Video review of the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic w/ touchscreen

Nokia 5800 XpressMusic

Nokia 5800 XpressMusic

Nokia 5800 XpressMusic

T9 on the 5800 XpressMusic works fantastically well thanks to the haptic vibration feedback the touchscreen provides, but there are times when QWERTY is better (URLs in the web browser, for instance). As it stands with this firmware revision, at least, you have to manually switch to QWERTY mode, and any text input while in that mode will require you to flip the phone in landscape mode for text input, even if you are using the phone in portrait mode. This means you can end up being forced to rotate the phone whenever you need to enter text.

There are a few minor physical design issues, too. The phone feels a bit hollow and plasticky. It seems well built, but it just doesn't have that rock solid feel that phones like the 5310 XpressMusic do. The covers for the microSD and SIM slots look great, but can be a nightmare to open. I also dislike the narrow stylus, and have no interest in using the attachable "guitar pick" that ships with the phone. Thankfully, the touchscreen itself works very well with just a finger. I love the vibration feedback when it is tapped, and it is nice that you can adjust that (or disable it) in the profiles.

So apart from the previously mentioned minor details, I'm pleased. The web browser works really well. WiFi is fast, and a bit easier to deal with in this edition of S60. The music player isn't going to wow you, but it works fine. And the camera does a decent job as well. The main features are all executed well enough for most people to be very happy with the device. It lacks the visual pizazz of the iPhone or T-Mobile G1, but it all works predictably and thoughtfully.

We'll reserve final judgement on the 5800 XpressMusic until we get our hands on a production device, but suffice it to say that so far, so good.

Enjoy the videos. Click on the videos to get to the version hosted on YouTube if you have the bandwidth to support the high quality mode. It's a much better viewing experience.

Nokia 5800 XpressMusic

Nokia 5800 XpressMusic

Nokia 5800 XpressMusic

Part III - menus and web browsing

Part IV - Camera, music, and apps