Nokia 5310 XpressMusic (2020) Review

One of Nokia’s methods for producing publicity is its line of reimagined traditional fashions, which remind us of the times when candybar telephones got here in all styles and sizes, and also you have been the best of all your mates in case your cellphone had Snake II. With dozens of iconic fashions in its archives, Nokia has made some attention-grabbing selections, beginning with after all the Nokia 3310 (2017) which was a worldwide sensation, after which the Nokia 8110 4G and Nokia 2720 Flip which weren’t quite as exciting.

It’s towards that backdrop that we now have a completely new version of the Nokia 5310 XpressMusic. This does not precisely spring to thoughts as one of many firm’s beloved fashions from again within the day, however its reincarnated namesake may carry a smile to your face when you have been at school or faculty within the late 2000s. Despite its later errors, Nokia was at the least on the ball when telephones began displacing MP3 gamers. The XpressMusic vary was meant to be youth-focused, playful, and cost-effective, and for a time, it did fulfil its goal.

Fast ahead to 2020, and we see this new low-end candybar cellphone that carries ahead a little bit of the style of the original, however serves a really totally different goal in at present’s world. It’s officially priced at Rs. 3,399 in India, proper consistent with the Nokia 3310 (2017). We’ve spent over two weeks with the Nokia 5310 XpressMusic (2020), so we will let you know simply what this cellphone is able to, and whether or not you need to contemplate shopping for it.

The purple strips have quantity and music playback buttons for comfort

Nokia 5310 XpressMusic (2020) design, options and features

The new Nokia 5310 XpressMusic is a severe throwback, even by candybar characteristic cellphone requirements. The most fashionable factor about it’s that it could actually deal with twin SIMs, however then simply to be anachronistic, HMD Global, which operates the Nokia model and portfolio, has fitted this cellphone with two Mini-SIM slots. That’s proper, not Nano-SIM or the older Micro-SIM format, you need to go all the best way again to Mini-SIMs or discover adapters.

Another huge network-related caveat is that this cellphone is 2G solely, and does not work with Wi-Fi. Whatever you do handle to do with it, you will be restricted to pre-2008-era cellular Internet speeds. HMD Global thinks there’s plenty of demand for 2G phones in India, however why restrict individuals’s capability to reap the benefits of 3G service someplace down the road?

There’s a 0.Three megapixel digicam on the rear (640×480 decision) with a flash, which implies you do at the least get a flashlight, one of the appreciated options of low-end telephones in India. You get a Micro-USB charging port (which is able to USB 1.1 pace for information transfers – that is 1.5Mbps, in comparison with 480Mbps for USB 2.0) in addition to Bluetooth 3.0.

You get a alternative of black and white, each of which have purple aspect panels with buttons – quantity on the left, music playback on the appropriate – which is that this cellphone’s primary connection to its namesake. These are positioned comfortably however are a bit too simple to hit by chance. The cellphone overeall feels plasticky and is certainly entry-level; way more just like the current-day Nokia 1xx series than the unique Nokia 5310.

So we will clearly see that the Nokia 5310 XpressMusic (2020) falls means beneath even essentially the most fundamental requirements we would count on of a low-end cellphone at present. That doesn’t suggest it is unhealthy at what it is meant to do, although – it simply is not the type of cellphone you’d contemplate if you’d like any modern-day performance.

You’ll have to search out adapters with a purpose to use current-day Nano-SIMs

Living with the Nokia 5310 XpressMusic (2020)

As far as efficiency goes, the Nokia 5310 XpressMusic (2020) takes a few second to wake from standby if you press any button, however the UI is comparatively responsive. There’s no lag with fundamental workflow conditions, akin to typing a message utilizing T9 predictive textual content. HMD Global has used the identical ultra-low-end MediaTek Mediatek MT6260A processor that is within the Nokia 3310 (2017) and some different characteristic cellphone fashions.

There’s solely 8MB of RAM and 16MB of storage (sure that is MB, not GB) though microSD help does go as much as 32GB. You’ll clearly want to purchase a microSD card with a purpose to retailer music on what’s billed as a music cellphone.

You get a 2.4-inch 240×320-pixel display screen which is extraordinarily fundamental. You can see that photographs look blotchy, with coarse gradients the place colors ought to mix easily. Blacks are glassy and viewing angles are extraordinarily poor. That stated, the decision is not too unhealthy and you may have at the least 12 strains of textual content which does not make easy utilization really feel too constraining. You may even play low-res 3GPP movies, for what that is price.

The Series 30+ software program is definitely fairly succesful and there are a couple of considerate touches. You can select the menu grid density or swap to a listing view. There are helpful instruments together with a notes app, unit converter, calculator, 5 alarms, stopwatch, and timer. The calendar has solely a month-to-month view, however you may see the total grid on display screen. You can swap your complete UI from English to considered one of 9 Indian languages.

The 0.3-megapixel rear digicam takes nearly satisfactory photographs, and there is a flash

There’s no cloud syncing or performance of any kind, so you will must handle backups manually. You’re restricted to 2000 contacts plus your SIMs’ reminiscence. You cannot sync them however you may import them in bulk utilizing Bluetooth. Photos and movies recorded with the cellphone’s digicam will likely be saved to a microSD card when you have one inserted, and this cannot be modified (however you would not wish to anyway with solely 16MB on the cellphone).

Typing is a little bit tough due to the strips of plastic used within the design of this cellphone slightly than particular person buttons. However, we actually favored having a threaded message view and in-line reply performance inside the Messages app. If you truly use your cellphone principally to make voice calls, you will discover the standard first rate, and the machine comfy to carry for lengthy stretches.

Battery life is a vivid spot – the 1200mAh battery is rated for 20.7 hours of steady talktime and an unbelievable 22 days of standby time. In our expertise we discovered that the battery simply didn’t wish to die, although after all our utilization was very fundamental and intermittent since there wasn’t a lot to do on this cellphone. We solely managed to run the battery down fully as soon as over the course of two weeks. Charging sadly takes practically 5 hours, due to the puny 550mA charger you get within the field.

Then there’s music. There are two options that justify the XpressMusic tag on this mannequin’s title: the stereo audio system, and wi-fi FM radio. The audio system are front-facing and evenly balanced, which is fairly neat for a low-end characteristic cellphone. Sound can get loud sufficient to replenish a decent-sized room, however do not count on nice high quality. Music sounded harsh and had nearly no life, with bass principally lacking and intensely muddy particulars. If you simply wish to blast some tunes, this cellphone will do.

You get a Micro-USB port and a 3.5mm audio socket on the highest

Wireless FM radio signifies that you do not want a wired headset appearing as an antenna, although a message on display screen instructed us that we would get higher reception with one plugged in. Even with out an SD card for MP3 information, you’ll have some enjoyable on the go. Speaking of headsets although, the one included within the field can also be extraordinarily fundamental – it does not also have a button to manage playback. Music sounded actually terrible when utilizing it, and we received an instantaneous improve in sound high quality by switching to our personal fundamental earphones.

If you purchase this cellphone due to nostalgia, the Snake sport will likely be an unlimited letdown. It’s frankly horrible and no enjoyable in any respect to play. Far from being a promoting level, it is nothing just like the originals. Our unit additionally had a couple of different video games – Asphalt 6, Assasin’s Creed Unity, and Doodle Jump all sound like main titles however these are massively scaled-down variations of the video games you is perhaps anticipating. You can solely launch them thrice earlier than being requested to pay for continued entry, which is not price it in our opinion.

Internet connectivity over 2G may be irritating nevertheless it could also be a lifesaver for a lot of tens of millions of individuals. You get the Opera Mini browser, which for some cause determined to load up the desktop variations of many websites that we tried. It struggles with fashionable web sites and even easy issues like pop-up advertisements. You have to maneuver a cursor across the display screen utilizing the course pad. Some web sites, akin to YouTube, confirmed up as cellular websites. We have been in a position to browse round pretty simply however movies would not play.

The Facebook icon within the menu appeared like a refreshing breath of modernity, nevertheless it solely directs you to the cellular web site. You’ll have the ability to test standing updates, depart feedback, reply to good friend requests, and even learn articles that individuals have posted, however there isn’t any Messenger or Facebook Watch.

Clockwise from high left: The Devices360.com residence web page; studying an article; the reimagined Snake; the Calendar app; a Facebook put up; YouTube

The Mobile Store app gives further video games, a few of that are free and others that are demos. There are additionally tabs for Apps, Wallpapers, and Ringtones you can obtain (when you have space for storing), although these did not work for us in any respect.

That brings us to the digicam, and as soon as once more, you need to decrease your expectations. Photos are captured at 640×480 and movies at 320×240. There are a couple of color filters, a self timer, a flash toggle, a burst choice, and surprisingly even an evening mode. Photos and movies are expectedly terrible, with patchy colors, poor exposures, and barely any element exterior the principle focus space. At night time, the digicam is barely efficient even in effectively lit rooms. Night mode trades plenty of noise for a little bit element. The flash is surprisingly highly effective, however harsh.

That stated, when you’ve by no means had a cellphone with a digicam (or any type of digicam) earlier than, you will at the least have the ability to seize your reminiscences and save photographs of individuals’s faces, which may very well be price quite a bit. You can set a photograph as your wallpaper, switch a number of information without delay utilizing Bluetooth, and ship MMS messages, that are additionally beneficial features.

Overall, the Nokia 5310 XpressMusic (2020) doesn’t even come near providing a smartphone expertise. Apps cannot run within the background (though music and the radio can maintain taking part in) and there are not any push notifications. You can overlook about wealthy social media, streaming, and many of the apps that individuals really need lately. WhatsApp, which is available on other Nokia feature phones and has been a big selling point for the Jio Phone sequence, is lacking. You do not even get swappable covers in numerous colors.

Nokia 3510 XpressMusic (2020) daytime picture pattern (precise dimension)

Nokia 3510 XpressMusic (2020) daytime close-up picture pattern (precise dimension)

Nokia 3510 XpressMusic (2020) low-light picture pattern (precise dimension)

Nokia 3510 XpressMusic (2020) low-light picture pattern with flash (precise dimension)

Verdict

We aren’t trying on the Nokia 5310 XpressMusic (2020) solely via the lens of smartphone customers, and we do not blame it for not dwelling as much as such requirements. It’s clear that nobody would contemplate this a substitute for essentially the most inexpensive Android fashions such because the Redmi Go (at the moment priced starting at Rs. 4,299)

There are tens of millions of individuals whose lives could be improved by having even such a fundamental cellphone. However, when you simply want one thing inexpensive and straightforward to make use of, HMD Global additionally sells the comparably succesful Nokia 216 at Rs. 2,749. If you do not see any level in 2G connectivity, you can get the Nokia 105 for as little as Rs. 1,299.

HMD Global is clearly not focusing on this cellphone at entry-level patrons – it is taking part in on the Nokia legacy and utilizing the twin audio system as a worth proposition. That is not fairly adequate for us – for one, the unique Nokia 5310 was nowhere close to as iconic because the Nokia 3310. Would anybody purchase this as a secondary cellphone, or consciously wish to keep away from smartphones however nonetheless like one thing to make use of primarily for music? We assume that is a really, very small area of interest.

The lineup of “classic” fashions helps join the brand new Nokia of at present with the respect and affection that the model was related to, however first-time cellphone customers with extraordinarily restricted budgets do not care about backstories. It could be higher to supply them gadgets which might be as inexpensive and usable as potential, and redirect the nostalgia into gadgets extra appropriate for a mature market.