The autofocus system is relatively quick but you do have to use the on-screen menu to access the macro mode if you want to focus as close as the phone allows. Such short shooting distances are great for close-ups, and this certainly allows you to make the most of the detail on offer. However, we did find focusing accuracy to be a bit hit and miss, often taking a couple of shots to get a sharp-looking image.

The 330MHz processor under the bonnet gets the pictures taken and stored away reasonably quickly. At top resolution we were able to keep the delay between frames down to 20 seconds, including processing and focusing delays.

On visual inspection, pictures looked very good. Much better than an average cameraphone. Shots had clean colours and good exposure in a variety of unfavourable lighting conditions. However, much of the actual detail recorded is lost by an over-generous amount of digital sharpening, which you are powerless to do anything about, and which can make images of some subjects look more like a drawing than a real photograph.

The best ever?

Video capture is much better, by comparison. In fact, it is probably the best footage we have ever seen from a phone. Nokia big this up by calling it DVD-quality. We'd argue with this; DVD is a recording medium not a digital recording format (any poor quality video can be recorded on a DVD).

And as you might guess the quality does not compete with that you would get from a DVD you'd hire from Blockbuster. However at 640x480-pixels and a frame rate of 30fps it is remarkably good. What's more you can prove this by showing your clips through your own TV.

A set of phono plugs are provided to connect up to the front AV inputs of your TV, so you can see your videos (and anything else that can be shown on your phone's display for that matter) on screen. Impressive stuff.

As innovations go, however, it is the Sat Nav that steals the show. A GPS antenna is the latest high-end feature for a flagship phone, and by the end of 2007, they'll be a whole flotilla of the things to choose from. But the Nokia implementation is rather different.

With satellite navigation, it is the mapping that is the main expense and the item that wins and loses customers. Normally, you have to buy these for each and every country that you want them for, and each new map download onto your memory card does not come cheap.

With Nokia, the maps are free. Last year it bought a company called gate5 which supplies mapping information and navigation services of and other manufacturers' phones. With gate5's smart2go software platform onboard, which is renamed "Maps" by Nokia, you simply fire up the application and the GPS works out where you are.

In seconds the cartography for your part of the world is beamed to you, using 3G, GSM or a Wi-Fi connection. It claims to have maps available for 100 countries. What's more you can plan routes for free too. Enter your destination address or postcode, and it will calculate the best route according to the preferences you have set (such as avoiding motorways or tolls). The instructions then come up on-screen.

Where they make the money is by then charging you for step-by-step navigation instructions as you drive. But even this is remarkably inexpensive. There is a £4.42 one-week option, a £5.44 30-day option, or a £47.68 option for those who sign up for three years. Sat Nav goes pay-as-you-go - and you still get full service when you cross the Channel or the Atlantic.

But does it work? As a low-cost navigation system it is definitely superb, and perfect for those that only occasionally travel into unfamiliar territories. The screen is small in comparison to other in-car GPS solutions but you do get standard features such as 2D or 3D map views.