Real world (p)review: Nokia 5800 XpressMusic: S60's first touch-driven phone

[slitchfield]

Rafe's had Nokia's 'Tube' for around three weeks and has been using it day in, day out. In this, part one of a hugely in-depth two part (p)review of the 5800 XpressMusic, he introduces the device, explores the hardware and, most importantly, looks at how well S60 and touch work in daily life. With photos and copious screenshots, Rafe tells all, and I think it's fair to say that the 5800 XpressMusic has pleasantly surprised us.

Read on in the full article.

[macwhu]

great little round up - look forward to the next bit.
i had a play with a couple of them at the smartphone show.

i found keyboard entry on the full screen one really easy and accurate.

but i found the scrolling a bit baffling/random. im sure it would come to you quick enough though. A bit like it took a day or so to get used to the way android mixed swipes with physical buttons for the core UI.

Great review - would be really interested in your views in one of the future parts on how audio quality compares to N81, say.

[Rafe]

I agree on the scrolling - it has taken me a while to get use to it. I don't think it as elegant as it could be (sorry tried to think of a better way to put it). As mentioned there are multiple ways to do it.

It'll be interesting to see devices with a D-pad appear as I think a combining of the two delivers the best of both worlds (see Treo users on this).

BTW sorry if you tried to comment earlier and couldn't, this has now been fixed.

I am happy to answer any questions may have so please post away (some things will be addressed in part 2).

[Rafe]

I'll be commenting on audio in part 2, but I would say the audio as equal or better to N81 (uses the same hardware - I think)... but to be honest I have some difficult telling the difference via ear alone.

Hi Rafe, Nice review IMO. Your opinions match mine pretty closely - I wouldn't swap mine for anything else. I'm not a gamer though, so YMMV.

I love the alphanumeric T9 text entry, it's like you're still using a phone :-) That was the biggest thing I missed when I used a P910 back in the day, and probably the main reason I returned to S60 from UIQ as platform of choice. Handwriting is 'cool' but that and picking letters out is a lot slower for me than the 12-key T9 layout.

Maybe it's because I'm a long time S60 user, but for me this phone is the perfect combination of familiarity and newness. I love it.

How's the web browsing experience like? Is scrolling smooth like on the iPhone??
Do youtube videos display in full screen in the browser, and what's the quality like?

I would really appreciate if you answer those questions.

[malerocks]

Rafe, the initial part of your article says "running S60 5th Edition on Symbian OS 9.2". Isn't it SYmbian OS 9.4??

[Rafe]

Yes yuo're right. I'll correct it - well spotted.

Hey, I am yet to read the full article but I just noticed the error made. The Nokia 5800 is an S60 5th edition, Symbian OS 9.4 device. Stating this is absolutely important because it means that right now it has the most advanced operating system and platform of any smartphone ever made, far outshining the flagship Nokia smartphone (Nokia N96) and indeed that of all other manufacturers.

Now that being said, I am looking forward to reading the full article!

Very pleased the screen is top quality. Was worried when specs leaked inc a resistive touch that it would be crap but thankfully that is not so.

I'm in a dilemma.I want the nseries touch but I'm impatient..and this is such a nice phone. If nseries touch only offer 8mp camera, and design changes that the extra dollar won't be worth it. Including a Xenon flash would be sound and make parting with my n82 a little less daunting.

Anyone have any ideas about when the nseries touch will be announced?

Dan

[snoyt]

Great review, looking forward to part two. I had an iPhone in my hand last weekend and I was not impressed. It looked great, but is was not faster than the N82 in menu cruising and I found the functionality bland. I am looking forward to the promised n-series touchmodels that will be released into the fold.

[malerocks]

Guys, this is an image I found on the web for the supposedly nseries touch. I don't know if this is true or just somebody's imagination at work, but would be really really cool if it is something like this...

[malerocks]

One thing I wish it had - Nokia has introduced USB charging with the N85. It should now be a standard and there should not be separate ports for charging and data transfer.

[sapporobaby]

@BOC

Sound is subjective. When you say, sounds better. What are the criteria to compare against? What sounds good to me will surely sound better or different to someone else.