For some time I had almost the idea that Nokia was disappearing from the market slowly. The models were all a lot alike and there weren’t a lot of exciting things going on. But I think Nokia’s developers were preparing for what was yet to come. The design of the Nokia mobile phones is becoming more and more stylish and fits perfectly in this time and day. The Nokia 5700 XpressMusic is such a handset with a trendy design. At first sight, it seems like there’s nothing special about the Nokia 5700, but when looking a bit further you will notice something unusual about the Nokia 5700 XpressMusic. In the Nokia 5700 XpressMusic, Nokia combines communi-cation and multimedia and lets it blend into one whole. I had the chance to test the Nokia 5700 XpressMusic for a while; my findings can be read in the following Nokia 5700 XpressMusic review.
Nokia 5700 XpressMusic - Design
At first you will not notice anything strange about the Nokia 5700 XpressMusic; it is a regular candy bar mobile phone. But when you turn the phone over, you see the music buttons on the back and you will notice that you can twist the button part of the mobile phone. By twisting the buttons you can activate the camera, the music mode or just the phone mode. On one side of the Nokia 5700 we can find the volume buttons, on the other a rubber flap that hides the USB connection, microSD memory card and the connection for charging the telephone.
Nokia 5700 XpressMusic - Buttons
You can twist the lower part of the Nokia 5700 XpressMusic. On one side we can find the number buttons, on the other the buttons for the music function. The Play button is also the shutter release button for the digital camera. Above the button part we can find the selection button, menu button, the C button, for correcting an sms or a wrong number, and the button for starting or ending a conversation. The music buttons are of a good size, so you can easily operate the buttons without having to see them, for instance if the telephone is in your pocket.
Nokia 5700 XpressMusic - Camera
When twisting the button part 90 degrees, to the left or to the right, the camera is activated. When the button part of the Nokia 5700 XpressMusic has been twisted to the right, the camera is turned towards you and you can make a self portrait. This way you can see yourself in the screen, this can come in handy. When twisting the camera 90 degrees to the left you can take regular pictures. The camera has been equipped with an automatic flash and autofocus. The panorama mode is a nice addition, when rotating the Nokia 5700 around its own axis, the photos are edited together automatically; this way you can give a nice impression of the environment.
Nokia 5700 XpressMusic - Delay
In situations with sufficient light, you will not have many problems with the well-known shutter lag. Even reasonably fast moving objects can be photographed, as long as you press the release button on time. In situations without sufficient light, it becomes nearly impossible to take pictures without any movement blurring. The effective range of the flash is limited; subjects have to be within about one and a half meters of the camera to get sufficient exposure.
Nokia 5700 XpressMusic - Image Quality
In general, the quality of the pictures of the Nokia 5700 XpressMusic can be called good. In situations with sufficient light, the photos look good and the colors are lively. Unfortunately, the dynamic range of the camera is limited, which makes it hard to capture subjects with large differences in dark and light; the lighter areas are often too light and the darker parts too dark. Pictures taken in the dark, show high noise values; often to such an extent that the photo can hardly be recognized.
Nokia 5700 XpressMusic - Settings
You have a choice of possibilities for the settings; besides the Panorama, night and serial mode there is the possibility to set the self timer and the flash mode. In the advanced menu you can set the image resolution, quality, date and place where the photos should be stored. Besides this, you can adapt the photo’s white balance and the color tone. In the video mode, you can set the night mode, video resolution and the length of the recording. The camera in the Nokia 5700 can manage most challenges by means of the setting possibilities, but like I described earlier, the camera has problems with certain capturing situations.
Nokia 5700 XpressMusic - microSD
There is a possibility to extend the memory of the Nokia 5700 XpressMusic with a microSD memory card. There’s a choice of different cards with different speeds and capacities. We chose the SanDisk 2GB microSD memory cards on account of the stability and speed of the SanDisk cards. You could also choose for the 2GB microSD Memory Kit. This way, you won’t just have a microSD but also a microSD adapter and microSD to SD adapter. There are various possibilities to transfer the data from the microSD to a computer. A good choice for this would be the SanDisk Mobilemate SD +5 in 1 card reader; it is a very small device and thus easy to bring along.
Nokia 5700 XpressMusic - Menu
The menu of the Nokia 5700 XpressMusic is clear and orderly, like with most Nokias. A short sentence explains what the pictograms mean. Because of this, it immediately becomes clear which functions each pictogram has, when opening the menu. By means of the start screen, the most important functions can be opened, just like we are used to with Nokia. You can quickly access your messages, the phone book, Bluetooth connections, the calendar, downloads, Internet and the multimedia functions. Those who are used to working with a mobile phone will easily find the advanced functions.
Nokia 5700 XpressMusic - MP3 Player
The Nokia 5700 possesses an advanced multimedia player. When the buttons are turned in the music position, the telephone looks like a MP3 player and functions in such a way. The music quality through the speakers is extremely good, exactly like it is supposed to be for a music phone. Those who use the speakers of the Nokia 5700 XpressMusic will be amazed by the sound quality. The screen of the Nokia 5700 XpressMusic is of high quality, so you will have a lot of fun when watching a film. The impressing sound quality of the Nokia 5700 turns the reviewing of a film into a true experience.
Nokia 5700 XpressMusic - Battery
The battery of the Nokia 5700 XpressMusic is a 3.7 volt 900mAh Nokia BP-5M battery. The Lithium Ion battery is good for 288 hours of stand-by time, and 3.5 hours of conversation time, according to Nokia. I left the Nokia 5700 alone for some time and at the end of the eleventh day the alarm went off, to imply that the battery needed charging. This comes to about 265 hours of stand-by time. After about 2 hours of conversation time, the battery needed re-charging, but I also used the remaining functions of the handset often. It seems like these times are pretty much matching the ones the manufacturer gave us.
Nokia 5700 XpressMusic - Monitor
The monitor of the Nokia 5700 XpressMusic is a sixteen million color display with a maximum resolution of 240x320 pixels and a surrounding light detector. This means that the Nokia 5700 adapts the clarity of the screen to the lighting situation outside. The colors are clear, on the monitor of the Nokia 5700 XpressMusic everything is reproduced clearly. Viewing a film or images on the Nokia 5700 XpressMovie is a true joy because of the image quality. The monitor of the Nokia 5700 XpressMusic contains a screensaver. After putting the music phone down, the screensaver pops up every now and then.
Nokia 5700 - Conclusion
T he Nokia 5700 XpressMusic is a true music phone. With two speakers, the sound quality for music can truly be called good, the Nokia 5700 is true to its word being a multimedia mobile phone. Also the remaining functions of the Nokia 5700 XpressMusic are well thought through and work excellently. I have a few remarks about the camera. Even though the Nokia 5700 XpressMusic is not a digital compact camera, the performances of the camera are regularly below the average. I have seen better with comparable devices. The twistable button part is a fun gadget and makes most people look astonished at what you are doing with your phone. At the same time a lot of people will say that it will break quickly. But the Nokia 5700 XpressMusic feels solid and nothing indicates that the construction will damage easily. Altogether, the Nokia 5700 XpressMusic is a mobile phone with many features that will intrigue the user. The Nokia 5700 XpressMusic is truly recommended!
Nokia 5700 XpressMusic - Design
At first you will not notice anything strange about the Nokia 5700 XpressMusic; it is a regular candy bar mobile phone. But when you turn the phone over, you see the music buttons on the back and you will notice that you can twist the button part of the mobile phone. By twisting the buttons you can activate the camera, the music mode or just the phone mode. On one side of the Nokia 5700 we can find the volume buttons, on the other a rubber flap that hides the USB connection, microSD memory card and the connection for charging the telephone.
Nokia 5700 XpressMusic - Buttons
You can twist the lower part of the Nokia 5700 XpressMusic. On one side we can find the number buttons, on the other the buttons for the music function. The Play button is also the shutter release button for the digital camera. Above the button part we can find the selection button, menu button, the C button, for correcting an sms or a wrong number, and the button for starting or ending a conversation. The music buttons are of a good size, so you can easily operate the buttons without having to see them, for instance if the telephone is in your pocket.
Nokia 5700 XpressMusic - Camera
When twisting the button part 90 degrees, to the left or to the right, the camera is activated. When the button part of the Nokia 5700 XpressMusic has been twisted to the right, the camera is turned towards you and you can make a self portrait. This way you can see yourself in the screen, this can come in handy. When twisting the camera 90 degrees to the left you can take regular pictures. The camera has been equipped with an automatic flash and autofocus. The panorama mode is a nice addition, when rotating the Nokia 5700 around its own axis, the photos are edited together automatically; this way you can give a nice impression of the environment.
Nokia 5700 XpressMusic - Delay
In situations with sufficient light, you will not have many problems with the well-known shutter lag. Even reasonably fast moving objects can be photographed, as long as you press the release button on time. In situations without sufficient light, it becomes nearly impossible to take pictures without any movement blurring. The effective range of the flash is limited; subjects have to be within about one and a half meters of the camera to get sufficient exposure.
Nokia 5700 XpressMusic - Image Quality
In general, the quality of the pictures of the Nokia 5700 XpressMusic can be called good. In situations with sufficient light, the photos look good and the colors are lively. Unfortunately, the dynamic range of the camera is limited, which makes it hard to capture subjects with large differences in dark and light; the lighter areas are often too light and the darker parts too dark. Pictures taken in the dark, show high noise values; often to such an extent that the photo can hardly be recognized.
Nokia 5700 XpressMusic - Settings
You have a choice of possibilities for the settings; besides the Panorama, night and serial mode there is the possibility to set the self timer and the flash mode. In the advanced menu you can set the image resolution, quality, date and place where the photos should be stored. Besides this, you can adapt the photo’s white balance and the color tone. In the video mode, you can set the night mode, video resolution and the length of the recording. The camera in the Nokia 5700 can manage most challenges by means of the setting possibilities, but like I described earlier, the camera has problems with certain capturing situations.
Nokia 5700 XpressMusic - microSD
There is a possibility to extend the memory of the Nokia 5700 XpressMusic with a microSD memory card. There’s a choice of different cards with different speeds and capacities. We chose the SanDisk 2GB microSD memory cards on account of the stability and speed of the SanDisk cards. You could also choose for the 2GB microSD Memory Kit. This way, you won’t just have a microSD but also a microSD adapter and microSD to SD adapter. There are various possibilities to transfer the data from the microSD to a computer. A good choice for this would be the SanDisk Mobilemate SD +5 in 1 card reader; it is a very small device and thus easy to bring along.
Nokia 5700 XpressMusic - Menu
The menu of the Nokia 5700 XpressMusic is clear and orderly, like with most Nokias. A short sentence explains what the pictograms mean. Because of this, it immediately becomes clear which functions each pictogram has, when opening the menu. By means of the start screen, the most important functions can be opened, just like we are used to with Nokia. You can quickly access your messages, the phone book, Bluetooth connections, the calendar, downloads, Internet and the multimedia functions. Those who are used to working with a mobile phone will easily find the advanced functions.
Nokia 5700 XpressMusic - MP3 Player
The Nokia 5700 possesses an advanced multimedia player. When the buttons are turned in the music position, the telephone looks like a MP3 player and functions in such a way. The music quality through the speakers is extremely good, exactly like it is supposed to be for a music phone. Those who use the speakers of the Nokia 5700 XpressMusic will be amazed by the sound quality. The screen of the Nokia 5700 XpressMusic is of high quality, so you will have a lot of fun when watching a film. The impressing sound quality of the Nokia 5700 turns the reviewing of a film into a true experience.
Nokia 5700 XpressMusic - Battery
The battery of the Nokia 5700 XpressMusic is a 3.7 volt 900mAh Nokia BP-5M battery. The Lithium Ion battery is good for 288 hours of stand-by time, and 3.5 hours of conversation time, according to Nokia. I left the Nokia 5700 alone for some time and at the end of the eleventh day the alarm went off, to imply that the battery needed charging. This comes to about 265 hours of stand-by time. After about 2 hours of conversation time, the battery needed re-charging, but I also used the remaining functions of the handset often. It seems like these times are pretty much matching the ones the manufacturer gave us.
Nokia 5700 XpressMusic - Monitor
The monitor of the Nokia 5700 XpressMusic is a sixteen million color display with a maximum resolution of 240x320 pixels and a surrounding light detector. This means that the Nokia 5700 adapts the clarity of the screen to the lighting situation outside. The colors are clear, on the monitor of the Nokia 5700 XpressMusic everything is reproduced clearly. Viewing a film or images on the Nokia 5700 XpressMovie is a true joy because of the image quality. The monitor of the Nokia 5700 XpressMusic contains a screensaver. After putting the music phone down, the screensaver pops up every now and then.
Nokia 5700 - Conclusion
T he Nokia 5700 XpressMusic is a true music phone. With two speakers, the sound quality for music can truly be called good, the Nokia 5700 is true to its word being a multimedia mobile phone. Also the remaining functions of the Nokia 5700 XpressMusic are well thought through and work excellently. I have a few remarks about the camera. Even though the Nokia 5700 XpressMusic is not a digital compact camera, the performances of the camera are regularly below the average. I have seen better with comparable devices. The twistable button part is a fun gadget and makes most people look astonished at what you are doing with your phone. At the same time a lot of people will say that it will break quickly. But the Nokia 5700 XpressMusic feels solid and nothing indicates that the construction will damage easily. Altogether, the Nokia 5700 XpressMusic is a mobile phone with many features that will intrigue the user. The Nokia 5700 XpressMusic is truly recommended!
