NOKIA

We Revisit 5800 XpressMusic in today’s tech throwback

In today’s throwback tech Thursday, we go back to 2008, the year when we saw the launch of the extremely popular Nokia 5800 XpressMusic. For a company that was obsessed with keypad phones, the 5800 XpressMusic came in as a pleasant surprise. It wasn’t the first-ever touch screen phone from the brand but it most likely is its first popular one. The phone was so popular that it sold 8M units in its first year alone! In fact, in India, it broke the record for the most sales by selling 58,000 units sold within three weeks of its launch. Given its popularity, there’s a very good chance that you’ve used the 5800 at some point in your life.

Why was the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic so popular?
First, it was the early days of the iPhone, and touchscreens were slowly gaining popularity. Second, it was a touch screen smartphone from Nokia which was a very popular brand back then.
The phone came from the XpressMusic family and music was a big deal back then (for that matter, even now!). The phone came with a compact design and weighed just 109 grams. There were three colors available: Blue, Black, and Red.

The biggest highlight of the new device was its sharp 3.2-inch touchscreen panel. You could use your finger, a stylus that neatly slid in its dedicated slot after use, and even a plectrum which the Finnish company added inside the box. Also, the phone was paired with a decent quality headset out of the box. And with a 3.5mm jack, the 5800 XpressMusic was indeed a treat for music lovers from Nokia.
Other specs of the phone include 3G, Wi-Fi, GPS, a 3.2MP Zeiss optics camera with dual-LED flash, BL 2.0 with A2DP, stereo speakers (yay), and MicroUSB 2.0. The 5800 wasn’t exactly a high-end device, but Symbian S60 OS did well in keeping the users interested. What’s great was that the company kept improving its software over time through regular updates.

But 5800 XpressMusic wasn’t without issues
One of the biggest drawbacks of the device was its touch sensitivity. The display on the 5800 featured resistive touch, which meant you had to press really hard to register touches. It was no way near as good as an iPhone phone which featured a capacitive touch screen. As for the OS, Symbian S60 touch was decent but again, it couldn’t compete with iPhone’s UI which was made for touch right from the ground up.
Also, unlike in some markets like India where the pricing was competitive, in the US it was closely priced as the iPhone 3G. It retailed for nearly $400 and at the same price, you could get an iPhone 3G unlocked at that time.
Nevertheless, the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic is a phone that’ll probably be remembered as the company’s first touchscreen phone used by the masses. It’ll have a special place for people who used it as their first-ever touch screen device!

Joel Joseph