Nokia 5140i > Reviews > A Decent Enough Phone... but that's it...

Author's product rating:   

Look & Feel	Good
Durability & Robustness	Very Strong
Reception quality	Good
Battery standby time	Good
Value for money	Reasonable
Range of features	Good selection

Advantages:	Durable, easy to use, some good features
Disadvantages:	Disappointing memory and screen size

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Having upgraded again I found myself with another new Nokia, a brand I've stuck with over the years because I've always found their phones user friendly, reliable, and with good features. The phones I have are rarely on the cutting edge of phone technology, but then that's not really what I'm after - more something solid than exciting.

The Nokia 5140i fits the bill as far as this goes. Being Nokia's sport model, it features a harder shell casing than most, making it one of the most durable phones around and quite possibly the most shock resistant. (Of course it still won't tale having a run a car over it… not that I've tested this!) It features several options designed for sports, such as a stopwatch, compass (which doesn't seem to work too brilliantly but that may be down to me not managing to set it up properly), countdown timer, thermometer (very useful for proving that your workplace is by law too hot / cold for you to work in!!), and an audio message recorder. (Okay so I'm not quite sure why the last one is classed as a "sports" feature, but it is!)

The screen display is somewhat disappointing - though the colour palette is 65K colours, it's still the same 128x128 screen which doesn't give much detail. The menu graphics are quite attractive and clear. The camera is a 4.0mm VGA 640x480 resolution jobbie, not great but bad. On the plus side you can record image sequences and video on it as well. Slightly compounding this is the fact that the phone doesn't have a tremendous amount of memory (only 3.5Mb). On the plus side the memory access does seem a little faster than on previous models.

Traditional text and multimedia messages are here, also you have the ability to send Flash messages which may interest some (though not me, I'm afraid). Instant messaging and emailing is fully supported. A new option is the "push to talk" feature - effectively this turns your phone into a walkie-talkie connected to one or more phones (which obviously must the "Push To Talk" feature enabled). No-one else that I know has this phone so I haven't managed to check this feature out. Reception, an all-important aspect of any phone, seems to be a lot better than my previous Nokia phones. Battery life not that great if you use the radio / camera / games a lot, but for nominal usage should last you a week.

One of the things Nokia is famous for is user-friendliness. With a couple of extra buttons to press on top of the normal (there is now a select button in the middle of 4 cursor keys, and two small buttons above of these), the menu system has very slightly expanded functionality to cater for a few new options. Unfortunately this mainly means that getting anything done is now more long-winded, the additional features are not greatly noticeable whereas the extra keypresses to get anything done are.

In addition to the above there are the features that we've come to expect from Nokia phones - a decent-quality radio (which on this model can be used as a radio alarm), a couple of games (a bit more imaginative than previous models had), calendar with reminder options, calculator, web access, call register, different themes, wallpapers, and ringtones, and a torch. In keeping with the sporty theme there is also a Fitness Coach program on the phone so you can keep track of your sets / weights over time, check how your weight loss programme is doing, etc. The phone is quite stylish but looks a little old-fashioned nowadays, and some may find it a little on the large size compared to other models. (It's not a brick or anything, just not what you'd call slim!)

Accessories

There is a strange combination of whistle and magnifying glass as the sports accessory… very odd and not particularly useful to most of us, it has to be admitted. The headphones that come with the phone area really nice quality though, and are they type that hook round your ear supporting the earpiece just away from the eardrum, infinitely better than having things stuck right in your ear. You can attach a wrist-strap, but I found that this made the phone too bulky to comfortably fit in a shirt pocket.

Conclusion

Overall the Nokia 5140i is quite a nice phone, with a few good features and solid design. For me reliability and ease of use is paramount, but despite the "Push to Talk" and Flash messages, techno-junkies will be disappointed. As with a lot of Nokia phones, the lacklustre screen display and small memory is disappointing.

A good buy (or good free upgrade) for those who want a solid performer, but it's not for you if you want something cutting edge, this isn't for you.

Price

Not sure but you should be able to get it for about £50 or less nowadays I guess.

Additional...

The above is the origianl review I wrote for this phone on another site. I gave it 4 stars, but have changed it to 3 stars for Ciao. This is mainly because the operating system has locked on me a few times now, which considering the phone's reliability is it's major feature, is not a good thing! Also the replay quality of the video is awful, which makes a potentially nice feature rather useless. Still recommended due to its durability but you should know by now if it isn't for you!!