Nokia 5800 XpressMusic Review

Introduction:

We witnessed some serious demand of touch screen phones last year. Most of the manufacturers leaned towards this market share and released their own models. It may sound strange, but until recently, the biggest manufacturer, Nokia, stood aside from the trend. During the spring however, a photo of their first touch screen phone emerged on the Internet, by the codename of Tube. All kinds of rumors about the new product had set, but the Finnish company didn’t utter a word. Later, the same phone had been spotted in the latest Batman movie, creating even more underground buzz. Nokia said that the unit has been produced exclusively for the super hero, but didn’t deny that it may become a reality. After this, word spread that the device would be announced in October and this turned out to be true. At the Nokia Remix event in London, the Finns officially presented their first Symbian S60 touch screen phone, the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic. It finds its place in the higher-end of the manufacturer’s XpressMusic  series and is offered at an affordable price, which means that it’s targeted at a wider range of customers. This information attracted many people’s attention, but this was also due to the 3.2-inch widescreen with a resolution of 640x360 pixels, built-in Wi-Fi, GPS and HSDPA support. So, has the time come for the iPhone to have a worthy opponent and for Nokia to finally enter the big Touch game ?

We’ll begin with the content of the package. Here’s what you’ll find inside it:

• Nokia 5800 XpressMusic + stylus
• Hard carrying case
• Wrist strap
  
• Stand
• Additional stylus
• Stereo hands-free/headphones for a 3.5mm jack
• microUSB cable
• TV-out cable
  
• Charger
• 8 GB microSD card
• Software and presentation DVD
  
• Brochure
• Quick guide
• User Manual

 
We found the carrying case a bit strange, because it isn’t standard and the phone can be taken out from both ends. On the other hand, it’s going to provide better protection for the screen than a velveteen one. The included 8GB card is a nice extra, since you won’t need to go to the store to buy one. However, what caught our attention was the hand band. It’s elastic and has a piece of plastic attached to it, which looks very much like a plectrum. Actually, it can be used as a stylus, in case you want to do something quickly and you don’t fell like taking the stylus out.



Design:

At first glance, the only thing that gives you a hint that the 5800 belongs to Nokia’s music series is the inscription on the upper end of the front, which is dominated almost thoroughly by the screen, making it pretty different from previous XpressMusic phones. As we spent some time holding it however, the feeling reminded us of the Nokia 5220 XpressMusic. The body is made of plastic that’s glossy on the edges. We didn’t like the material very much, as it gives the impression of something cheap and fragile. Don’t get us wrong, it looks good, but we expected more from the first S60 touch screen phone.



You can compare the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.

The dimensions and the weight are well balanced and the phone feels handy to use. Compared to the iPhone, it’s thicker, but also narrower. The 5800 however, has a 3.2-inch display (the iPhone has a 3.5-inch one) with a 16:9 format, which is the standard for widescreen television and a resolution of 640x360 pixels (the Apple's offering has 480x320 pixels). Both competitors score equally when it comes to colors – 16 million. We have to note, that the image quality is higher on the Nokia phone – its display is brighter and has higher contrast. However, if you expose it to direct sunlight, the image gets almost totally washed away, which is a pity, having in mind that previous 16 million color Nokia phones didn’t suffer from the same issue. In addition, it becomes a real fingerprint mess when you use it for a longer period of time, and since a cloth for cleaning it up isn’t included in the box, we warmly recommend that you have one with you.


It’s important to tell you that the 5800’s screen utilizes the resistive technology. This means that you can use whatever object to press it, while the iPhone uses the capacitive technology, meaning that the only way to control it is by fingers. You can learn more about the different touch screen technologies from our article. We needed some time to become skilled enough in order to use it without making so many mistakes.  At first we had the impression that the screen isn’t very sensitive. The slight vibration when pressing it couldn’t help us a lot, because it’s too soft and cannot be adjusted. We eventually learned that we should tap, rather than just touch it, which reminds us of the BlackBerry Storm. We’ll talk more on it in the Interface section.

In spite of the touch screen, you’ll also need to use the keys of the 5800 XpressMusic. There are three of them on the front, right below the display. The left and right ones serve as send and end keys and the middle one grants you access to the main menu (on press) or to the task manager (on hold) and blinks when there’s a missed call or a received message. You won’t experience any trouble using them, as their pressing is felt very clear. There is a surprise waiting for you right below the camera for video conversations – a sensor key...  more on that later. Now let’s take a look at the top side. It houses the microUSB port, the 3.5mm jack, the charging port and the power button.


On the right are the camera shutter and the volume rocker, and between them you’ll find a slider for locking/unlocking the display. You’ll feel a strong vibration as you slide it. Our only remark is about the volume rocker is that it is nearly flush with the body and doesn’t feel distinct enough when you touch it. On the opposite side are the stereo speakers, the microSD card slot and the SIM card slot. No, there is no mistake here – the SIM card should be inserted on the side and you don’t need to remove the battery. However, if you decide to change it or take it out, you’ll have to remove the back panel and the battery. Then, you’ll need the stylus, which can be found in the lower right corner. It’s made of plastic and cannot be expanded. It’s highly unlikely to lose it, because it stays firmly fixed in its place with a lot. In case such an accident happens, don’t forget that there’s an additional one in the package.

Interface:

As the first touchscreen S60 phone we were eagerly anticipating what Nokia had done with the UI. Was it a new, unknown interface that’s going to catch your breath for at least five minutes? No! Although the operating system is the latest version (Symbian v9.4 S60 5th Edition), it’s not very different from the previous ones but has went through the necessary optimization for easier use with a touch screen. This, to some extent, has its pros as you’ll quickly get used to it if you have used another Nokia smartphone. New users also shouldn’t experience any difficulties either.

We hold the power key and 20 seconds later we’re in the Symbian S60 realm. The home screen has undergone some changes, compared to the previous version. The indicators for battery life and signal strength, the clock and date are located on the upper part of the display. Tapping the clock will take you to another screen with a larger clock and options for a new alarm, a list with the current alarms and a world clock. We go back to the home screen and this time tap on the date. This triggers a drop-down menu, which gives you access to the calendar and a number of phone profiles. The Widgets that we saw during the N97’s presentation aren’t present here, but they may be added with some of the future software updates.


Downwards you’ll see an icon that lets you take up to four contacts directly to the home screen. However, you’ll need to set a picture ID for each of them, in case you still haven’t done it. When you choose some of these contacts, a menu appears with options for calling, messaging, settings and a history log.

Actually, the Contacts Bar feature is one of the three variants of the Home screen theme, which has obviously succeeded the Homescreen app from the previous versions of the operating system. The alternatives are Basic, which actually has the theme turned off, and Shortcuts bar, which grants you quick access to four applications of your choice. The last one shows the name of the currently played song under the icons, as well as a bar for quick access to the Search application and the nearest event in the calendar (if you have added any). We’re a bit disappointed with the last alternative, since it leaves a lot of free space on the screen, which could be taken up by another row of shortcut icons for example.

The bottom part of the screen features only two icons: the left one brings up the dialpad, and the right one – the contacts list. As we mentioned in the Design section, you can only get to the main menu by clicking the central physical key. So we press it, and a 3x4 grid of icons appears. The icons are big enough so even a person with thicker fingers would easily press them. If you wish, you can also arrange the icons in a vertical list. We gave it a try, and immediately felt a similarity with the BlackBerry Storm, because you have to tap the desired icon twice – the first tap is to select your choice, and the second one to confirm it. Actually, this applies to all submenus that visualize as a vertical list, without any exceptions. Some of you may not like it, but we find it handy. We sometimes made mistakes when only a single tap was required in order to start a program or to choose an option, but with the double tap rule this issue is no more. Unfortunately even if you don’t like the idea, you’ll have to get used to it, because this feature cannot be turned off.



Phonebook:

In the phonebook, selecting a contact also requires a double click. You can save as many as you like, with an option for multiple numbers per contact. In addition, you can set different ring IDs, picture IDs, spouse names, birthdays and so on. Your only limitation is the phone’s memory. You can search for a contact either by flipping your finger up and down, or with the bar for text input. It sounds completely ordinary, but a brand new technology has been used for the second option. An on-screen keyboard appears, arranged as in navigation systems (A, B, C, D, E…). On start, the first letters of the names are displayed and after you choose the desired one, what remains are only the letters that you need. It’s like the phone is thinking one step ahead of you and knows what you are after. We got used to the new method very quickly and have to admit that searching gets done fast and easy.


There’s nothing ground-breaking when it comes to dialing a number. The on-screen numeric keypad can be brought up from its icon on the home screen and is completely standard, with large keys, which should be easy to press for people with thicker fingers. It’s a useful feature that you can mute the sound by turning the phone face down (when someone’s calling you or the alarm’s ringing). This is due to the built-in accelerometer feature and reminds us of the Nokia 8800 Arte, where we met such functionality for the first time.

Organizer and Software:

As a whole, the organizer hasn’t been changed significantly, compared to the one from the previous version of the operating system. In the calendar you can view a whole month, week, a certain day or all To-Do notes, as the first two are now equipped with an additional field that displays the nearest 4 events for the chosen day. We’ve seen a similar feature in the latest E-series phones of the manufacturer, the E66 and the E71.


The calculator stays the same, without any advanced functionality. In addition, there is also a units and currency convertor. And if you feel like exploring the various directories, you can use the file manager, which is well-known from other Symbian S60 models, but also includes a Backup option. It’s very useful, as it allows you to make backup copies, without having the need to connect your phone to a computer.


We were disappointed because the 5800 couldn’t open any Office document or PDF files from the start. After all, this is a smartphone and the fact that it belongs to Nokia’s music series doesn’t excuse it. Hopefully, the solution can be found in the Download! menu. Here, you can find a few downloadable applications, including Quickoffice. As in previous Nokia smartphones, Office 2007 files cannot be opened, but an option for purchasing a license for their support is missing here.



Those who made the transition from S60 2nd Edition to 3rd were disappointed that it did not feature backwards compatibility, but such an issue should not be experienced with S60 5th Edition since its code is compatible with 3rd Edition applications… at least in theory. We downloaded a few programs to test this and had a partial success. The installation of each has been pursued with a message, saying that the application is not compatible with this operating system, but after you click OK, the installation continues to the end. The phone managed to flawlessly run about 1/3 of the apps, but the rest of them either crashed or couldn’t be controlled. This issue may be resolved with a future software update, but until then we recommend that you use programs developed for S60 5th Edition. There aren’t too many of them now, but we suspect that the developers will soon open the floodgates.

Text input and Messaging:

There are several methods of input available with the 5800. The first one is handwriting recognition, which is easier with the stylus. The second one is with a Mini QWERTY keyboard, which is actually a tiny, yet full QWERTY that can be moved around. In our view, it’s mostly suitable in case you need to type a few words quickly, but then again, we needed the stylus, because of the small size of the keys. If you need to write something longer you’d better use the full-screen QWERTY. When you chose it, it takes up the larger part of the screen and automatically changes to landscape view. The last alternative is a standard numeric keypad.


These were the available typing options and we found that the two QWERTY keyboards are the most convenient alternatives. We used them to write SMS, MMS and e-mail messages. The good news is that the phone features automatic settings for the most popular e-mail services (Google, Yahoo and so on). Moreover, we liked the different ways to sort your messages: by day, sender, alphabetically, according to the subject or by type.

Connectivity and Internet

The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic features quad-band GSM, which makes it usable everywhere in the world. The situation with the 3G support is a bit different. There are a European and an American version, and for some regions, even a 3G-less version is expected. If you prefer the last one, keep in mind that it is the only one that doesn’t have a built-in Wi-Fi. In order to establish a local connection, you can use the cable from the package, or connect wirelessly via Bluetooth 2.0, which supports stereo, unlike the iPhone.

The internet browser Nokia employed on the previous “smart” models is well known and generally liked, but is it going to be up to grade here? We’ve often wondered what would it feel like to use it with a touch screen, and we’ve finally got our opportunity to test it. It perfectly opens our quite complex internet page, including the Flash elements. Navigating is smooth and thanks to the high resolution of 360x640 pixels a large part of the page is able to fit easily on the screen. There’s also a pan view, which is a very usable feature when viewing larger sites. Zooming in and out is done from the options or by double tapping, similarly to iPhone’s Safari and Opera Mobile 9.5.



We absolutely had to test the device by playing YouTube videos on the 3.2-inch widescreen display. We experienced some problems when trying to play videos from the mobile version of the popular site, either when we were connected to our Wi-Fi network or to our cellular onethe one of the used carrier. That’s We why we went to the tried the standard version of the site and . We  didn’t have the same problem there and were able to watch a few comedy movies on full screen with pleasure.  Unfortunately  Too bad, that the recently added option for playing in HD is missing. This, however, couldn’t spoil our good impression of the browser. It’s definitely easier and quicker to use it with a touch screen, rather than with navigation keys.

GPS:

In case you’ve forgotten, the 5800 features a built-in GPS (A-GPS). As in previous models of the manufacturer, equipped with a navigation device, here you’ll also find preinstalled navigation software - Nokia Maps 2.0 Touch, which has been optimized for a touch screen use. The interface is quite similar to the one of the standard version, only that the options have been enlarged. It’s a pity that the 5800 doesn’t come with a free license for the first three months, in contrast to other recent GPS-equipped Nokia models. Well, it may have been sacrificed, in order to achieve a more affordable price. We got over it and went for the test. With an active internet connection and high cloud conditions, the cold start took about 4-5 minutes, which is a good achievement keeping in mind the bad weather conditions. The warm start has been almost immediate – about 5 seconds.



Camera:

The back of the 5800 houses a 3.2-megapixel camera with autofocus and a double LED flash. It may sound promising, but our expectations aren’t high. The good news is that there’s a brand new interface. If you press the icon with the three lines, the mostly used options are being brought up to the screen. As a whole, we’re quite pleased with the interface, though it’s nowhere near as good as the Samsung OMNIA.  What’s most important here is the quality of the pictures though.


Unfortunately, even the ones that have been taken outdoors look really bad. Some of them showed a decent color representation, but others looked somewhat unreal. There’s also a considerable amount of noise that practically kills the details. The situation is even worse when you take pictures in low light conditions. There’s too much noise and the double LED flash turned out to be almost useless and doesn’t illuminate the objects well enough. We are totally disappointed with the quality of the pictures.


However videos recorded with the device aren’t bad at all. Their maximum resolution is 640x352 pixels, and the 30 fps claimed by the manufacturer actually counted 57. We have to note that when you enter this camera mode the view gets a bit zoomed in. This cannot be turned off, but we don’t consider it a significant drawback.

*Note that due to codecs support, you may not be able to play the file.

The gallery should provide you access to the photo, video and sound files. Unfortunately, every our attempt to open a file has been followed by a crash and we had to either restart the phone, or to stop the gallery from the task manager and wait for about 20 seconds.

Multimedia:

Finally, we've reached the most interesting part. The 5800 is a music series phone which features a 3.2-inch widescreen display that’s lovely for watching clips and even movies. Are you ready to get into the multimedia capabilities of the new addition to the XpressMusic series, and find out whether it’d be a worthy competitor for the best phones in this aspect? Of course, but first we’ll unveil the secret of the sensor button below the camera for video conversations. By pressing it, a set of icons appears on the screen, providing quick access to the music player, gallery, online sharing services, video center and the internet browser. In our view this is a great addition which will help you to quickly get to some of the mostly used features today. Unfortunately, it can not be customized in any way.

We start the music player and a pretty familiar sight appears. The filtering options for your songs are well-known from previous XpressMusic models, for example the 5310 and the 5320. It’s up to you to decide how you’re going to sort the available songs; by artists, albums, playlists, genres, composers, Podcasts or all. The interface doesn’t differ a lot from the one of the N-series phones. It’s just been optimized in order to be more usable with a touch screen. There’s nothing flamboyant about it, it works fast and is user-friendly. There are some additional features as shuffle, repeat and Stereo widening. There is also an equalizer included, which features a few presets with the option to create new ones.


We played a few songs in order to check the loudspeakers out and have to admit that they sounded really, really good. The sound is very loud and its quality is better than the one of the Nokia N95 8GB. Good job by Nokia! We were a bit prejudiced about the headphones, because we thought that they won’t be able to isolate the environment sounds well enough. We were wrong. Again, the sound is very loud and high-quality and it definitely pleased us. The headset isn’t as good as the one of the Sony Ericsson W980, which is one of the best phones in this aspect, but is completely comparable to the one of the iPhone. The Nokia headset is equipped with a module with keys that allow you to control the various music functions. These keys aren’t very handy, but at least you won’t have to take the phone out of your pocket.


So, we ended up quite pleased with the musical qualities of the 5800 and it’s now time to check whether the 3.2-inch widescreen display can be used for watching video clips and movies. We say movies, because according to the specifications, when watching video files with a resolution, equal to the one of the display, the phone should last at least 3.4 hours. We placed our test files on the memory card and… weren’t able to play them. This was really odd, since we’ve never experienced such problem with these files, even when trying to run them with other budget phones like the 5320 XpressMusic. We checked the supported formats in the manufacturer’s official page and found the solution: MPEG4-SP with 30 fps and VGA resolution, MPEG4-AVC (H.264 with 30 fps and QVGA resolution, WMV9 with 30 fps and QVGA resolution, MPEG4-SP with 30 fps and 640x360 pixels. We converted the videos to the required formats and resolutions and everything run flawlessly. There’s no lag but we’re a bit disappointed that H.264 clips run only in QVGA resolution (320x240). This format offers better image quality and it’s a pity that it can’t take advantage of the full resolution of the display, which is 640x360 pixels. With such a performance, the 5800 scores equally with the iPhone, but stays behind some other multimedia phones like the LG Renoir and the Samsung Pixon.

We also tried to run DivX and Xvid files, but since those files aren’t officially supported we installed Core Player and DivX Mobile Player (both programs are for S60 3rd Edition). The first one played only the sound, and the second one couldn’t be controlled with the touch screen. However, this issue may be fixed when future updates of S60 5th Edition are released, but until then, DivX and Xvid remain beyond 5800’s abilities.

Performance:

We’ve almost reached the finish line. There are a couple of more details that need to be commented on. The good news is that the sound quality during a call is high. Everything is heard loud and clear from both ends of the line, only that the voices are a bit sharp and monotonous. Battery life deserves applause. Officially, it should offer a whole 8.8 hours of talk-time and 406 of standby. In reality, when we used it for about 3-4 hours of tests per day, we had to plug in the charger in the end of the second day, which is a good achievement. The bad news is that the operating system works slowly, crashes at times and isn’t very stable as a whole. Furthermore, the accelerometer is too sensitive and when the phone is in landscape mode, and often the screen rotates accidentally. Nokia have just released the first software update (v11.0.008), which should solve the latter problem.

Conclusion:

If we have to compare the 5800 with the other S60 phones, it should be placed somewhere in the middle. It’s clumsy and doesn’t offer anything more, in spite of the large touch screen. It has almost the same functionality, a bit poorer actually, because of the partial compatibility with the applications, made for the previous version of the OS. We may only hope that these issues will be fixed with the future software updates. In spite of its drawbacks however, the 5800 XpressMusic does have a chance to impose itself on the market and is a good rival of the touchscreen phones. We also think that it may win the hearts of many people. It offers a good functionality and performs considerably well for its price, which may play a major part in your final decision.

The software version of the reviewed unit is 10.0.010.