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Nokia 5800 XpressMusic Review

Reviews icon Nokia 5800 XpressMusic Review

Nokia 5800 XpressMusic Review

Published on: 15 January, 2009 by PhoneArena Team

Review index:

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.

Pros

Good balance between weight and dimensions
3.2-inch widescreen display with high resolution
The sound from the loudspeakers, headphones and during a call is really high-quality
A good browser and flawlessly working GPS
An affordable price
Long battery life

Cons

It feels cheap and fragile
The display is almost unusable when exposed to direct sunlight
Suffers from software and performance issues
The accelerometer is too sensitive

PA rating

Design 6
Display 9
Camera 5
Sound Quality 8
Battery 10
Connectivity 10
Multimedia 8.5
Organizer 9

Good

out of 10

How do we rate?

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User comments

+1
1.

TheG @ 16 January, 2009 06:34:59 AM

Phonearena: " It feels cheap and fragile "

this is in conctradiction with test performed by symbian-freak.com and the review of symbian-guru.com who both rate the 5800 as extremely well built. I therefore think the design score should be higher.

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+2
2.

BanSama @ 22 January, 2009 05:32:19 PM

Just got this phone and im loving it. Playing videos on the screen is great. Sound is crisp and clear when playing music through the built in speakers and it comes with an 8gb microSD. I also love the function of being able to open up excel and word documents. But what I love the most is that you can view sites with full flash support

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0
3.

denny_ajah @ 30 January, 2009 04:44:13 PM

well, the ver.11 is released, and i think the problem mostly been solved-but not all..
and with the 3rd party application start to pouring down, this phone score will be raised to 8.5 i guess..

its not the best from nokia 'coz the update and innovation from nokia to this phone aren't maximal, but yeah, its quite a good gadget to have in this year..

i personally have it in december '08..sure it was a cool gadget, but i do must admit youm will find some minor issues and dissapointment even in the latest software update v 11.0.008..

but hey? its nokia, its touchscreen, and its s60 v5..
iphone..just be carefull out there okay?

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