Nokia 5300 Review

The full Nokia 5300 Review

Nokia is aiming for the mobile music lover with the 5300, a handset it clearly hopes will be used as a primary music player. The Nokia 5300, part of the XpressMusic range, features dedicated music keys, boxed music software and a free 256MB microSD card. But does it have the talent to be considered alongside the top Sony Ericsson Walkman or Nokia Nseries phones?

Slider phone

The Nokia 5300 is a compact handset that's just weighty enough to feel robust. The two-tone colour scheme (it comes in red and white or black and white) makes a refreshing alternative to the chrome or black handsets out there, but is most likely to appeal to teens.
It features a spring-loaded slide mechanism which zips open and shut with a satisfying click. The design allows plenty of room for a decent-sized screen, four soft keys and a neat, if fiddly, joypad. Slide the phone open to reveal a roomy keypad.

Music phone

Looking at the Nokia 5300's musical merits, it has some obvious strengths and weaknesses when compared to, say, the Sony Ericsson Walkman W950i or Nokia N91. As an EDGE phone, downloading on the 5300 will take longer than it does with its 3G-enabled contemporaries. And while it can't match the built-in memory of the W950i or N91, you can bolster the memory with a 2GB microSD card (available separately) which can store up to 1,500 songs. So, really, it competes with all but the mobile music juggernauts.
The Nokia 5300's music player supports MP3, Midi, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+ and WMA formats, which itrumps both the iPod and the Walkman range, neither of which can play Microsoft's WMA files.
You can download music direct from the internet via the operator's online portal, or transfer music files using bundled software.

FM radio

Music is clean and clear, although somewhat booming in speakerphone mode. Fortunately, the Nokia 5300 comes with a universal headphone adapter, enabling you to use the phone with a wide variety of 3.5mm headphones. On our handset's performance, we'd recommend that you do just that.
There's also a built-in FM radio in case you fancy listening to someone else's music collection.

Instant messaging

Aside from the music, the Nokia 5300 is a pretty rounded Symbian Series 40 phone with decent features. There's a run-of-the-mill 1.3-megapixel camera on board, a video recorder and video player, as well as a sharp 262,000-colour display, Push-To-Talk and Instant Messaging with Presence.
We also found a great game pre-installed on the memory card. Pro Snowboard is a game where you perform stunts on the piste for points. It manages to mix simple gameplay with intuitive controls and good graphics. It kept us hooked for a week as there are enough levels to keep you going back for more.
Ultimately, the 5300 is a good all-round mobile and a simple and capable music phone. It's not an iPod slayer, but it's no dud either.

Specifications