Nokia 5800 XpressMusic

Nokia has shunned touch-screens so far for its smartphone output, but it’s clearly a technology whose time has (finally) come for the finicky Finns. So, the 5800 XpressMusic is its first handset to not only have a touch-sensitive display, but it does away away with a keypad altogether.

Nokia faces some stiff competition in the touchscreen smartphone market, which is perhaps why its this finger-friendly effort is being positioned as a multimedia mobile rather than any kind of heavy-hitting Android or iPhone-killer. It’s still a Symbian S60 device though, which means it can do much more than just play music. And it does so at a bargain price – the 5800 XpressMusic is available, unlocked, for £249.

The 5800 XpressMusic is quite a design departure from Nokia’s other handsets and while it’s not the most eye-catching consumer handset we’ve ever seen, we can’t see many people taking exception to subdued styling. The case is a combination of matter and shiny plastic, but it feels very robust and we'd be far less fearful of this handset slipping from our grasp and hitting the floor than we would say, an iPhone or T-Mobile G1.

Part of that robustness is perhaps due to the use of a plastic screen – it's resistive rather than capacitive, and Nokia will no doubt cite support for handwriting recognition as one reason for its use of this cheaper touch-sensitive technology. The screen measures 3.2in from corner to corner and while its a little disappointing to see a thick plastic lip around all four sides (unlike the sheer screen of the HTC S740 or Touch HD), its rounded profile at least means that it doesn't feel uncomfortable against an errant fingertip.

The screen's 640 x 360 resolution is commendably high, but the 5800 XpressMusic's image isn't as crisp as we'd like, and both text and images look a little soft. The screen isn't particularly bright or vibrant either, but it's legible enough, and the viewing angle is wider than most – handy for a handset that can display full-screen video (more on this later).

Nokia doesn't appear to have put much effort into giving the Symbian S60 operating system a touch-sensitive makeover, but what finger-friendly tweaks there are work well enough. The user interface lacks polish though, and the overall impression is that it's been rushed out of the door before it's completely ready. The slight vibration that accompanies screen tap is a nice touch, but it’s up to you to figure out whether it needs one or two taps to do make something happen.

It may lack the visual polish and user friendliness of the iPhone, but the 5800 XpressMusic is still a capable multimedia performer. It also has a few features above and beyond Apple's offering – downloadable video feeds (a bit like RSS for video) and BBC iPlayer support being the most notable. The onboard stereo speakers are also the loudest we've ever heard on any handset and can be pushed to surprisingly high volumes with little audible distortion.

The lack of a physical keyboard will only be a problem to expert texters and the 5800 XpressMusic has a choice of on-screen keyboards that should adequately cater for everyone else. The full-screen Qwerty keyboard worked best for us, but there's also a choice of a mini Qwerty keyboard that occupies the right of the screen, a standard multi-tap numeric keypad and character-by-character handwriting recognition.

Rapid typing is hindered by the need to exert more pressure than you might imagine on the screen to register a key-press with a fingertip, but this isn't an issue when using the stylus (which slots into a silo at the bottom right of the handset).

The WebKit-based web browser does a great job of rendering pages quickly and accurately, but web browsing isn't quite a slick as on the iPhone or Android (which also use WebKit). This is largely due to the lack of any kind of refined touch-screen controls and a simple double-tap with the stylus zooms the display, but no attempt is made to reformat columns for easier reading. The web browser does support Flash though, but before anyone crows “in your face, Apple!”, we will point out that it's actually Flash Lite and that we couldn't find any web sites where it actually worked.

We won't dwell on the 5800 XpressMusic's specifications, other than to point out that it has all the modern smartphone bases covered. We reckon the 3.2-megapixel camera is fine for a phone (and it has a dual-LED flash) anyone concerned about the mere 81Mb of onboard storage should be placated by Nokia's inclusion of an 8Gb microSD card.

If smartphones leave you cold, but you're still interested in a mobile phone that can do more than just make calls and send text messages, then the 5800 XpressMusic is probably worth a look – if for no other reason than there's nothing else quite like it for the (unlocked) price.

We might even go as far as recommending it over the many Windows Mobile devices that are available, but only if your needs don't go much beyond web browsing and media playback. Otherwise, you'll be better off with an iPhone or a T-Mobile G1 – or waiting for the Palm Pre .