Nokia X5-01

Page 1: Intro; Features; Design & Usability

The Nokia X5-01 is the newest member in a long line of Nokia feature phones aimed at music lovers. While the X5-01 may not be a game changing phone, it knows it strengths and sticks to them.

Features

The Nokia X5-01 is a Symbian 9.3 S60 handset that’s powered by a 600MHz processor and comes with 200MB of internal (expandable using microSD cards). It supports Wi-Fi and 3G but unfortunately doesn’t come with a GPS chip. The X5-01 sports a 5MP camera with an LED flash that can shoot VGA videos. The Nokia uses a 950mAh battery which isn’t so great when compared to the 1200mAh batteries that are so common out there even among budget phones.

The X5-01 has a small 2.36-inch display with 320x240 resolution and 256K color output. The phone is very small with dimensions of 74.3 x 66.4 x 16.9 mm (height x width x thickness) and a reasonable weight of 129g (which is deceptive considering how small the device is).

Design & Usability

Like the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Pro, the Nokia X5-01 can be described more accurately as ‘cute’ than ‘elegant.’ I was also provided with an unfortunate pink device that was certainly not my color of choice. Thankfully, there are other colors available including more sober versions of graphite and azure. The X5-01 does undoubtedly have a unique look that sets it apart from the run of the mill phones that you see nowadays.

For such a petite phone, the X5-01 is very well built. It uses an almost perfect mix of plastics and metal. The slide-out action (that reveals its four row keyboard) is also smooth and doesn’t unravel any shaky parts. Like most other phones in its price range, the X5-01’s screen doesn’t impress. The screen is colorful enough but viewing angles aren’t great and neither is its response to direct sunlight.

As I mentioned earlier, the X5-01 runs the Symbian S60 v3.2 UI, very similar to the one found on phones such as the E63 and the E72. It is therefore probably one of the most familiar and easy to use UIs that you can find on a non-touchscreen phone. The X5-01’s interface is also breezy and didn’t slow down at any given moment. Of course, one of the main attractions of the X5-01 is its four-row keyboard. The keyboard is great to use (although I would have preferred some space between the keys) with nicely molded rubber keys that are comfortable to type with. Apart from the keyboard, the X5-01 has a number of hardware buttons including the standard D-pad upfront surrounded by a number of navigation and shortcut buttons. All the buttons are placed well but the placement of the camera lens when the keyboard is slid out is suspect since my index finger managed to cause issues when shooting photos.