Customer Rating:  
Summary: Xpress Yourself
Comment: Third time's not the charm but I really hoped it would be with my Nokia 5310 XpressMusic. In truth, I can't give an accurate review of the phone itself because my provider, T-Mobile has customized it to their liking, with their software. I can only review the phone they gave me and as such, the review won't necessarily apply to all Nokia 5310s. Because this is so closely related to the cell phone service, I will also be reviewing that but not yet.
To start, the Nokia 5310 is a slim little SIM-using, GSM phone that is very slick. With black keys, a dark grey exterior and several choices for colour accents including orange, red, blue, purple and silver, this phone is very pleasing to the eye.
One of its key features, as a member of the XpressMusic family, is the ability to listen to music transferred from your computer. It also comes complete with a 2.0 MP digital camera with which you can take pictures and record videos, radio, up to 30MB internal memory, convert application (currency, weight, etc), Bluetooth capabilities and a slot for Micro SD memory cards to store your music, pictures and videos. Typically standard features like WAP web browsing, text and multimedia features, voice dialing, ring tones, themes and application support also exist.
Software aside, the 5310 XpressMusic comes with its own USB cord for data transfer as well as Nokia's microphone and ear bud headset and charger (of course). The phone also comes with a micro SD memory card of 1 GB which is easily replaceable if you fill it.
The Nokia 5310 both sounds and looks like a dream come true and it just may be. However, because of TMobile I am not able to use all of these features as I would like to and I believe performance is hindered by the software variant the company uses.
Still, there were definitely some features I came to enjoy. The sound quality on this phone is pretty decent and I enjoy listening to to the radio with the head phones. The headset works well with its button that can end calls or change radio stations and songs and makes it easy to multitask even though it's not wireless.
What I like the most are the buttons for the music. The 5310 XpressMusic has 3 dedicated music buttons along the left side that serve to play/pause, and shift back or forward. When listening to the radio, these buttons change the station from a list of presets. This features works well, as it ought to considering it is a big selling point.
As a side note, I have yet to transfer music so I have only enjoyed these buttons for the radio. There is an option to automatically scan and add all stations so the phone will automatically pick up strong signals. Any stations that are not added can be added manually.
Now, on to the software variant that T-Mobile uses. This information may not apply to the Nokia 5310 in general.
I found the menu a little confusing at first and not as intuitive as I would have liked. Part of this is due, I believe, to having the T-zones in the menu so this does not reflect Nokia. Having T-zones as an application and being able to access the same exactly T-zones online, via the browser, doesn't make a lot of sense to me.
However, what I didn't like I was able to easily change. Users have options to change both the order and view of the menu. I changed my menu to display in tab form because I feel I get the most space usage. Users can set to grid or list view as well. Menu items can be ordered anyway the user chooses.
One thing I did immediately was to take off the My Faves display and replace it with navigational icons so that I can more quickly access things like my message inbox, radio and camera. The My Faves display allows users to quick add, edit and view information about their 5 Faves. I prefer to have quicker access to certain features, instead. If some of the features weren't buried several menus deep, I might not do this. For instance, in order to access the camera, a user must press Menu > scroll the Fun & apps > Media and then finally select the camera. The radio is also located in the Media menu. It would be nice if both of these features, or at least the camera, had a dedicated button.
The menu also contains sub menus for logging (which are extensive), settings, music (on the internal drive or memory card), phonebook, fun & apps (which contains your gallery, games, applications, media, etc), messaging, IM & E-mail and T-zones (internet access including browser and bookmarks).
For the most part, it's easy to use these features. I automatically went to settings and changed things like the security keyguard, call timer, and navigational shortcuts. One downfall I think this phone has, which is because of T-Mobile, is that the right soft key can only link to T-zones on the home screen, while all other keys can be cusotmize.
Another unfortunate limitation of the phone, because of T-Mobile, is that some features are not fully enabled. Third party applications are automatically blocked and although users can download ring tones and themes to use, they may not work.
My last gripe is that the reception is really touch and go. It's not necessarily bad but it's not generally good, either. Sitting still, the phone can range from 4 bars to none in just a few seconds and it's quick to switch back and forth. I have had more than one call drop, as well. Unfortunately, it seems like this is more an issue with the phone itself than with the service.
Overall, the phone has been decent and most of the troubles I have had to deal with were because of T-Mobile. If you read about my frustrations and having to return the phone twice while I still wound up with a phone that did not correctly work, you can rest assured that this was also T-Mobile's responsibility. However, they have been quick to exchange and try to help me with my issue even if they did not understand it.
I hope to write a review of my T-Mobile service after I have spent more time with them. In the mean time, I do really like my Nokia 5310 XpressMusic, I just wish all the software worked.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great size, great features, average reception
Comment: Size: 5+ stars
This phone is tiny, without being uncomfortable. I can barely tell there is anything in my pocket, it is so thin. That being said, I have pudgy fingers but have no problems messaging with the keypad.
Features: 4 stars
The camera stinks. Yes, it is 2megapixels, but the images are blurry, and the colors can be washed out at times. I am rating this based on other camera phones, not comparing this phone to an actual camera. BUT I didn't get this phone for the camera, I got it for the MP3 player functionality, which is GREAT... It automatically adds any music you add to the microSD card to the library, even if you drag and drop in windows. BLUETOOTH as usual is slow for transfers, but it's there and very handy. Plus you can hook it up to your car stereo wirelessly and listen to your MP3's sans cable. The usual tools are there like calc, alarm, countown and stopwatch, etc.. and some new, very handy newcomers are included, like the converter, which will convert anything - temperature, weight, volume, currency, you name it.. even a 'lifestyle' option, which I'm still not sure what that's converting...
!!!THE DEDICATED MUSIC CONTROL BUTTONS LOCK WITH YOUR KEYPAD!!!
This means that if you have it in your pocket, locked so as not to inadvertently call someone while walking down the street, you can NOT skip tracks/change the volume without unlocking it first. In my opinion this misses the point of dedicated music controls entirely... but whatever, it still eliminates having a whole electronics store worth of stuff in your pockets at any given time.
Reception: 3 stars
Coming from a Nokia 3220, I'm a little disappointed with the reception quality of this phone. I used to get reception anywhere, but now I find that I sometimes have to hunt around for a sweet spot in stores, etc... Don't get me wrong, it's as good or better than most of my friends phones, but I guess I just expected more from Nokia due to my past experience with them.
Conclusion:
I love this phone, am glad that I bought it... and am glad that I debranded so I could use the right soft key as something other than 'T-zones'
If they would make the music keys work while the keypad is locked, I would bump it up to a 5.. and if they made the reception better, I would be even happier.
GREAT SIZE + GREAT FUNCTION + GREAT PRICE = GREAT PHONE
Customer Rating:
Summary: Five stars and worth every one!
Comment: The Nokia 5310, aka "The Music Xpress", is one nifty little phone! Sure, it's no iPhone, but if you want something that got just about as many bells and whistles for a little less money, you want this phone.
The 5130 is available in purple, orange, red and blue (I own the purple). It's very thin and small, but fits easily in the palm of your hand and doesn't give the impression it's going to fall apart if you look at it cross-eyed.
The buttons are raised up just a bit. The display is bright and vibrant. If you have T-Mobile service with this phone, you'll find it can handle the My Favorites plan just fine, with nice little icons and customizable options fo each person.
The phone has several nifty features, including a 2 megapixel camera that takes good-to-very-good quality pictures. It can also function as a video camera, doing both sound and image. There's no flash or self-portrait mirror, but you can make do. The screen acts as a view finder, of course. There's also four different levels of zoom and several different video effects (like black and white, negative, false color, etc). There's a nifty little mini-USB port you can use to move your files to a computer (assuming you have a cable. Thankfully the phone comes with one).
There's also the usual selection of programs, like a calculator, alarm clock, organizer, etc. The system also comes with a few game demos, none of which are particularly memorable.
Ah, but you want to know about the biggie, right? You want to know all about the music capability!
Well, this phone doesn't disapoint. There's external music controls and an external volume control. You can turn it up loud enough to annoy the people next door if you really try. There's also a headphone jack that, thankfully, allows for normal headphones to be used. I have a neat little set I got on a Delta flight, and they work just fine.
When I bought the phone it came with the USB cable I mentioned earlier, as well as a stereo hands-free headset with a detachable mic, and, joy of joys, a 1 gigabyte memory card! That's a really nice thing to have! I've got quite a bit of music on mine and it isn't even close to being filled. Tiny card, too. About the size of a fingernail.
Overall there's no real reason not to recommend this phone. It's sleek and stylish, has a great price point, comes with plenty of goodies and plays music very, very well. It's worth every penny I paid for it, and that's not something I can often say!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Coolest phone I've ever had.
Comment: Hey i'm only 15, so you may not trust my judgment, but coming from the mouth of one of the new tech-savvy generation might be your best bet. This phone is really cool, there are so many features that makes me wonder how the battery life lasts so long. The MP3 player feature on the phone is really developed, its like having an iPod. There is so much to do on this phone that you'll have to buy one to truly experience it. There is nothing that I do not like.
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