Digital Trends

Nokia 5300 April 17th, 2007 | by Stewart Wolpin

Setup and Use

Voice quality on T-Mobile's tri-band EDGE network is crisp with plenty of volume, and ringtones are loud and the vibrating is violent. Our test model did not have EDGE service, but even in GPRS mode, the 5300 only lagged a few seconds behind other EDGE and EV-DO phones for Web browsing.

But that's not why you came.

The music application on the 5300 acts more like an MP3 player than most music phones, especially when it comes to random/shuffle play. Most music phones create a so-called "random" playlist, but this random list becomes frozen and never varies. The phone starts playing songs in the same exact order as the last time you listened, forcing you to skip through everything you've heard thus far before getting to an unheard track. But the 5300 either starts playing right up from where you left off, or starts from a new spot on your list. There is also a variety of track categorization view choices (i.e. track, artist, most recently added) when searching for a particular track.

The 5300 also offers triple codec compatibility – MP3, WMA and AAC and its variations, but all non-DRM; the 5300 is not PlaysForSure compatible, which means it won't play tracks you buy from online sites. And T-Mobile does not offer its own online music service.

You transfer tracks to the phone from a PC using the included USB-to-mini USB cable, or you can slip the generously included 1GB MicroSD card (the phone can handle up to a 2GB card) into a PC or Mac card reader and simply drag and drop tracks. The included radio function was not operable.

For listening, you have three options: the bundled ill-fitting wired earbuds with an in-line mic, stereo Bluetooth headphones, or the external mono speaker. We recommend the in-ear Plantronics Pulsar 260 ($109.99 USD), which can be used as stereo Bluetooth earphones or be connected via the 2.5mm jack. While not stereo, the external speaker is as loud as most inexpensive clock radios.

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.

Unfortunately, the shutter button is recessed and difficult to manipulate, which virtually assures camera blur when trying to snap. Even using the phone's navigation "select" key as the shutter release shifts the phone enough during capture to blur pictures taken indoors. While images are automatically saved once they’re taken, you have to tell the phone that you want to take a new picture. At the highest 1280 x 1024 pixel resolution, you'll have to wait around 5 seconds for the picture to process before you can proceed. There's a self-portrait mirror, but no flash.

While outdoor shots are average for a 1.3 MP camera, indoor images are grainy and lack both color and contrast.

Battery life is a mixed blessing. For music, you get 12 hours of play time, a bit shorter than other music phones, but still plenty robust for most commuting, errand running, and exercising. However, you get a below-average talk time of 3.2 hours.