Its definitely not the hottest phone on the market(currently), but at least I have the pleasure of owning it, with a contract longer than the number of features on this gadget, and believe me, its feature packed, i am bound to get hooked, plus it is the first Nokia touch phone, cool innit?

I have had this beauty for at least two months now, and everyday i get some new feature or piece of software out there, being Symbian (that’s the Windows of the mobile world for all who are unaware) it spells versatility and fair playground for developers and enthusiasts alike.OK, here is the break down of the whole phone in general.

Design

The 5800 looks and feels like most Nokia candybar handsets, with the exception of the touch screen on the front(Duh!where else would it be!). While its plastic casing is solid, there isn’t much to catch the eye. Everything is laid out in a relatively mundane fashion and lacks the WOW factor. A glass screen or ultra-slim casing wouldn’t have pushed this baby to the top.

Unlike the iPhone’s capacitive screen, the 5800’s resistive display — meaning you have to apply pressure in order for it to register what you’re doing — isn’t as responsive as I’d hoped for and, at times, requires a stylus for added accuracy, which I really don’t like. In addition to the less-than-perfect screen, a clunky-looking raised border detracts from what could have been a more elegant handset.But all these are mere distractions from the uniqueness and robust operation of this trendy phone. Also a lot of touch screen phones are half baked in all manners and Nokia has by far come closest to matching the iPhones impeccable touch screen response.

The other thing is that this Nokia has a sliding button on the side to lock the screen, pretty useful as I come to find out, and convenient too, I was able to  lock the phone in the same instance as I slid it into my pocket. Some people found this button really frustrating but certainly not me. After using the phone for a while though, I found out that trying to lock the screen in the middle of some tasks throws the phone into a disorganised mess and locks permanently, quite frustrating i must admit.

Quite a nifty feature that completely won me over was the 3.5mm Audio jack, not the first on a Nokia, but awesome non-the-less. It has proved to be a life saver many times over.

Features

Being an XpressMusic edition, the phone performance is to expectations, the 8GB Multi-media card (included with the phone) proves priceless when all you need is your music with you on a crowded train. The phone also comes packed with radio employing RDS amongst other newer technology that i couldn’t be arsed talking about. I don’t listen to radio, but it is a comforting thought knowing its there.(well, maybe its just me)

Don’t forget, that single 3.5mm port is also the output to your trusted TV, or your audio system, or for most of us, just to hook up the so essential headphones.

Camera

The phone comes packed with a 3.15 MP capable of displaying upto 2048×1536 pixels for all you big screen lovers.Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus, LED flash are the other bits aimed at enhancing the photo quality, I must admit, for a 3.5MP camera, the pictures are way better than I expected. Certainly better than the iPhone. I expected it to be, really, those guys from Apple make a pin hole camera and expect software to take charge?no way.

Wi-Fi and HSDPA make Web access satisfactory, and the 5800’s browser performs well enough, displaying full-sized Web pages and giving you the option to zoom in and out of them and swipe the screen to move around. It’s not as impressive as the iPhone’s browser, but it works well enough for accessing Facebook, for example.

Other Web-based features include an iPlayer app that gives you access to the BBC’s service. We found this app easy to use and a great addition to Nokia’s arsenal. You can also watch YouTube via YouTube’s mobile site, though I couldn’t always get it to work, but that might have been due to external connectivity issues.

Built-in GPS means you can use the 5800 as a sat-nav in conjunction with Nokia Maps or Google Maps, which both worked well. Combined with the 5800’s large screen, this offers one of the best navigating experiences to date on a Nokia phone. As expected, the GPS works best outdoors, with a clear line of sight to the sky.Surprisingly, it works also indoors!! thats better than my germin gps device! turn by turn navigation offered by nokia maps is second to non in the mobile world. I dont see a reason for a dedicated gps navigator when you can have your phone and a gps in one.

Conclusion

I’d like to say that Nokia’s first touchscreen phone is a winner, but it’s not as good as I expected. There’s nothing outrageously wrong with it but, when compared with phones such as the Nokia E71, it’s rather lacklustre. If you’re going to use a touchscreen, it must work really well.

My only beef with this mobile is the touch screen, apart from that, every other bit of it has been crafted to perfection.A bit of complexity has been introduced in the SIM compartment, a headache at first, but this only slows you down from drooling all over the phone when you get it out of the box.

My final verdict, AWESOME!! get it if you can