Nokia 5530 xpressMusic - Nokia Bloggo - All the latest Nokia News! New Nokia Mobiles, Cell Phones 2009

For more entertaining features, the phone comes with the N-Gage software and a good number of pre-installed titles in demo version, ready to be bought. There’s also a booklet inside the box, with a code for the free activation of one of the games pre-installed. We’ve already mentioned the two keys that activate themselves only during the gameplay.

The phone comes ready for different usages and it’s very customizable. Besides all the themes that Nokia makes available, there are also audio themes and those related to the standby menu and fast-access menu as well. This model is very customizable when it comes to the home screen, although it’s less interactive.

There are also business applications such as the one that allows the user to view Office files, the Zip manager, dictionary/translator (downloadable for free), a file manager, Active Notes and the Agenda.

A whole different matter comes with the messenging. There’s a good email client, typical from Nokia, and different text inputs. The T9 has a new auto-filling and suggestion feature, which becomes highly functional. The writing process can be quite fast as well.

The web browser is the classic Nokia based on WebKit, it’s not ultra fast when loading the pages but it is capable of viewing videos and animations thanks to the Flash Lite technology. The phone also features the “Search” application, in order to search for contents inside the phone or online through Google and Yahoo.

It also features music-related software, being an XpressMusic model, but nothing particular. Nokia hasn’t paid too much attention to this side as it would have been expected. Not much else can be found except for the music player, the FM radio and an access to the musical Store.

Pre-installed software

It features a Symbian S60 Third Edition with FP2, so it allows the users to install a wide bunch of applications, Java, widgets and so on. But even on its own, it’s quite complete with softwares that could fit almost any demand.

The Nokia 5730 XpressMusic is aimed to a younger market, hence the applications for Facebook and MySpace are pre-installed. Also Windows Live Messenger is present, although it’s impossible to use it with Wap. Other fast-access icons are to Youtube, OVI.com and other secondary social networks.

The cellphone also has the microSD slot (expandable up to 16 GB) and the USB cable output, both protected by a rubber cover. On the opposite side, there are the volume keys, that can be used for zooming the photocamera or the conversation volume. The photocamera key is position in the cener of the phone, and the frame has the focus and shoot functions, which can be a little complicated to use when trying to capture an image.

The last comment about the hardware comes with the five-directional joypad that also has a small led that indicates calls/messages and other selectable events, that can be deactivated if needed.

If you’re looking for a serious-looking phone, this isn’t the right one for you, but the keyboard does make a difference and we often find ourselves typing long texts or SMSs with a rather surprising speed. The keys are soft to the touch and well-distanced from each other, making it very comfortable and pleasant. However the looks follow the same style on the whole phone, making it a colorful technological device.

The first keyboard is a little uncomfortable for those with bigger fingers, since the keys are rather small and it might pose some problems when using them.

But the QWERTY keyboard is the true jewel of this cellphone: by rotating the cellphone horizontally and pushing it upwards, the beautiful QWERTY keyboard shows up with its four key rows.

Beautiful, yes, although it’s not a full QWERTY, it doesn’t have the dedicated numbers or keys to other main functions. The keys are printed with a dotted style that reminds us of old electronic devices, which gives it a younger look.

The OS is a Symbian S60, and that means the presence of a dedicated key to access the menu (different from the standard one found in the Serie E devices). The front part of the phone has a alphanumeric keyboard and a very good display: 2.4″ with the resolution of 240 x 320 pixels and 16 million colors; clear and very easy to read in any light conditions.

Less in evidence are the light sensor and the front photocamera for the video calls. Also, next to the speakers there are two game-dedicated keys, almost hidden, that are good to interact with the Nokia N-Gage platform.

Another mention about the photocamera: at least with the pre-installed firmware, it doesn’t offer many after-features, such as brightness and contrast, or other things that are seen in other similar devices. The night mode is rather good if the user sets the mode correctly and doesn’t have trembling hands: of course a double LED flash would produce better pictures in darker ambients.

Being an XpressMusic device, it has the usual multimedia keys on the outside, and its internal music player is capable of playing different types of music file formats without any issues. The audio output is a 3.5mm standard jack and any headphones can be compatible with it, especially since the ones that come with the package aren’t the best.

Downside: the cellphone feels heavy when used. It measures 112 x 51 (80 with the slide keyboard) x 15.4mm and weighs 135 g, and it seems slightly heavier on the top part, which makes it a little uncomfortable to use when in “candybar mode”. When opening the slide QWERTY keyboard, however, the cellphone becomes very comfortable to use as its weight balances.

The cover that protects the 1000 MAh battery is big enough, and the 3.2 Megapixel photocamera takes great pictures, thanks to the Carl Zeiss Tessar 2.8/3.7 lenses, with autofocus and LED Flash.