All the late-generation dumbphones from companies like Sony Ericsson/Nokia had J2ME navigation apps. E.g. I remember using Wayfinder for navigation http://news.softpedia.com/news/Sony-Ericsson-039-s-GPS-Hands...

Yes, I'd love this too -- the killer app of smartphones is navigation. I'd be better off leaving the house without HN and Facebook in my pocket, but knowing how to get where I'm going without a paper map pre-written directions is really hard to give up.

How about a 3310-like phone that works as a portable wifi hub? Then you could use the phone for communication and a tablet/ laptop for anything else. Would battery life be awful though?

In 2006 I had an extra Nokia dumbphone in my backpack just for Bluetooth tethering. Unlimited GPRS was cheap and the web was not yet shitty. I only had to charge it once or twice a week even though I used it every day on the commute.

But for maps/navigation, you could just use a tablet or laptop with offline maps (e.g. maps.me).

I can't agree more. Seems like such an a NB feature to skimp on. I might even still buy this for the SD card / bluetooth, which I want for playing music, but the lack of GPS really kills it's chances of being a primary phone.

Nokia released such phone back in 2010: http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_2710_navigation_edition-3051.p...

I just went there hoping it included GPS... I agree that would be awesome.. Perfect running / backup emergency phone

I'm ditching my iPhone 7 for the 3310.