Jon writes:
"Some of you may be aware that I've been a long time user and admirer of the 5800 XpressMusic. It may not be the most complete phone in the year 2010 but it does tick virtually all boxes on features and all at the fraction of the cost of HTC Desires, Sony Ericsson X10s, Nokia N97s and, of course, the iPhone.
To date, Nokia has an excellent history of support and firmware upgrades for all their popular phones and due partly to selling figures of the 5800 XpressMusic in the millions worldwide, the 20th April 2010 saw version 50 firmware released. It's important to note that the 5800 was Nokia's first touch screen phone so has really been playing catch up with its big brother the N97 and other phones on the market through its firmware upgrades. On paper, these most recent updates probably don't seem that awe inspiring but as a long time user (and geek) it's still exciting when a new firmware comes along. From its original firmware it really has come a long way and in some ways is a completely different phone.
To recap, the main highlights of v50 are:
- Kinetic scrolling in main menu
- Kinetic scrolling in web browser
- Web browser opens in full screen mode by default
- Improved music player ( like Nokia N97 )
- 'Hide' option in music player instead of exit
- New one touch dialling and call settings options in dialler
- Improved camera quality
- Option to enable history list in web browser
- Option to send a web page via message or Bluetooth in the web browser
- Ovi Sync application added
"For those who have been using Symbian phones for a while, this now brings it in line with many of its 5th Edition descendants and these little improvements produce a greater usability and experience. I now have a similar experience to my wife's N97 mini and for a phone that was first available in December 2008, I would feel quite pleased with myself and my v50 firmware.
However, 'would' is the problem here. I still love the "5800xm" and would still quite happily use it if I had to, it's just that now I've joined the Android juggernaut with the HTC Hero and have seen how things have moved on. My final thoughts are about firmware upgrades, I'm starting to question HTC's ability to provide support and firmware upgrades to the same standard as Nokia. The HTC Hero, as many will be aware, is stuck on Android 1.5 (not even allowing for turn by turn navigation through Google Maps) and the HTC promises seem to be wearing thin.
Steve Litchfield has mentioned before about picking a phone and sticking to it patiently, waiting for upgrades and seeing it through to its end. The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic has certainly had a good run and it has done me very well. I now worry that the HTC Hero might be the wrong choice for longevity and that a vanilla Google phone may be a better choice [or maybe something Nokia made and Symbian^3 powered in the Autumn? - Ed]
Jon Satherley