While other manufactures(hello, Samsung) rushed headlong into the touch-screen phone craze, other manufacturers were more cautious. For example, just look at Nokia. Though the cellular giant pumps out phones by the dozen, it wasn’t until the Nokia 5800 Xpress Music that the company explored touch-screen cell phones with gusto(the Nokia 810 doesn’t count). Positioned as a rival to the Apple iPhone, the 5800 is packed with a range of multimedia features. And it all comes in a sharp, slim package with an expansive touch screen.
We were lucky enough to check out a preproduction model of the 5800 back in October and found it to be very promising. Well, we’ve now had a chance to play with the final product. While our opinion of the phone hasn’t changed too much, we think it has some shortcomings when compared with its competition. The user interface and input methods aren’t the best and could use some refinement to take advantage of the touch screen. Also, until the Nokia Music Store launches in the United States, the 5800 doesn’t offer the full functionality or advantages of an XpressMusic phone, giving the iPhone the edge with its seamless iTunes integration. The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic isn’t a bad phone, but when you factor in the$399 unlocked price, it’s a little harder to give the handset’s drawbacks a pass.