Nokia 5300 Black Cell Phone
 Nokia has been pushing their high-end N-Series "multimedia computer" handsets in the United States over the past year, going so far as to open flagship stores in New York and Chicago where consumers can purchase the devices unlocked for use on T-Mobile, Cingular, and other GSM networks. The Finnish cellular giant's business devices have also been gaining a little traction here in the states, with the E62 holding a place down in Cingular's smartphone lineup. Now Nokia looks to the mid-range customer with the arrival of the 5300 XpressMusic on T-Mobile. A music-centric slider featuring a 1.3 megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth, and a T-Mobile branded version of the Series 40 interface, the 5300 competes against other mid-range musicphones like Sony Ericsson's w810i (Cingular) and the LG Fusic (Sprint). The 5300 offers a sporty (if somewhat chunky) design, a degree of customization not usually found in mid-range carrier-supported phones, and an included 1 GB memory card to load up with music from your digital collection. While the 5300 isn't for power users, it is a solid choice if you're looking for a quality music phone that won't break your budget. And I was honestly surprised at how many people who saw my review model commented on how cool they thought it looked.
Nokia isn't known for making ultra-thin, ultra-chic handsets, and while they clearly put some thought into designing the 5300, nobody's going to mistake it for a RAZR. Instead, the 5300 has a sporty look: The phone Nokia sent me was finished in white with black and silver trim, and featured rubberized side panels for easier gripping. It's an attractive device and its beautiful front-mounted display adds to its good looks. At 92 x 48 x 21 mm, the 5300 has a small footprint but is rather thick; as such it's a little bulkier in a pants or jacket pocket than its competitors. Still, everywhere I took the phone people commented on how hip it looked.
The front panel of the handset is largely given over to a 2" LCD display. Black rubberized plastic forms a border around the display, while the rest of the phone's front is framed in a glossy white plastic. To the left of the screen, three small buttons raise up from under the rubber - these are the 5300's dedicated music controls (Play/Pause, Track Advance, Track Rewind), and they're labeled in white. A white Nokia logo graces the black border on the opposite side of the display.
All edges of the phone are rounded off, giving the 5300 a fun, youthful look. Above and below the display, silver plastic insets house the earpiece (top) and navigational buttons and microphone (bottom). The navigational array is made up of a four-way directional pad with center OK button that's flanked by four additional unlabeled, color-coded buttons: two softkeys and dedicated Call/Hang Up keys. It's funny, with all of these buttons you might think the 5300 would look rather busy from the front; instead, it's got something of a Zen quality to it. The white/black/silver color scheme and four subtly colored buttons make the handset look something like a small spaceship from a planet inhabited by young, style-conscious gadget heads with a sense of whimsy about them.
Sliding the front panel up is made easier by a raised thumb ridge along the display's lower edge, and an internal spring-assist mechanism. The sliding movement ends with a satisfying click. The dialing keypad revealed beneath is finished in matte silver with grey labels that glow a cool blue when the backlight is activated. In fact, the entire "middle layer" of the handset is finished in silver, including a cool metal plate with reflective Nokia logo that's only visible from behind when the phone is in the open position (it's the back of the phone's front panel, if that makes sense). Again, the effect is "Spaceship from Planet Fun." The 12-button dialing keypad is easy to use, with raised soft-touch keys that provide good tactile feedback during dialing.
The left panel of the phone houses the aforementioned music player buttons as well as the 2.5mm headphone jack. On the right we find three more small, raised buttons for Camera access and volume Up/Down along with an infrared sensor. Additionally, a lanyard clip is housed in the top left corner of the phone. A power button, mini-USB port and AC adapter jack grace the top of the 5300, while the bottom panel is devoid of any buttons or ports.
The back portion of the phone is finished in white with a wide black rubberized stripe that wraps around from the sides. Above the stripe lies the camera sensor and a self-potrait mirror, while a speaker grille andT-Mobile's "MyFaves" logo are found below. Nokia added one more of their logos, finished white, in the middle of the black band. Read full review » Noah's Phone in 60 Seconds video review of the Nokia 5300 Xpress Music Player highlights the great features including the 1GB memory card that can hold an iPod Shuffles worth of songs Nokia has been pushing their high-end N-Series "multimedia computer" handsets in the United States over the past year, going so far as to open flagship stores in New York and Chicago where consumers can purchase the devices unlocked for use on T-Mobile, Cingular, and other GSM networks. The Finnish cellular giant's business devices have also been gaining a little traction here in the states, with the E62 holding a place down in Cingular's... Music is the main draw of the 5300. Nokia's music player arranges your tracks in iPod-like fashion, letting you browse according to Artists, Albums, Genres, Composers, and user-deinfed playlists. Songs can be loaded direct from a computer via USB or bluetooth, or using the included mini-USB cable. T-Mobile included Nokia's music management program on CD with the phone, though I found it just as easy to manually drag tracks to the... Nokia built the 5300 with a gorgeous 2" QVGA (320 x 240) display that supports 262,144 colors. The display actually looks a bit larger than it is thanks to the handset's compact body and the black border that frames the screen. In any event, colors display richly and vividly on the display, and text, photos, graphics, and videos were all easy to see. I took a few outdoor shots with the phone's camera and set one as my... Messaging on the 5300 includes SMS and MMS as well as IM support for AOL, ICQ, Windows Messenger, and Yahoo!; Email is not supported by a dedicated client, though T-Mobile's T-Zones service does provide a very rudimentary email service accessible via WAP browser. As such, the 5300 is just fine for occasional messaging, but certainly not the device for anyone who needs mobile Email on a regular basis. Text entry is made easier by... I've always been a fan of Nokia handsets. They're generally built to high standards and feature attractive, logical menu systems, and solid features, even if they're a little less trendy than their competitors when it comes to style. The new Nokia 5300 XpressMusic for T-Mobile brings a little bit of flair to the Finnish phone maker's sturdy style, combining a sporty color scheme with rounded edges, external media controls, and an... I'm testing out the new Nokia 5300 XpressMusic for T-Mobile right now, and was dismayed to find that it wouldn't sync with my Mac's Address Book and iCal applications. However, a quick Google search yielded an easy hack that I successfully employed with the 5300, and that looks to work with other unsupported Nokia handsets as well.
The fix takes about five minutes (or less) and involves digging into one of iSync's resources, cutting... Pros: Personal sound files for ring tones including MP3, WMA, & WAV files. Sound quality of music files is pretty good. 1GB Micro SD card is included. Sliders are sturdy (metal instead of plastic). Customizing the main screen to include your most used options is a breeze. Navigation through the units menus is self explanatory. Cons: Micro SD slot kind of a pain to get to the first time, but after that it is relatively simple. Summary: Great lil unit with an easy to use menu and interface. The better of all the cells I've used to date. Once i customized the screen to my specs, the unit was even more useful. Very clear display. 24 out of 48 people found this review helpful Buying choicesWith new service  This item is not being sold with a service plan by any online merchant. With pre-paid service This item is not being sold with a pre-paid service service plan by any online merchant. Purchase phone only Accessories Purchase compatible accessories for this phone Ringtones & MediaShop for compatible mobile content for this phone
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