Camera Phones Plaza

Even if Xpress Music is on its last wave, Nokia is still trying to plus on the last minute, with several good mobile phones. Basically, it is not a bad investment to purchase an Xpress Music phone right now for several reasons. Firstly, the price is much lower than before. As a second reason, your new phone still provides solid features, and last but not least, the new brand "X" comes with phones rather similar in features. The only difference is probably going to be the new logo, and the new design.

However, if those two are not really a concern for you, then you should be thrilled with the multitude of cheap music orientated phones you can now find on the market. If you are looking for an old candy bar form, music orientated Symbian phone, then take a closer look at Nokia 5320 Xpress Music.


So, what could Nokia 5320 Xpress Music pack? If you are interested in a high resolution camera, it is probably your time to ditch this article. However, if you are looking for excellent quality music and a full package of connectivity, then do please read the entire article. The main disadvantages found on the 5320 Xpress Music are not all that uncommon, for this price range. You get a normal to sub normal camera resolution with bad video recording, not that great battery life (although the screen is not that big at all), and no Wi-Fi. The design is probably one of the greatest found on an Xpress Music phone. This current design, in terms of colors and materials is used in the new "X" line.

The only difference is the angler design. The design is not all youth orientated. It's opened for larger potential customers. Even if the 5320 Xpress Music is made entirely out of plastic, it doesn't look cheap at all. Also, the phone is not glossy at all, being made out of a matte plastic, providing you with a better grip. Believe it or not, Nokia played with geometry in this design.


To understand, just take a look on the front of the phone, above the display, and you will understand. The second digital camera for enabling the video calls is the symmetric sibling of the Xpress Music menu key, with the origin point: the earpiece. Under the display you will get the navigational buttons. Beside the four way key controls (left, right, up, and down), you get centered in this navigational pad, the OK / SET button. On the right side of the D-pad you get, from top to bottom, a soft key, the menu launch button, and the call key. On the opposite side you get another soft key, the back button, and the end call key. Under the navigational pad, you can find the alphanumerical keyboard.

This keyboard has a classic layout, but it will seem weird because of its design. However, all the buttons are easy to use and provide good feedback. A little shortage might just be the slippery material the keyboard is made out. On the right side you can find the dedicated camera key and upper the camera key, you will find the volume controls.


On the left side, Nokia 5320 Xpress Music brings the dedicated music keys (forward, backward, play and pause), but also the card slot, covered by a nice plastic. On the top of this phone, Nokia only included the Power on and off button, while on the bottom side you will get from left to right, the micro USB slot also covered, the 3.5 mm audio jack, and the input charger slot. On the back, the Nokia 5320 Xpress Music sports on the upper center a 2 megapixel digital camera with dual LED flash. The 5320 body, is well made, you get no weird noises when pressing it, no nothing.

The build quality is impressive for a plastic covered phone. Nokia 5320 Xpress Music runs in 2G network - GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 and in 3G network - HSDPA 900 / 2100 and HSDPA 850 / 1900. Nokia included in the 5320 Xpress Music a 2 inches TFT display with 240 x 320 pixels, sporting up to 16 million colors. The picture quality is good, even if the screen size is too small. This display offers vibrant colors and an average brightness. You shouldn't have any problems with visibility under direct sunlight.

However, the ARM 11 369 MHz processor is not enough to run at its full potential the Symbian 9.3 operating system with the version 3.2. Although the operating system is good, the user experience might not be as what you are expecting, if you will use multi tasking.  The user interface is fully customizable, while the organizer, calendar, and telephony functions are excellent.


Nokia ships the 5320 Xpress Music with an onboard memory of 140 MB, expandable using micro SD memory cards, or Trans Flash memory cards, up to 8 GB. The connectivity is well ensured by the Class 32 GPRS, Class 32 EDGE, HSCSD, Bluetooth version 2.0 with A2DP, and the micro USB port. The major disadvantage of this phone is indubitable the 2 megapixel digital camera with 1600 x 1200 pixels and LED flash. The camera is below any standards for a 2009 phone (but this is probably the main reason why this phone comes cheap). The camera also records in QVGA resolution with only 15 frames per second. Nokia included in the 5320 Xpress Music only an 890 mAh Lithium Ion battery (BL 5B model). This battery should offer about 250 hours of standby in 2G networks, and about 240 hours of standby in 3G networks.

The talk time is only 3 hour and 30 minutes for 2G networks and 2 hours and 30 minutes for the 3G network. Overall, for an average user all these values should mean about 24 hours of battery life. Nokia included in the retail package, beside the actual phone and battery, a 1 GB micro SD memory card, a mandatory charger, CD software, a micro USB cable, and a smart Xpress Music had free. Overall, Nokia 5320 Xpress Music is an average product. It can barely be considered state of the art. Even so, with good connectivity, nice music features and a small price, 5320 Xpress Music will have its share of sales.