Video: Nokia Drive+ On The HTC 8X

After Microsoft’s announcement earlier today about Nokia Drive now being available for all Windows Phone 8 devices, I figured I’d take a quick look at it running on my HTC 8X and compare it against the Lumia 920 to see if anything was different or lacking in the non-Lumia version of the app.

And truth be told, I really couldnt find much different, apart from a version number difference (The HTC 8X had Nokia Drive v1.0 while the Lumia 920 has Nokia Drive v2). You have access to the same search results, the same maps which can be downloaded for offline usage, navigation voices, and the same settings as well. But hey, dont just take my word for it, check out the video below for a better idea:

As you probably noticed, even the speed of the app is exactly the same on both devices. Looks like Nokia didnt compromise in the “non-Lumia” app, eh? And just like that, it seems like getting a Non-Nokia Windows Phone will no completely be a bad idea either.

I mean, you wont get access to the other Lumia exclusive Nokia apps like Cinemagraph and Smart Shoot, yada yada, but atleast you have decent maps and free turn-by-turn voice navigation. I did notice though, that Drive will only work with US, UK and (I’m assuming) Canadian sim cards (which are the three regions Microsoft said it’d work with), so if your SIM card is from, oh let’s say, India, Drive will not work on the 8X or any other non-Lumia Windows Phone. Drive will also not work on a non-Lumia device without a SIM card either, so it looks like they’re really keen on sticking to that regional restriction there.