Nokia 5220 XpressMusic Review

Software:

The 5220 runs on Symbian Series 40, which is  typical for Nokia’s non-smartphones. Here you’ll find its last fifth version with Feature Pack 1, which is slightly different than the one on the 5610 and 5310. You’ll be able to activate Active Standby on the home screen, to change the icon view in the main menu and choose between several preloaded themes, which fit very well the style of the phone.


The number of contacts in the phonebook is limited only by the free memory available. The organizer doesn’t bring any innovations either and it offers the functions standard for Series 40: calendar, calculator, To-do notes, notes, timer and countdown timer. Besides them, you have Nokia Maps, but in order to use it, you’ll need an external GPS unit and you’ll have to download free maps with the software of the manufacturer or via the Internet.



You’ll be able to receive SMS, EMS, MMS and e-mails as well. To make your life easier, the phone supports automatic settings for the most popular web mail servers such as Google and Yahoo.

The 5220 XpressMusic is a tri-band GSM device. It comes in two versions; for the US with 850/1800/1900 support and the European and Asian 900/1800/1900 variant. Since there’s no 3G support, you’ll have to rely on the EDGE speeds for Internet access. The standard WAP browser will disappoint you if you want to load heavy pages. Luckily, you also have the popular Opera Мini, which doesn’t have such problems and is user-friendly.

Camera interface

Camera:

On the back of the phone we see a 2-megapixel camera without autofocus or flash. We know its interface is very well and it’s easy to use, but let’s get to the point. What results do you expect from a 100% music phone? The pictures are terrible, the brighter areas are pixilated and the detail level is very low. You are able to record videos in the low QCIF resolution, which are also with bad quality and we don’t think they are good enough even for MMS.




Music player:

We finally got to the most important and interesting function of the 5220, namely its music player. Once more, there are no changes in contrast to the 5610 and 5310. The songs can be sorted by playlists, artists, albums and genres, and in addition, you have the option to see only the available videos.

The interface is slightly modernized and now the indicators take up a larger part of the screen, and if you have uploaded an album cover it appears in the background. The options still let you select from the preloaded equalizers or to set two of your own, but the new thing here is that you can control the Music lights effect. We actually have no complaints and are happy with the player, because it can be used even by new users trouble free.



There’s also an FM radio with RDS, which is fast to work with as well. In order to use it however, you’ll need to have the handsfree plugged in, because it acts as an antenna.

The sound quality is one of the most important factors for a music phone. The 5220’s loudspeaker is quite strong and the music sounds good. Somehow, this makes us expect more from the headphones that come in the package, but we felt like they were a little weak (probably due to the lack of insulation which to block external noises). Otherwise, the sound quality is at a very good level, and that’s exactly what the music fans are looking for. If something is not up to your taste, you can always use the 3.5 mm jack to plug a different set.