Nokia 5230

I like that after many years this phone still works as a new one. It can not install new applications, but it is ideal for work calls. The battery holds the charge for a long time, all functions work properly.

I have had the Nokia 5230 for 4 months now and i hav so far had mixed feelings about the phone. I brought this particular phone because I have had Nokias in the past and trusted them. I had never had a touch screen phone before so I thought I would try it out. I chose the nokia because it was recommened by vodafone. I really enjoyed using the phone at first with its touch screen sensitivity and on screen key pad. Before I purcesed the phone I would like to have known from the sales person of any faults which may have occoured with the phone. The touch screen frequently freezes when calls come through and the phone connects to the internet with out me doing so.

Overall the 5230 lets down people frequently and does not stand to the next best touch screen phone which ever you think that may be.

me and the wife traded in our phone and both got the nokia 5230 phones her's is in white i opt for the black ..for some reson she got a 2 gig card i didnt oh well i have one anyway from my old e71 phone ...the phone is good after charging the phone and switching on the software section came up and told me to update the phones firmware and other stuff like ovi maps and ovi mail .the firmware is downloaded and updated by the phone in less then 5 mins .after it restarted i set it up for mail maps and ovi store for my apps . which is like my e71 ..the broswer is good displays all flash on pages yes better the e71 cool once all settings is to my likings and web feeds i did a full backup off the phone to the memory card ..the top right off screenoppasit the nokia logo has a quick media bar press and all web music ect comes up in a bar ..so far i love it the battery only last 24 hours with me as the wifes last 2 days .but i use more stuff ..the sim card is hard to remove once inserted you need to take batt out and stick a matchstick in the slot on the board to side out werid . both phones are on three network and work great with calls and loudspeaker is clear which i use a lot..sound on phone is clear playing mp3 ..the radio is the best very clear .shame its not dab radio but good .also pressing the power button once gives you profiles that you can remane ect ..one point is read the manual as it help you on the way as most people on the net cant read and jump stright on the phone and wine that it dont work its there read it ..another point is the wrist strap you get with it as a pleb for a guitar its not its a sytlus pen thing bet you thought it was for girls lol ..gps is good found me in a few seconds .also works by downloading google maps 4.1.1 also the camera is 2.0 mega pix which dont knock it its very good on a 3.5.in screen shame no flash but its good for the price as most dont print out photos anyway ...and for you facebook peeps ..its good and fast at uploading .with all comments and pics up on screen like a pc ..

My 5230 came as an upgrade on contract. The touch screen (the phone has no keys at all) seemed quirky and fun, but in real life, it's incredibly fiddly, slow and awkward to use. It has some great features which are made too much hassle to bother using with the temperamental touch screen. Also if you do use them, the battery is dead in a very short time. You will need to charge this phone at least once daily if you do. If you just call and text, it is bearable but begs the question, get a 'normal' handset. Camera is decent and the large screen is very clear. Lacks many basic functions of simpler handsets. Its far more of a gadget than a phone and feels very breakable. I took it back and got a 6303.

The Nokia 5230 is my first tactile phone. I just used it for three days and did not open the manual (I seldom do).

Good

- One euro AND a GPS antenna, that's great.

- The mobile may be used as an efficient torchlight. But this is true of any tactile.

- efficient keylocking system with a slider. Much better than "key combination"-based previous system I used.

Now for the not so good.

- no timer. Essential for me (I meant timer, not stopwatch).

- Even if the GPS antenna is there, you still requires to buy an app

- if you did not subscribe to a data subscription, this mobile loses a lot of its usefulness (Ovi store, la AppStore). But this true to all smartphone, not this one only

- I can't stop the alarm clock, just delay it until it decides it is over (one hour later).

- resistive screen. Bad

- the accelerometer is hardly responsive. May be sometimes worse than no accelerometer at all.

- ergonomics could be much better. Nokia used to be better. Hard to quantify, sorry. For instance, impossible to mass-select (for deleting recent history entries for instance). I expect double-clicking a text area (like SMS) will invoke the alphabetic keypad for writing, but it instead invokes a numeric keypad (labelled as alphanumeric)! The worst of both world (tactile's unresponsiveness and mecanical's thee-letter-per-button).

Mixed results. I recommend it for someone who is just curious about tactile AND can get it for one euro. in any other case, avoid it.