After so many months since I bought this mobile I finally decided to write a review about it. This Nokia 5800, in a few words, is easily one of the best mobile phones made by Nokia. I was not surprised to find it 3rd in the list of "Best Mobile Phones". I've been a Nokia customer for years, my last Nokia mobile phone lasted as long as 8 years in full working order (see my review on the ancient Nokia 7110) and only lately it started to give some twitches. I decided it was time to change it when people started to laugh about my phone when I pulled it out... kinda sad I know.
Wanting to stick to Nokia I soon found out that the 5800 was what I needed. Wi-Fi connection and GPS amid the most appealing features.
WHAT I LIKED
I will no
w list the things I find appealing in this mobile phone and why I think it's worth buying:
1) Wi-Fi connection:
if you already have broadband connection at home with router or you have a connection at school or work, this means you can connect with your mobile to internet for free. Chat with friends, update its contents, even phone for free (through skype!). Around the city a lot of people or shops also forget to put a password to their broadband connection so that even when I'm around town I can connect and check internet (don't worry for your data, your information are safe as long as the phone tells you that you are going to connect to a safe connection)
2) Free GPS:
why buying an expensive TomTom when you can use your mobile phone to navigate? Until a month ago I might have told you "because TomTom has a vocal guide while on the Nokia you have to pay for it". Well that changed just a few weeks ago. Now Nokia Maps has free navigation guide in hundreds of different languages and even with street names. Both for car and walking. Buy a cheap car holder to place on your car screen and you're ready to go with a free GPS service that includes vocal navigation, alerts you on speed cameras and speed limits and that can calculate your journey in many different ways (you can set fastest route, the most straight, shortcuts, motorway or no motorway... and so on).
3)Music Phone:
indeed this is a music phone but even if you're not a fan of mp3/4 players it's still an advantageous feature. As a matter of fact you can customize it at the most, you can either record or import music, images or video files from your computer. I imported my own music to use as alarm clock tune as well as ringtones of course, pictures of my friends that will show up everytime one of them calls me or landscape pictures to use as wallpaper. It's practically a mini computer and it can be customized at the most.
4)Applications:
there are infinite free applications to download from the Nokia store but trust me the most useful ones are already in this phone. Browsing the web, watching media files, using the maps etc... the best apps to do all these things are already in the phone.
However you will find some interesting stuff also from the Nokia store... such as the application that turns the leds of your camera flash into a torch light (very useful), or programs like Nimbuzz that you can use to unite your MSN, Yahoo, Skype, Facebook (and many more) accounts, all in one screen.
5)No buttons:
the scariest feature at first is the lack of buttons, letters and numbers are missing. The phone only shows 4 main buttons, the on/off and 3 coloured buttons. The whole "writing a message" has to be done on screen... and to do so there are many different possibilities, you either have the classic layout of the mobilephones keyboard or you can use the so called "qwerty" keyboard which emulates the familiar computer keyboard. Once you get used to it, you will really NOT GO BACK! It's faster to write a message and in the end is much more practical than any other.
There are also other options such as the automatic recognition of letters and numbers (you "draw" them on the screen with your pen and they are recognized by the mobile phone and put into the text) and the mini qwerty, a very minute version of the qwerty keyboard. Both of these are quite useless because slow and unpractical but it's nice to have more options.
I probably forgot hundreds of other features I love in this phone, afterall I've had it for many months now and I got used to some of them. For example it also has an integrated radio which works very good, it comes with a wired remote that can be added to the included earphones and that allows you to regulate volume, skip through songs and even answer a call without physically pulling out the mobile phone from your pocket. Very very practical piece. Oh and obviously the fact that is touch screen with the latest symbian.. that also is a pro. Lastly, being a quadriband, its reception is excellent and if it wasn't enough it even has a clear loud "speakerphone" function.
WHAT I DID NOT LIKE
Being a review I also need to note some things I did not like:
1) Screen protection:
the mobile comes with a plastic film that protects the touchscreen, I usually leave these protective films so that the monitor won't be scratched too much... in this case I had to remove it, not because it affected the touch screen sensitivity but because it's "decorated" with wavy lines which don't let you see the screen properly. It's very annoying. It's almost like Nokia said "they HAVE to remove the protective film".
I had to buy one made for this model and apply it on. So I had to spend some more quids on something that wasn't really needed (if only nokia had made its protective film clear)
2) Computer problems:
as I said this mobile phones (as well as all the new ones) is practically like a mini computer... and like many computers it also freezes, slow down or crashes sometimes. To be honest I expected worse. In all these months I think my phone only stuck 6 times which is actually a good number. The worse thing is that the on/off button is also digitally controlled (one of the stupidest thing that electronic appliances have nowadays) so if the phone is stuck, also the on/off button is stuck... therefore the only way to solve this is to open the mobile and remove the battery
3) GREASY HANDS ALERT!:
the phone is touch screen so expect fingerprints all over it (again, it's best to preserve the screen with a protective film) but that's not all, this phone is also made in glossy black plastic (a bit like PS3 and many Samsung televisions) which retain every single fingerprint.
A person that doesn't wash his/her hands too often will reduce this phone into a miserable looking state in less than 2 days.
END NOTES
As you could have understood from my review, I'm quite enthustiastic about this phone. The cons don't really put me off when considering the product. I bought another one for my girlfriend lately, that just shows how much trust I put into this product.
All in all it's a well made product, doesn't look it but it's robust. Camera takes decent quality pictures for being a mobile phone and has the advantage of being able to take videos too (which you can imediately upload on youtube if you have internet access, without even needing the computer). It's practical and quick to use once you learn the main functions (takes you about a week or two but it's worth it). Last but not the least, this phone keeps going down in price. It's currently at £199 in most of the shops and I have faith that it will go down as much as £150 in the near future. Obviously it's more expensive than a basic phone but this is not a basic phone. Only having GPS on it gave me a good reason for spending £189 in offer. If you already have the GPS though (a TomTom or similar) I suggest the model 5530, it's basically the same mobile but without GPS function and at a much lower price.
My review of Nokia 5800 
