Two things remain that keep me tied to Nokia though and this week one of them was scrubbed from the list. The cameras on Nokia phones are still ahead of most of the competition. At least the N82, N86 and the latest N8 are and my N82 is still untouched by any Android phone 2.5 years after its launch. The N8 will push the envelope further. The element that dropped from my Nokia-is-best list was the navigation. I guess I’m not comparing apples to apples by comparing a slow, small-screened device with an outdated version of Ovi maps to the large-screen, fast processor SE X10 but having tested Google Navigation last week, I can safely say that Google Maps and Navigation is going to satisfy my needs 99% of the time. The speed of search is fantastic. The quality of the search results top-notch, cached navigation works until you deviate from a route (but re-routes if you have a data connection) and I love the way that my favorites are synced across all my Google devices. I can add a favorite to my desktop and there it is on my phone when I need to navigate to it. I thought I would need cached maps but it’s just not the case. Even GPRS data is enough to get search and re-routing working well. Ovi Maps is no longer the must-have for me.

What does it leave for Nokia then? The camera. I want that N8 camera for sure but do I really want to pay for another high-end touch-enabled superphone just for the cam? And will I still be using the X10 if I want to share my images? The N8 is showing up in pre-sales for over 450 Euro and that’s as much as any of the latest smartphones. I just can’t justify 450 euro for a camera, even if it does have Wi-Fi, BT and 3G.  The N8 is a no-go for me now.

So how about that Motorola XT720 then? (Pocket-Lint have a review up) It’s a lower-powered phone than the X10i (although way more powerful than the N82) and there’s a hint of a plastic lens in the review photos I’ve seen, it’s ugly and also rather expensive but it looks like it’s up there with the N82 in terms of quality and features and even runs Android 2.1 which beats the 1.6 version I have on my X10. The exposed lens makes me think twice but I’m prepared to give it a go because it combines Android and a high-end cameraphone in a way that hasn’t been done yet.

If I can find someone to buy the X10i or swap an XT720 with me, I’ll definitely be up for it and the end result will be that Nokia will be out of my life.

Wonderful. Just as I get over my desire for the Satio (plastic, not fantastic) and the Vivaz (Steve Litchfield wasn’t that impressed so I’m not impressed) out of my system, I now have to reconsider the Sony Ericsson X10 that I had previously discounted due to expensive price (around 500 Euro making it 150 Euro more than the Motorola Milestone) and a 1.6 version of Android (see how impressed JKK was when he upgraded to 2.1 on the Milestone/Droid)

You might have already read that I’ve got an N82 which was, after I’ve repaired the control key, going to continue to be my #1. The problem is that 1) The Xenon flash is starting to fail. We’re up to about 20% pre-flash / flash fail rate now (I must have run 5000 photos or more through it so I’m not surprised) and the two batteries I have aren’t giving me more than 4-6hr battery life even on GSM with no services running. With the delay to the Dell Mini 5 (which was to be my uber-phone in working situations) it now means I have at least 3 months ahead of me without a reliable smartphone and that’s not acceptable.

I’m still looking at the Milestone and at 360 Euro, it’s an absolute bargain now but if the X10 is going to get 2.1 and has top-class photography (based on all my criteria) then I’m willing to give it a shot at 20 Euro per month. But then, there’s the Nokia N8 and LG GW990 to think of. If they feed in at the end of the year I don’t want to be stuck with the X10 and 20 Euro per month.

Maybe I should just get a Nokia 6710 Navigator , LG Electronics GW620 (loving the look of the 5-row keyboard on that) or Android 2.1-based Samsung Galaxy Spica to keep me going over the summer. At 250 Euro, these are all bargains.

What I did discover is the following (that will only be of interest to Germans, that can read English. (note-to-self: Maybe widening your niche area might result in more visitors!)

As I went from shop to shop I tweeted my findings:

Vodafone and 02 have confirmation that the Droid / Milestone is coming. I’m a Vodafone customer who’s contract finishes in Feb so this is interesting to me but there’s something even more interesting.

O2 have an interesting ‘transparent’ system where they’ve separated the phones and contracts into different products. A phone is free and costs 5,10,15 or 20 per month over 2 years. It allows them to sell voice and data services on a month-by-month basis. You can combine multiple products in different ways which benefits someone like me who rarely makes a voice call but is connected to the data channel for most of the day. I’ve been offered a Motorola Milestone/Droid for 20 Euro per month / 24 months (480 Euros) I can then add a 0 Euro per month voice contract. (0,15 Euros per call/sms) and then (and this is the cool part) add a 300MB or 5GB HSPA (in Bonn) contract on for 10 or 25 Euro per month. (Actually they are both flat rate data but throttle down to GPRS after the limit is reached.) For 45 Euro per month I get a Droid and 5GB of lovely 7.2mbps data. Vodafone, you’ve got about 5 days to offer me something else because apparently the Milestone/Droid will be here next week.

Other updates: Amazon have one weeks exclusivity on the Nkia N900 in Germany. Nokia shop gets it one week later. (Should be under 2 weeks)

I didn’t get a chance to talk to the T-Mobile people about the HTC HD2. It’s coming soon and it looks like it will be exclusive to T-Mobile for a while as no-one else knew anything about it. The T-Mobile shop was rammed full so I left. Maybe I’ll check them out again later.

I spotted the Omnia Pro B7610 in a few shops and spoke to one person about why it took too long to reach the shelves in Germany. ‘Germany is a different place’ he said. ‘Everyone else is casual about faults but it’s different in Germany.’ I had to laugh out loud because it’s so true. The Germans are the best quality control testers in the world!

It’s funny how a walk around the shops results in a different conclusion to browsing the web. There’s an extra special element of excitement that can catch you unaware. Right now I’m seriously thinking about the Milestone for next week. If I get it I’ll start a sub-blog droid-milestone.carrypad.com My only worry is that I will end up with a QWERTZ keyboard.