Nokia 5310 XpressMusic

Slim is in! That has been the motto nokia has been following for its XpressMusic series. The cell phones released under this series are extremely thin and at the same time deliver great performance at a low price. Nokia 5310 is on the low priced models in this series and is complete value for money.

Nokia 5310 XpressMusic specifications :

• Dimensions : 103.8 x 44.7 x 9.9 mm
• Weight : 71g
• Display : 31.5 x 41.5 mm TFT with 240 x 320 resolution
• GPRS,EDGE,HSCSD
• Bluetooth, microUSB
• 2 MP Camera with
• Stereo FM with RDS
• 3.5 mm AV jack
• Approx. price : $270

At just 9.9mm in thickness it is one of the slimmest phones you will come across. It has almost all the features that one generally needs except that it is not 3G  compatible. And it has been labelled XpressMusic which gives you an idea about its music playback capabilities.

The phone comes bundled with a 2G micro-SD card.The bundled package is pretty much the usual but Nokia has been kind enough to provide a microUSB cables for data transfers which are not easy to find.

The dimensions other than the thickness are also compact and by weighing just 71g it ensures that you don’t feel it in your pocket. The phone has been launched in two variations : Blue and Red. Being a music phone, it has dedicated music keys which have been placed at the left corner of the display. The D-pad easy to use, the keypad is also quite convenient to use as it has large keys. The volume rocker finds it place to the right panel of the phone.

Some of the drawbacks of this design are that the display tends to get dirty due to close placement of music keys. Also the memory slot is beneath the battery which makes hot-swapping of the card impossible.

The display is quite of a gem but the small size restricts its capabilities. At 16M colors and a QVGA resolution the display produces great picture clarity. Also it works well under sunlight.

Coming to the music playback of the phone. The dedicated keys help a great deal and are very handy to use. The music player is an upgraded version of the ones you would find in older phones from Nokia. A lot of formats like MP3,AAC,WMA,MIDI etc are supported. Sorting the tracks is same as before. A2DP profile as expected is supported by the phone. What has changed is that, now you can apply themes to customise the look of the player. You get 8 preset equalisers to choose from with custom ones always at your disposal.The audio quality is exceptionally good. The loudspeaker is loud and clear.

The camera does not feature a flash or autofocus which is disappointing. As the phone is a S40 one, the camera interface is not as intuitive as found on its S60 counterparts. But it does have enough controls to make use of the “limited” camera. The photo quality isn’t good either which was expected. Also another major drawback is that the camera is really slow and takes loads of time to save picture and do other stuff.

Pros :

• Slim and lightweight
• Dedicated music keys
• Great display
• Excellent music playback

Cons :

• Below average and slow camera
• No 3G
• Small display
• Memory card under battery

Final Thoughts

Nokia 5310 XpressMusic is an excellent phone for the price tag it carries. Although its camera is below par but there are other good points to boast about this phone such as it excellent music playback capabilities and great display. If you do not care about the camera then go ahead and buy this one.

My Rating : 3.75/5