Nokia 5800 XpressMusic is to a degree a Nokia’s response to Apple iPhone. This is Nokia’s first touchscreen phone equipped with latest Symbian S60 5th generation OS. This phone has large 3.2’’ 16:9 display with 360×640 pixels resolution, ARM11 369MHz processor with 128MB RAM and 86MB of internal memory, decent 3.2Mpix autofocus camera, 3G and WiFi support. Add to this FM radio, TV out, GPS, Bluetooth, USB, MicroSD card (8GB shipped with phone, supports new 16GB cards) and on top of all that very affordable price (approx. $350 – $400) for this type of phones, and you get a real winner from Nokia.
Retail package includes two piece hands free set with remote that you can use with any other headset due to 3.5mm jack, TV out cable and miniUSB cable (you can’t use to charge the phone) and alternative to stylus that looks like guitar pick, and is called plectrum. 8GB microSD is already in the phone and has some sample videos and music. Interesting is to see that SIM card is inserted into a slot on the side similar to the microSD card, so you don’t have to open the phone to change it.
The battery is standard Li-Ion 1000mAh, and in my experience so far it can power the phone for up to 2 days and that includes at least an hour of talk time and use of WiFi and Bluetooth. WiFi works great, but it can’t be always active. Even if you set it as a default internet connection phone will activate it only when needed, because it can use a lot of battery capacity.
For this phone Nokia recommends new Nokia OVI Suite that replaces old PC Suite (you can use it you want). OVI Suite is not quite finished, but is very usable. First thing I did was to upgrade phone’s firmware. And whenever new firmware is released, OVI Suite will inform you and offer to update. Using OVI Suite you can also install both Java and Symbian applications from your computer to phone using Bluetooth or USB connection.
As for the software, phone has a lot of things already built in including full Flash support. Application management allows you to set many general settings for each application including the visibility of on screen controls that you will need for most of the Java games. In the past 7 or 8 months, number of s60 5th generation applications has grown and now you can find all kinds of programs and games, all with full touchscreen support. Phone can run some 3rd generation applications.
For most applications you need to use some form of interaction and text input, and Nokia 5800 has 4 different ways for entering text. You can use handwriting recognition (works very well), standard alphanumeric keypad like on any standard phone and two types of QWERTY keyboards. One keyboard is mini, and can be used in both portrait or landscape modes, and you can even type on it using fingers despite small keys. Mini keyboard can be moved anywhere on the screen. Full size QWERTY keyboard works only in landscape mode, and takes full screen. In most cases you will not need the stylus at all, and you can type using fingers only.
Most important applications are the internet oriented, and phone has a built in browser that is not bad, but I recommend installing latest Opera Mini 4.2. Nokia also offers Facebook application that is useful, but still has a lot of bugs. There are many applications for all kinds of IM services, Twitter or even Skype. But for me, one of the most important features is Mail Exchange application that can be used to synchronize email accounts, contact and calendar. Google has detailed instruction for Nokia phones that can help you sync your Google Calendar with Calendar in the phone. Synchronization works both ways. Google also offers more mobile applications that work great with this phone including Gmail application that can be used even with Google App Engine accounts. Using new Nokia Maps application and GPS support phone can be used for geotagging also.
Nokia 5800 is not the fastest of phones I have seen, but all Symbian and Java applications I tried load very fast with the exception of few games that take forever to load. Some speed problems are noticeable if you have more then 2 or 3 applications active in the same time, and with 18 applications I managed to use all of the phones RAM and to make it unusable. Only restart can help you in this case.
I have been using this phone for almost a month now, and I am very satisfied with it so far. With more than competitive price and constant upgrades from Nokia, this phone is a very interesting choice if you can’t (or won’t) afford (overpriced) HTC smart phones or Apple iPhone.
Milan is a tech enthusiast and the owner of Dev4Press. If you would like to send a review you can contact Geek With Laptop.
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I purchased NOKIA 5800 Xpress Music. Its a nice cell phone with wide features. If it was with 5 MP camera then it was best one. Anyway TOUCH SCREEN…. NICE SCREEN…..
You can play more games and install much more applications on Nokia 5800, but overall I prefer the Iphone.
it,s good
but it has,nt enogh internal memori
please tell me about the camera quality and body durability of this phone…