What?
Nokia just launched a few music phones in India viz. the Nokia 523o, 5630 and 5530. If they weren’t accompanied by a launch in a huge hotel and an awesome lunch, I wouldn’t have really bothered. And oh yes, they also launched their music store right after that. You can read more about it on Indiecision.
Why?
Nokia 5530 and Nokia 5230
Wouldn’t the world be a better place if Nokia would make phones that were well and truly differentiated from their siblings? According to the VP Asia Pacific, it is to appeal to more people at more price points. That sounds like an effort to confuse the hell out of the buyer by bombarding them with too many options.
You’ll understand what I’m talking about when you know that the 5230 is exactly like the Nokia 5800. Its just that it does not have Wi-Fi, an autofocus camera and the accelerometer. It has friggin color changing panels though. And quite obviously a lower price point. 10 grand compared to the 17 grand for the 5800.
The 5530 is a far nicer unit with a slim form factor and good finish levels. Felt like a direct answer to Samsung’s Omnia.
How’s the music?
Well, these are XPressMusic phones, so you could expect decent sounding phones. All of them have a 3.5mm jack, so you can happily plug in whatever earphones you like
Has the UI improved?
Yes, siree. The UI feels far more responsive than before and usable too. By and large, everything confusing has been thrown out. The camera app could do with some improvement though. The 5230 even has a flickable speed dial on the home screen and I discovered that when I just could not find the Contacts button.
Both the phones have kinetic scrolling, a la the iPhone. No more haggling with scroll bars now and styluses. Good riddance.
Tell Me More
The Nokia VP thought that no one knew about the phones.Or so you think, lady.
She also did not want to talk about the Nokia N97 Mini though she did tell me that the Nokia Booklet would be formally launched next week. There was also a simple candy bar phone called the 5630 which I did not bother myself with.
The desserts were good and Taj Lands End now features improved service and better food. God bless recession and cleansed out business models.
How much?
Expect some really aggressive pricing from Nokia. The 5530′s expected price is Rs 13,999 and the 5230 is to be priced at 9,999. Expect this to be fight for space with the HTC Touch’s, Samsung’s and LG Cookie’s of the world.
When?
Q4 2009 is what Nokia says which makes little sense to me for Asia-Pacific and India particularly. Diwali and Eid are the festivals to target here and not Christmas. And quite frankly, there were no quality issues with the phones I tested. So, they could actually launch it earlier.
Images Credit: Nokia, TechTree and Yours Truly
