Nokia hasn’t had a touch screen cellphone for quite a while now, since the 7710 to be precise. They were so busy perfecting their rounded corners on the myriad range of the superbly useless N series phones that they forgot all about touchscreen phones till the Apple iPhone came along. Then suddenly every cellphone manufacturer worth their salt had to have a phone with a big touch screen very few buttons. The 5800 XpressMusic is Nokia’s go at it.
Looks and Build
Though there is nothing striking about the design, I found it to turn a fair amount of heads thanks to its rich black finish. The curious types even come over to ask you about it. But hold it and some of the magic is lost. The phone does feel plasticky to touch and its thickness could turn a few people off.
On the front are 4 buttons, call accept, reject and the home button; there is also a shortcut button right above the screen. On the right are the camera button, keypad lock and the volume switch. To the left are the SIM card slot and the microSD card slot.
Interface
This is the latest version of Symbian’s series 60 UI, the 5th edition. There’s not too much of a difference except that it is meant for touch screen devices. And who’s to complain? The 3rd edition was well organized and easy to navigate. The home screen gets a few more shortcuts and there is a small button above the screen which on clicking shows running applications. You could use the stylus but there is also a cool looking plectrum which is attached to the strap, which can also be used to operate the hard to reach areas like scroll bars and the like.
My only gripe is that it is inconsistent in a few areas. Some actions are initiated by a single tap whereas others are by double taps. But a firmware upgrade should take care of that once Nokia realizes how annoying it is.
