Nokia 5530 XpressMusic: First Impressions
I like it.
I just got the Nokia 5530 XpressMusic. I like it.
Let’s do some first impressions.
I’ve had the 5530XM for roughly five hours now, and my first impressions are based on my usage during that time. Full review coming soon.
Good (For Now)
- Size: I love the size. It’s not too thick, and not too big either. Weighty enough to know that you’re carrying without being a burden a la N97 or (shudder) N90.
- Build quality: Even though the 5530 XpressMusic is mostly made of plastic, like the 5800, it looks and feels a heck of a lot better. The material on the front is some kind of metallic plastic, and Nokia changed the back cover from the rubbery 5800 cover to a smoother plastic. Overall the phone feels extremely solid.
- Snappy interface: Yes, it’s still Symbian S60 Fifth Edition. But the whole experience feels snappier than say, the N97, thanks to some slick transitions.
- Speakers: Thank you, Nokia, for not screwing this up. The speakers sound just as good as the 5800′s, and that’s a huge plus.
- Touch-screen: The 5530 uses a resistive touch-screen, but it feels pretty sensitive. More sensitive than the 5800.
Bad (For Now)
- Slowdowns: they’re rare, but they happen – most notably when scrolling through songs while playing a track in the Music Player.
- Kinetic scrolling: it’s in most places, but Nokia left it out in the folder view. Strange that no one picked that up.
- Virtual keyboard: the keyboard is better with iPhone/Android-esque pop-up letters, but still flawed. Instead of recognizing keypresses *as you’re pressing the keys*, the keyboard only recognizes something when you press and let go.
Overall, I’d have to say I’m impressed. I like the 5530 XpressMusic, and while the 5800XM had more desirable features (GPS, Carl Zeiss, 3G, etc), I prefer the 5530.
could you tell us if the screen resolution sucks when viewing it outdoors in direct sunlight?
please it need clock screesaver…
help please. I have installed adobe reader LE 1.5 which I downloaded online to my 5530 but whenever I open a pdf file it says memory low and not enough memory. My memory card still has 69mb left. what should I do so that I could read the pdf files?
did you ever find out how to fix that issue i get the same low memory error
I was just wondering if the 5530 has a good sensitvity compared to the n97 I have seen the sensitivity of the n97 but not the 5530 can anybody tell me how it compares.
Cheers
If you mean touch-screen sensitivty, the N97 is far more sensitive than the 5530 XpressMusic.
Hi. Every morning, I find my phone off. I am pretty sure that the battery is ok. Then its either I remove the battery and put back on before I can turn the phone back on. If that does not work, I plug it in its charger. I am positive that it is not the battery. What seem to be the problem? Is there a sleep mode on this phone that I am not aware off?
You are probably not using the lock/unlock switch (the slider switch on the right side of the phone) to unlock the phone. Basically, to save battery the phone goes into a sleep state.
Hi there I have the Nokia and was having the same problem until I realised that the reason was that I was leaving apps open (not fully exiting out of them when finished, i.e with games). Once I got into the habit of exiting properly I didnt have any more problems
Thank you for the review. I have one question about this phone. Does this phone have adobe reader to view pdf files? I’m a student and have need to read ebooks. Some websites claim it has pdf, but I’m not sure. If it has, how would you rate it?
I can confirm that the 5530 XpressMusic does NOT have onboard pdf support. You can, however, install Adobe Reader LE or another third party option to view pdfs – for ebooks, I would actually recommend ZXReader.
could you tell us if the screen resolution sucks when viewing it outdoors in direct sunlight? And if so, is there an option to adjust the brightness or contrast?
Also is there a clock screensaver?
Not sure about the first one (it’s been mostly cloudy and rainy here lately), but there’s definitely an option to adjust the brightness. Like other S60 phones, there’s a slider that controls the brightness, but the 5530 lets you move the slider anywhere – other S60 phones just have preset areas on the slider.
There’s no clock or any kind of screensaver at all, actually. After a set time, the 5530 blanks the screen and locks the phone.