Review: Nokia 5700 XpressMusic

Nokia 5700 XpressMusic Review

Phone rating:

In a nutshell: This smartphone with XpressMusic branding offers an outstanding music experience, but has a relatively poor camera. We dislike the joystick and aren't convinced by the twist design. However, it does offer 3G video calling and fast downloads, Bluetooth wireless connectivity and up to 2 Gbytes of memory.

Review: December 2007. Updated March 2008.

The Nokia 5700 XpressMusic is Nokia's first Symbian Smartphone in its rapidly expanding XpressMusic range of phones. It has an unusual design with a twisting lower keypad that lets you access different functions. Twist once and the numeric keypad is replaced by controls for the 2 megapixel camera. Twist again and you can access three dedicated music controls (play/pause, stop, rewind/fast forward) and there are volume controls on the side. Twist again for video call mode. Twist one more time to view videos. All the twisting made us a bit dizzy, but that's probably just old age. One thing that we definitely didn't like though is the joystick on the front - we would much prefer to see a 5-way navigation pad like on most Nokias.

The 5700 delivers an excellent music experience. Its music player supports all the most common music formats: MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+ & WMA, with Windows DRM support too. It also includes an FM radio with Visual Radio support. Audio quality from the stereo loudspeakers is good, and when using headphones is excellent. You can also plug in your own headphones via the 3.5mm adapter if you want the best audio quality possible. The 5700 also supports wireless Bluetooth headsets. The music app gives you plenty of control over your music: you can easily create and manage playlists, and can share playlists with your friends using Bluetooth or MMS. There's a 5-band equaliser and controls for stereo widening, loudness, and balance. The player also displays album art. The built-in memory of 64 Mbytes is good, with an extra 128 Mbytes of flash memory, and the microSD card slot can take cards up to 2 Gbytes (enough for around 500 music tracks.)

The 5700 is equipped with a rather run of the mill camera: 2 megapixels with 4x digital zoom and flash. We expect to see more in a Symbian device these days. 3G video calling is supported. There are also some video and still image editors included and the RealOne player is supplied as standard.

Connectivity is good. The 5700 supports Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0 and infrared too, for those that still like to use it. It's a quadband phone as well as 3G. It supports email with support for attachments, and the text-to-speech function can read aloud your messages with a "Take me to your leader" kind of voice. You can talk to your phone to, as it supports speaker independent name dialling.

This is a Symbian phone, so you get access to a huge library of third-party apps, but as usual with Symbian phones, be prepared to invest more time than usual maintaining your phone with optimised settings and the latest firmware downloads.

Ultimately we're not convinced by the twist design, although this is clearly a matter of personal taste. We also dislike the joystick. The 5700 XpressMusic does a lot, but not enough when compared to other smartphones. It's missing any kind of wow factor. We prefer the Nokia 5610 XpressMusic which we feel is a better balanced phone, although it's not Symbian. If you must have a Symbian phone, then we would recommend the Nokia N81 (which definitely does have the wow factor) or the cheaper Nokia 6120 Classic.

Features of the Nokia 5700 XpressMusic include:

• Series 60 Symbian 3G Smartphone
• 2 megapixel camera with 4x digital zoom and flash
• Video recording and playback, 3G video calling
• Display: 16.7 million colours, 240 x 320 pixels (2.2 inches)
• Music player (MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA formats) with Windows DRM support
• FM radio with Visual Radio
• Stereo loudspeakers
• Ringtones: MP3/AAC/WMA, 64-voice polyphonic ringtones, Video ringtones
• Voice commands, speaker independent name dialing
• Voice recorder
• Integrated handsfree speaker
• Push to talk
• Messaging: SMS, MMS, email (support for IMAP4, POP3, SMTP, IMAP IDLE, OMA email notification) plus attachments, Audio messaging
• Text-to-speech function reads your messages
• Pre-installed Symbian games: Marble Cannon and City Bloxx
• Flash Lite player version 2.0
• Changeable audio themes, user defined themes
• Advanced Series 60 personal organiser functions
• Internet: HSCSD, GPRS, EDGE, 3G (384 kbps), XHTML web browser
• Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0, Infrared, 3.5 mm audio jack (via adaptor)
• Memory: 64 Mbytes RAM plus 128 Mbytes flash memory; microSD memory card slot supports up to 2 Gbytes
• Offline mode
• Quadband (GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz) plus 3G (WCDMA 2100 MHz)
• Size: 108 x 50 x 17 mm
• Weight: 115g
• Talktime: 2.5 hours (3G) - 3.5 hours (2G)
• Battery standby: 270 hours (3G)
• Music playback: up to 10 hours

Nokia 5700 XpressMusic Consumer Reviews

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Average rating from 26 reviews:

Reviewed by sakthi from india on 6th Jan 2010
I've been using this phone since July 2007 with more than 850 hrs voice usage and huge data usage, but the phone still works amazingly.I'm really impressed with the faster performance of its cpu,wonderful browser with good data transmission and its connectivity options.Despite the problem with joy stick and twisting lower half i certainly rate this as one of the fantastic phone from nokia ever produced.
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Reviewed by Harris from Philippines on 24th Dec 2008
I hav seen & was able to use 5700 & 5610, owned by my friends. Before the year ends, im planning to buy one. A gift for myself. Cause my J750 always gives me headache!!! Im really confused what to buy between 5610 & 5700. I also read reviews about these 2 phones. Im impressed with the 5700. But how about the durability of 5700 especially the twisting part? Does it really last? I dont want to regret my decision in the end. Please help as soon as possible... Im planning to buy this week.
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Reviewed by nishant from india on 28th Oct 2008
undoubtedly the best nokia phone ever............nokia should not stop its production..........
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Reviewed by Dude Boy from Schotland on 27th Oct 2008
This Phone is amazing, Its twice as good as the iphone. Just great.
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Reviewed by lambo from Nigeria on 20th Oct 2008
great nokia phone. i love it
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Reviewed by umar from pakistan on 8th Oct 2008
it is outstanding fone 4 me i love itttt to much
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Reviewed by Walter from Hungary on 20th Sep 2008
It's a very good phone, I really love it. Good sound quality, fast user interface, nice display - and Symbian OS for downloading additional softwares.
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Reviewed by Bayal from England on 5th Aug 2008
ITS A V GOOD PHONE!!!!!!!!!!! A very good phone its sound is loud and clear twisting is fun and the cpu is very fast it never hangs or freezes i think this is the best nokia phone
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Reviewed by liban from uk on 24th Mar 2008
i like this mobile becouse can listen music
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Reviewed by arabman from pakistan on 8th Mar 2008
oh my god wot a great phone it is just so stylich and everythind is up to a great quality
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Reviewed by Jai from India on 16th Feb 2008
Its very gr8 phone...I wondered when I got it as a gift...Its just awsome...
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Reviewed by craig from England on 15th Feb 2008
sik phone!!!!!!!!!
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Reviewed by Miss.ROMIZA USMAN from PAKISTAN on 13th Feb 2008
LAST WEEK I SEE (DURING WINDOW SHOPING) A NEW CELL.ITS SHAPE IMPRESS ME AND AFTER 2 DAYS I CHANGE IT WITH MY 6120 CLASSIC NOKIA FONE <> but THE CAM SHOOTS DISAPPOINTS THE USER INDOOR.ALTHOUGH PHONE IS REALLY GOOD FOR MUSIC LOVER.AND BEST FOR INTERNET USES.BETTERY TIMING IS VERY GOOD SO YOU NEED NOT TO CHARGE AGAIN AND AGAIN. ITS TWIST DESIGN SO SEXY.RED AND WHITE COLOUR IS LIKE A BRIDAL.ALL THINGS IS PERFECT IN DEVICE FINLY CAM.TAKE PRETTY PHOTOOS IN GOOD LIGHT BUT IN DIM LIGHT CONDITIONS........ YOU SHOULD NEED A HANDY CAM........THANKS NOKIA !!!!!
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Reviewed by rgf from ff on 5th Feb 2008
joystick sucks
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Reviewed by siavash from iran on 1st Feb 2008
i am realy happy for this phone
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Reviewed by mamad from iran on 24th Jan 2008
this ohone have a good function... and it is very handle and pretty..
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Reviewed by kango from pakistan on 18th Jan 2008
awesome fone....ACTUALLY AND WORKABLY FASTER THAN N95(daddy of fones....) flash CAN B USED AS FLASHLIGHT...just take a picture wen flash is set to always on and after takin da pic....quikly twist ur fone,..DONE..
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Reviewed by MUSA from PAKISTAN on 15th Jan 2008
AWESOME CPU(FASTER THAN NOKIA CROWN JEWEL n95) awesome!!
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Reviewed by rachel from kenya on 13th Jan 2008
I wish the 5700 had the other pim like the birthday, call options in the calender. Is it possible to copy those features from another phone
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Reviewed by KALI SHAHIB from TATTI on 13th Jan 2008
NICE PHONE WITH A LOT OF FEATURES TWISTER BEST PHONE I THINK BETTER THAN BRICK N95 OR N80 OR EVEN 6300
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Reviewed by kango from Pakistan on 12th Jan 2008
This phone does what it promises.. The Music Player is great, The 16.7 Million colors display is just AWESOME and lush and its size(2.2in) makes it gr8 Keypad is great for texts and emails, The cam shoots good pics at perfect lightening but disappoints the user indoor, There are a few bugs in the older firmware but if you upgrade it its COOL 5/5 from me....
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Reviewed by Kirsty from Turkey on 8th Jan 2008
Well My Keypad Has Cracked And The Charger Is Not Very Good So I Would Give This Phoen A 3 Stars I Have This Phone I Would Rather Have A Sony Ericcson
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Reviewed by ADNAN from US on 6th Jan 2008
THIS PHONE IS REALLY GOOD FOR MUSIC LOVER. CAMERA OF THIS PHONE TAKES DESCENT PICTURES. THIS PHONE IS VERY BEST FOR INTERNET LOVERS. IMPRESSIVE MEMORY COMES WITH IGB MICRO SD. THE PHONE IS VERY FAST. MUSIC IS VERY LOUD. THIS IS A PHONE WHICH COMPETE SONY ERICSSON W SERIES. WELL DONE NOKIA.
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Reviewed by Haris from Pakistan on 24th Dec 2007
Outstanding Phone! The camera is outstanding. Music is also so nice. It is designed especially for young boys
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Reviewed by bob from uk on 19th Dec 2007
real good
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Reviewed by REHAN from PAKISTAN on 19th Dec 2007
THIS IS A BEST EVER PHONE. IN THE ABOVE STATEMENT THERE IS WRITTEN THAT WE ARE NOT CONVINCED WITH THE CAMERA BUT MYNE POINT AFEW CAMERA IS JUST SUPERB. AND THE MOST NOTICEABLE THING IS THAT ITS TWIST DESIGN IS JUST TOO SEXY. BETTERY TIMING IS VERY GOOD SO YOU NEED NOT TO CHARGE AGAIN AND AGAIN. BEST AND FAST PHONE. THJE SOUND QUALITY IS VERY GOOD.
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Nokia 5700 XpressMusic Links