Nokia 5800 in use at PopSci

Popular Science has its mits on the Nokia 5800 that Comes With Music. Here?s the news so far?

It came into the office a few days ago and sort of sat around for a while. Why? Because Nokia had taken so long to finally produce a touch screen phone that we got into the habit of waiting around, so that?s exactly what we did when we got it. We just waited around for a while longer and let the suspense build. When none did, we opened it.

There are two parts to the Nokia 5800. Two important parts anyway. Firstly, the phone itself, being Nokia?s first touch screen phone. Secondly the fact that it comes with a years worth of music downloads. That?s right, one year of unlimited music downloads.

The phone first - it lags. Simple as that. The touch screen could be a little more responsive and it can take a little while for applications to load. Having said that though, the 5800 had the potential to be a complete disaster. Nokia had waited so long to produce it that it had to succeed. It most likely will because the lag is bearable and with a bit of patience you get used to the touch screen. Most impressive is that, even with your thumbs, the touch is quite accurate. You can use your fat thumb to hit icons with surprising accuracy.

In terms of looks Nokia has continued with the new design that first appeared in the raft of N Series phones such as the N96 and N85. In other words, a bit too much plastic for our likings and a delicate feel to it. It can withstand some knocks though, but whether it can withstand your raised eyebrow regarding its looks is another question.

On to the Comes With Music feature. The idea is brilliant, the DRM loaded tracks are not. But can you really expect DRM-free music when you consider what?s on offer? Unlimited music downloads for a year is hard to pass up. Downloading music can be frustrating though. If you?re a Mac user, forget about it. Downloading on your PC and then transferring to the phone is meant to be quite easy after you have installed the software. We haven?t tested that yet due to our office full of Macs sadly, but we will in the coming days.

Downloading music on the phone is as painful as a getting hit by a small bus. It?s one track a time territory here when you want to download a song. Get impatient and click a few too many times and you wind up with multiple copies of the same tune. And don?t get us started on downloading a whole album. Again, one track at a time thank you.

Sound quality was decent though, but not dedicated MP3 player quality. The Nokia cans are also as good to listen to as Apple?s bundled iPod phones, in other words, not. But the external speaker is surprisingly good, and we can certainly imagine people with very small bedrooms using it as their room music player.

So far, we would say the Nokia 5800 is worth a stab if you want a touch phone with music. If you?re just interested in the touch screen, there are better ones out there.

Speak Your Mind

Tell us what you're thinking...
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!