Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, a mobile device for music that brings innovative new features to the mass market. It's touchscreen o'clock for Nokia. Go ahead and touch it. I did and I've got one.
Nokia has finally released its first ever Touchscreen Phone, the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic – known as the Nokia Tube. It is a music phone boasting a 3.2" 640x360 nHD resolution and 3.2 megapixel camera. It measures 111×51.7×15.5mm - comes with integrated 3.2 megapixel camera paired with a front mounted secondary camera allowing for video calling, an Alphanumeric and QWERTY keyboard (courtesy of the touchscreen) paired with handwriting recognition and, a ‘Dedicated Media Bar’ allowing for prompt access to the N5800’s image, video, music, share online and web browsing features. It also features 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, microUSB, etc.. It is a highly anticipated phone as the Nokia is brand of people and it is a first touchscreen phone from Nokia.
For starters, Nokia 5800 XpressMusic comes with an 8GB memory card - not bad for a sub-$400 handset. There is also a microUSB cable to use for your data connections, a TV-out cable that normally ships with high-end N-series models only and a two piece handsfree. It's 3.5mm on either end so you can easily replace the provided headset without sacrificing the remote. 5800 XpressMusic 3.2" display is the largest in the Finnish family. The resolution of 360 x 640 pixels is also second to the E90 business monster only. In fact, outside the Windows Mobile realm there isn't any other device to match the display resolution (no - not even the omnipresent iPhone 3G).
The Symbian battle has just began.Before we move on, the big question is how the Symbian S60 touch-enabled 5th edition compares to the other touch UIs on the market.
For one, it is quite obvious that the S60 5th is a toddler, probably only comparable to the Google's Android OS. Some may argue that the same could be said about Apple's OSX iPhone implementation but we disagree. Apple may be blamed for being cheeky twisted snobs but hardly for undercooking the UI. There are many features that miss on the iPhone, but the ones they want to be there are there - an new ones are spawning with every other software update.
The main disadvantage of the Symbian 5th edition to competitors is its inconsistency. It uses one click here and double click there, you can flip through photos with finger sweeps but not SMS and emails - this whole thing is rather confusing, and annoying.
The wasted standby screen is another thing we cannot quite accept. While every other manufacturer tries to grant access to as many features as possible straight on the homescreen, Nokia only give us 4 shortcut keys. The Contacts bar is also an option, but having both could've been way better.
The strongest point of the S60 5th edition as it currently stands is probably its structure. All the options are logically located exactly where you would expect them to be. And if you happen to disagree - rearrangement is as easy as it gets.
Anyway, at the end, I still feel Nokia 5800 is a worthy deal. Sure you get an interface that's immature, inconsistent and quite clumsy but the package you get for that kind of cash is a bargain and even Nokia's sworn enemies admit that.
The full house retail box and the highly competitive sub-$400 euro price against most of the touchscreen competition should be enough of a motivation. It's also likely for third party applications to grow at a frantic rate over the next couple of months, as the market for them gets larger and larger.
And you can bet that there's a bargain at the other end too. Nokia's gain is feedback on its new Touch UI. We just hope that feedback gets smartly used.
