Camera Phone Reviews

Nokia 5300 XpressMusic

No one-hit wonder, the Nokia 5300 XpressMusic also comes with the latest messaging functions complemented by a 1.3 megapixel camera. Incoming calls can be enhanced with video ring tones on the high resolution display. The Nokia 5300 XpressMusic is expected to retail for approximately 250 EUR, before taxes and subsidies.

In addition, Nokia today revealed two other music devices, the Nokia 5200 and the Nokia 3250 XpressMusic. Featuring a similar lifestyle-inspired slide design as the Nokia 5300 XpressMusic, the Nokia 5200 offers an exciting combination of music and messaging functions and is an even more budget-friendly handset for young and sociable consumers. The Nokia 5200 is expected to retail for around 200 EUR, before taxes and subsidies.

Also unveiled today was the Nokia 3250 XpressMusic, which refreshes the popular Nokia 3250 with an updated look and feel. Still featuring the unique and well-received "twist" design, the Nokia 3250 XpressMusic has doubled the music capacity of the original, holding up to 1500 tracks (supports microSD cards up to 2GB) and is expected to retail for around 400 EUR, before taxes and subsidies.

Nokia 5300 XpressMusic Phone Reviews

CNET Asia reviews the Nokia 5300 XpressMusic and writes, "The 5300 has an first-rate 1.3-megapixel camera that takes JPEG pictures in six resolutions: 1,280x1,024; 1,290x960; 800x600; 640x480; 320x240; and 160x120. You get a variety of camera settings including three quality modes, five color effects, a note mode, a 10-second self-timer, a sequence mode for shooting three photos in rapid succession, adjustable white balance, and an 8X zoom. The only thing missing is a brightness setting, but we're willing to overlook that omission. And as for camera sounds, you can turn them off but you can't choose a particular shutter tone. The aforementioned camera ergonomics and the slick camera interface make for a great user experience."

Infosync reviews the Nokia 5300 XpressMusic phone and writes, "It's refreshing to find a music phone like Nokia's snazzy 5300 XpressMusic that actually takes music seriously. Our tunes sounded impressively good on the 5300, and with support for both stereo Bluetooth headsets and your own high-quality set of headphones, the sporty-looking slider makes for a compelling, music-minded companion. However, with its thick design and dodgy management software, the 5300 isn't quite ready to replace your iPod nano, and we wouldn't mind some improvements in the phone's sketchy voice-calling capabilities."

MobileBurn reviews the Nokia 5300 XpressMusic and is not too impressed with the phone's camera: "The camera on the 5300 is just a 1.3 megapixel CMOS unit, which is slightly below average nowadays. Photos can be taken up to 1024x768 pixels and videos at 176x144 pixels. Shutter lag is about half a second, and it usually takes about two seconds for a picture to be saved at highest resolution and quality. The pictures turn out to be just okay, not great. White balance is a problem - the presets never seem to be accurate, especially indoors. Pictures at night are noisy, and compounded by the shutter lag, they generally turn out blurry."

CNET reviews the Nokia 5300 Xpress Music phone and writes about the phone's camera: "The 5300 has an first-rate 1.3-megapixel camera that takes JPEG pictures in six resolutions: 1,280x1,024; 1,290x960; 800x600; 640x480; 320x240; and 160x120. You get a variety of camera settings including three quality modes, five color effects, a note mode, a 10-second self-timer, a sequence mode for shooting three photos in rapid succession, adjustable white balance, and an 8X zoom. The only thing missing is a brightness setting, but we're willing to overlook that omission. And as for camera sounds, you can turn them off but you can't choose a particular shutter tone. The aforementioned camera ergonomics and the slick camera interface make for a great user experience. ... Image quality was pretty good for a 1.3-megapixel camera phone."

Vnunet reviews the Nokia 5300 XpressMusic and notes, "Of course, you may want to make the odd phone call as well, and the backlit keypad is reassuringly conventional and accessible. It’s a tri-band phone, so you can listen to music in the US, too, and Bluetooth means you can connect a wireless headset. The camera, perhaps the weakest part of the equation, is only 1.3 megapixels. Still, if it’s music you’re after, this is a convenient, easy and impressive phone."

3G reviews the Nokia 5300 Xpress phone and writes, "Aside from the music, the Nokia 5300 is a pretty rounded Symbian Series 40 phone with decent features. There’s a run-of-the-mill 1.3-megapixel camera on board, a video recorder and video player, as well as a sharp 262,000-colour display, Push-To-Talk and Instant Messaging with Presence. ... Ultimately, the 5300 is a good all-round mobile and a simple and capable music phone. It’s not an iPod slayer, but it’s no dud either."

Lordpercy reviews the Nokia 5300 and writes, "Operation of the media player is simple through use of the dedicated buttons alongside the screen, these allow you to skip / play and pause easily as well as adjust the volume level. Used in conjunction with the excellent media player GUI it is almost as easy to use as the Sony Ericsson W850i but neither come close to being an iPod. You also get a 1.3 mega pixel camera mounted in the rear of the phone which can take both pictures and short videos, the latter of which can be used as ringtones."

PCMag reviews the Nokia 5300 XpressMusic phone and writes, "Given the quality of the music player, I'll forgive the 5300's mediocre camera. Daylight photos were about average for a 1.3-megapixel camera phone, with whites tending toward blue. Indoor and low-light shots have a serious color noise and graininess problem. Videos were the usual 176- by 144-pixel resolution, 15-frame-per-second stuff."

LaptopMag reviews the Nokia 5300 Xpress Music and writes, "Holding the phone horizontally places the camera shutter release conveniently under your right index finger, with voice toggle keys doubling as the 8X zoom controls. Unfortunately, the shutter is recessed and difficult to manipulate. There's a self-portrait mirror but no flash. On the other hand, this phone is all about the music, not the camera. And in this respect, the 5300 Xpress Music would be a bargain at twice the price."

Forbes has a review of the Nokia 5300 ExpressMusic phone and writes, "I was a little annoyed by the way some features of the phone, like the camera, shift between landscape and portrait mode without asking. And of course, like any other music phone, I wish it had a better method of buying songs over the cellular connection. All considered, the Nokia 5300 is a nice piece of hardware, and a good alternative for casual music listeners looking to ditch their MP3 player."

PCWorld reviews the Nokia 5300 XpressMusic and writes, "The 5300 also includes a 1.3-megapixel camera that takes serviceable to very good snapshots. Still-life photos came out great, but like many camera phones, this model suffers from a significant shutter delay, so capturing moving subjects is hard. The phone also takes video clips, but they look pixelated and slightly grainy (typical for a camera phone)."

IT Reviews reviews the Nokia 5300 XpressMusic and writes, "It is Tri-band and it sports a camera, though this is limited to a maximum image resolution of 1.3-megapixels, which is a bit below par these days. And there is an FM radio too. The plastic casing feels a little flimsy in the hand, but the two-tone red and white design of the review sample was rather pleasing. ... As a phone the Nokia 5300 XpressMusic is rather nice and certainly has plenty of features. It also has some serious plus points as a music player, not least good battery life. But the lack of a 3.5mm headset and the small internal memory let it down."

Digital Trends reviews the Nokia 5300 and writes, "As good as the music section is, the 1.3 MP camera is poor. Ergonomically, all is well. Holding the phone horizontally puts the recessed camera/shutter button directly under your right index finger. In camera mode, the voice toggle keys become the 8x zoom controls. ... While outdoor shots are average for a 1.3 MP camera, indoor images are grainy and lack both color and contrast. ... The Nokia 5300 XpressMusic is a great compact and inexpensive solution for those who need a single music/cell device with unusual styling that is both unpretentious and eye-catching. Even if it had less style, its MP3 player-like music playback functions would still help differentiate it from its rivals."

CNET UK reviews the Nokia 5300 XpressMusic and writes, "The phone's camera is also pretty lacklustre. It only has a 1.3-megapixel resolution. This is a big improvement on the VGA camera featured on the 5200, but it's still not wonderful, especially as it also lacks a flash for shooting in low light."