Ever since the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic was first glimpsed in the movie Dark Knight it has been eagerly awaited. And thankfully, it lives up to much of the hype.

The Nokia 5800 is what you might have expected with Nokia’s first entry into the battle against the new wave of touchscreen smartphones. It’s not quite the iPhone killer some had expected, but it is much better than Apple’s pride and joy in some important ways.

First of all, the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic looks gorgeous. It’s just a model of simplicity and style, with the all important touchscreen looking pretty much scratch-proof, and three buttons which work all the functions of the phone.

Nokia has implemented its vast knowledge of the multimedia market to create a phone perfect in size for using the multimedia features of the handset, but small enough to fit in your pocket and carry it like an MP3 player on the tube.

The 5800 is also uncommonly light for a smartphone, especially when you compare it to devices like the BlackBerry.

The 5800 is not called the XpressMusic for nothing, and here the handset previously known as the Tube simply blows away the competition.

Firstly, the sound quality is mindblowing – whether you’re using the headphones supplied, connecting it to a pair of speakers, or simply listening to it on its own external blasters. There’s also the Comes with Music feature – anybody who buys a device is granted a year of unlimited tracks from the Nokia store, and once that is complete they can keep all the music.

The main question that people will ask about is how good the S60 touchscreen interface is, and it rates pretty well.

It's a breeze to cycle through menus and search for music using your finger, although the 5800 XpressMusic lacks the advanced multi-touch capabilities of the iPhone.

However there is a stylus to help you on your way – which is particularly useful for browsing and games.

When not in use, the screen of the 5800 XpressMusic is automatically locked so you won't make any phonecalls by accident.

An accelerometer rotates the screen depending on what you are watching or the way you want to look at the screen.

One thing that Nokia never forgets in its devices is that whatever the capabilities, the mobile phone is in the end a phone, and this is one aspect where it beats the iPhone hands down.

Writing messages and texting is much easier to do on the 5800 XpressMsuic compared to on the iPhone even without the stylus thanks to a very easy to use keyboard system. you can opt to use one of three keyboard options; full screen in portrait mode, smaller in landscape mode, or using the traditional alphanumeric keypad. The fact that it also offers means a stylus also means that there is another option for those with particularly big fingers.

Internet browsing is speedy, with both Wi-Fi and 3G options onboard.

Considering the 5800 XpressMusic lacks multi-touch it is a pleasant experience to surf, and again the addition of a stylus makes some of the more ‘fiddly’ tasks needing small fingers a breeze. This is especially true when typing in web addresses and text, in which it is possible to use either your finger or a stylus without much trouble. It also features Flash – one thing noticeably missing from iPhone browsing.

Whether you want to swap images, media files, or music, the 5800 makes it as easy as possible you can simply drag and drop without the need of a program such iTunes. This is incredibly convenient, and like most of the functions of the phone is done to make the multimedia experience as easy to use as possible. This is also the case with memory – there's an 8GB memory card included in the box, which can be upgraded to 16GB.

Criticism? It’s very difficult to say. Although pretty impressive, the touchscreen does lack that intuitive feel of the iPhone, but it does make the BlackBerry Storm’s attempt look pitiful and compares favourably with anything currently out there. It’s also definitely more of a phone than a mobile computer, and whether you appreciate that or not depends really on what you are looking for with a smartphone.

Because it seems so much like a traditional mobile phone – be it with touchscreen and phenomenal musical quality – is likely to be within the budget of those who don’t want to go the Apple or BlackBerry route. It looks and feels like a proper Nokia phone – and considering it has been the market leader for as long as anybody can remember- there’s absolutely no doubt this will do very, very well.