Nokia 5130 XpressMusic

Nokia 5130 XpressMusic somewhat resembles the earlier 5310. It also sports a slim candy bar design, though it's bit larger (4.23 inches by 1.83 inches by 0.58 inch 3.10 ounces) and it features a glossier skin with a dotted pattern over its speaker one the rear side. The handset comes in two color schemes aqua-silver and red-black. We tested the former, but the features are the same on both models. The 5130 has a comfortable feeling in the hand, and it travels well. Nokia 5130 XpressMusic's two inch display supports 256.000 colors.

The resolution is decent (320x240 pixel), though some graphics, particularly the menu icons, weren't very sharp. On the upside, the Series 40 menus are intuitive provided that you turn off the transition effects. You can adjust the standby font color and the font size. The navigation array has a spacious, user friendly design. The square toggle is raised and shows a different color than the central OK button or the surrounding keys.

The soft keys and Talk and End or power controls are flat, but they're quite large. You can set the toggle as a shortcut to user defined features. They backlit keypad buttons are a mixed bag. Though they're sizable, they have a slippery plastic feel. Dialing and texting takes some getting used to, and the numbers and letters are rather small. On the rear side is the camera lens. Nokia 5130 XpressMusic offers neither a flash nor a self portrait mirror.

On the left spine are the dedicated music controls, which you can use to activate the player and scan through your songs. On the right spine you'll find the large accessible volume rocker and the microSD card slot. We were glad see a 3.5mm headset jack on the top of Nokia 5130 XpressMusic. Next to it are the proprietary charger connection and the Micro-USB port.

Features
Nokia 5130 XpressMusic's phone book size is limited by its shared memory (30MB). Each contact holds six phone number types, an e-mail address, a URL, a company name and job title, a formal name and nickname, a birthday, and notes. The SIM card holds an additional 250 contacts. You can organize friends into groups and pair them with a video and photo and one of 23 polyphonic ringtones.

Essentials include a vibrate mode, text and multimedia messaging, an alarm clock, a calendar, a to do list, a unit and currency converter, a world lock, a notepad, a calculator, a countdown timer, and a stopwatch. For more advanced options you'll find stereo Bluetooth, a voice recorder, USB transfer and mass storage, voice commands, PC syncing, instant messaging, and Web based e-mail.

The microSD slot can accommodate cards up to 2GB one such card should come with the phone. Nokia 5130 XpressMusic offers the standard Nokia Xpress Music player. The interface is simple, but the controls are simple and intuitive, and the player supports album art. Features include an equalizer, shuffle and repeats modes, playlists, stereo widening, and an airplane mode for listening to tunes while you fly. The player supports a variety of file types, and you can use tracks as ringtones.