Monthly Archives: February 2009

Product Name: Nokia 5800 XpressMusic
Price: £263.35
Supplied by: Clove
Reviewer: Shaun McGill

In The Box

5800 XpressMusic with pen stylus, Battery (BL-5J), High Efficiency Charger (AC-8), Music Headset (HS-45, AD-54), Video-out Cable (CA-75U), Connectivity Cable (CA-101), 8 GB microSDHC card (MU-43), Carrying Case (CP-305), Stylus plectrum in wrist strap (CP-306), Extra pen stylus, User guide and Quick guide, Mini DVD.

As you can see, the list of included accessories above is quite extensive and Nokia should be applauded for including so many extras in a smartphone which verges on standard budget pricing territory. This is possibly the first smartphone I have reviewed that includes every required accessory in the box and only a screen protector would be needed to complete the set. The 8GB microSDHC is generous, usually retail for approximately £20, and the quality of the contents are as good as you would need them to be.

I will start with the headphones for no other reason than to dismiss them out of hand- there is no logical reason for Nokia to continue bundling such poor quality headphones with its XpressMusic phones which are obviously designed to offer a superior music experience. I tested them to make sure that there were no hidden improvements, but one minute was enough for me to quickly revert back to my Sennheisers and enjoy the music as it should be presented. To be fair to Nokia, a hands-free attachment is included which allows the plugging in of any 3.5mm jacked headphones so flexibility has been considered.

The video-out cable is a nice touch (listen up Apple) and it works perfectly with no compatibility problems (listen up again Apple) and it is not just an entertainment facilitator because being able to view the entire phone interface on a TV or monitor leaves room for big screen gaming and even document editing if you so desire. The case deserves a mention as well, if only for the fact that it is one that I would purchase if it were not already bundled in the box. It looks fantastic, provides excellent protection and the 5800 can be pushed in and out fairly easily.

The standard stylus is quite thing and hollow at the end, but it is also comfortable and presented no issues to me at all. The plectrum stylus on the other hand is odd. Why on earth would anyone want to attach a plectrum to their phone and then use it to tap the screen? It is irrelevant really because the normal stylus, of which there is a spare in the box, is perfectly adequate.

First Impressions

I have been waiting for the 5800 for a few weeks now, and not just for review purposes. On the face of it there is a lot onboard; BBC iPlayer compatibility, video-out, GPS, a decent camera, large screen, quality music capability and many other features that make it appear to be a ‘do it all’ smartphone with very little missing.

Picking up the 5800 for the first time created a surprising reaction for me- I can see why Nokia chose the word ‘tube’ to describe the design because it looks and feels like a normal phone and the subtle design hides the complexity within. The design is simply lovely and feels much nicer in the hand than an N95 or many other recently released and overly large Nokia smartphones. The coloured ring around the edge may put some of you off, but it is again very subtle and after a couple of days I would prefer to have it there than not. It has no outward moving parts and this makes for excellent build quality which should see it through the hassles of daily life quite easily. It is not heavy at only 109 grams and is one of the best designs I have seen in a long time.

The lack of buttons on the front can be disconcerting at first, but the side ones are positioned well and easy to use. The screen lock slider key is particularly effective and I found myself naturally flicking it when turning the screen off and then automatically flicking it again to use the phone. The volume and camera keys are where you would expect them to be, on the right, and that’s about it apart from the three on the front below the screen. You get the standard call start / end keys plus a middle key to bring up the system icons- it works well and Nokia has just about got away with it. Finally, there is a flush XpressMusic button above the screen which brings up a vertical menu for quick access to music, videos and other media-centric applications. It is a simple touch, but one that again becomes natural after only a few minutes. All in all, Nokia has done a good job with the design, build quality and buttons and I am starting to really like the 5800.

Tomorrow I will be looking at the individual features in greater detail and pushing the 5800 to see what’s good, what’s bad and what is just plain daft.

Specification

Operating System – S60 5th edition, Symbian OS version 9.4

Memory – 81 MB internal memory

Display -3.2″ 640 x 360 pixels, aspect ratio 16:9, with automatic orientation sensor (Accelerometer) for display rotation 3D image engine

Sound -Integrated stereo speakers with surround sound, and dedicated audio chip for crystal clear hi-fi sound quality.

Connectivity – Micro-USB connector, USB 2.0 High Speed 3.5 mm Nokia AV connector TV out interface (CA-75U) Bluetooth version 2.0WLAN IEEE 802.11 b/g

Expansion – MicroSD card slot hot swappable, max. 16 GB

Keys and input method – Stylus, plectrum and finger touch support for text input and user interface control (alphanumeric keypad, full and mini qwerty keyboard, handwriting recognition, full screen handwriting for Chinese language) Dedicated Media Bar touch key for access to music, gallery, share on-line, Video Centre and web browser Voice commands Physical keys for application launch key (menu key), send & end, power, camera, lock, volume up & down

Operating Frequency – WCDMA 900/2100 GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 Automatic switching between GSM bands Flight mode

Data network – CSD HSCSD GPRS/EDGE class B, multislot class 32, maximum speed 296/177 kbps (DL/UL) WCDMA 2100/900 with simultanous voice and packet data, maximum speed PS 384/384 kbps (UL/DL), CS maximum speed 64 kbps HSDPA cat 6, maximum speed 3.6 Mbps (DL) TCP/IP support

GPS -Integrated GPS for pedestrian and car navigation Nokia Maps 2.0 Touch application

Camera – 3.2 megapixel camera (2048 x 1536 pixels), 3x digital zoom Autofocus Dual LED flash Flash modes: On, off, automatic, red-eye reduction Video recording at up to 640 x 480 pixels and up to 30 fps (TV high quality), up to 640 x 352 pixels and up to 30 fps (widescreen quality), up to 320 x 240 pixels and up to 30 fps/15 fps (email high/normal quality), up to 176 x 144 and up to 15 fps (sharing quality) Up to 4x digital video zoom

Front facing video camera for video calling

Other – TV out with Nokia Video Connectivity Cable (CA-75U, in-box) Support for PC synchronisation with Nokia OVI Suite

Personal information management (PIM) – Contacts, clock, calendar etc.

Battery – BL-5J 1320 mAh Li-Ion battery

Dimensions – 111 x 51.7 x 15.5 mm

Weight – 109 g