Review: Nokia 5800 Xpressmusic

It's been a week since I blogged. I was supposed to do some school stuff but the inability for Outlook to open made me abandon such pursuit. I've tried everything - nothing worked. So in the end, I had to reinstall the whole thing - and that's what I'm doing right now.

So - Nokia 5800 Xpressmusic is widely advertised on so many music videos like that of Katy Perry's "Waking Up In Vegas." Hyped publicity have left lots of music lovers drooling saliva over their shirts, clamoring for one. And, I must say, they are not disappointed. I've been using the phone for about a month now, and though power users may not like it, the casual music-loving student will especially fall in love with it. The phone is advertised with the slogan "Play. Touch. Share." and I think it's fitting to make a review around those three concepts.

But before that, you must know how the phone feels like. Out of the box, the phone looks like heaven for music lovers - the black minimalistic design with few clutter. The phone is solid and can be firmly gripped on one hand - a bit bulky but not really adding a bulge on your pocket. The battery cover, decoratively patterned, is quite stable - but may not feel so and creaks quite a lot. One of the few eccentricities of the phone is the SIM slot located at the side - taking out the SIM is quite confusing and Nokia prints the instructions on the back cover.

Play - As can be expected, Nokia 5800 Xpressmusic's features outstanding music and video playback. Music playback with the loudspeaker is crisp and crystal clear, louder than most phones in the same niche, and with very VERY little static. But that's nothing compared to the headset it came with - you wouldn't realize you're listening through earphones unless you actually hold them. That's quite characteristic of Nokia headsets, so it's nothing much; however, compared to the headsets from the likes of Samsung, Nokia plays ahead of it's game. The music player still features that same interface as Nokia's other Xpressmusic and N phones. As Cnet says,

For all its hype, the 5800's music player is comparable with most Nokia N-series models. The interface is simple and it offers album art, but it's not particularly flashy.

But the music player is as customizable as it an get, with stereo widening, bass booster, equalizer options and so much. Support for podcasting and an FM Radio also adds as a plus for the phone - on that note, 5800's FM radio rocks, with good reception and clear playback.

Video and photo playback is equally dazzling. Personally, I didn't feel the need for a separate video centre - the gallery would have been enough - but it's still greatly appreciated. The screen features sharp colors, great quality and depth slightly exceeding most of it's competitors. This, combined with great sound, makes it perfect for video podcasts and watching movies on the go.

A great addition is the media bar, accesed when the media button next to the Xpressmusic branding is pressed. The media bar makes the Shortcut bar on the homepage quite useless - so it's best you switch it to the contacts bar.

Touch - Nokia finally releases it's first post-iPhone touch phone - and with Nokia jumping quite late in the bandwagon, you wouldn't be surprised if that touch feel isn't really that if iPhone's. Nokia's haptic feedback and accelerometer are sensitive enough, but several reviews are hating the resistive touchscreen like those in PDA's. Personally, the resistive touchscreen is a plus - it gives me the feel of pushing buttons and solid ground - but several users will still want the ease of touching in other touchscreen phones.

The UI doesn't fair much better. While the S60 interface is very familiar to the Nokia user - such as myself - the fact that one has to double click in lists is really annoying and collectively time-consuming. Several users have claimed it to be confusing. The UI itself doesn't really make use of the full capabilities of the touchscreen - lacking those favorite iPhone strokes like the finger sweep.

Input methods fare better than the UI. With 4 possible methods for data, the 5800 is quite flexible. The keys are big enough for pressing. Several users hate the inclusion of the stylus, but that's not for phone use - it's simply for handwriting recognition. The plastic plectrum adds style to the phone - mainly reinforcement of it's Xpressmusic branding - and the inclusion is quite appealing.

In the end, the UI is still easy enough to learn. It's not-so-good as other touchscreen UI's out there but as Nokia is still being cautious of these new waters, it is well as an achievement.

Share - While the UI is a bit on the minus for the phone on the love-hate meter, connectivity is very much on a plus side. Incoming calls sound good on the phone and callers claim that I sound good on their end. Network connectivity is blazing fast and with WiFi support, you can't get better than that.

One of the best parts of the dimensions of the touchscreen is that it is perfect for viewing web pages - the iPhone's screen is a bit too wide and most others are too small for good viewing. While the UI may lack those great strokes, the browser employs them in it's workings, providing great browsing experience. The browser doesn't support flash but few phones do, so it isn't really much of a problem.

Another great feature is the Contacts Bar - where you can see recent SMS, 2 web feeds and links to four of your favorite contacts. Sharing online is also integrated with the gallery, and the Nokia Music Store is a great alternative to iTunes'. The camera provides basic photo shooting and slightly better video capture. It's a bit good in daylight but a bit noisy on low light. Many users hate the lack of camera features - they must remember that the phone is a music phone, not a camera phone.

The 5800 Xpressmusic is placed at mid-range costing about 400 dollars (Php 20000), so it's not as expensive as such a high-end phone would be. The phone still packs a lot of punch - with goodies like Nokia Maps and A-GPS Positioning installed that as Techradar notes

It may line up as Nokia's flagship music phone, but it has a set of functionality more akin to the Nseries high-end phone roster.

The phone may not be quite as impressive to the power phone user, but it's a must buy for the everyday music- and technology-lover and a bargain for the normal phone user.