There's definitely been something in the air over the last year or so, with slide-sliding qwerty phones popping out of the woodwork from all directions. It seems that qwerty is back in vogue, but that users would rather it was tucked away most of the time to keep their 'classic' phone looks. Here I wanted to directly compare the Nokia 5730 XpressMusic and Nokia E75, obviously from exactly the same design department (much of the main board layout, mechanical frame/slide and specification is identical), adding in the mass market LG KS360 by way of showing how far down qwerty now goes down the food chain.
(This comparison is also by way of a 'first impressions' introduction to the new 5730 XpressMusic, ahead of my full review later in the week)
| LG KS360 | Nokia 5730 XpressMusic | Nokia E75 | |
| Current price unlocked or on pay-as-you go, including VAT | £80 (pay as you go, unsubsidised price around £120) | £250 (unlocked, likely to fall to £200 within three months, was £280 initially) | £255 (unlocked, was £380 initially) |
| Form factor notes | Slides to the right, unusually. Also unusual for the discrete direction keys rather than a d-pad, and for the camera shutter button to be on the left, i.e. for left handers. Also for the capacitive touchscreen at this price, though see note below. | Strangely thicker (by at least 1mm), despite being essentially the same as the E75, thanks to a bowed plastic battery cover under which the battery rattles around. Also rather stupid are the 'low visibility' key legends and the sunken function keys. More on all this in the full review. | Slim and tightly designed, only the strange protruding port covers irritate. Excellent d-pad and clear key legends |
| Build quality | Reasonable plastics throughout, no wobbles or concerns. The keys are very 'clicky'. | Same sturdy frame as the E75, but there's a clip-on plastic back instead of metal. A nice positive qwerty slide though, with no wobble problems | Goodish, high density plastic and metal, good slide action. Spoilt only by the amateurish finish of the keyboard surround |
| Styling | Big range of colours, over-styled circular buttons that hinder usage | Several colour options, quite striking, especially on the keyboard surround. Dot matrix key legends may appeal to the youth market? Or may not. They do look cool at night, with all the keys lit, e.g. in a pub or club though....! | I've only ever seen this classic silver/black and a maroon version. Classical Eseries styling though - I just love the textured metal battery cover. |
| Weight, thickness | 108g, 16mm | 135g, 15mm | 139g, 14mm |
| Platform | Proprietary | S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2 on Symbian | S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2 on Symbian |
| Screen size, resolution and visibility | 2.4", QVGA, TFT and unreadable in sunlight. Capacitive touchscreen, but only used in the dialler app (amazingly) | 2.4", QVGA, transflective, excellent in all light conditions | 2.4", QVGA, transflective, excellent in all light conditions |
| Camera specs | 2mp, fixed focus. QVGA video recording at 15fps, low quality | 3mp, Carl Zeiss optics, decent aperture and very good photo quality in most light conditions. LED flash. VGA video recording at 30fps | 3mp, decent aperture and good photo quality in most light conditions. LED flash. VGA video recording at 30fps |
| Wireless specs | Tri band GSM, Bluetooth | Quad band GSM, Tri band 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS (including digital compass) | Quad band GSM, Tri band 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS |
| Music control and output | Music control only via direction keys within MP3 player application. Output is via an average phone speaker or a proprietary LG wired headset. | Dedicated music keys, spoilt by being without any indents for 'unseen' use, plus d-pad control while in Music player etc. Output is high quality via 3.5mm jack, with some good in-ear headphones supplied or via a good but slightly muffled loudspeaker (there are no holes in the battery cover - a strange design decision) | Music control only via homescreen shortcut and within Music player or Podcasting. Output is high quality via a 3.5mm jack or good mono loudspeaker |
| Application highlights (over and above PIM and phone basics) | Yahoo! shortcut, Stopwatch | 'Favourite Contact' homescreen plug-in (with feeds, communications history, etc), Internet radio, Ovi Chat built-in, Nokia Maps, Music voice search (didn't work for me), plus an assortment of social web widgets (Facebook, MySpace, Friendster, Hi5 and so on), Quickoffice viewers, Zip manager, and some of the software from the traditional Nseries bundle, e.g. the newer Photos system and video editor. | Quickoffice editing suite, Internet radio, Nokia Messaging built-in, Nokia Maps, Zip manager |
| Battery | 800mAh | 1000mAh | 1000mAh |
| Other notes | Dialler button that brings up the capacitive dialler on-screen | Dedicated gaming keys, Dual charging (microUSB/2mm) | Dual charging (microUSB/2mm) |
As you can see, the gap between the (admittedly token) feature phone and the Nokia smartphones is fairly huge, but then the price gap is also significant. It would have been nice to have found a phone that retailed for £160 unlocked, with the same form factor. Any suggestions?
Currently, the E75 can be found for around the same price as the 5730 XpressMusic, due to the latter being 3 or 4 months 'newer', but if the 5730 is to have any chance then I'd expect to see it at £200 very soon, and free on modest contracts, of course. At that price, with the E75 at £250 or with the 5730 at 'free' on a £15-a-month contract, with the E75 'free' on a £20-a-month contract, then it may have a chance, but buyers will have to have handled (and liked) the styling and chassis in a shop first. The current pricing, wherein the equally as impressive E75 can be gotten for around the same price, does the 5730 as few favours as its idiosyncratic design.
On the positive side, the 5730 XpressMusic does have those music and media controls, the slightly better camera, the digital compass, plus it's great in the dark and has a number of software differences from its business-focussed sister device. And there is the thorny issue of that styling - while it didn't appeal to me directly ('Mr Usability'), maybe it's more of a young person's device?
Watch this space for more on the 5730, right here on All About Symbian.
Steve Litchfield, 26 Sept 2009
