Overview
Yes it's true, you did not read this heading incorrectly nor has your English gotten so bad that you are unable to recognize words or letters, the Nokia Tube phone has arrived! It's not surprising that Nokia has made a touch screen phone, what with the iPhone success people are crying out for their favourite phones to use the same technology as the Apple-lites (I think that's the right religious term)
Anyway, I have set out on a quest to see what the latest phone from Nokia will offer; will it turn out to be an iPhone competitor? Or will it just turn out to be another pretender of the iPhone crown?
Review
Style
As we can see from the picture the 5800 looks like a typical Nokia phone, which will keep the Nokia fans happy. With it being a touch screen phone it comes with a screen size of 3.2 inch’s and three buttons just below this, which comprise of a menu button and two soft keys to keep it in key with the good old simple Nokia style.
OK, so it’s reported to be a tad on the fat side compared to the iPhone and the Omnia but rather than looking like another iPhone clone, Nokia 5800 offers an air of uniqueness.
Under the Bonnet"¦
Now bearing in mind this is only a preview and as such does not comprise of the fully released model as some of the flaws might be fixed after these statements are made so don't you be coming back to me saying that I am talking a load of baloney. Right now that the disclaimer is out of the way let's get on with this…
With the Nokia using its well known Symbian operating system this mobile comes with the S60 version but it seems that Nokia have neglected to get this OS working correctly with a touch screen as the main menu requires you to use a scroll bar to navigate whereas the previously mentioned swiping and flicking thingy would have been perfect to use here.
You will all be glad to hear that the 5800 comes with haptic feedback and the QWERTY keyboard have nice big buttons so they are easy to press, plus with its built in accelerometer it will give you a landscape view. Nice for all those with big fingers.
Finally from what can be gathered the 5800 will come with everything you have come to expect from a phone 3G/HSDPA, WiFi, Bluetooth with A2DP, GPS, TV-Out, Stereo FM Radio, and a 3.5mm audio jack. An astonishing move by Nokia on this phone has been to reduce the internal memory to a measly amount according to some reports that this is only has an 81MB of internal memory which means you will have to rely on a microSD card to store your files.
Camera and Video
Camera wise, well its seems that Nokia have decided to build a 3.15 megapixel camera into this phone which is not really the best in its class but with a Carl Zeiss optics being used in its development this phone might produce surprising visuals, I would tell you for definite if I could but from all the reports the camera is not fully working yet on the phone so not even preliminary tests are available. As for video only time will tell on this one but I expect it will be a standard affair based on the camera.
Touch Media or Touchscreen
From initial reports it looks like the touch screen is a little bit on the unresponsive side, with the screen having to actually be pressed down in order for it to respond to the users touch. This is not a good feature on a touch screen phone and sadly its not multi-touch capable which seems a shame when they have spent time to incorporate that all time iPhone fav of the swiping and flicking thingy.
Of course you can’t have a touchscreen mobile without a stylus pen and I am glad to say that the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic comes with one. Along with this, the XpressMusic has a separate guitar pick which can also be used as a stylus or another input option which means that the upcoming game for the Nokia by Gameloft called Guitar Rock Tour will allow you to use this separate guitar pick.
The Gaj-It verdict
Design: 10/10
Usability: 6/10
Features: 7/10
Value: 7/10
We Say: Lets hope that Nokia fix alot of the issues that have plagued the preview versions, but if they do this then the scores above would need re-thinking as this has the potential to be an excellent phone. Maybe its the fact that it’s Nokia first attempt at the touchscreen features and a second time round contender might be a more worthy opponent?
Source: Read more about the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic atCellphone Reviews
Technical Spec
- 3.2 inch screen
- Symbian S60
- Handwriting Recognition
- 3.15 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics
- Haptic feedback
- QWERTY keyboard
- 3G
- HSDPA
- WiFi
- Bluetooth
- A2DP
- GPS
- TV-Out
- Stereo FM Radio
- 3.5mm audio jack
- 81MB Internal memory
Shop For It
One thought on “Preview: The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic/Nokia Tube”
the release of this as a music phone is definitely in sync with the Comes with Music package being launched with the N95 and 5310 mobile phones – http://www.apps.nokia.co.uk/comes-with-music/