The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic

While it may not be Nokia's first touchscreen phone (anyone out there remember the 7710?), the 5800 XpressMusic is certainly the first to come out of Finland with a mainstream appeal. What we've alternately known as the "Tube" throughout much of its development cycle is the first production device to run S60 5th Edition -- the fourth major overhaul of Nokia's ubiquitous smartphone platform since 2002 and the first to support fingers, styli, and high-res displays. Speaking of high-res displays, the 5800 comes equipped with an impressive 3.2-inch 640 x 360 resistive touchscreen to go along with its 3.2-megapixel autofocus cam, Carl Zeiss optics, dual LED flash, GPS, WiFi, 3.5mm jack, and a microSD slot with support for 16GB cards. It'll be available in three versions -- European HSDPA, North American HSDPA, and GSM only -- and ships this quarter in black, red, and blue for €279 (about $392) unlocked with an 8GB card thrown in for good measure. Music fans with voracious appetites for new tunes might want to hold out, though, for the Comes With Music-equipped version that follows on "early next year" at a to-be-announced price.

Gallery: The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic

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[rob_lobstuhh @ Oct 2nd 2008 12:35PM]

oh my god.

[Poom @ Oct 2nd 2008 1:38PM]

My thought exactly. When I saw that it's announced, my jaw dropped. I want to test out the S60 touch!!

[thedesolate1 @ Oct 2nd 2008 11:43PM]

if it cost a $100 more with 5 MP cam and OLED display consider me sold! I bet they left SIP out of this handset... Im still drooling over it though...

[Hguh @ Oct 2nd 2008 12:38PM]

Is that a damn guitar pick? To make it more musicky?

[Mike C @ Oct 2nd 2008 12:41PM]

I was thinking the same thing, though I think it will replace the stylus?

[brandon @ Oct 2nd 2008 1:12PM]

That was my thought, it would be awesome if that guitar pick worked as a stylus

[jorvay @ Oct 2nd 2008 1:31PM]

Might it also be this shape so that it can be inserted into a slot on the back of the player to act as a 'kickstand,' allowing you to stand the player up on a table/desk and watch it? I know I've seen that done before somewhere...iRiver possibly? I can't remember.

[AJ @ Oct 2nd 2008 3:15PM]

It looks devilish with that pick ;)
Wouldn't be a great stylus (which, from the pics, is also included) though.

[Kyle L. @ Oct 10th 2008 11:23PM]

My first thought was, Whoa, Guitar Hero(esque) game on your mobile. But then again don't ask me how you would play it...... Yeah maybe its a stylus. :)

[azel @ Oct 2nd 2008 12:38PM]

Perfect!!!

[disciple83 @ Oct 2nd 2008 12:41PM]

WANT!!! wait, MUST GET!!! Nokia has always been great to me on their products, and anything is better than the iPhone.

[nickbr00tality @ Oct 2nd 2008 1:23PM]

well i like your avatar.

[bob @ Oct 2nd 2008 1:24PM]

not this, check out the video of the terrible touch screen response.

[UnixSystemsEngineer @ Oct 2nd 2008 1:53PM]

Looks pretty damn good. I've never used Symbian, but I've always liked Nokias. Never owned one; I was more of an Ericsson guy until they went all Sony.

[Al @ Oct 2nd 2008 12:43PM]

$400 is a lot cheaper than I expected.

I wonder if that QVGA gimmick guy will bitch about this

[Hellaphunt @ Oct 2nd 2008 12:52PM]

Not a good time for me being in the market for a new phone. Too many choices and I love Nokia.

[ILoveApple @ Oct 2nd 2008 1:02PM]

The screen isn't capacative. No thanks, Nokia.

[Anythingbutiphone @ Oct 7th 2008 5:36PM]

What the hell is "capacative"? LOL

[kjb434 @ Oct 2nd 2008 1:05PM]

give me WinMo or Android and i'm in!!!!

[Mobius_1 @ Oct 2nd 2008 1:18PM]

Wow, that is really a very excellent combination of features and price and style. Anyone got any idea of its UK availability?

[Khattab @ Oct 2nd 2008 1:24PM]

279 Euros in the EU without a contract! That's a really great pricing scheme. Take this Apple, Google & HTC.

[Homeboy @ Oct 2nd 2008 1:31PM]

Now this is what I call an iPhone killer. €279 unlocked is absolutely nothing compared with the iPhone that cost twice as much unlocked if you can even buy it unlocked in your respective country. Can't wait to try this phone out.

[spass @ Oct 2nd 2008 2:31PM]

..especially at a much better screen resolution, better camera, half price.

[Shinigami @ Oct 2nd 2008 5:02PM]

Nokia XpressMusic 5800 isn't something to wet your pants about. IMO.
The device doesn't have superb characteristics, but its not super-expensive either. A nice addition to Nokia phones, nothing else.

[Jah @ Oct 2nd 2008 2:42PM]

The Nokia 7710 is a wonderful forgotten device. Has a 640x480 resolution. I am actually happy that it was not famous as only a few 100,000 were made - very exclusive :)

[cp @ Oct 3rd 2008 4:53AM]

Actually it was 640x320, slightly lower res than this new phone but only the E90 and this phone beat its wonderful screen!. I still use mine and love it! I've been waiting for a nokia touch screen for years and this is the first step in the right direction. I know people are complaining its no iphone killer, but it is a s60 handset. It'll run most of the apps any S60 phone will run, including the N96. Spec for spec, this phone doesn't lack many of the features the N96 has. I mean seriously, it has wifi, radio, bluetooth, camera (ok not a great one by today's standards) and an SD slot. It doesn't have much internal storage (to be fair not much more than the 7710 does) but once an SD card is in there, it doesn't make much difference.. I'm going to get one.. I'm a Symbian fanboy, have been since the Psion days. but I damn well expect a flagship TS next year nokia.. seriously.. the S90 platform was awesome, perhaps killed due to the stupid format 7700 tech demonstrator that nokia never sold back in 2003. Touch screens are common now, all major phone platforms support it in one version or another (either now or shortly RIM/Nokia) With a screen res like this, it should be going after the likes of winmobile and rim. A flagship phone based on this tech would be awesome and a fine sucessor to the 7710!

[Ivassilis @ Oct 2nd 2008 3:13PM]

5800 is certainly a step to the right direction for NOKIA, but iPhone killer? Please! Even NOKIA doesn't believe this. You basically buy a $400 iphone with easy access to music. That's all. It's this way or no way for NOKIA if they want to play in the prime phone market and they now run to catch up. Will see...

[jupiterthunder @ Oct 2nd 2008 3:50PM]

you say it's not an iPhone killer then you call it a $400 iPhone?

[Shinigami @ Oct 2nd 2008 4:54PM]

It wasn't made to be an iPhone killer.

Its HTC Touch Killer xD

[Beaver Of Love @ Oct 2nd 2008 10:21PM]

the price is unlocked, an iphone is locked onto the AT&T network... usually :)

[Shinigami @ Oct 2nd 2008 4:53PM]

Its a normal price. The device isn't anything special, except that it is "first S60 5-th edition" device. But, you know, paying a premium to be a beta-tester...

[bigva04 @ Oct 3rd 2008 4:41AM]

Do anyone know where can i find this please ??

[yepp @ Oct 3rd 2008 2:37PM]

It's true, the 7710 might seem old now-a-days but its still a really good phone, it beats the tube because its exclusive, nobody else has one and nobodys heard of it, but it has everything and a high quality touch screen.

[boss @ Nov 22nd 2008 7:46AM]

u must be out of ur mind stop dreaming and face reality bro dis new and better

[xox... @ Oct 4th 2008 4:17PM]

not that impressive, not that finger friendly even though it's named "Touch"... even WM and the late comer G1 did better and get better configuration... not to mention the iPhone...
but for such price point... don't ask too much...

[EMMATOK @ Oct 5th 2008 5:47AM]

Thia Phone is far better than the IPHONE. compare here. http://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone2=2424&idPhone1=2537 Iphone is an US thing, but the US is not the world and do not represent the world. You can see the pics here http://www.mobile-review.com/review/nokia-5800-en.shtml

[xox... @ Oct 5th 2008 1:56PM]

the comparison referred is voted by readers who didn't actually used the phone.
with actual hand on experience, what i can tell is it's still far behind from all other major touchscreen platforms.
believe it or not, the specification does have every pieces of hardware peoples wanted (far from the best, even the processor is just an outdated single core 397MHz arm), but it doesn't got the right software for people to use. Nokia still need to put more effort in order to catch up.
Anyhow, It still could be a success with such price point plus the brand name effect.

[ajsalas @ Oct 7th 2008 4:33PM]

I have understand that the difference between the version, it’s that the GSM version will be starting from £279, and this version doesn’t support 3G and without Wi-Fi, so the question will be, what will be the real price for the 3G version? And if someone know when will be arrive to North America?

[Mina @ Nov 16th 2008 1:49PM]

WOW, I want to get my hands on that!

[nani @ Dec 23rd 2008 12:39PM]

well it is pretty good n normal price not to costly.

[raula @ Dec 25th 2008 1:45PM]

btw wen is it gonna b released??.. nd wat is the price..? .. is it $392??