Nokia 5220 XpressMusic review: Funky-shape jukebox

Nokia 5220 XpressMusic is set to play for it all in the mass market segment. A bunch of music niceties, slim waistline and novel design are crowned with the XpressMusic logo, and that's enough of a commitment to cool sonic experience. The gentle price tag only makes things all the sweeter.

But the new XpressMusic mid-ranger needs to make an epic run. It follows in the wake of Nokia 5310, which the house claims to be the best selling music phone in the world with more than 10 million units sold globally. So, no wonder we start this review with a bag full of mixed feelings.

Nokia 5220 is priced quite close to Nokia 5310 and, while obviously positioned below (model designation), it manages to outperform it in quite a few tasks. Well then, besides exploring the newcomer today, we will also be trying to resolve a rather challenging XpressMusic dilemma for all music-loving fans out there.

Nokia 5220 official photos

Nokia 5220 XpressMusic is breaking free of the traditional bar form factor and that's a nice attempt to spice up the XpressMusic portfolio and turn up the youthful appeal of the lineup. It's a lower midrange handset alright, but it's a style statement in its own right.

If it's megapixel count and ample touchscreen that gets you excited, you are bound to look elsewhere. But the Nokia 5220 offers a truly music-rich experience at an attractive price tag. If that's your game, hop on and let's see how cool is saying no to symmetry.

Key features

• 10.6 mm slim and lightweight body
• Exciting asymmetrical design
• Tri-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support
• S40 5th edition user interface, FP1
• 2" 256K-color display of QVGA resolution
• Ambient light sensor
• Hot-swappable microSD card slot, 512MB included
• Snappy 2 megapixel camera (with NIPS low light optimization)
• Decent keypad
• Nokia Maps
• Yahoo! integration
• Nice set of enjoyable games

Music features:

• Dedicated music keys
• Music light effects
• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
• Dedicated music chip
• Stereo loudspeakers
• Stereo Bluetooth (A2DP)
• Stereo FM radio with RDS
• Large capacity battery

Main disadvantages

• Cheapo plastic build
• Tri-band only
• No 3G support
• No smart dialing
• No multi-tasking
• No office document viewer
• QCIF video recording (only good for MMS)

Nokia 5220 XpressMusic is a nice music-centric offering that stays on the path of the most popular music handset by Nokia - 5310 XpressMusic. What could've been an utterly unassuming handset was it not a tad askew, surprisingly manages to address many of the issues of the higher-spec'd 5310. So much so that making the choice between the two seems a tough call now that their price tags are pretty similar.

Nokia 5220 XpressMusic

In this form factor Nokia don't have too much competition for their 5310 and 5220 XpressMusic phones. Sony Ericsson hardly have any ultra slim Walkmans in this price range except perhaps for the elderly Sony Ericsson W880.

Sony Ericsson W880

The Sony Ericsson W302 is also an excellent choice, but the Nokia handsets have more impressive spec sheets.

Sony Ericsson W302

Samsung are capable of matching everything Nokia offers in this form factor and market segment with the Samsung M3510 Beat b, which should be available really soon. Plus, the M3510 Beat b tops the XpressMusic lot with shake control and turn-to-mute.

Samsung M3510 Beat b

Anyway, competition is not that tough for the Nokia 5220 and its biggest challenge will probably be to emulate the feat of Nokia's own 5310.

Nokia 5310 XpressMusic

All that aside, let's clear the stage for our music star. Tune in after the break as we look at what makes this baby click.