Nokia 5320 XpressMusic review

The Nokia 5320 XpressMusic fits into the range well; it's a little chunky (well, compared to other Nokia devices), features brightly coloured edging and external MP3 player control keys.

Other features are pretty low budget with only a two-megapixel camera and plasticky casing, but with new added features, it's probably the best XpressMusic launched to date.

The first thing that struck us when we removed the 5320 XpressMusic out of the box was its chunkiness. It doesn't feel particularly uncomfortable, but is certainly sturdier in the hand than previous XpressMusic handsets.

Like its predecessors, the 5320 features either blue or red edging and a matching eight-way navi-key. Other than that, the whole handset is black. The shiny black finish does, as is normally the case with shiny surfaces, mean that your phone will be a greasy splattering of fingerprints within seconds of taking it out of the box.

Because the 5320 XpressMusic is also an N-Gage compatible device, the button layout has been designed to accommodate this. The 2, 4, 6, 7, 9 and 0 buttons are all separate, while the remainder are joined together in threes.

Although this makes the handset great to use for gaming, using the device as a phone is challenging, especially when trying to dial a phone number or write a text.

So, onto the feature that is the real point of the Nokia 5320 XpressMusic; the music functionality. On the side, you'll find the external music control buttons that launch a mini player on the standby screen. If you'd rather get a full screen of tunes, you can open the media player function.

The newest XpressMusic function on the 5320 is the 'Say and Play' button that takes its place at the top of the screen. If you want to get to a track quickly, you simply tap this, and say the artist or song name.

All great in practice, but like most voice recognition technologies, it really is hit and miss (unfortunately, mostly miss). Quite often, the handset chooses random music that doesn't sound anything like the track I dictated.

Although there's no capacious memory onboard the 5320, there is a 1GB memory card included in the box, and you can of course upgrade this if you're prepared to part with well-earned cash. The speaker (not stereo) is extremely loud and although there is sometimes a little distortion when it approaches 10.

The 5320 runs on the Symbian 9.3 OS with Series 60 3rd Edition user interface, which is a first for an XpressMusic device. This means you have much more flexibility when multitasking and as usual with the S60 interface, the device is easy to use.

Apart from its decent music features, the Nokia 5320 is a little too mid-range to get tongues wagging. The two-megapixel camera is somewhat scarred by lack of autofocus, and the dual LEDs make photos very washed out, as it over-compensates in darker environments. Video's nothing to brag about either, with a top frame rate of 15fps.

The size of the screen is quite a let down, especially if you want to surf the net. OK, so 2-inches may not be tiny when you compare it to lower-budget devices, but considering the browser is pretty decent, it's a shame Nokia couldn't cram in a few more milimetres. However, the clarity of the screen is impressive, with 16 million colours being squeezed into a 240x320 pixel resolution.

The Nokia 5320 XpressMusic is most certainly the best in the XpressMusic range, although that might change when the Nokia Tube arrives. Although some features are omitted, it's what's present that counts and with a 3.5mm headphone jack, a decent speaker, plus quick access to your tunes, the 5320 is a winner for music fans on a budget.