Review: Nokia 5300 XpressMusic slider phone

With stereo Bluetooth, dedicated music buttons and a sporty design, the Nokia 5300 boldly declares itself a music phone. Will it replace your MP3 player as well as your phone?

Design

Music is obviously a priority for the Nokia 5300 XpressMusic phone, even beyond the dedicated music and volume keys. The phone has a playful look, more rugged than compact. The red band that encircles the phone has a rubbery finish, and the buttons (especially those dedicated to music) have a tight, rubbery feel. The slide has a larger gap than you'll find on Samsung's thin, fashionable sliders, with exposed rails on the back and a 1.3-megapixel camera that remains visible when the slide is closed. The phone is quite thick; at 0.8 inches, it is only a tenth of an inch thinner than our Palm Treo 700p. The slide is spring loaded, and we liked the rubberized border around the screen that helps flick the phone open.

Music - Very good

Unlike phones that cram in music functions as an afterthought, the Nokia 5300 is a true music phone, with dedicated buttons that start the music with one touch. The music player is simple but effective, with equalizers and playlists. Nokia includes a low-end pair of stereo headphones with a microphone for calling, as well as a small (and easy-to-lose) adapter for attaching your own cans if you so desire. Stereo Bluetooth was easy to set up and use, but we can't say the same about Nokia's dreadfully unfriendly music management software. Not nearly as slick or intuitive as Apple's iTunes desktop client, the buggy and tricky-to-use Nokia music manager is just a single step above a folder hierarchy menu. Back on the plus side, our music transfers were speedy via USB 2.0 to the phone's microSD slot, and though we received a palty 256mb card with our review unit, cards up to 2GB are available. FM radio was easy to use, though we encountered a lot of static in our New York office.

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