Hands-on Preview: Nokia 5800 XpressMusic

[slitchfield]

Yep, it's the long awaited part 2 of Rafe's definitive hands-on preview of the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, a.k.a. the 'Tube', this time covering all aspects of multimedia, from camera to Web to games. The touchscreen and wide display make for a unique form factor among Nokia's current line-up, and Rafe leaves no stone unturned in his quest to evaluate the device.

Read on in the full article.

[Rafe]

Comments now fixed - sorry about that.

[xerxes]

Rafe,

Is it possible hide the toolbar in Web so as to view a web page in full screen landscape? All the screenshots/videos I have seen always show the toolbar.

It seems a shame to have 640 pixel wide screen but then to chew up a third of it with permanent (and overly wide) toolbar.

xerxes

[Rafe]

xerses - yes it is - it works in both landscape and portrait. its the full screen option shown in the shortcut panel in the screenshots.

is there any possibility that nokia maps is joined up with any other apps in 5th edition. In other words, can one touch an address in a webpage or an email, and have it locate you in the maps app? this is seems like a function that would be available by now considering all s60 phones have nokia maps installed out of the box.

Nice review,
1. What existing Nokia model is its camera quality comparable to? (if megapixel doesn't matter)

2. How may seconds does it take for the Camera app to show?

3. How many seconds is the interval between shots?

thanx

[snoyt]

Hi Rafe,

Nice review, looks more and more like Nokia did a nice job. Still I am getting frustrated about no official new about an N-series version with a release date. More and more I am getting convinced I want a 5 Mpixel, qwerty version. More so I want xenon flash back, the dual led is not worthless for photo's and video. It's BTW the only thing SonyEricsson got right.

I wished Nokia proved themselves to be on the ball at the smartphone section again. December is almost here and it's begging for a hot news item.

Cheers,

Dirk

[talhamid]

Hello Rafe

Excellent review - this is the best one i have read so far about this device, and that's saying something, considering that i usually rely on a certain Russian guy. The way you have covered makes me feel like I had the phone in my hands.

As for Iphone comparison - there is no contest. This phone LACKS NOTHING. It's a Nokia N85 with two fewer megapixels. In fact, provided enough people are willing to port/program software for it, I think it represents a better deal than any Nseries device right now. Iphone may be the beauty queen, but this is the bespectacled girl who tops the class in the end. She is also considerably slimmer and POCKETABLE unlike the Iphone.

I used to think that I will run my N82 down until it falls apart - but I guess I was wrong. I have a few burning questions, but I guess they will be answered in Part III. Here's hoping we get it in 2008 ;-)

[fernando20]

There's also Nokia's standard Search application which gives quick access to Internet results. The search engines available vary by country; in the UK you can choose from Google, Yahoo or Microsoft.

Is the search app actually useful now? Or is it still as slow as in current phones?

Dear Rafe is it possible to modify the media bar

Hi Rafe
Regarding music playing: Is it possible to navigate (outside the music application) to a playlist on an micro sdcard and play it?
Hans

It would be nice to get a version of the updated browser in other devices soon, as the current one is showing its age a bit on some sites.

[Rafe]

Originally Posted by BoyBawang

Nice review,
1. What existing Nokia model is its camera quality comparable to? (if megapixel doesn't matter)

2. How may seconds does it take for the Camera app to show?

3. How many seconds is the interval between shots?

thanx

I would say its quite close to something like an N73. But its a tricky judgement as this is one of the areas most frequently improved in final software. I hope to get the phoen flashed to the release hardware shortly and will report back.

Camera start up (3 ish seconds) and shot to shot (about the same), but see above.

Originally Posted by snoyt

Hi Rafe,

Nice review, looks more and more like Nokia did a nice job. Still I am getting frustrated about no official new about an N-series version with a release date. More and more I am getting convinced I want a 5 Mpixel, qwerty version. More so I want xenon flash back, the dual led is not worthless for photo's and video. It's BTW the only thing SonyEricsson got right.

I wished Nokia proved themselves to be on the ball at the smartphone section again. December is almost here and it's begging for a hot news item.

Cheers,

Dirk

Thanks Dirk I don't think you're going to have to all that long and they are definitely on the way. Not so sure you'll be happy with the Flash. I do think we'll see some Nokia news in December, but it may not be what you want... but MWC isn't far away.

Originally Posted by fernando20

Is the search app actually useful now? Or is it still as slow as in current phones?

Its still slow. I still just go to Google - I have it as a bookmark and can it have it loaded in a few seconds.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Dear Rafe is it possible to modify the media bar

No.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Hi Rafe
Regarding music playing: Is it possible to navigate (outside the music application) to a playlist on an micro sdcard and play it?
Hans

Not tried this sory.

Originally Posted by unregistered

It would be nice to get a version of the updated browser in other devices soon, as the current one is showing its age a bit on some sites.

This will probably happen for S60 3.2 devices (especially N85 and N79), not sure about older devices.

[neilhoskins]

No internet radio? Strange.

[Rafe]

Could be because of pre-release softwre... although only Nseries have had the combined version thus far. It should be possible to download and install though.