Review of the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic

The end of 2008 brought us many good things from Nokia, one of them being the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic. This is the first phone to be built on Nokia's touch UI, the S60 fifth edition also called as Tube. The Tube platform integrates with thumb based touch unlike Windows Mobile where most applications can't be controlled by thumb based touch. The Nokia 5800 features a resistive touchscreen with tactile feedback. The Nokia 5800 Multimedia Smartphone simplifies design issues by leaving out a QWERTY keypad, and unnecessary bells and whistles. Though it needn't be compared with Apple's iPhone, the Nokia 5800 has earned its own following by being much affordable and having more features than the iPhone.

Look, Design, Feel (10/10)

We should note that Nokia has kept for music lovers in mind when designing the 5800 XpressMusic. Its looks are thus appealing for any music lover or mobile multimedia fanatic. Below the large 3.2" touchscreen on the Nokia 5800 are only the call, end and menu keys, pretty much everything is controlled by means of the touchscreen. On the side of the device are the volume, lock, and camera keys. The 640 x 360 nHD high-resolution screen definitely adds to the looks of the Nokia 5800 Tube.

Features (9/10)

The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic is not low on features either. Being the first Nokia phone to host the SymbianOS 9.4 and the S60 5th edition UI, the phone is filled with almost all advanced features of a latest smartphone. There is 81 MB of internal memory and the microSD expansion slot supports 16GB cards as of now. The Symbian device offers a 3.2 Megapixel camera with Carl-Zeiss optics, which kind of disappointed photography lovers. However the Nokia 5800 was designed only to please multimedia lovers at a moderate price, so a better camera was traded off. A GPS Receiver is present and works well with the Nokia Maps application on the 5800. Video calling and 3D surround sound output through the stereo speakers is supported and definitely adds to the Nokia 5800's value.

The Nokia 5800 supports a plethora of video formats including Windows Proprietory WMV. The high resolution (640 x 360 pixels) screen offers a great multimedia experience in 16:9 aspect ratio. There is also a Video center service and a Media bar feature on the 5800 XpressMusic. DVD Quality Video recording at both 640x480 and widescreen 640x352 is supported at 30fps. TV-out on the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic adds to the overall multimedia functionality of the Symbian device. Web browsing is definitely a treat on the high resolution screen of the Nokia 5800. The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic device sports a 3D image engine so playing games on the high resolution screen is an enjoyable experience.

Connectivity (9/10)

The Nokia 5800 device has good connectivity options, Quadband GSM/EDGE and 3G 850/1900 with support for HSDPA up to 3.6 Mbps. WLAN 802.11 b/g with VoIP support add to the flexible connectivity options present on the 5800. The Multimedia device also supports Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, AVRCP profiles and Media Transfer Ptotocol (MTP). The new OVI social networking platform is present on the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic adding to ease of communication between friends.

Performance (10/10)

Overall, the Nokia 5800 has good performance as a multimedia smartphone. It is powered by a 1320 mAh Li-Ion battery which guarantees 8.8 hrs of GSM talktime. The Nokia 5800 is also capable of about 5.2 hours of music or gaming playback, 3.8 hours of TV-out playback coupled with a Bluetooth Stereo headset. 3.6 hours of video recording, and 3 hours of video call time are also possible with the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic. The biggest news for music lovers is, the 5800 XpressMusic supports up to 1.5 days of music playback, hats off to Nokia!

Value for Money (10/10)

The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic is every music (and multimedia) lover's dream phone, and there's no doubt it will appeal to a large audience due to its moderate price. The large memory capacity with a bright high-resolution screen, the completely new touch interface will be appreciated by millions of users.

If you are looking for a multimedia phone that has all the bells and whistles, and is future-proof, you should consider the Nokia 5800