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Nokia 5230 Overview

Expected UK Release Date: Available

Key Features
Touch Screen Stylus
3.2 Inch 16.7 Million Colour Touch Screen (640 x 360 Pixels)
Video Player with 4 x Video Zoom
4.6 Hours Video Playback
Music Player with Dedicated Music Keys
33 Hours Music Playback
2 Megapixel Camera with 3 x Digital Zoom
FM Radio
70 Mbytes Memory plus Supports up to 16 Gbytes MicroSD™ Memory
3G HSDPA Technology
HTML, XHTML & WML Internet

Design
70%
Usability
63%
Features
70%

The above ratings are average figures, which have been generated from submitted mobile phone reviews.

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Our Nokia 5230 Review

The Nokia 5230 is a fashionable looking touch screen phone complete with a high quality design. The handset comes in a black or white coloured casing & the white coloured casing comes with a red, dark silver, pink, yellow or blue changeable coloured battery cover which lets the user change the look of their handset quickly & easily. The Black coloured casing comes with a high gloss finish & the user will find two changeable battery covers which come in a red colour & a dark silver colour. The 5230 supports a Symbian operating system version 9.4 with series 60 software. It has a good size touch screen which measures 3.2 Inch diagonally & provides a bright & colourful display complete with onscreen controls. This touch screen displays up to 16.7 million colours on a high resolution screen. A touch screen stylus comes with the handset allowing the user to make onscreen selection with complete accuracy. The Nokia 5230 is compact & slender in design but a fair size handset due to its large touch screen. Its overall size is 11.1cm high, 5.17cm wide, 1.55cm deep & it weighs 115 grams including its stylus.

A built in Internet browser supports a HTML, XHTML & a WML Internet experience & the user can enjoy RSS feeds on their handset to keep them informed of updates on their favourite websites. The user of the Nokia 5230 can create, send. Receive & store emails on their phone. The email communication allows the user to stay in their email contacts when the user is out & about with this service available on their phone. The 5230 supports a SMS text message service as well as a MMS multimedia picture messaging service which allows the user to create & share messages with their friends, family & business colleagues. These messaging services provide the user with user friendly communication methods when a phone call will not suffice or is not possible. The messaging service support a predictive text method if the user wishes to create a message with less taps of a key as this feature will automatically predict the word the user is starting to type. It has a built in clock which has either an analogue or digital displays depending on the user's preference. The user can use the integrated alarm feature to wake them up each day or set the alarm as a reminder. A built in phonebook holds all the users contact details which can be accessed quickly & easily when the user needs their contacts details. The Nokia 5230 has a flight mode setting which allows the user to select the flight mode when the user is in a mobile phone restricted area such as on a plane or entering a hospital, which allows the user to access a selection of features on their phone whilst in these areas as the phones radio transmitters are disabled for safety purposes.

Nokia 5230 3G phone front view
Nokia 5230 3G phone back view
Nokia 5230 3G phone angle view

An integrated FM radio provides the user with an easy to use radio feature which allows the user to enjoy a radio listening experience on their stylish phone. The 5230 has a music player which supports popular music formats which include MP3, MP4, AAC, eAAC+, WMA music formats & this music player comes with easy to reach dedicated music keys. The user can enjoy approximately thirty three hours of music playback time from a fully charged battery. A well positioned volume key control allows the user to control the loudness with ease. The Nokia 5230 has a speaker allowing the user to hear their music out loud or the user can plug in a compatible set of headphones for a more private & personal listening experience. The Nokia 5230 has an integrated two megapixel camera which comes with a digital zoom function which allows the user to get up closer to their subject when the user is taking a shot. The can capture, store, share & edit their photos on the Nokia 5230. A selection of imaging features allow the user to capture the best possible shot when using the camera feature & the user can change the camera settings & modes for an entirely different look to each photo. This two megapixel camera feature comes with a dedicated capture key which allows the user to capture a photo easily. The camera supports video recording capabilities & the user can playback video footage whilst enjoying the high colour touch screen display. A fully charged battery allows the user to enjoy approximately 4.76 hours of video playback on the Nokia 5230.

This phone supports 3G HSDPA technology which provides high speed connectivity & the user can enjoy using their handset over a quad band GSM network or over 3G networks including HSDPA 900 & 2100. The 5230 has an A GPS navigation feature which supports a Nokia Maps 2.0 touch application allowing the user to view maps on their touch screen. This user can transfer data files between the Nokia 5230 & other devices at high speed thanks to the phones built in EDGE technology. When connecting to other devices the user can use either a Bluetooth® connection or a USB connection between the phone & other compatible devices. The Bluetooth® connection provides a wireless connection between the 5230 & a Bluetooth® compatible device which is up to ten metres away from the Nokia 5230. A USB connection allows the user to use a USB cable when transfer data which has one end plugged into the 5230 & the other end can be plugged into a compatible device providing the user with a cabled transfer method. A fitted battery can provide up to approximately seven hours of GSM talk time or approximately four hours 20 minutes of 3G talk time from a fully charged battery. The Nokia 5230 has seventy megabytes of internal memory & the user can add a hot swappable MicroSD™ memory card up to sixteen gigabytes in memory size.


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Nokia 5230 Specifications & Features

Screen
3.2 Inch 16.7 Million Colour Touch Screen (640 x 360 Pixels)

Imaging
2 Megapixel Camera
3 x Digital Zoom
Photo Editor
White Balance (Auto, Sunny, Cloudy, Fluorescent & Incandescent)
Colour Tone (Normal, Sepia, Black & White, Vivid & Negative)
Dedicated Camera Key
Video Player (MPEG4, 3GP & WMV)
4 x Video Zoom
Video Recording
Scene Mode (Auto & Night)
Video Editor
Video Settings

Messaging
SMS (Text Messaging)
MMS (Multimedia Messaging)
Email
Predictive Text

Sound
Music Player (MP3, MP4, AAC, eAAC+ & WMA)
Dedicated Music Keys
Speaker
Volume Key
FM Radio
MP3, Video, 3D & Polyphonic Ringtones

Entertainment
Java™ Games
Embedded Games
Downloadable Games
Organiser
Phonebook
Contacts
Calendar
Calculator
Notes
Reminders
Clock (Analogue & Digital)
Alarm Clock
Converter
To Do List
Speaker Phone
Call Log (Dialled, Missed & Received)
Flight Mode
Touch Screen Stylus
A GPS Navigation
Nokia Maps 2.0 Touch

Connectivity
3G HSDPA
Bluetooth® A2DP
Micro USB
EDGE

Network
Quad Band (GSM 850, GSM 900, GSM 1800 & GSM 1900)
HSDPA 900 & 2100

Internet
HTML, XHTML & WML
RSS Feeds

Memory & Talk Time
70 Mbytes Memory plus Supports up to 16 Gbytes MicroSD™ Memory
7 Hours GSM Talk Time
4.3 Hours 3G Talk Time
438 Hours GSM Standby
458 Hours 3G Standby
4.6 Hours Video Playback
33 Hours Music Playback

Weight & Size
115 g
111 x 51.7 x 15.5 mm



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Your Nokia 5230 Reviews

Click here to add your own review for the Nokia 5230
Click here to add your own review for the Nokia 5230



Reviewer: Ian - Glasgow, UK
Date: 26th Jul 2010

Great, cheap Smartphone with decent sat nav (get an in car charger as it eats batteries, so does using the Web).

BUT, the screen is very hard to see on a sunny day & Nokia Ovi store & Ovi software are incredibly frustrating to use. I got my phone 2 days before going on holiday, I finally managed to download maps of my holiday destination using Nokia Ovi PC suite about a week after I got back!

Design
70%
Usability
70%
Features
70%

Reviewer: Anon - US
Date: 19th Jul 2010

This phone is very easy to use. I upgraded from a 6301 Nokia which is basic & I know how to work this thing after 2 weeks. One bugbear, the SIM card & memory card flaps are awkward & very flimsy.

Overall I am very impressed.

Design
90%
Usability
95%
Features
100%

Reviewer: Andre Patterson - UK
Date: 15th Jul 2010

Was happy then I was not (repeat this phrase) this is because a website I use updated saying I needed a flash adobe player so a friend told me about skyfire through ovi store however for some reason the phone would not connect to ovi sending me to both t mobile & Nokia for solutions who blamed each other for the problem. Eventually I replied to a email from Nokia & somehow was able to enter ovi & download skyfire. For a while things were running smoothly until my skyfire would not connect something about (APN) & at the same time I cannot connect to ovi I am so fed up & my phone still won't update strange someone please help.

Design
40%
Usability
50%
Features
65%

Reviewer: Kev - UK
Date: 9th Jul 2010

Only paid £48 new for this, really can't complain, it does everything it says it does straight out the box.

I had a problem with Internet access costing a fortune, but O2 sent new settings & it's working a treat. This phone accepted all 4 SIM's belonging to the family all from different suppliers. I am only comparing this to the 2 Tocco's in the household but have to say that my wife, daughter & myself prefer the Nokia, son says it's OK but prefers his BlackBerry.

Design
90%
Usability
85%
Features
85%

Reviewer: Pat - Canterbury, UK
Date: 1st Jul 2010

Horrible, cheap & nasty!

I got one today as an unwanted upgrade from my contract - certainly not an upgrade from my Nokia N95 which I shall continue to use!

Nasty flimsy plastic case, felt it might break as I removed the cover to insert battery, very poor camera & it seems to want to connect to the Internet at every opportunity so beware! I haven't even bothered to register it, & it will be on eBay later today with no reserve.

Design
50%
Usability
50%
Features
50%

Reviewer: Peter J - Burton on trent, UK
Date: 6th Jun 2010

Totally frustating & is driving me mad, therefore it be going back ASAP.

Design
20%
Usability
5%
Features
20%

Reviewer: Ivan - Swaffham, UK
Date: 26th May 2010

I brought my 5230 as a replacement for a Samsung J700 last month. I was torn between the 5230 & a Samsung Tocco at the time of purchase, but the Nokia piped the Samsung on its features.

It was brought from Carphone Warehouse on Vodafone pay as you talk for £89.99 (including £10 top up). I also brought a 4GB micro SD card & leather pouch, bringing the total purchase price to £113.97. Overall, I am quite impressed with it.

It has a loud ring which I like to have at work, even with a song MP3 set as a ringtone, & even in its pouch I can feel it vibrate & hear it ring. My only niggles are I can't delete music files from the music library I have added, the battery doesn't last as long as I would like, so now I have a car charger, & it has an annoying habit of freezing or locking up on me for no reason.

I have also had some issues with it running very slowly. I downloaded ovi maps with navigation for free, but I am not impressed with it, as it uses loads of battery in drive or walk mode, & can't find its way home from 4 miles from my house.

The other thing that annoys me some of the settings are automatically designed to connect to the net, if you are unaware of this, it can take lots of calling credit, as other Vodafone users will testify!

Overall I am happy, & hope its last me a while.

Design
90%
Usability
70%
Features
80%

Reviewer: Unimpressed - Glasgow, UK
Date: 13th May 2010

Maybe a bit unfair because I've only just got it, but I am already fed up, & I am just trying to set it up. I just bought a 5230 & an iPhone for myself & my wife (she didn't want us to spend the extra for two iPhones. Boy oh boy, chalk & cheese. Two hours of intuitive fun setting up the iPhone & it's brilliant. My nine year old keeps running away with it. TV, games, useful reference etc etc. Each time I switch it on I discover something cool.

An entire night I am still trying to just transfer existing contacts to the Nokia. A Pain. If you want something that just works find the funds for an iPhone. I am sure the Nokia is fine if you're a tech head. Or don't have something else to compare it to. This is going back.

Design
20%
Usability
15%
Features
40%

Reviewer: Ludwik - Leeds, UK
Date: 11th May 2010

- The phone gets better with use.
- Call quality is still very good.
- GPS works very well with both OVI & Google maps.
- Voice recognition in Google maps works quite well 70%.
- Built in Nokia browser still giving me problems, so have downloaded opera mini 5, Opera mobile 10 & skyfire as alternative web browsers. Opera mini 5 is very fast, No flash & sometimes poor at rendering with text overlapping. Opera mobile 10 is slower, but has flash lite support & better rendering. Skyfire, full flash support, even allows me (sometimes) to watch bbc iplayer & itvplayer videos & live bbc tv! But this beta version is buggy.

Design
90%
Usability
80%
Features
80%

Reviewer: Duffy - Newcastle, UK
Date: 5th May 2010

This phone doesn't have it all but it does have enough & for the price the features are excellent.

Pros.
- Camera, yes it's 2MP but the quality of the lens produces some decent shots, image size isn't too large either.
- 3.5G, required due to lack of Wi-Fi, speedy connection.
- Design, not to every ones taste but quite pleasing on the eye.
- Touchscreen, not capacitive but good feedback & minimal incorrect key presses, scrolling is OK.
- Shortcuts, Symbian is great if you're used to it & the widget feature on the home screen is a nice touch.
- 3.5mm, very important to me, hate 'own brand' headsets.
- OVI Maps, Free navigation can't knock it works better than my tom-tom, couple it with the own voice app in the store & you can have hours of fun.

Cons.
- Wi-Fi or lack of.
- Camera, performs well but a flash of some kind would be nice.
- Touchscreen, down as a pro but some selections when browsing refuse to accept.
- OVI Store, getting better but not quite there yet.

On a personal note I picked up a Samsung Genio Slide by chance & found it appalling, screen resolution was shocking & despite some good features it just did not appeal to me.

Swapped for this little beauty & was glad I did, my E71 is still in my drawer but I refuse to give that up!

Design
80%
Usability
90%
Features
85%

Reviewer: Greg Kemble - Lincs, UK
Date: 28th Apr 2010

Had this phone for just over a month & love it, it's simple to use & the touch screen is very responsive, this is my first touch screen & after toying with this & the Samsung S5600 I opted for this one, I had a friend who had the Samsung & she hated a few bits with it but they were both good cheap contract deals on 3.

Love the OVI maps & app store where there are a few useful & a few fun things to get for free, the best has got to be the Skyfire web browser, it plays all videos online it seems,

I've even dropped it onto a concrete floor from about 5 feet up & it's survived!

To me the only 2 things that would make it a great phone for the price would be Wi-Fi & a built in stylus, it does come with a plectrum shaped stylus but I don't like it therefore don't use it

All in all very happy.

Design
95%
Usability
95%
Features
95%

Reviewer: Stuart - Greenock, UK
Date: 31st Mar 2010

I've had this phone now for a month, I am quite happy with it but battery life is shocking. With moderate web browsing & texting a fully charged battery is down to 1 bar of life when I get home from work. If this phone was used for work I'd be in real trouble. As for no wifi I am having my previous Nokia E71 unlocked & going back to it.

Design
90%
Usability
30%
Features
70%

Reviewer: Matt - UK
Date: 28th Feb 2010

Just purchased this device to replace an upgrade phone that I have gotten rid of due to it failing within 2 months & have been having a play around for a couple of days.

First impressions were very good, although I was slightly disappointed that no USB cable is included in the box.

The phone itself looks very smart & seems well made for the money. In my opinion there is no better mobile available at the moment that has so many features & good design for such a low price tag.

The screen quality is superb with bright vivid images thanks to the high resolution (which I believe is nHD). The touch screen is really responsive as well & the haptic feedback is great.

Web browsing is fast & intuitive, thanks to the HSDPA & 3G.

The camera, despite being only a 2MP is capable of taking pretty decent snaps & the device processes pictures very quickly indeed. The biggest downside to the camera is that no flash is included but doesn't bother me that much.

The Facebook shortcut that came preloaded on my home page is a very welcome feature & has proved to be very easy & trouble free to use, I particularly like the camera button which allows you to take a picture & upload it to Facebook straight away. This feature also allows you to tag your pictures at the same time.

Another cool feature is that you can set up your email account & the device displays your email status on the home screen & allows direct access to your full account instantly.

The OVI store is great & I have downloaded various free applications. My device came preloaded with OVI maps, which works well.

The internal memory is a bit lacklustre but easily upgraded thanks to the MicroSD slot which accepts up to 16GB, I opted for an 8GB & that's more than enough for me.

One unusual thing about this phone is that the SIM card & MicroSD slot are situated on the outside of the handset, covered up by two little covers on the left hand side making it so quick & simple to insert or remove either.

Battery life so far seems very good aswell, I have been messing about entering all my numbers, changing settings, taking pictures & recording video (excellent quality with 30 fps), made a couple of 30 minute calls & the usual texting & web browsing, despite all this I have still got 4 bars left on the battery after 2 days!

You may have noticed that I quite like this handset, & you'd be right. I really cannot find a single thing to dislike right now & for the price (around £100 payg on various networks) I strongly advise taking a closer look if you're looking for an attractive & feature packed moby.

Design
90%
Usability
90%
Features
80%

Reviewer: Ludwik - Leeds, UK
Date: 23rd Feb 2010

I had this phone for a month now.

- Call quality is excellent.
- 100% & so is music playback.
- Call & music volume through earphone & loudspeaker is very good 90%.
- Texting is easy because the virtual keyboard is accurate & responsive 95%.
- Handwriting recognition is good 90%.
- Camera, only 2MP, but 2MP is enough, it's the quality of the lens that matters. Phones with 5MP & 8MP cameras can give rubbish results if the lens is poor & you end up with large files clogging up memory. So lens is very good & the size, shape & weight of the phone means it is easy to take shake free photos 85%.
- Video camera full VGA 640 by 480 at 30fps 95%.
- Screen, resolution is fine, as are colours & contrast 85%.
- Sunlight legibility 35%.
- Google maps & Ovi maps are fast, got a GPS lock within a couple of minutes to within 50m accuracy 85%.
- Gallery able to review photos & videos from other sources good on large widescreen. AS is flicking from photo to photo 90%.
- Mobile Internet browser? !? ! very mixed results. I also downloaded mini opera 4.2 to use for comparison. Nokia browser was update to flash lite 3.1.
- Viewing flash content 50%.
- Speed of loading ages 35%.
- Built in font, Yuk 25%.
- Speed of scrolling around loaded page 10%.
- On some phones kinetic scrolling is like driving a luxury car. Here it's like driving a car with 4 square wooden wheels!
- Bugs in Browser. Some items on a page cannot be selected. I have tapped, double tapped & held the screen down. Instead of selecting the item, the magnification changes by double tapping. (Yet these pages work fine on other phone browsers! )
- Sometimes it takes 4 or 5 taps before the keyboard appears when trying to input data.
- No 4 way pad or trackball. You have to use the screen.
- Full help text provided in the phone.
- No memory card or CD software or case included.

Design
90%
Usability
65%
Features
85%

Reviewer: Tikru - Finland
Date: 26th Jan 2010

Pros.
- Price (cheap compared to all the features).
- GPS (there is this newer version of GPS, AGPS, which is better than standalone GPS, faster start up & works indoors).
- Free maps & navigation (from Ovi & Navteq starting this week).
- Fast data connections.

Cons.
- No WLAN (you need a fixed rate data contract to fully use this phone).
- 2 mp camera without any fancy focus things, okay anyway.

Design
80%
Usability
80%
Features
80%

Reviewer: Jason - Hong Kong
Date: 25th Dec 2009

- Nice phone.
- Cheap, seems durable.
- 2 GB memory card bundled with it.
- It's a little bit thick, but it's not very wide so that's an okay trade off.
- No true GPS, just AGPS.
- No video calling either.
- Good web browser.
- Occasionally frustrating S60 (do you want to connect to this app? Are you sure? ).
- Silly things like having to double tap on some icons, & the Facebook app not saving your password.
-the haptic feedback is very nice, a slight pleasant buzzing.

All in all, a very good phone for the price.

Design
80%
Usability
90%
Features
80%

Click here to add your own review for the Nokia 5230
Click here to add your own review for the Nokia 5230



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