• Garmin-Asus A10

    Garmin-Asus A10

    Rohan Naravane, Nov 08, 2010 1306 hrs IST

    A well-built mid-range Android phone with pro-navigation features

    Sturdy build, HVGA (320 x 480 pixel) screen, turn-by-turn navigation software built-in, Android 2.1, some thoughtful UI enhancements

    No car kit bundled in the package, no camera flash, lags a little at times, expensive

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The G60 was born from a relationship between Taiwanese hardware manufacturer Asus and GPS navigation specialist Garmin.

It was their first pro-navigation phone that had a nicely designed interface and did the navigation bit well. But unfortunately there were severe flaws that made it unworthy of justifying that high Rs. 30,000 price tag. It was our sincere hope back then that they would port that beautiful interface with the backing of Google's Android OS. Unfortunately, the next phone we got to test was the M10. Other than the phone's decent navigation capability, it was of no good use, thanks to its horrid touch response and the aging Windows Mobile 6.5 OS.

Today, we test out the third model that the collaboration has launched, the A10. Powered by Android 2.1, this phone, on paper at least, has a fairly healthy feature-set, with Garmin's trademark navigation functionality built right in. So, how is the A10 as a phone? Let's check it out.

Design and Build

After using the previous two Asus-Garmin phones, we expected this phone to have a good build quality as well. And sure enough, just like the other two, the A10 too is a well built handset. The moment you hold it in your hand, you get this great feeling of solidity. It is a decent looking phone too; the commonly seen metallic rim around the edges adds to the appeal. The back cover in comparison appears a little cheapie. Like every other touchscreen phone, you'll have to live with fingerprints being smudged all over the front face.

Although it is not as thin as the HTC Wildfire, the overall dimensions are pretty good and it fits the pocket without feeling too heavy.



There are three touch-sensitive buttons right below the screen that fortunately are backlit, thus you don't have to take hunt for them in the dark, like you would have to in some others. The screen is a TFT capacitive panel measuring at 3.2 inches and sporting an HVGA (320 x 480 pixel) resolution screen. Content is displayed well on the screen; readability is good and colors appear natural. The screen brightness and touch response are pretty good too. The display is fairly readable in sunlight, but that's also because of the smart UI enhancements, which we'll look into a little later.








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Discussion Board
(10) Comments
Sajid
,Bangalore, on Nov 08, 2010 04:37 PM
Hi, Do you know where the car mount can be purchased from? Or is it not yet available in India?
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Shalin
,Rajkot, on Nov 09, 2010 11:49 AM
this is available in chroma outlets all over india
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Sajid
,Bangalore, on Nov 10, 2010 09:56 AM
I checked with Chroma, they just have the phone and not the car kit for this.
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wecd
,Mumbai, on Nov 25, 2010 02:23 PM
Were you able to figure out where to get the car mount kit? Checked Croma and searched on the internet with no results.
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Sajid
,Bangalore, on Dec 03, 2010 11:47 AM
Still couldn't find the car mount. I saw an article in TOI where a price of around 2200 was mentioned
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Jk Mman
,Sydney, on Nov 10, 2010 07:22 AM
This information about the OS version. The A10 is still only running 1.6. No 2.1 has been released for this model.
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Sajid
,Bangalore, on Nov 10, 2010 09:55 AM
Android 2.1 is indeed available in the model available in India.
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GJS
,Brisbane, on Nov 11, 2010 08:06 AM
I am told by Garmin-Asus that the android 2.1 upgrade will be available by the end of Nov in Australia. I also recently upgraded my software to V3.7.15 (not OS) via their Australian website only to find my phone not working propery. I was told they would be issuing a roll back for the software upgrade. Also the car kit is included in the package I bought from Optus Australia.
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craft
,Mumbai, on Nov 08, 2010 03:03 PM
hi a very nice review ,can you please confirm that is the turn by turn navigation on the garmin free or paid?
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Rohan
,TechTree, on Nov 08, 2010 03:58 PM
According to the Asus Garmin rep, buyers will get all India maps for free. For buying maps of other countries, you will have to pay per country. Maps can be purchased from their official Garmin Asus website
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