Description



This latest one, the Nokia 5300 comes with a sporty design that should appeal to the funky, style-conscious user on a budget. The Nokia 5300 XpressMusic is a GSM tri-band hand portable phone supporting GSM 900/1800/1900 or GSM 850/1800/1900 bands with a 240 x 320 pixel active TFT 262k color display, integrated 1.3 Mega pixel digital camera, 3GPP video player/recorder, MicroSD card support, Bluetooth 2.0 and IrDa. The Nokia 5300 XpressMusic is also a Java-enabled phone supporting MIDP Java 2.0 and additional Java APIs.

Features and Specifications

It’s certainly very distinctive-looking, with a ‘racing stripe’ around the middle, a silver keypad and button area, and a white frame. Measuring 92.4mm x 48.2mm x 20.7mm and weighing 106.2g, it’s compact for a slider phone. The 5300 features a 2.5mm audio connector, but Nokia has thoughtfully included an adapter for connecting regular-sized 3.5mm headphones. The 5300 supports a range of music formats, including MP3, WMA, M4A, AAC and AAC+. The bundled Nokia PC Suite software includes Nokia Music Manager for ripping music from a CD and transferring tracks from a PC with the supplied mini-USB cable. On-board memory is scant at just over 8MB, so it comes with a 256MB microSD card that has just over 230MB free. The 5300 is more than capable. It runs Nokia’s mid-range Series 40 platform, which has an easy-to-use menu system that includes an e-mail client, Web browser, video player, push-to-talk and PIM software. No 3G connectivity here— just tri-band and EDGE, as well as Bluetooth 2.0. Complementing the 5300’s music player feature is A2DP support for Bluetooth, letting you connect wireless stereo headphones. The built-in camera is capable of taking 1.3MP photos and videos up to 176 x 144 pixels in the 3GP format. Output from both is typical for a mobile phone: photos are grainy, with a bluish tint and fuzzy edges, while videos are pixilated due to the heavy compression. If you’re looking for a good camera phone, look elsewhere. Screen size is a respectable two inches, with a bright backlight, good color reproduction (supporting up to 262 thousand colors) and 240 x 320 pixel resolution. Generously-sized keys comprise the keypad hidden behind the display, with excellent tactile feedback and key travel, and the phone’s curved edges and compact frame make it pleasant to hold. Nokia quotes battery life for music at up to 12 hours, which is reasonable; talk time and standby time are on the low side at 3.2 and 216 hours respectively.

Conclusion

The 5300 delivers what it promises: it works well as a phone, as a messaging device, and a music player. It does not have the best sound quality, but A2DP and dedicated music buttons are all in place. It does not take the best pictures, but it gives you the excellent S40 interface. The design might not appeal to everyone, and there are definitely some build issues. The hidden memory slot is a mistake that Nokia could have avoided. The other huge slip-up is the inclusion of a 2.5mm earphone jack instead of a standard 3.5mm one, though it is nonetheless a lot more welcome than the old Pop-Port interface. At the end of the day, the 5300 is a give-and-take handset, and you will not be happy with everything it offers, though if you can work with its shortcomings, it is worth buying.