I’ve always believed that
high-end mobile phones with a camera, mp3 player, Bluetooth and so on are just
expensive toys. I used to say, if I want to take pictures, I’ll use a camera.
So when I got the Nokia 5300 as a gift, I really thought “I already have a
mobile phone.” But a few days and a little curiosity later I have to say this
phone has changed my mindset.
The mp3 player is rather
good and it comes with an inbuilt volume limiter so try as you might you can’t damage
your ears. The sound quality is very good on the headset and pretty good on the
loudspeaker(If you attach walkman phone the quality gets even better). There’s an extra attachment to hook up your normal earphones just
in case something happens to the originals. Preset equalizers along with an
option for 2 custom settings make the sound even better.
What I like the most is the
set of dedicated music keys on either side of the screen. You can play, pause,
rewind, forward and control volume without the bother of navigation. But I have
to say that the keys only respond to some extra pressure.
This phone has an expandable
memory, up to 2GB. That means almost 1500 songs on the go.(But as of now you
can only find 1GB micro SD cards in the Indian market.) I have a 256 MB card which came inbuilt with the phone and I have upto 3 hrs of music on it. I can even sort all my
music into different play-lists just like in an IPod. Now I only have to pester
my husband to get me a bigger memory card. The radio on this phone is rather
thoughtful. I love the fact that once I set a radio station I never have to search
for it the next time. I can even set it to play my favourite radio station when
I turn it on. The only problem is that the radio catches the frequency at only
certain angles and that can be a bit of a pain when I’m moving around.
The camera and the video allow
me to be really spontaneous. The 1.3 mega-pixel camera has captured some
surprisingly nice pictures.(The best results are in natural light.) These
images look good even when I blow them up on the computer. And now I can catch a
lot of moments that I would otherwise miss if I have to reach for a camera.
The video is basic. Whatever
you shoot with it is certainly not for keeps.
But it sure is a lot of fun. My kids are as excited about it as I am. The
best thing about the phone is its ability to record voices and sounds. It is
the perfect answer to my questions about capturing the sounds my 5-month old
daughter makes.
This phone comes with Bluetooth
and push-to-talk features neither of which I’ve used yet. The organizer is
something I use a lot. Apart from the usual reminder and calendar functions I
can email messages up to 750 words; all from the comfort of my bed.
My
phone is a combination of red and white and it looks rather sporty and cute. And
from what I heard of its price, it is a great bargain.