We took four groups of unsuspecting smartphone users and deposited them in the centre of Edinburgh with a phone and a mobile platform that each had never used before. Here's how each group found using iPhone, Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry. For all your broadband needs visit Broadband Advisor.
We teamed up with Broadband Genie to find out which mobile platform was best for finding your way around. We took four groups of unsuspecting smartphone navigators and deposited them in the centre of Edinburgh with a phone and a mobile platform that each had never used before. You can read Broadband Genie's take on this with their best mobile broadband winners and best mobile broadband analysis pieces. See all Broadband tips.
We then set them a series of navigational challenges, asking them to find and take pictures of famous landmarks identified only by cryptic clues. Each team completed the challenge, and they all took roughly the same time.
When they completed the test we gave them a strong drink, and let them rest their weary feat.
In this video we show you, in no particular order, how each group found navigating and using a mobile platform for the first time.
Our Windows team used the Lumia 620 which features Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8 patform. The UI has been praised for offering something different, but it left our Nokia-equipped team unimpressed.
This was a largely negative experience, although it's worth pointing out that the Lumia 620 is a budget Windows Phone.
Our iPhone 5 testers are Android users, and they had to use Apple Maps for this challenge, rather than Google Maps.
They gave a thumbs up for iOS, even with Apple Maps' well publicised problems.
We gave our team of Android virgins Sony's Xperia Z Android phone. How would they cope with Google's platform after years of using the iPhone?
They found Android a mixed bag, but Android has clearly come a long way.
The BlackBerry Z10 uses BlackBerry 10 - a radical departure from past Blackberry devices, taking design cues from the iPhone and big-screen Android smartphones. But how does it work as a navigational tool?
One thing the whole team agreed on was the quality of the camera.
Clearly, then BlackBerry 10 is a big step forward for BlackBerry, but the phone giant may need to take further steps to convince non-BlackBerry users.
All of the teams completed their challenge, and all found things they liked about each platform. If we had to choose a winner, from the responses of the teams it would be the iPhone. But the gap has all but closed between Apple and Windows Phone, Android and BlackBerry, as there is something for all users to love in each of the mobile worlds.
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