Touchscreens have for long been reserved for the high-end segment. With the release of the 5230, Nokia provides the bare basics without sacrificing the quality. The perfect economy package for music lovers, the Nokia 5230 can very well be the Nokia 3310 of touchscreens.Design and LooksThe Nokia 5230 is a chubby touch-bar phone. Nevertheless, single handed operation is possible. The most visible feature on any touchscreen phone is obviously the display and in this case it is a 3.2-inch resistive screen. It’s definitely not the biggest display around but it’s the best you can get in this price range. This haptic-feedback enabled screen is fairly sensitive but the screen’s legibility under direct sunlight is poor.
Below the display are the call and menu hardware keys. They feature good tactility and adequate press-feedback. Other important buttons are the touchsensitive media key just above the screen and the sceen lock to the side. The flat volume rocker at the side is not very easy to work because it is hard to press and generally uncomfortable. Other than this the design and construction of the phone is both ergonomic and appealing to the eye.The Symbian OS onboard is quick and responsive thanks to the 434MHz processor running it. As a music phone, the 5230 performs amazingly well offering users with an audio output that shows good frequency response, low noise and distortion levels and a good dynamic range.The phone’s 2MP camera performs decently for 2MP standards but in regard to other better cameras the photos have high noise levels, poor contrast and less resolved detail. The company claims the camera is capable of recording VGA resolution videos at 30 frames-per-second but this is not really the case and the frame rate drops much lower than 30fps to produce highly pixilated and overly compressed videos. There is also the presence of many artifacts and the colour balance of the video is bad.
A good thing about this phone is that it has adequate connectivity options with the exception of Wi-Fi. Among the more important connectivity options, you have 3G and GPS. The phone’s inbuilt GPS receiver features A-GPS functionality which is fairly responsive and accurate.This touchscreen phone is an excellent music player. It performs most other functions just as well and given the price it is selling at, users could not ask for more.
Features
3.2” 16-million colour touchscreen display
ARM 11 434 MHz CPU, 128MB RAM
2MP camera
Standard 3.5mm audio jack
GPS receiver with A-GPS functionality and Ovi maps integration
Advanced connectivity options including 3G and GPRS
Symbian S60 5th edition operating system
Virtual on-screen QWERTY
Comprehensive music player with good audio quality
Two changeable battery covers with retail box
Accessories
Nokia Stereo Headset WH-500
Nokia Mini Speakers MD-8
Nokia Bluetooth Headset BH-504
Price: Rs. 9,000
Warranty (years): 1
Color Options: Black, White
Technical Specifications of Nokia 5230
Overview
Body Type Bar
Battery Life/Talk time 7.0 Hours
Standby Talktime 432 Hours
Dimensions Width 52 mm
Depth 16 mm
Length 111 mm
Weight 115 g
Camera
Camera Yes
Secondary Camera NO
Camera Resolution 2 MP
Camera Flash No
Auto Focus NO
Display
Display Size 3.2 inches
Display Resolution 360 x 640 pixels
Dispaly Type TFT Touchscreen
Colours 16 million
Memory
Internal Memory 70MB
Card Slot Yes
Complimentary Card 4GB
Expandable Memory 16 GB
Multimedia Features
FM Radio Yes
MMS Yes
MP3 Player Yes
Connectivity Options
Wi-Fi NO
Bluetooth Yes
Infrared NO
USB Connector Yes
GPRS Yes
EDGE Yes
HSCSD Yes
WAP Yes
Technology
Cellular Network GSM
3G Yes
SIM Type Single SIM
Operating System
Operating System Symbian Series S60
Features
Input Type TFT Resistive Touchscreen
Handsfree Speaker Yes
Flight Mode Yes
Inbulit Dictaphone Yes
GPS Yes
Flashlight NO
