 3GS , I discovered that once you have bought the TomTom app , you can instal it on your upgraded phone and it remains working on the old one . TomTom can also be used on the 2g iPhone with the TomTom carkit which has the GPS receiver the phone lacks .

I had the Thb Bury System 8 carkit for the Treo , and upgraded cradles with each of the iPhones ; System 8 is now in SWMBO's car and I upgraded to the CC9060 kit . I have the cradles mounted in the usual place to the left of the centre console and find the screen well placed for glancing down at the maps as well as for telephony , but not so close to line of sight as to be a distraction whilst driving , especially at night . I always shudder at the sight of people driving at night with brightly lit satnav screens glaring in the middle of windscreens and impairing forward vision ; few seem to even realise the satnav has a 'night' setting which changes the colours and reduces brightness , but they probably drive with their instrument lighting on max brightness too !

Poor reception is usually down to networks rather than handsets , I was on Orange since the network started , but changed to O2 when the iPhone came out as they were the sole carrier .

I found O2 gave good coverage on all three handsets , but when I passed them onto my partner/daughter and unlocked them for their Orange SIM cards the reception was noticeably inferior . Colleagues at work with iPhones on Orange also reported inferior coverage compared to the same handsets on O2/Vodafone .