Review: Nokia 5300 XpressMusic

**Anilrgowda** · 05-Jan-2007, 01:23 AM

The Nokia 5300 XpressMusic is a music player phone in a slide design. It looks very much like a funky version of the Nokia 6111. Let's hope that it's better than that inside!
So, first impressions ... the 5300 has a nice compact design that is good to hold. It's very slightly larger and heavier than the 6111, but a little thinner. In our opinion it's the perfect size phone! There are dedicated music keys on the outside (play, pause, forward & rewind) and a camera key, so many of the phone's functions can be accessed without opening the slide. The volume keys on the side double up as zoom keys when the camera is in use. Clearly some thought has gone into the user interface of the 5300, and it works well. The display is outstandingly good. It's a high-resolution QVGA display (320 x 240 pixels) with 262k colours, and it is large (2 inches across). All good so far! The slide opens easily with a spring mechanism to reveal the main keypad, which is nice to use and a good size (although the top row of keys are placed rather close to the slide). The 5-way navigation key is easy to use.
Obviously music is at the heart of the 5300 so let's talk about that next. The 5300 has a high-quality stereo music player that supports all the main digital audio formats: MP3, Midi, AAC, AAC+, enhanced AAC+, and WMA. There is also a stereo FM radio. The Nokia Stereo Headset HS-47 is included in the sales package and you can plug in your own headphones via the new 2.5mm Nokia AV connector which can accept regular-sized 3.5mm headphones via an adaptor. There is also support for a stereo Bluetooth headset (available separately).
A memory card is supplied in the sales package (size varies) and the memory can be expanded to 2 Gbytes (enough to store 1,500 songs).
As well as the music capabilities, the 5300 has all the other functions that we have come to expect from a phone. The built-in camera has a resolution of 1.3 megapixels, and there's a video recording option too. There's no flash in the camera and the picture quality is no better than average for phones in this price range, but imaging is not really the purpose of this phone. The phone supports voice commands and has a voice recorder too. You can use the voice recorder to record a message and send it to another phone using Nokia's Audio Messaging system. Internet access is fast, using EDGE, and a basic web browser is supplied. Connectivity options include Bluetooth, USB and infrared, and a CD is supplied to let you manage files and transfer your music from PC to phone. Battery life is average, and probably compares reasonably well with an iPod when it comes to playing music.

The Nokia 5300 XpressMusic is one of the very first phones in Nokia's new XpressMusic range, which is clearly intended to rival Sony Ericsson's Walkman range of phones. It will appeal to Nokia fans who might have been tempted to defect to Sony Ericsson. The 5300 XpressMusic is in some ways quite different to the SE Walkman range, but as a music phone it holds its own, and is highly recommended. We look forward to more XpressMusic phones in the future. The Nokia 5200 is almost the same as the 5300 XpressMusic, with some features missing, so you could consider it as an alternative if the budget is tight.

05-Jan-2007, 01:23 AM	#1 (permalink)
Anilrgowda Administrator Posts: 18,715 Join Date: Jan 2006 Rep Power: 10 IM:	Review: Nokia 5300 XpressMusic The Nokia 5300 XpressMusic is a music player phone in a slide design. It looks very much like a funky version of the Nokia 6111. Let's hope that it's better than that inside! So, first impressions ... the 5300 has a nice compact design that is good to hold. It's very slightly larger and heavier than the 6111, but a little thinner. In our opinion it's the perfect size phone! There are dedicated music keys on the outside (play, pause, forward & rewind) and a camera key, so many of the phone's functions can be accessed without opening the slide. The volume keys on the side double up as zoom keys when the camera is in use. Clearly some thought has gone into the user interface of the 5300, and it works well. The display is outstandingly good. It's a high-resolution QVGA display (320 x 240 pixels) with 262k colours, and it is large (2 inches across). All good so far! The slide opens easily with a spring mechanism to reveal the main keypad, which is nice to use and a good size (although the top row of keys are placed rather close to the slide). The 5-way navigation key is easy to use. Obviously music is at the heart of the 5300 so let's talk about that next. The 5300 has a high-quality stereo music player that supports all the main digital audio formats: MP3, Midi, AAC, AAC+, enhanced AAC+, and WMA. There is also a stereo FM radio. The Nokia Stereo Headset HS-47 is included in the sales package and you can plug in your own headphones via the new 2.5mm Nokia AV connector which can accept regular-sized 3.5mm headphones via an adaptor. There is also support for a stereo Bluetooth headset (available separately). A memory card is supplied in the sales package (size varies) and the memory can be expanded to 2 Gbytes (enough to store 1,500 songs). As well as the music capabilities, the 5300 has all the other functions that we have come to expect from a phone. The built-in camera has a resolution of 1.3 megapixels, and there's a video recording option too. There's no flash in the camera and the picture quality is no better than average for phones in this price range, but imaging is not really the purpose of this phone. The phone supports voice commands and has a voice recorder too. You can use the voice recorder to record a message and send it to another phone using Nokia's Audio Messaging system. Internet access is fast, using EDGE, and a basic web browser is supplied. Connectivity options include Bluetooth, USB and infrared, and a CD is supplied to let you manage files and transfer your music from PC to phone. Battery life is average, and probably compares reasonably well with an iPod when it comes to playing music. The Nokia 5300 XpressMusic is one of the very first phones in Nokia's new XpressMusic range, which is clearly intended to rival Sony Ericsson's Walkman range of phones. It will appeal to Nokia fans who might have been tempted to defect to Sony Ericsson. The 5300 XpressMusic is in some ways quite different to the SE Walkman range, but as a music phone it holds its own, and is highly recommended. We look forward to more XpressMusic phones in the future. The Nokia 5200 is almost the same as the 5300 XpressMusic, with some features missing, so you could consider it as an alternative if the budget is tight.

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