Nokia 5310 XpressMusic
19 DEC 2007
Launch price
from £free
Stuff says
The 5310 is satisfyingly thin and a cool music phone but fails to bring Walkman-beating audio talents to the table
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Nokia has been guiltier than most of letting Sony Ericsson waltz in unchallenged and plonk its Walkman flag right in the middle of planet mobile music. Sure, it’s hit back recently with big stadium-sized rockers like the N81 8GB and N95 8GB but when it comes to mid-range Indie-sized phones, Nokia has pulled up short with its XpressMusic flock.
Only four strong, the 5200, 5300 and 5700’s toy town aesthetic wore off after several listens. But the Finnish manufacturer has seemingly learnt from its mistakes and the next wave of XpressMusos – including the 5310 – are shorn of this transient X-Factor quality.
W880i-matching waist
The 5310 is the successor to the Fisher Price-esque 5300 slider and sports a waif-like candybar figure. After the slimline 6500 Classic, Nokia is obviously getting a taste for dieting and at 9.9mm thick the 5310 matches the Sony Ericsson W880i in the Nano-lean stakes.
Nokia hasn’t completely abandoned the XpressMusic colour code but the 5310’s dark grey and metallic red combo isn’t as jarring. Perched on the scarlet aluminium side bars are dedicated music controls for easy access and the player itself has all the right moves.
A seven mode equalizer (two are customisable) boosts the sound and Nokia has miraculously found space on the 5310’s exceedingly trim torso for a 3.5mm headphone jack. Although the sound can be a tad muddy, plug in your quality cans and it gets clearer with driving bass. Another sweet addition is the support for Stereo Bluetooth for wireless streaming of music.