Review on 🗺️ Nokia 500 Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with 4.3-Inch Display by David Thomley

UPDATES: I have updated the review regarding the signal quality of the FM transmitter as well as the clock reset when using the bottom power button and the selection from the device when using the BT hands-free kit. I recently bought mine from another online seller. This is going to be a long and fairly detailed review and in it I will clarify some of the issues some people are having. Waking up from standby mode works both in battery mode and when charging. All you have to do is press and hold the top power button for about 2-3 seconds and then release. To put it back into sleep mode, press and hold the top power button for the same amount of time. For everyday use, the top power button is very convenient and allows for faster booting than the bottom power button, which requires a pointed device to turn on and off. Please note that when using the LOWER power button, be careful not to turn off the device while the device is in standby mode as this will reset the clock. Only switch off the device if it is switched on and not in standby mode. This is just an issue with the bottom power button. BT pairing only works on some phones, not all phones. There are different versions of BT as well as different BT profiles. So don't expect every phone to work with this Nokia 500. My LG CU500 is a great match and the phone's speaker works great, loud and clear. However, my contacts were not downloaded because my phone does not support the Phonebook Access Profile (PBAP), so I have to make calls using my phone's phonebook. You can make calls using the touchpad if you already know the phone number. You can also save 9 speed dial numbers in "Favorites". For incoming calls, I can answer with Nokia using the touchscreen. BT speakers can use built-in speakers or car stereo through FM transmitter. It works great with my car radio, the reception is loud and clear. Interference does occur from time to time, but this is common with all FM stations. The FM transmitter works well when you hold it in your hand on a stand or on battery power. However, if you use a car adapter, it is very sensitive to the orientation of the CABLE, so you will need to move the cable to get the best reception. . I suspect this is why some owners don't get good reception because they don't recognize it. The FM transmitter works with music and videos stored on the SD card and navigation voices. I had an issue with the FM transmitter turning off after 1 minute of inactivity when using voice navigation, but I found a simple solution: the audio track plays in the background in repeat mode, which the FM transmitter supports all the time. . If you don't want to hear background music during voice navigation, simply turn down the volume with the front panel buttons. You can turn off the music volume completely and the FM transmitter will still be on. You don't have to bother creating the silent audio track I suggested before I knew about it. The volume of the voice navigation is independent of the music volume, so it does not decrease with the music. Remember that Nokia has a built-in speaker so voices can be played through it instead of your car stereo if you don't want to fiddle with an FM transmitter. Also note that if you have music in the background, the volume of the music will be automatically reduced so you can hear the voice navigation instructions when it's on. Nokia only comes with a car charger, but it can also be charged by plugging it into a computer's USB port. That means any USB charger will work. The standard USB output voltage is 5V. At home I use an old Motorola USB phone charger that is rated at 5V and 550mA. The Nokia car adapter is rated at 5V and 1A. It takes longer to charge with my Motorola charger because the current is about half that of the Nokia car charger. In any case, slow charging is preferable because the risk of overcharging is minimal if you forget to disconnect the charger after the battery is fully charged. The memory card that came with my device is an official Nokia branded 2GB SD card, NOT a microSD or miniSD. The card is manufactured by Sandisk. It contains already created folders for MP3, VIDEOS and PICTURES and CITIES for maps. I copied all files and folders from the 2GB card to the 16GB card and it works without any problems. Music and videos play properly, but the videos seem to need to be under a certain resolution and frame rate. If the video resolution is too high, playback will be choppy. I had to experiment with encoding different videos to find the optimal resolution/frame rate, but I found that the 4 product demo videos included on the Nokia SD card have the following specifications. Audio - AAC, Stereo, 44.1kHz. - MPEG4 480x276 15 FPS Bitrate - 768 kbps I will try to make videos at 25 FPS as I don't think 15 FPS is good. The device can play WMV at 30 frames per second, but this depends on the resolution. If I could play the video at 25fps at a native screen resolution of 480x276, that would be perfect. This Nokia runs Windows CE Core 5.0. Finally, if you want the battery to last longer, simply lower the brightness or leave it in sleep mode, which dims the screen after 30 seconds. This allows the device to work for a few hours without connecting to the network. The windshield mount is very high quality and durable, made in Germany. The suction cup is not a standard grinder. You have to operate a lever when getting on/off, which is good because it creates a very strong and reliable suction effect. As far as navigation goes, it works well based on my own usage. This is my first PND and I am very happy with its performance. The text-to-speech voice navigation feature does a great job of announcing street names, etc. The interface can be a bit confusing at first, but once you remember where everything is and has everything set up, it gets the job done quite efficiently. Yes, there are probably better user experiences from other products, but considering what you're getting overall for such a low price, there's nothing to complain about here. For the little money I paid for my device, that's a great deal. It does what it's supposed to do with a nice big bright 4.3-inch widescreen and includes BT hands-free calling and an FM transmitter. The device also supports many different audio and video formats. It also plays lossless uncompressed WAV files, even if this file format is not listed in the official specifications. The device is very high quality and looks solid. The built-in, non-removable battery does not matter, because it will be mostly in the car used and not carried in your pocket, regardless, the battery will likely last for several years if used purely as a portable device, just like any iPod or iPhone. In a few years a PND with the same features As this Nokia will definitely be very cheap, when my battery dies I could just buy a newer, better device and still use the old device in the car, which plugs into the cigarette lighter connected if I want.