Nokia 5800 : XpressMusic Review

Here is a very short hands-on review of the ownership. Feel free to ask any specific questions.......Although this must have been done already and you must have read the reviews a 100 times till now :)

Please drop in a line if the review is liked / disliked. Thanks.

The Bundle

Neat bundle package set. Phone + 3.5mm Headphones + Multimedia Controller 3.5mm jack + Strap + Stand + TV Out Cables + Extra Stylus + Manuals + Warranty Card + Battery + Adapter + Mini CD + 8GB MicroSD Card.

Thumbs up: Neat bundle.

Thumbs down:The default scratch guard on the phone has a design all over it. :mad: Nokia should have either left it completely blank or bundled a fully plain scratch guard along in the bundle.

The Startup

So I popped the battery in and started the device. The device bootup time was less than a minute up and running completely. The usual Nokia logo at the startup ( which can be replaced by Text as usual as in older models as well )

I loaded about 2-3 gig of data and even with it , the bootups finishes under 30 seconds currently.

[BREAK= 1st Impressions/The Sim&Memory Card]

1st Impressions

Well, I sat thinking there, wat! nothing different. The phone really doesn't seem different as in...its yet another SYMBIAN phone, I've been using symbian since the Nokia 3650 days so this was no different. Was very impressed with the responsiveness of the phone and the touch is very sensitive. The double select feature doesn't bother and it took me precisely 5-10 mins to get used to it. Its simple and you would get used to it eventually.

The SIM and Memory Card

The sim and the memory card have slots of the left side of the phone. As shown in the review of the phone on youtube where it was said the slot is 'difficult to get to' , I din't find any difficulty with the same. To remove the memory card , there is a option when you press the main on/off button on the phone that says 'Remove Memory Card', something like 'Safely Remove Hardware' like we have in windows. The sim slot is push and hold type unlike the memory card slots. The sim card goes in and is held there by no spring - press retention method , its just a usual slot. To insert the SIM card you do not need to remove the backcover , but to remove the sim card you need to turn the device off , remove the back panel and then push out the sim card from the phone , painfull mechanism.

[BREAK=Other Layouts/The Rear Panel]

Other Layouts

The right side of the phone has the 'excellent' screen lock/phone lock latch. This is the best thing i've ever seen in any phone till date. Best accessed using the right hand only. Above there are the Volume up and down keys which act as zoom in and out keys in the camera function. The rest usual volume control in multimedia applications and call volume control. Also at the button the camera shutter key , which when suppressed would bring up the camera, half click used to do AF during taking pictures.

Another thing to be noted is that the phone vibrates as a feedback everytime a touch is made to it , this can be successfully turned on/off as per users preference. I've personally turned it off since i din't like it. However, each time the phone is unlocked from its locked position using the slider the phone vibrates as an indication that the phone has been successfully unlocked. This again is unwanted and I was not able to figure out a way to turn this feature off , This also needs to be addressed by Nokia in the upcoming firmware for users like me who would want this feature off , just sliding of the latch is enough to lock / unlock the phone with no feedback mechanism required.

At the bottom nothing but just the mic. On top is the 3.5mm jack which is also the TV Out jack. Then the USB and the power connector. I checked the specs on the charger with the older similar small pin charger and they were different. Hence refrain from using the older one on the phone. (In my case I had to use a flat pin to round pin converter for the charger)

On plugging in anything in the 3.5mm jack a small menu pops up asking 'What has been plugged in'. On selection it would switch to that particular mode. The phone automatically detects if the headset connected is with mic or without mic, Thats what amazed me most , when I plugged in my HD201 (music discussed later) it gave me a nice prompt saying 'Use Phone Microphone' , which meant I can continue on a call on 'any' attached headphone and converse with the phone mic ! On connecting the headset with the mic the usual functionality of that was restored and no prompt was shown.

The Pick / Cancel and the Menu buttons are easily accessible and have no issues with them. Nor are they cranky or make a sound.

On the other side are the stereo speakers separated by the SIM/Memory card slots.

The Rear Panel

Well, Nothing different or unknown here , a standard flat panel with a 3.2MP Carl Zeius Camera with Dual LED flash leds. The rear panel is a 'sweat' magnet and tends to keep those stains on them!

[BREAK=Multimedia/ransferring of Music /USB]

Multimedia

Well, its a mixed bag actually. The audio quality is just amazing and so is the video quality (playback). Haven't really transferred a video to check on the same. The audio is really good even on the stock headphones but quality on better earphones are even better. The application is fast and doesnt lag any user inputs. On the other hand the camera was a little wee bit let down for me. It underperformed my expectations. Color loss was evident in some of the pictures that were taken in low-light situations. However photos taken in sunlight were fine. Video on the other hand was a little disappointing as well. I'm relying on the next firmware of Nokia to fix these issues. The camera application has lots of user options and customisatin options available, like different modes / color scheme / quality , etc etc. Good bundle with the software I must admit.

Transferring of Music / USB

I haven't like checked the exact transfer rate and benchmark it and all , all I did is took a folder with 2GB of music and simply drag - dropped the folder onto the music folder of the phone , running in MASS STORAGE Mode. An odd 150+ files , the transfer happened without any issues and took a little over 9 mins for the transfer to complete. Once done , the internal default music player automatically detected that files have been added and updated the music library and it was up and running. Played music on loudspeaker (at middle range volume ) for about 20-25 mins at stretch and there is NO heating up of the phone anywhere , nor the rear panel near the battery , nor near the speakers.....(next I'm going to check out some videos, just figuring out the same to convert an .avi file to .mp4 at the correct resolution.

[BREAK=Video/Messaging]

Video

Haven't been able to hook on to a 3rd party app for the 5800 XM for playback of videos yet , Div X player for mobile phones is still not supported by the 5800 and might take a while for its release. Although I did try out a random .mp4 file which by default plays in "Real player" of the phone and yet again , it just doesn't disappoint. Crisp , No lags , lockup or flutter at all. Bang on target. Its like a mini wide screen :)

Messaging

Well, T9 lovers rejoice , no adaptation required at all.....all you have to do is use the normal keypad layout and type away to glory. Zero adaptation skills needed.....It dint even take me a minute. SMS'ing is a breeze. The handwriting pad is AMAZING as well...its fantastic....the best part was the symbol recognition messaging system. Suppose i put up a 'custom' symbol and associate a message (for eg. Hi, How are you doing today?)....Then all I have to do is draw the custom symbol and the message "Hi, How are you doing today?" will automatically be inputted , amazing huh! :) ......so to summarize for sms'ing....10/10 for it!

[BREAK=GPS/Wifi]GPS

I decided to check on the GPS and loaded Mumbai Maps, All I wanted to do is pure tracking but at all times i was not able to lock on to any satellites, the bar would just not move and keep on saying connecting to GPS, but it wouldn't search for the satellite for a lock on the position... :no: This is what I did :

- Deleted all MAPS.

- Loaded the Map Loader software which came in a CD

- Uninstalled all the MAPS as default

- Downloaded new maps.....

Still haven't been able to check on the GPS part. I read elsewhere that what I would need to go is allow it to connect externally 'once' before it would allow running navigation offline. I have already updated the maps for India with the latest update map pack from Nokia.

WIFI

Tested the WIFI access. Since my WLAN is mac id protected I had to look out and search for my MAC; I know for sure its easy cakewalk on Windows OS phones , but no where could I find the WLAN MAC ID of my phone...

Google came to the rescue here......

For everyone's reference , all credit and thanks to the original poster of the page : Phones:Nokia keypad codes - Gammu.org Wiki

*#mac0wlan# (*#62209526#) Show MAC address of the WLAN adapter
WLAN experience was nice....downloading a 1.5mb file (read:Google Maps) took around 3 minutes. Browsing on the phone was a good experience and smooth. The browser does need a upgrade. It played flash content right out of the box...Various options like saving password , blocking pop ups are also there....

[BREAK=Gaming/Conclusion]

Gaming

The pre-loaded games are "Bounce" and "RT GR" both games fully playable on accelerometer and man-oh-man, Wat fun it is. No controls , no touching all you gotta do is move the phone and let the phone do whats it supposed to do. I even connected the phone to the TV and checked it out just for the sake of checking it out....it sure did lag. However on the phone its fun for sure.

Overall Conclusion

Overall, its an excellent device. IMO its a definite buy for people who 'do not' have a dedicated multimedia device like a i pod or anything else or who do not have multimedia enabled phones already. The camera picture and video quality is a major turnoff currently though :no: I have to agree here , N82 beats the hell out of this cam where as picture quality is considered. Deviating a little off topic from the 5800, if we are to talk about picture quality of the cam in the 5mp category, the Omnia steals the show for me.

[BREAK=Bugs]

BUGS

Here are some of the bugs that I have personally found out......

- The auto rotate doesn't work in messaging after 2 times. I.e if i do the rotate thing 2 times , the 3rd time the screen gets stuck in the default mode only and will not switch to landscape mode at all......

- After the phone has been put in USB data mode for data transfer the phone automatically resets the Messaging Inbox to go to Phone Memory , then we need to manually go into settings and set it back to the card memory.....

- During multimedia playback in full screen like videos and pictures , if we call for the Options menu the screen flickers as in to refresh the menu........

- Big BUG - The phone due to some weird reason stopped showing me call alerts. For eg. It would show i have a missed call , but it wouldn't show me from whom , the sms's stopped coming in even though i was able to send out messages absolutely fine. Noticed this after a few people at work told me that they had called me a couple of times but I dint have any alert on my screen. Again , its not that the phone dint show me that the call was coming, but it dint show me the missed call alert and the number , when it showed me the alert , it dint show me the number. I had the SAME problem in my N72 which I had got when the N72 was out (which was fixed by the updated firmware)....so certainly this would really be something wanting to be had. To fix this I had to reboot my phone and allow it to refresh its mem or whatever and then the alerts and all blocked sms's came in fine.

- Experienced keypad issues when entering WEP keys for wifi access.

[BREAK=Camera / Picture Samples]

Camera / Picture Samples

Phone Pictures - Random



Sample Pictures from the Phone



[BREAK=3rd party software]3rd party software

I've loaded Google Maps and let me tell you even though it gave me a pop up saying that its not compatible with the device. It installed and its running absolutely fine.

Also from Nokia - Hongkong website i've loaded :

-Touch Piano - App

-Touch Guitar - App

-Mail for Exchange - App

-Touch Popper - Game

-Touch Maneuver - Game

Thats it from me. Hope this is liked by everyone. Do leave back a comment.
 
hanzy said:
Will try to finish this up today- I'm done with exploring the phone enough. I can even go and give a public speech and demonstration on this .i know the phone better in 3 days than my in-house software i've 'tried' to know in 3 months :lol: (office ppl pls ignore im j/k kiddin :p)

I went to alfa to check if they have a all-clear screen guard out...they did for 280 bux :O , but it doesnt cover the entire front panel (covers only the display area) , they guy suggested since my scratch guard is stuck fine , i do with it for a while and tolerate the graffiti on it as there might be full covering guards out once the phone is out.....

Picked up an elcheapo 30 bux scratch guard for some experimentation , will post if its successfully done......

I was surprised to see the graffiti on the demo piece at the NPD. I thought it would not be the same on the actual piece for sale. :(
 
nikeel said:
I was surprised to see the graffiti on the demo piece at the NPD. I thought it would not be the same on the actual piece for sale. :(

like i mentioned in the review already , its not abt demo piece or not , that's how nokia is shipping it...and the fact that they haven't included a full - clear as a add-on in the package is a downer....like i posed above need to go out and buy it separately......

Now,

Something just showed up when i bought my digicam in front of the phone, the infrared sensor blinks :O and is caught on cam.......wait for the vid / pic... This is not visible to the naked eye :O
 
HI hanzy, went to the NPD and checked out the demo today. I was quite impressed with the touch response and the phone felt good overall.

However during the demo, i noticed a couple of things...

1.There was no audio files on the phone, so the guy transferred a file through bluetooth and played it from the sms inbox. Playback was fine, but there was no option to change the equalizer. I told him and then both of us tried to find an option to save it to the memory card and play from the media player, but could not figure out how to save the file to some other folder in the memory card. The only option available was to move it to "My Folders". Can you try this and find out if it can be done??

The guy there finally put another memory card with the audio files and only then i was able to play it through the music player.

2. This was causing more of a concern to me. The s60 menu option initially was in a grid format, with two colums only. I tried to change it to 3 colums(like normal symbian menu grid) but I found only two options to choose from. One was the grid(2 colums) and the other was the list. I could not find a way to display the menu in 3 columns, while almost all pictures in the internet are showing 3 column grid. Is this option really present in the phone?
 
hanzy said:
Something just showed up when i bought my digicam in front of the phone, the infrared sensor blinks :O and is caught on cam.......wait for the vid / pic... This is not visible to the naked eye :O

dont digicams have infrared distance meters for autofocus? maybe that is triggering the phone's sensor...
 
vpraveenis said:
HI hanzy, went to the NPD and checked out the demo today. I was quite impressed with the touch response and the phone felt good overall.

However during the demo, i noticed a couple of things...

1.There was no audio files on the phone, so the guy transferred a file through bluetooth and played it from the sms inbox. Playback was fine, but there was no option to change the equalizer. I told him and then both of us tried to find an option to save it to the memory card and play from the media player, but could not figure out how to save the file to some other folder in the memory card. The only option available was to move it to "My Folders". Can you try this and find out if it can be done??

The guy there finally put another memory card with the audio files and only then i was able to play it through the music player.

2. This was causing more of a concern to me. The s60 menu option initially was in a grid format, with two columns only. I tried to change it to 3 columns (like normal symbian menu grid) but I found only two options to choose from. One was the grid(2 columns) and the other was the list. I could not find a way to display the menu in 3 columns, while almost all pictures in the internet are showing 3 column grid. Is this option really present in the phone?

1. I have my music files transferred via the USB cable.......what exactly is it that u want me to try ?

2. the grid is a 3 column STANDARD 'the always' look......

There are only 2 looks , GRID and list....grid by default is 4 ROWS and 3 COLUMNS at a given time......

@vishalrao : very much possible......
 
hanzy said:
Something just showed up when i bought my digicam in front of the phone, the infrared sensor blinks :O and is caught on cam.......wait for the vid / pic... This is not visible to the naked eye :O
Isn't that light brightness sensor?
 
broar94 said:
Isn't that light brightness sensor?

whatever it is , its best left alone :) ...... :hap2: just posted as i came across it......i put a VGA cam phone in front of it....and it STILL blinked.....so it CAN'T be the infrared AF sensor of the digicam......wat it is....:S :O .......its one of the sensors is all i know, but WHY blink :S
 
hanzy said:
1. I have my music files transferred via the USB cable.......what exactly is it that u want me to try ?
2. the grid is a 3 column STANDARD 'the always' look......
There are only 2 looks , GRID and list....grid by default is 4 ROWS and 3 COLUMNS at a given time......

Transfer a mp3 file to ur phone through bluetooth. Now try to save it somewhere in the memory card from your inbox. Then try and play the saved file from media player by browsing from album/artist. The problem was the mp3 file was in the inbox, but I could not figure out how to save it to some folder in the memory card.

And that's what confused me about the grid display.. it was 6 rows and 2 columns which i didnt like at all. Maybe is it because of old firmware??? But all reviews and pics show 3 columns, i wonder how this device alone had only 2 columns :huh: :huh:
 
vpraveenis said:
Transfer a mp3 file to ur phone through bluetooth. Now try to save it somewhere in the memory card from your inbox. Then try and play the saved file from media player by browsing from album/artist. The problem was the mp3 file was in the inbox, but I could not figure out how to save it to some folder in the memory card.

And that's what confused me about the grid display.. it was 6 rows and 2 columns which i didnt like at all. Maybe is it because of old firmware??? But all reviews and pics show 3 columns, i wonder how this device alone had only 2 columns :huh: :huh:

i will check on the 1st point in a while........
regarding the grid, there is no old and new firmware here.........the grid has always had 3 columns....
 
hanzy said:
whatever it is , its best left alone :) ...... :hap2: just posted as i came across it......i put a VGA cam phone in front of it....and it STILL blinked.....so it CAN'T be the infrared AF sensor of the digicam......wat it is....:S :O .......its one of the sensors is all i know, but WHY blink :S

http://nokia5800phone.com/nokia-5800-xpressmusic-unlocked-video-review-1-of-4/ said:
An interesting aspect of the Nokia 5800 is the sensor on the front panel. When on a phone call, the sensor is covered which automatically turns of the front screen view

light sensor then?
 
broar94 said:
light sensor then?

yea might be that thing , maybe it catches light around and see's if it can reflect it around and then when pressed to the face since it doesn't get any it triggers internal circuit and cuts off power to the screen...
 
vpraveenis said:
Transfer a mp3 file to ur phone through bluetooth. Now try to save it somewhere in the memory card from your inbox. Then try and play the saved file from media player by browsing from album/artist. The problem was the mp3 file was in the inbox, but I could not figure out how to save it to some folder in the memory card.

1. transferred mp3 from other phone to 5800.

2. the music file opened and played! via the inbox but NO option to use equalizer or other media player options.

3. on saving save, it automatically synchronizes with the music library at the default path on the memory card. It dint give option to save elsewhere and then from music player when the file was played it was allowing access to all the options for the same.

Resolution :

1. Whenever a mp3 file is sent to the inbox of the 5800 and you save it , the phone creates a directory named : Attachments in the memory card ( if already not existing) and then goes ahead and saves the mp3 file over there when you ask to save it.

2. The default music player goes ahead and scans all media files on the card and picks them up from where they are present.

3. Now once it goes into the attachment folder all you have to do is >

menu > applications > file manager.

go to the memcard > go to attachments > mark the file or mark all as applicable > options > organise > copy to folder / move to folder > then u can move it around whereever in whichever folder u want.

4. Once done go back to media player > options > refresh music library. Done.

Doing it the > move to my folder way would be a long way around :)
 
Switch said:
Maybe... Just maybe... The icon size was increased :p

Hmmm... is there an option to increase or decrease the icon size?? The icons were really huge and were touch friendly, but definitely not good to look at.

What happens if there are more than 12 items (exceeding 4 rows) in the menu?? A scrollbar should appear in the right side... maybe to accomodate the scrollbar, they are switching to two column format?? i'm just speculating here...
hanzy said:
1. Whenever a mp3 file is sent to the inbox of the 5800 and you save it , the phone creates a directory named : Attachments in the memory card ( if already not existing) and then goes ahead and saves the mp3 file over there when you ask to save it.

2. The default music player goes ahead and scans all media files on the card and picks them up from where they are present.

3. Now once it goes into the attachment folder all you have to do is >
menu > applications > file manager.
go to the memcard > go to attachments > mark the file or mark all as applicable > options > organise > copy to folder / move to folder > then u can move it around whereever in whichever folder u want.

4. Once done go back to media player > options > refresh music library. Done.

Doing it the > move to my folder way would be a long way around :)

So there is a resolution!!! Great! :clap: Thanks hanzy....
 
vpraveenis said:
Hmmm... is there an option to increase or decrease the icon size?? The icons were really huge and were touch friendly, but definitely not good to look at.

What happens if there are more than 12 items (exceeding 4 rows) in the menu?? A scrollbar should appear in the right side... maybe to accomodate the scrollbar, they are switching to two column format?? i'm just speculating here...

So there is a resolution!!! Great! :clap: Thanks hanzy....

:eek:hyeah: :eek:hyeah: :hap2: :hap2: :eek:hyeah: :eek:hyeah:

LOL , ICON ISSUE also solved :D :D im looking at the grid in 2 column view :O and its so uneasy to see it in this layout , lol........wait will type how it is ;)

Menu > Settings > Phone > Display > Font Size :D :lol:

Set it to large and you get 2 column

Set it to Normal and you get 3 column

Set it to Small and you get 4 column view

:lol: ...........
 
PhOeNiX said:
@hanzy , maybe it is the proximity sensor thing which disables the touchmode when something gets close.

confirmed , its that.......now me thinking elsewise, wats the logic and technology behind it....only a camera lens can see it.....if its emitting a beam or something to check for an object around to cut off the screen means its emitting something to check if there is an object or not even when the phone is held to the face....which means exposing one self to the same.......aint that bad ???....time to google...

Edit : Results....Its the "Proximity sensor"

A proximity sensor is a sensor able to detect the presence of nearby objects without any physical contact. A proximity sensor often emits an electromagnetic or electrostatic field, or a beam of electromagnetic radiation (infrared, for instance), and looks for changes in the field or return signal. The object being sensed is often referred to as the proximity sensor's target. Different proximity sensor targets demand different sensors. For example, a capacitive or photoelectric sensor might be suitable for a plastic target; an inductive proximity sensor requires a metal target.

1)Proximity sensor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
2)Laser rangefinder - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
3)WikiAnswers - How does a proximity sensor work
Proximity switches open or close an electrical circuit when they make contact with or come within a certain distance of an object. Proximity switches are most commonly used in manufacturing equipment, robotics, and security systems. There are four basic types of proximity switches: infrared, acoustic, capacitive, and inductive.

Infrared proximity switches work by sending out beams of invisible infrared light. A photodetector on the proximity switch detects any reflections of this light. These reflections allow infrared proximity switches to determine whether there is an object nearby. As proximity switches with just a light source and photodiode are susceptible to false readings due to background light, more complex switches modulate the transmitted light at a specific frequency and have receivers which only respond to that frequency. Even more complex proximity sensors are able to use the light reflected from an object to compute its distance from the sensor.

now which one's used by nokia here :S this is a bit spooky to know a laser / radiation beam is RIGHT there on it all the time and its emitting ALL the time....... :S

how can we know wat / which sensor is used ? although they did test the phone and its x, y, z compliant ..then too...

- Light sensor ?
- Magnetic sensor ?
- Infrared sensor ?
 
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