Nokia 5530 XpressMusic with Touchscreen Phone

Nokia 5530 XpressMusic

The Nokia 5530 XpressMusic unlocked phone keeps you moving to your favorite music while on the go as well as helps you stay connected to all of your mobile communication--from voice and messaging to social networking and web browsing. The sleek 5530 features a stainless steel body, tempered glass 2.9-inch touchscreen and built-in audio speakers, and it provides quad-band GSM connectivity for global roaming and EDGE data connectivity for accessing your favorite web sites. Additionally, it's Wi-Fi-enabled for accessing wireless networks at home, at the office, and at hotspots wherever you roam--from airports to coffee shops.

This is one of the best phones on the market right now, and it has received little attention! The 5530 is really in the class of phones priced $100-$150 higher. I have been researching phones for months now, and this is the only unlocked phone with a 3.2 MP camera, touchscreen, stylus and wi-fi all together for anywhere under 250 dollars. The only competitors that come close, Samsung tocco lite and LG cookie don't have wi-fi, and the Nokia E63 has a terrible camera and no touchscreen. This phone is a perfect combination of business featured smartphone and young and trendy media-phone.

Pros:

The unit is dead simple to get started with. Took my simcard from my ATT locked phone and dropped it in, and I was ready to go within a minute of opening the box.

The "Symbian S60v5" OS is quite advanced and has features that the iPhone doesn't have.

• multitasking : you can stream Last.FM and chat on IM (try using Pandora and AOL on the iPhone)
• theme/skinning without hacking the phone
• tethering without jailbreaking the phone
• Flash for web content (not full Flash 10, so no Hulu, but YouTube works).
• You can get apps from other places than the App Store (more like the Mac than the iPhone). Just download the .sisx file, and it installs.
• Good responsive touch screen
• Excellent camera, photos come out with excellent quality
• Stable and powerful OS. You can run many applications at one time, and it does not crash. It is easy and intuitive to use, similar to a computer. It is also very capable, and can do many things a computer can: cut, copy and paste, downloading and installing applications etc.
• Stylish looking, both outside and user interface
• Good full HTML web browser
• QWERTY keyboard upon rotating the phone in almost all applications 

Manufacturer	Nokia
Compatible networks	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 HSDPA -
Availability	Available. Released 2009, August
Form factor	Bar
Dimensions	104 x 49 x 13 mm, 68 cc
Weight	107 g
Operating system	Symbian OS v9.4, Series 60 rel. 5
CPU	434 MHz ARM 11 processor
Memory	Internal 70 MB storage, 128 MB SDRAM, microSD, up to 16G
Data inputs	TFT resistive touchscreen, 16M colors, Accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate
Display	360 x 640 pixels, 2.9 inches
Rear camera	3.15 MP, 2048x1536 pixels, autofocus, LED flash, Video :Yes, VGA@30fps
GPRS	Class 32
EDGE	Class 32
3G	-
WLAN	Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
Bluetooth	Yes v2.1 with A2DP
USB	Yes, v2.0 with A2DP
Others	- SMS, MMS, Email, Instant Messaging - WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML, RSS feeds - Stereo FM radio with RDS - WMV/RV/MP4/3GP video player - MP3/WMA/WAV/RA/AAC/M4A music player - Photo editor - Organizer - Flash Lite 3.0 - Voice command/dial - Predictive text input- Standard battery, Li-Ion 1000 mAh (BL-4U)

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Nokia X3 Slider GSM Quad-Band Phone Reviews

Nokia X3 Slider GSM Quad-Band Phone Reviews. This phone is an excellent choice for those who want a Music Phone. The Micro-SD slot can be expanded to 16GB and the sound quality is superb. On the left side of the screen it has dedicated music controls making controlling your tunes a breeze, you can leave you MP3 at home after you buy this phone. The phone itself is good too, sound quality is clear and the buttons are big, it also provides good feedback so you know what you have pressed. Like other Nokias battery life is strong, usually a full charge last 4 to 5 days with moderate talk time. The phone is really compact and light, sometimes I forget if it's in my pocket and have to pat it just to make sure I have it with me =)

The downside is the camera, it's practically useless in low light situations. Even in moderate light there are still lots of image noise, you can get away with it a little bit by it being 3.2 Megapixels thus always giving you high resolution but at 3.2 it takes quite a few seconds for it to process the picture. Also since it's not a 3G phone, using EDGE for web browsing is a bit on the sluggish side.

The bottom line is if you want a stylish, light, practically phone with good battery life and music capabilities then you can't go wrong with this Nokia. If you want something more powerful with full 3G then shop for something else.

To clear thing up only two large US wireless companies uses GSM: AT&T Wireless and T-Mobile so this phone will only work with them. Overseas GSM is the dominate technology so you can easily use this phone outside the US.

Product Features

• Incredible Music Experience
• 24 hours of music playback time.
• Direct access with the camera key to capture the moment with friends and families via the 3.2-megapixel camera with extended depth-of-field.
• Quick music/photo file exchange with your peer group via Bluetooth transfer.
• Over-The-Air sw update (FOTA) allows operators to push new phone sw upgrades to the terminal and operators will save in costs.
• Size (LWH): 11.61 inches, 11.5 inches, 8.43 inches
• Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Minimum Rated Talk Time: 450 minutes
• Minimum Rated Standby Time: 380 hours
• Vibrating Alert

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Nokia Astound Symbian Phone (T-Mobile)

The Astound has three fully customizable homescreens, giving you quick access to e-mail as well as the ability to check the latest from Facebook and Twitter. It also comes with pre-loaded games like Fruit Ninja plus the pre-loaded Slacker Radio app for streaming music on the go. You can get access to thousands more free and paid apps via Nokia's Ovi Store.

Enabled for T-Mobile's high-speed 3G network, the dLite offers fast data delivery and an enhanced Web-browsing experience that lets you connect quickly to social networking sites. And the 3G-enabled Astound will benefit from the enhanced speeds of T-Mobile's upgraded HSPA+ network (read more about HSPA+ below).

Other features include the Symbian^3 operating system, Wi-Fi networking (with Wi-Fi Sharing capabilities), Bluetooth 3.0 connectivity for hands-free devices and stereo music streaming, 8 GB internal memory, microSD memory expansion up to 32 GB (via optional cards), multimedia player, full HTML web browser, access to personal and corporate e-mail, FM stereo radio, and up to 9 hours of talk time.

Offering value without compromise, the Nokia Astound for T-Mobile offers a sleek stainless-steel design with a brilliant 3.5-inch capacitive touch AMOLED display, free turn-by-turn navigation from Nokia, and an 8-megapixel camera with dual-LED flash and 720p HD video capture.

Key Features

• Fast 3G connectivity via T-Mobile's HSDPA/UMTS network. (1700/2100 MHz bands, UMTS/HSDPA; see more about T-Mobile's 3G service below)
• GPS with free Ovi Maps for navigation and location-based services. Also feature compass (magnetometer).
• Ultra-fast Wireless-N Wi-Fi networking (802.11b/g/n) for accessing home and corporate networks as well as hotspots while on the go.
• Wi-Fi Sharing allows you to use your phone's 3G mobile broadband to connect laptops and other Wi-Fi enabled devices to the Internet.
• Instant access to Ovi Store for downloadable apps, games and other cool content
• 3.5-inch AMOLED touchscreen (active matrix organic light-emitting diode) reproduces sharper and brighter colors with better battery consumption. Also features 16.7 million color depth, orientation sensor, proximity sensor, and ambient light detector.
• Onscreen QWERTY keyboard and alpha-numeric keypad
• 8-megapixel camera with dual LED flash plus face recognition software, up to 2x digital zoom, and geotagging.
• HD 720p video capture with up to 3x digital zoom and 25 fps (H.264, MPEG-4).
• Front-facing VGA camera for video calls.
• Multimedia player compatible with MP3, WMA, and AAC music formats plus MPEG-4, H.264, and Real Video 10 video formats.
• Stereo FM radio
• Next-generation Bluetooth 3.0 connectivity provides faster throughput while minimizing on power requirements. It's compatible with new Bluetooth 3.0-enabled devices as well as backward compatible with older Bluetooth-enabled peripherals such as headsets and printers. It includes profiles for communication headset, hands-free car kits, and the A2DP Bluetooth profile--enabling you to wirelessly stream your music to a pair of compatible Bluetooth stereo headphones or speaker dock.
• 8 GB internal memory
• Memory expansion via microSD card slot with support for optional cards up to 32 GB.
• SMS and MMS messaging with common inbox
• Supports e-mail accounts from more than a thousand ISPs (SMTP, IMAP4, POP3), as well as Gmail, Yahoo! mail and Hotmail. People who use Microsoft Exchange at work can access their e-mail using the Mail for Exchange mobile e-mail client, which comes pre-loaded (an Exchange e-mail account is required and your Exchange Administrator must have enabled your account for synchronization).
• Full HTML Web browser with support for Flash Lite 4.0.
• USB connectivity for synchronization with PCs plus USB tethering capabilities (using device's data connection to access the Internet on your laptop; additional charges applicable)
• Organizer tools including calendar, to-do list, notes, voice recorder, calculator, and clock.
• Airplane mode allows you to listen to music while the cellular connectivity is turned off

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Nokia N8 Unlocked GSM Touchscreen Phone Featuring GPS

Nokia N8 Unlocked GSM Touchscreen Phone Featuring GPS, This phone is for the Symbian lover wanting a new experience, unlike S60 5th edition. And this phone delivers. Construction and hardware wise, it is perfect (no removable batteries my gripe, but oh well). The camera is fantastic and may even replace your stand alone camera. Feels great in your hands too.

The software..its what S60 5th Edition should have been...the music player, only 1 touch tapping, multitouch are ALL welcome editions. Do not use the ovi maps that come with it, go to beta labs and use OVI maps there...it has multitouch etc. Am thoroughly enjoying it...where they can improve is the web browser and calendar. Web browser will get an update in Nov from beta labs...will include better multitouch and a brand new look/feel, much like (n900 etc).

All in all, this is what we want, something new but keeping the familiarity. do with it (compared to iPhone or Android):

1. Navigate anytime with a fantastic GPS module and free life time navigation (including turn by turn voice navigation with street names, lane guidance, speed limit warning, traffic etc.!!). Go buy crap GPS software for iPhone for a huge price (last time checked was more than 50$) and even then that won't even come close to Nokia navigation. Don't forget Nokia owns Navteq (the worlds largest map producer)
2. Transmit FM and play it on your car music system (iPhone doesn't even have a FM receiver)
3. The best camera (those of u who read the misleading review of endgadget, if u r really reading my review, then u r serious and go ahead to search on google to find zillions of unbiased camera review, comparing N8 even against DSLR) 
4. Pentaband network support, which would let you use the phone with both AT&T and T-Mobile 3g network!! 
5. Dolby surround sound output 
6. USB on the go (which means you could connect your USB device with the phone!)
7. Bluetooth 3.0 
8. The only OS that has a very complete bluetooth stack implementation (perhaps too technical for some of the readers) that allows u to even control ur powerpoint presentation with ur cellphone (using salling clicker). The poor iPhone guys, no ur phone doesn't have that functionality (crippled at OS level)
9. The OS that gives superb battery life (anyone using Symbian would testify for this)
10. The freedom that comes with an open OS (OK, Android is also open)
11. The most configurable and complete enterprise wireless stack (trust me, I never ever had any problem to configure my Nokia phones for the most convoluted enterprise wireless network!)
12. A built in completely integrated VOIP support. You won't even notice that u r using VOIP. And trust me, if u know how to use VOIP effectively, u could save a huge amount on your phone bill
13. The ability to work as Bluetooth HSPA modem (or even create Wifi hotspot with third party software)
14. The TRUE TRUE TRUE multi tasking. Yes that's three TRUEs. No one else (including the upcoming Windows Phone 7) supports true multi-tasking. If u ever use Symbian multitasking, u would hate to use others' sham multitasking
15. Many many ... can't list. Feeling tired :( Users are welcome to comment and add additional pros and cons. I am sure there will be Nokia fanboys and iPhone and Android fanboys.

What can't I do (or can't do so well):

1. The UI (yes iPhone and Android have better intuitive UI)
2. I can't fart with my mobile (but I do have all the apps that I would ever need: e.g. call screening software, office software, pdf reader, flash support, email solution, the entire Oxford, cambridge or a host of other dictionaries etc.)
3. Zillions of games that you may avail on iPhone, u may not have on Nokia yet (believe me it's changing fast). BTW, N8 has a faster GPU than iPhone4!

Now some misleading media propaganda:

1. N8 has only 680 MHz processor: Believe me Symbian is by born very efficient. If u ever own a Mac and try to run a Windows 7 in a virtual machine then u know how slow it is. Processor doesn't define speed. I started with a 233MHz pentium processor with 32MB RAM which ran Windows 98 extremely fast with all Office applications, a bunch of productivity apps and a host of games. To give a recent example look at Windows Vista, which runs very slow on the same computer compared to Windows 7 or Mac OS X!
2. N8 has only 256MB RAM: Again u don't need that much RAM. The Symbian^3 has "Writable data paging" which works like virtual memory. And don't forget, Symbian is built from ground up to be battery, memory and processor efficient. No other OS (including Android) claims that feat.

So, in conclusion, if u r looking for a very modern looking user interface, go for iPhone (or Android). But if u r like me who shops for functionality (and who dreams to carry only one gadget (no GPS, no camera, no Apple remote etc.)) then surely u should give N8 a serious thought. And don't let naysayers fool u with usability issues. Believe me, with just couple of days of use, every unintuitive UI would become intuitive (I am a Symbian veteran and it feels very intuitive to me).

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Nokia 5800 XpressMusic Unlocked Phone

OK..to start, I gotta say that the FREE shipping from Amazon SUCKS. So, if you want good shipping, dont use the FREE shipping that Amazon offers. Why? Tracking is horrible, tracking history is completely inaccurate.
(I used the nokia N82 before)
IF YOU REALLY WANT TO BUY THE CELLPHONE, READ THIS REVIEW. I THINK IT WILL HELP A LOT. IT IS LONG, I KNOW.

Moving on, the cellphone is good for the price. Come on, where will you get a 300$ cellphone that has all the functions that this one has? It is insane: 3.2 camera, touchscreen, more customizable than iphone, external memory, etc etc.
Regarding the touchscreen...I think it is personal taste.. I never used the iphone, and I think that this touchscreen it is VERY responsive. AFTER buying this phone and getting used to it, I used a friend's Itouch and I gotta say that my nokia 5800 is the winner. But as I said, it is personal taste. Still, it is a very responsible touchscreen (no matter you say that it is a resistive touchscreen)..like, you got no excuse..it is responsive, and it is responsive. PERIOD.
Good things about it:
-Starting to have more apps...you just gotta know where to find, for FREE.
-MACRO of the camera is awesome.
-I got the GPS with turn by turn voice direction (trial), and it is a dream. I wont know when they take away my trial...however, with voice direction, this thing it is a real GPS.
-The media button is pretty useful.
-It is legit that it unlocks when you take it close to your face when you are talking.
-Speakers are also awesome. Super loud. Sound quality when you plug in earpieces are also really nice.
-I love the cable to plug it in to the tv. I convert videos, put it on my cellphone and lay on my bed, plug the cellphone into the tv and voila. It is REALLY nice.
-About apps. Right now I have 42 but I only use maybe 8 of them lol.
-The screen it is mega-clear. It is one of the best screens ive seen.

The "so-so" of this phone:
-Build quality. It is pretty well built, however the screen it is TOO plasticky. When I put it under the sun, the reflection shows a big difference in the surface, I mean..it is not completely flat. Using the reflection of light you will realize it is not completely flat. In other words, the screen presents big flex (like in laptops, for instance). However, the rest of the cellphone is well built. If you take out the screen part of the cellphone, it is a pretty solid cellphone.
-The camera. I dont know. Sometime it takes great pictures, sometimes it stinks. When there is too much suns, it doesnt work well. When there isnt light, it also sucks. It has to have the right amount of light.
-For some people it may be ok, but this is a freaken fingerprint magnet. only the back cover it is mate. The rest of the cellphone devours fingerprint as a dinasour.
-Battery life it is not the best, but not the worst.

The bad:
-The interface it is not the friendliest. It could be better. I hope that with the update, it will be user friendlier.
-The screen. As I said, it is too flexible. It kills me to see differences with the reflection of the light (you know what im saying if you have the cellphone). It makes me hella nervous.
-Sometimes the phone in landscape mode, when you want to scroll down or up for example in some setting, it is freaking hard. I always keep tapping the wrong thing. in vertical mode this doesnt happen, because the scroll bar it is sticked to the right of the screen, so you dont have margin of error. however, in landscape mode the scroll bar is in the middle of the screen, so it gets tricky.
-Honestly, the phone it isnt the best looking phone in the market. It is just a chunk of plastic. (This is for people that care about appearances. I personally dont care, but im trying to be objective)


Ok, I think this is pretty much it. If you read this, you may decide whether to buy ir or not. I think it is a pretty good phone for the price. If you are RICH and money it is not your main problem, I would say go buy yourself a N97. Oppositely, I would say definitely go for this cellphone; I like it pretty much. You wont regret it (however, remember all the things I wrote in this review). If you are ok with the cons of this cellphone, you wont regret. And in my opinion, the Pro's overcome the Con's so... I dont know, it is your call!

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Nokia E71 Mobile Reviews

Nokia E71 Mobile Reviews, First a comparison to the e61i: i had both the e61 and e61i and this is a major improvement over both. the form factor is incredible as it is only 10mm thin, much narrower than its predecessors, and feels very solid and sleek with its all metal body. the phone is just beautiful to look at. nokia has improved its processor greatly and the phone has almost no wait time with all its functions now. when i went back to use the e61i, it was unbearably slow compared to the e71. the keypad on the e71, although a little cramped, feels good on the fingers. one of my biggest complaints about the e61i was that earphone speaker was hard to hear out of, but the e71's narrower body and seemingly louder speaker solves the problem. the e71 has also added a microUSB port, and 2.5mm earphone jack. in terms of software, the e71 has an updated symbian os that includes some additional features and programs that were pleasant to see. the biggest program improvements for me was the updated organizer and the shortcut key options. for all e61 and e61i users out there, the e71 is a must update to nokia's wonderful line of phones.

comparison to competitors: function-wise, it has all the features blackberry's and the iphone 3g have. however, the e71 is much smaller than both (just put the e71 side to side with the blackberry curve and the iphone and they both look like monsters compared to the e71). i have no complaints with the 3g and 3.5g (umts/hsdpa), and I'm not sure what the other reviewer was talking about-- it must be a network/area dependent problem. i live in the SF bay area and i almost always connect to the 3.5g network with att and the internet is extremely fast, comparable to web browsing on a computer with broadband cable access. i really dont like the all touch screen of the iphone, so i would never consider it. i was debating between the curve and e71, but e71 beats it in both function and form-factor. the e71 has a umts/hsdpa, 3mp camera, and better battery life. all the rest (OS mainly) is just up to personal preference.

concluding remarks: if you ask "why should I get the e71", i would answer with these points based on what "I" feel is most important:
- very fast 3G capability
- excellent size, feel, and look,
- speedy processor with no lag in navigation
- improved OS and great computer connection software (nokia pc suite)
- long battery life
- 3MP camera with flash
- comes with carrying case, carrying strap, stereo earphones, and data cable
- and lastly, did i mention that this is the most beautiful i have ever seen? see one for yourself (i know its hard b/c they dont really have them in stores) and you will love the look and feel of it.

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Nokia E7 Mobile Reviews

This is a good phone. But no gadget is perfect and I will go into the pros / cons. Hopefully this will help those who are on the fence to make up their mind. (Really, the Symbian / Nokia users need not much convincing and are already very aware of the phone; while the android / iOS fans will probably just stick with what they are comfortable with).

First, I have been a Nokia / Symbian user for a long time. My wife has an iPhone; so I can appreciate both. Played a bit with android but did not spend too much time with it to give a fair opinion on it. On to the review:

What about the Hardware?

First, the hardware is very nice and is a major selling point. The OLED screen with 'Clear Black Display' really looks nice on the eye. If people are impressed with 'Retina Display' they should be equally impressed with E7 screen with the vivid color and unparalleled contrast. OLED also draws less power and have tricks with the sleeping screen (check Nokia Beta Labs - Sleeping Screen app).

The form factor is another reason to consider E7. For those like me, who prefer a hardware keyboard... Let me say that the keyboard is one of the best. The slide mechanism is solid and impressive too.

The GPS function can easily replace a dedicated unit out there. Especially since you can sideload map from all over the world free using the OVI Suite.

USB on the Go, HDMI output, QuickOffice offer great flexibility in sharing / viewing / moving your files and media. The media / music player is an included standard feature as well.

Do I need to mention that the E7 cover all the international variants of GSM / HSDPA frequency band? This means you can access 3G pretty much all around the world where they are available. (Most other phones cover all the GSM frequency variants but not HSDPA.)

In a nutshell, the hardware is a solid five. Some may disagree on the camera though. Being a fixed focus with EDOF (Extended Depth of Field), you will not be able to take close up picture. This is a trade-off for the slimmer body. Still, the picture is usable (I suggest to change the color to vivid and use sharpest setting - the camera processing seems to produce a very subdued picture). You may want to check Nokia N8 if camera is more important to you than a hardware keyboard.

What about the software?

Symbian^3 is a major step up from the earlier version. Still, to really enjoy it, one has to actually go into it and learn the intricacies. So yes, it is not as intuitive (simple) as iOS. But some may actually prefer the flexibility that comes with this. Here is a couple of tips (things I always do when I get a fresh Symbian phone):

- Give accompanying OVI suite a try (try the beta version.. it's faster). I mostly use it as an easy way to tether my laptop (yes sir, big reason why I love unlocked Nokia phone) but some of the other features are nice too.

- Update all the firmware / apps.

- Reorganize the icons into folder structure that make sense to you. It is a hassle the first time but will make a difference as to how you use the phone. (Option > Organize)

- Play around with the setting. (Seriously..)

- If you really have to have iOS style interface, you can customize multiple shortcut widgets on your 3 home screens. Frankly, I never see the need to do this.

- The search widget is quite useful... but do go to the setting to exclude items that you don't want it to index.

Here is a tip... touch and hold is like a mouse right click. It brings up context menu for many items in the phone.

What about the apps?

Sad to say, this is a major con when it comes to Symbian. If you come from Android / iOS, the first thing you will notice is actually the lack of it. This is especially a concern now since Nokia announcement to transition to Windows Mobile. It makes for less incentive for software developers to further develop apps for the platform.

That said, thus far, I am still seeing new apps every now and then. And Symbian is feature rich enough that you don't necessarily miss them. Still, here are a couple apps you should get if you do get the phone.

- Opera Mini / Mobile : Trust me, this will make your browsing experience much, much better. Nuff said. (also, please tinker with the setting.)

- Swype : You don't really need it for this phone because of the hardware keyboard. But if you are lazy to flip it open.

- Gravity : Facebook / Twitter client

- JoikuSpot : turn your phone into mobile WiFi HotSpot.

- Nokia Internet Radio / Tunewiki : Good for listening to Shoutcast radio.

- Try out any of the apps from Nokia Beta Labs / Check out Ovi Store...

- If you are adventurous, scour the net for various app out there in the net too (I typically go to allaboutsymbian.com for tips, etc)

Frankly, there is not much essential apps to mention for now.. I do wish we have a kindle app for the phone (are you listening Amazon?). Maybe Evernote. And maybe more games too. Again, here is an area where I have to say that I envy my wife and her iPhone.

What about the performance?

So far, the phone is snappy enough. The only time it sometimes seems to freeze is when I am installing new apps (it will resume to normal if you leave it, I just feel apprehensive whenever that happens).

So there you have it. The phone does have potentials. Whether it will meet your needs or not is another. I am done tinkering with my phone for now to make it works the way I want and am quite happy with it.

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