Nokia drive was touted as a key feature in Nokia Lumia smartphones. It even allows you to download offline maps state by state. I thought the days of GPS devices were over.

When I got my Nokia Lumia 900, I went on to order a handle for Nokia Lumia so that I can snap it into my Camry’s windshield while it displays turn by turn navigation. The feature that caused Apple to develop its own mapping software and replace Google maps from its iDevices. I waited impassionately to receive the handle through free shipping from eBay. Finally it arrived and I tried it in a couple of short trips. After those two rides, it was clear that Nokia drive is nowhere close to replace Garmin or TomTom, not yet. 

The first basic problem is smartphones become really hot when you put in front of windshield in sunny day for hours. I haven’t tried it’s ultimate limit but I am sure at one point it will burst. Maybe something like those old Nokia mobiles :). So, smartphones got to deal with this issue if they ever think of replacing good old GPS devices.

The most important problem is that it just can’t locate you. Yes, if you are in a road with multiple parallel roads which cross at some point or under an overhead bridge, then the location pointer keeps jumping from one road to another. Which means recalculating route every few seconds. It almost got me into trouble. Which means, basically you cannot use it unless you know the route enough and are using Nokia drive for secondary help only. I am guessing it is more of a hardware issue than a software glitch as other apps also have trouble getting location information quickly.

However, it does have one nice feature. It warns you whenever you cross speed limit. And it does it quite accurately. As soon as you cross a speed limit post, it updates and warns you if necessary.

In any case, the inability to locate user accurately is a deal breaker for me. Apparently there are many users facing similar problems. Hopefully Nokia will gain some wisdom and not make same mistakes again and again.