Nokia Launches the 5250 Mid-Range Phone

 

 

With the proliferation of highly advanced smartphones, it’s amazin how Nokia still continues to produce low-end phones yet possessing some nice, advanced features. One of these phones is the Nokia 5250, a touchscreen phone powered by Symbian and is being geared as a music-centric mobile phone.

The Nokia 5250 main feature has got to be its music player which has its own icon on the phone’s homescreen. The music player app supports Nokia’s Ovi Music Store, meaning you can purchase music tracks from the online store and download it directly to the Nokia 5250 phone. While the phone’s built-in memory is only 512MB which could hardly accomodate thousands of music tracks, you have the option to expand it via a microSD memory card up to 16GB. Aside from this, the Nokia 5250 also comes with a built-in FM radio and a complementary copy of Guitar Hero 5 Mobile.

Aside from the music player on the phone’s homescreen, there are also other apps, particularly social networking app such as Facebook, MySpace and others. The phone also lets you access your Ovi Mail, Gmail and Yahoo! Mail. You can also check out your IM accounts. For more apps, you can just check the Ovi Store to get the apps supported by the phone.

And since this is a music phone, it has to have long battery life. Fortunately, the Nokia 5250 can last you up to 24 hours of continous music playback or up to 18 days standby and 7 hours talktime.

Other features of the Nokia 5250 include - Symbian^1 OS, GSM/EDGE Network connectivity, 2.8-inch TFT screen with 16:9 aspect ratio and 640×360 resolution, and a 2 MP camera.

The Nokia 5250 is slated for a 4th Quarter release. It will cost you €115 to score this phone.

Via Nokia Conversations

Nokia E5

13th April 2010

The Nokia E5 is Nokia's first device in their "new" E-Series range, with the "5" indicating that Nokia believe this to be a midrange business device

Somewhat similar to the Nokia E72 in terms of specification, the E5 combines business messaging with social networking, supporting corporate email systems like Exchange and Lotus Notes on one hand, and social sites such as Twitter and Facebook on the other. It is questionable if corporate customers will actually want their staff to muck about with social networking on their company phones though, but that's another matter entirely.

This is a Symbian smartphone, running S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2. As well as messaging and social networking, the E5 comes with GPS and free navigation software, a VPN client, remote wipe capabilities plus all the usual features that you would expect to find in a messaging smartphone.

The display is a fairly standard 2.4" 320 x 240 pixel panel, on the back is a 5 megapixel camera with an LED flash. With regards to connectivity, the Nokia E5 supports 3.5G data with maximum download speeds of up to 10.2Mbps on HSDPA and maximum HSUPA upload speeds of 2Mbps. The E5 supports WiFi as well, and quad-band GSM and tri-band UMTS capabilities mean that it should work worldwide.

Inside is a 1200 mAh battery which Nokia say can power the E5 for up to 5.5 hours talktime on 3G and a massive 18.5 hours if you drop back to GSM. Standby time is up to 29 days. There's also a microSD slot (a 2GB card is included), a 3.5mm AV connector and the whole package weighs in at 126 grams.

The E5 is pitched to sell at just €180 before tax and subsidy, which we think is a pretty good deal, although consumers might want to look at the new Ce which will be half the price. The E5 should be available in a variety of colour schemes including black, white, blue, copper and silver when it becomes available sometime during Q3 2010.

Nokia C6

One of a trio of new social networking phones from Nokia, the Nokia C6 is pretty much a straight replacement for the Unloved Nokia N97, featuring a 3.2" touchscreen display, WiFi and 3.5G support, GPS and a 5 megapixel camera.

Nokia say that the C6 is aimed at social networkers, and it includes built in support for Facebook and Ovi plus popular webmail and instant messaging applications. But at it's heart, the C6 is a Symbian smartphone running the Symbian^1 operating system (also known as S60 5.0). Nokia say that the home screen is customizable to allow direct access to favourite features.

The technical specifications for the Nokia C6 are very close to the N97 - there a 3.2" 360 x 640 pixel touchscreen display, a 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and flash, HSDPA support, WiFi, integrated GPS, microSD expandable memory (with a 2GB card in the box), a media player, FM radio and 3.5mm AV connector.

Charging is done through a micro USB connector, hopefully Nokia have sorted out the quality problems with the connector which

It's worth noting that the keyboard arrangement is more conventional that the N97, with four rows of keys and a small space bar in the middle. The navigation pad has moved from the left to the right and there are three keys on the front of the unit in the same style as the 5800. The large screen and slide out keyboard mean that this is a fairly heavy device at 150 grams.

The C6 is a fairly sophisticated bit of kit, but Nokia's naming convention puts it just one place about the mass-market C5 which indicates that Nokia are aiming the C6 squarely at the upper midrange market. The price is very appealing too.. all this technology comes in at just €220 before tax and subsidy.

The C6 is hardly a radical phone, it's simply an improvement and evolution of what Nokia have produced before.. and this is probably what gives the phone its appeal. Nokia say that the C6     should be available during Q2 2010 in black and white colour

Nokia C3

Available now

13th April 2010

The Nokia C3 is a BlackBerry-style messaging device aimed at social networkers, which despite the expensive looks is set to retail at just €90 before tax and subsidy when it hits the streets sometime this quarter.

So what do you get for your €90? Actually, quite a lot. There's a 2.4" 320 x 240 pixel display, 2 megapixel camera, FM radio, media player, 3.5mm AV connector, microSD memory and an integrated QWERTY keyboard.

Although this isn't a 3G device, the C3 does support WiFi. Nokia are pitching devices like the C3 as laptop substitutes, so you can use the C3 around home or another wireless hotspot without being charged by your carrier.

This is a Series 40 phone rather than a Symbian smartphone, but Nokia have still managed to equip it with support for social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook, plus decent web browsing capabilities.

Inside is a large 1320 mAh battery which powers the C3 for up to 7 hours talktime and 20 days standby time. It's a bit larger and heavier than a normal phone at 114 grams and 116 x 58 x 14mm, but it is still very pocket friendly.

There are other low-end messaging phones competing with the C3, but this has the advantage that it says "Nokia" on it.. and it definitely looks like a more pricey phone that it really is. Nokia say that the C3 should be available during Q2 2010 in Slate Grey, Golden White and Hot Pink colour combinations.

Nokia X6

Available now 
2nd September 2009

One of a pair of "X Series" phones to be announced by Nokia, the Nokia X6 is a step up from the existing 

Nokia 5800 XpressMusic.

Sleeker than the 5800, the X6 has a very similar 3.2" 640 x 360 pixel display (the same panel that is in the 

N95 MINI

) but it now has a 5 megapixel camera on the back which addresses one key weakness of the 5800.

The "X" designation seems to be Nokia's new version of "XpressMusic", and the X6 comes in both a normal version and a "Comes with Music" variant allowing unlimited music downloads. Perhaps Nokia think that the shorter name will be more memorable when the X6 faces off against the iphone.

Apart from the camera and smarter design, the differences between this and the 5800 are few and far between. One major one is that the X6 comes with 32GB of non-expandable memory, and of course in the year since the 5800 was launched, the X6 will have picked up several software updates including better support for social networking sites.

This is a 3G phone with tri-band UMTS and support for HSDPA downloads at a maximum of 6 Mbps. It also has quad-band GSM and WiFi, although Chinese and South American versions are different.

Nokia are promoting the X6 as a media player, and it can cope with almost all major audio and video formats. Usefully, the X6 comes with a TV-out port and can take a standard 3.5mm audio plug. You can also play back through stereo Bluetooth or the X6's built-in stereo speakers. There's an FM radio for good measure, and the internal memory should be enough for plenty of music or quite a few videos.

We mentioned the camera, and this is the familiar 5 megapixel unit with autofocus, Carl Zeiss optics and a dual-LED flash that we have seen a lot of lately. Video recording is up to 640 x 480 pixels at 30 frames per second which is certainly good enough for TV playback or YouTube. The Nokia X6 also has a built-in photo and video editor, and pictures can be shared through Ovi.

There's a web browser with Flash Lite support and an email client that supports standard protocols and Microsoft Exchange. Although this is very much a device aimed at consumers, the mail support may attract corporate customers who may otherwise be considering the iPhone.

Because this is an S60 smartphone, new applications can be added at a later date, but there a quite a lot of 

applications 

preloaded.. including a version of Spore. S60 still lacks the polish of Apple's offering, but it keeps getting better and it is certainly very usable.

It's all very nice, and you might expect that the X6 is the straight replacement for the 5800 until you see the price tag. Nokia are pitching the X6 at €450 before tax and subsidy, compared with just €250 before tax for a SIM-free 5800. This is the same price as the N95 MINI, and really we think that is too expensive for what is quite a modest upgrade in specifications.

Nokia say that the X6 should be available during Q4 2009 in White/Blue and Black/Red colour combinations.