Nokia 5730 XpressMusic - part 1 - The Hardware

nice first part steve. Please also check the nokia email. I cant get the notification light work on my phone. It was working initially but after installing applications in the memory card the light has stopped working on nokia email. Works fine on built in pop, missed calls and messages. Also i found gps antena weaker than other phones like e71 and N79. I hope firmware upgrade resolves this issue. What firmware have u got on your phone ?

The gaming keys you mentioned are not at all clear in the snaps. Can you please post one with them 'lit'?

re: gaming keys. Yes, I'll add a photo. Give me 30 mins.... [Edit: now added to review feature]

re: GPS signal. Did a trip yesterday, no losses of signal, worked fine for me....

I don't agree with the camera quality. I bought an E75 after reading of the E75 review, and I must say that it had the worse 3.2 Mpx camera I saw in a phone, pictures were noisy and colours were washed not to mention the lack of focus. My 2 year old HTC Tytn II made better pictures

@raduci: Well, all I can say is that I've taken and analysed many GREAT E75 photos. I'm tempted to say it's user error at your end. Or maybe you've got a 'bad 'un'?

gps works fine outdoors but i encountered disconnection number of times while driving with windows rolled up. Never happened with my e71 or N79. Steve can u please tell what firmware have u got on your phone and have u checked nokia email?

Steve! Great job! I am very much looking forward to your next installment for this phone! I won't ask any questions because I know you will more than likely cover them in your following installments. Have an awesome day Steve!

@slitchfield
I would say the contrary: you had a good camera unit. If you search the internet you will see that all the reviews are complaining about the camera quality of the Nokia E75. Check this link: http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_e75-review-342p8.php my pictures were exactly like the one in this review.
Maybe there are different batches of Nokia E75 ?

No, the E75/5730 are a whole heap better, camera sensor/aperture-wise than the 5800. Have a look at this photo - e75fest.jpg - lifted somewhat at random from my set of photos of a festival this summer. Light was good-ish, slightly overcast, it was about 5pm. Comments on the raw quality?

Oh, and see this piece from today's blog postbag. FAR more people agree with me that the E75 has a good camera than disagree.

So up yours Raduci! 5730 Rocks!

@raduci : perhaps you really got a bad unit.

The same website you linked reviewed the XM5730 camera as "good" image quality wise. And I doubt Nokia placed different sensors in these two. Maybe you needed a firmware upgrade?

More fuel to back me up. Working on the next 5730 review part, I've included several more great photo examples. And they're taken from a very small sample, I haven't just cherry picked the best ones. To be published on Monday, by the way....

Nice review. Looking forward to the rest. I have heard that the battery life is not so good. Please do comment on that as well.
Regards,
Sam.

@Samarta

The 5730XM has the same 1000mAh battery that's in the E75, sadly it doesn't have the stunning 1500mAh BP-4L battery that's seen in the E52, E55 and N97 (I believe?)

You're estimated to get a few days out of it with very moderate use, but you'll most likely charge the phone up every night if you want to make sure it lasts the next day

Was in the Nokia store @ Regents Street yesterday.

Amazed at how sold and well built the phone felt. Much better than the N97!

Hi Steve,

Can you comment on the presence of a dedicated graphics chip (3D engine) in Nokia 5730? The last Nokia I know which had it is N95 8gb. How do the graphics performance (Ngage) in 5730 compare to Nokia e75? What about the presence of a dedicated sound chip? Thank you.

Regards

Hey Steve,
above you said "The consumer-focussed sister phone to the successful Nokia E75". Could you share any details about the sales figures of the E75? I own one by myself and really love the concept of this phone, but I was wondering how successful the phone is and if there could ever be a successor to it...

>>Could you share any details about the sales figures of the E75? I own one by myself and really love the concept of this phone, but I was wondering how successful the phone is and if there could ever be a successor to it...

Well, there are about 5 million Eseries sold worldwide in each quarter. I'd guess the E75 might be around a million per quarter?

>>Can you comment on the presence of a dedicated graphics chip (3D engine) in Nokia 5730?

Hasn't got one. Same internals as E75. Quite good enough for day to day use, but fire up a 3D game and things slow down.

>>What about the presence of a dedicated sound chip? Thank you.

Nope. But sound is still excellent. IMHO.

>>You're estimated to get a few days out of it with very moderate use, but you'll most likely charge the phone up every night if you want to make sure it lasts the next day

Fair enough, if you use it hard or do lots of push email.

>>Nice review. Looking forward to the rest. I have heard that the battery life is not so good. Please do comment on that as well.

Seems fine to me, but then I don't use next-gen Nokia Messaging 8-)

Im confused wich phone to buy. .5730xm for its qwerty,new features lyk its contact bar (nt so important though) and looks bt nt sure on its reliablity or the n79 for its 5mp,fm transmitter,N-series brand image and reliablity. . .plz advice me on this Steve. . . And please reply as fast as possible!! Thank you!