Nokia compares Lumia 920 location services with iPhone 5, Samsung Galaxy S3

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Nokia has been a bit cheeky the past couple of weeks by crashing Samsung's party and publishing snarky comments about HTC's latest Windows Phone hardware - the company is certainly on a path of war and utmost destruction. And they haven't halted either. Over at the conversations blog, the team have compiled a comparison chart that details location features present in the Nokia Lumia 920, Samsung Galaxy S3 and the recently unveiled iPhone 5.

Nokia has done a superb job regarding location services on Windows Phone. The manufacturer is set to release Nokia Maps and Nokia Drive as an app available for every Windows Phone owner, which lifts the requirement to purchase a Lumia handset for solid (and free) turn-by-turn navigation. Using Navteq and in-house technologies, Nokia is able to provide apps and services that don't rely on third-parties, and notes that Navteq maps have been "meticulously developed over 20 years of know-how".

Boasting good market coverage, offline capabilities and no price tag, Nokia really has a gem in its mobile products. But how do Nokia's location-based services compare to the competition? If you're considering which platform you wish to join and wish to have strong location service support, you might want to check the chart below.

The ability to use location-based apps offline is an advantage each and every provide has to offer consumers. There are dead spots in the world and these need to be covered by offline functionality. Travelling abroad and avoiding huge data usage costs is also a plus that's warmly welcomed by those who frequently travel, or enjoy going on holiday every so often.

If the above chart wasn't enough, Nokia has also compared the number of countries supported by turn-by-turn navigation. Well, the maps below speak for themselves.

No one ever doubted Nokia's mapping and location service capabilities, but it's good to see strong comparisons being made between the platforms and against competitors to show that Windows Phone (Nokia Lumias in particular) can indeed surpass what's offered in iOS and Android.

We've also compared the Lumia 920 against the HTC 8X and Samsung ATIV S if you're still undecided as to which flagship Windows Phone you'll purchase. Be sure to check out our comparison table for more details.

Related: Location, Windows Phone 8 and Nokia’s plan to be the ultimate “where” platform

Source: Nokia Conversations

Rich Edmonds
Rich Edmonds

Rich Edmonds is Senior Editor of PC hardware at Windows Central, covering everything related to PC components and NAS. He's been involved in technology for more than a decade and knows a thing or two about the magic inside a PC chassis. You can follow him over on Twitter at @RichEdmonds.
73 Comments
  • This is why I want the 920 over either of the others. Their support for the platform is unmatched
  • Not only that but they can deliver apps for free that represent good value that full price competitors can't even deliver.
    You have to note though that Google is also making their own Maps app and that other navigation systems provide good functionality too (even though you have to pay for it, you will still have alternative options anyways).
    I only hope that Google will make other apps available for WP8. Search (or perhaps a default search engine), mail/docs, youtube and other apps that currently arent sufficient. Allthough they might make ports of the Windows 8 metro apps that they are surely working on (right google?)
  • We will never, I repeat, NEVER see Google search as a default option on Windows Phone.
  • Before I converted to WP7 last Dec 2011, I had already been using Bing search for more than a year. So I don't miss Google search at all. I hope Bing will continue as default search in WP8/7.
  • I will never see Bing as default on android phones either (unless Amazon makes an Android phone, which is forked and shouldn't really count). Companies stick to their brands.
  • Nokia came to play hard. Good for them.
  • So can the Nokia Lumia 820 have offline maps from Nokia Drive?
  • Yeah man of course even my L900 has it.
  • Yes, every Lumia device does.
  • Yeah, my 800 does :)
  • Yes, my 710 too!
  • So does my 610 ;)
  • At least Nokia include the stats where they get beaten, as well :)
  • Some countries that aren't supported surprise me a bit. Some european countries and parts of asia that they haven't covered. Is it really not functioning properly in those areas or do you just don't have all the functions but still basic navigation?
  • The only really big hole in Navteq's coverage is Japan. That one I don't understand.
    For those countries that aren't covered, you simply won't have the ability to download a map to Nokia Drive. Using Nokia Maps you can take a look at how far along they are, but it is usually far from complete.
  • Funny to me that Nokia drive has language support for Urdu (only spoken in Pakistan) but doesn't have the navi for it. In fact Nokia introduced the 710 there about a month ago.
  • Nokia Drive is amazing, used it for my trip to Montreal over the summer. Downloaded the maps of NY and Montreal (since I drove from NYC to Montreal) and worked perfectly. At first I wasn't sure whether the GPS would work without data connection and I was suprised that it did. Nokia Drive + Free WiFi hotspots in the city made my Lumia 900 seem like it was running normal under ATT without any data consumption. So if you are ever going to Canada from the states all you need is Nokia Drive, Translator, some free text messaging program of your choice and free wifi!!! :-D
  • Translator? What are you talking aboot?
  • brilliant
  • A lot of Canadians speak French.
  • I have no problem with speaking English in Montreal.  :)
  • A lot of Quebecois speak French, the rest of us are quite limited. We can read cereal boxes. :P
  • LOL... mainly for the French speaking Canadian :-D
  • Translator can download dictionary
  • No coverage in South Korea and Japan? Odd
  • That's probably because Nokia is not widely used in those countries. SK is the home of Samsung and LG while Japan is the home of Sony.
  • BOOM
  • This is perfect timing for Nokia. Have you all heard the major issues apple new mapping is in IOS 6. It is so bad it is comical. My iPhone user friends are pissed and now they are stuck with a crappy map. Go Nokia. They need to promote more how good their map is versus tomtoms er.. Apple's new mapping software.
  • Your friends are "Mapping them wrong!"...
     
  • They are holding the iPhone the wrong way... lol
  • LOL!
  • 'revolutionary fail'
  • Even on current Lumia devices have offline maps with voice navigation.
  • No love for Mongolia, poor Mongolians.
  • You kocked down my schitty whall!!
  • +10 Best comment ever!
  • I'm from indonesia. May I know what's it mean. I browse but can't find anything. :-p
    Sorry for my english.
  • Itu bahasa kasar, salam kenal ;)
  • Salam kenal gan. Ane dari sidoarjo. Antum tau artinya. Penasaran ni. Qiqiqi
  • That's alright! If it makes you feel better I like mongolian beef. ;-)
  • Nokia Drive provides, by far, the best navigation experience... I've tried many devices before but this is it
  • BTW, is Nokia Drive available on other WP brands?
  • Not until Windows Phone 8.  Only Lumia users can use Nokia Drive for Windows Phone 7.
  • Nokia should never have given Nokia Map to MS WP8.  Their life would be much easier with their Nokia Map, Drive, Transit and the Pureview camera technolgy as their differentiators.  Nokia is the only one support turn-to-turn navigation in China.  Guess who will own the Chinese market?
  • is a very smart move, because it allows them a stream of income from licences.  And makes the whole platform more valuable to help the average person make an easier choice:)
  • The income from licenses must be minimal comparing to be a dominant position of market share.  China Mobile alone has 600 million subscribers.  L920 could be a super hot phone in Chna if Nokia maintains those huge differentiators.
    It certainly will help promoting the platform.  But it will also help its competitors to grab sales.
  • Nokia Maps played a key role in the MS/Nokia WP negotiations.
  • Yes, true. And most likely huge amount of money changed hands, from MS to Nokia.
  • I think the poor little idrones are just holding it wrong.
  • Nokia's going for it!
  • -_- nokia i think u missed a spot between lebanon ant turky and KSA and jordan called SYRIA i mean what the hell why there is no maping  service supports Syria !!!! shame -_-
  • Nokia already makes awesome phones with a great operating system. Microsoft just needs to put some real muscle in their add campaign. I'd take those "Smoked by Windows Phone" ads and put them on TV. Most people I know are barely aware of Windows Phone. At the most, they think it's just Microsoft's custom Android OS. When it is so much better and faster.
  • I hope Nokia releases an outdoor navigation app to go with thier offline maps for us hikers.
  • I dont even have Local Scout working on my 710 in Austria - but i suppose thats Microsofts fault.
  • Have you tried clicking the three little dots once you've opened bing? Once you've done this, go to settings and see if there's an option to enable local scout. It's disabled by default on some devices. my son's focus S and my mom's focus flash had it disabled by default. If i remember correclty, that's where I found the enable setting.
  • No, i think its because MS just does not support it for every country. Hopefully it will be in WP8 tho.
  • Nokia is still a relatively well recognized and respected brand in the Middle East and South Asia. I think with WP8's support for Arabic and the Lumia 920's "bling" there's an opportunity for Nokia to regain some serious presence in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, etc. I think the charts, particularly the maps will be a solid differentiator for them (and WP8) in that part of the world.
  • Wow iPhone 5 is so unbelievably crap.
  • So if I lived in china and wanted good mapping on my phone, the only logical choice is Nokia... So if Nokia plays this card right they could have a huge advantage in China where few have yet to buy smartphones... This said, Nokia should be concentrating on China 1st to build new sales. It seems reasonable to think they could over take iPhone in China then. Hmmm
  • Didn't nokia make a deal with the largest carrier in china.  It was one of the reasons their stock  regained so much after their 9/5 launch.
  • Does anyone have the numbers on how many of each manufacturer's feature phones are in use in China? Like home many Nokia non-smartphones are in use and how many Samsung non-smart phones are in use? Im thinking people with Nokia feature phones would be more likely to upgrade to a Nokia smartphone and those with a Samsung Feature phone to a Samsung smartphone...
  • Hasn't been mentioned on that site yet but Nokia has licensed its map data to Amazon to be used for the Kindle Fire etc.
  • Map data might not include nokia drive.  They are also working on location inside buildings with some other companies. I could have used this when I went to the new MS store in Boston. There are a bunch of malls / stores connected with glassed in  bridges there and no "street signs" .
  • Just came back home from a wedding in St.Louis. My girl has a Droid Charge and I have a L900 so you know who's nav we had to use. Everything was great until she decided to spend the night at the brides house across town. The highway was shut down at 10pm and of course her nav couldn't get a signal. I had to guide her all the way. She's excited VZW is getting WP and her upgrade is coming up.
  • The only thing missing from Nokia Drive is for it to call out street names.  Other than that, it's perfect!
  • It does call out street names, at least on the Nokia N9 version; so if it´s not yet available for the Lumias then it should be really soon. 
  • Google Maps is more updated for Singapore though. Nokia Maps still show buildings which have been tore down for years, while Google Maps show the new buildings which has since built over the sites.
  • Will waiting for them to add the walk feature which has been available in the old Symbian platform for a couple of years already.
  • "the company is certainly on a path of war and utmost destruction"
    quite a strong statement...they are only using their strong suit agaisnt the competition
  • City Lens does 3D maps? I thought it was just Augmented Reality.
  • The question i have of the offline maps is. There then stored in the phone, and if yes, is that gonna take space away from the 32 GB? This can be a problem.
  • Nokia great
  • Guess Nokia maps are a bit better ;-)
    http://theamazingios6maps.tumblr.com/