July 28th, 2009 
Rob 
Due to launch in early August, the Nokia 5530 XpressMusic has the LG Cookie and Samsung Tocco Lite firmly in its sights as it guns for the cheap touchscreen top spot. Can Nokia reclaim ground lost to its Korean rivals or is the recent shift towards LG and Samsung just the tip of the iceberg. With alot riding on it, not least the companies pride, read on for our thoughts on the Nokia 5530 XpressMusic.
Firstly, just a quick introduction to give you an idea what the 5530 is all about. Nokia are fairly new to touchscreen territories. We saw the Nokia 5800, released at the start of the year, and most recently the Nokia N97, both fine devices but both aimed at the slightly higher price range. So what about those who want a Nokia touchscreen phone and fancy a bit of change to boot? Well, that’s where the 5530 comes in. With both Samsung and LG proving that there is huge demand for such devices, Nokia are eyeing up their slice of the pie.
First impressions are good. Nokia have slimmed down the 5530 in every department compared to its bigger brother the 5800. The 5530 is slimmer, shorter, thinner and even marginally lighter than the 5800. All this makes for a more pocket friendly and, more importantly, comfortable in hand device. The phone is small but still usable which is often a difficult balance to reach. This is heightened further by the use of premium materials in the 5530′s construction, specifically the stainless steel used for the front. This helps to deliver a classy look and feel to the 5530 and also features a nice textured design directly above and below the display. Unfortunately the back abandons the premium metals in favour of a single plastic cover though this is still comprised of high quality plastics and features a nice embossed Nokia logo which encapsulates the minimalist design.
The front of the phone is dominated by the 2.9 inch display. The front of the phone lacks physical buttons in favour of three semi-touch sensitive buttons that sit in the black border surrounding the display. These are call answer, end and 
menu and while they do look good, they certainly take some getting used to and aren’t as sensitive as the touch screen. At the top sits the power button, on the right side we get the camera buttons (zoom and capture) and the sliding lock key, on the left side we find a guard that opens to reveal the sim card and memory card slot and at the bottom we get the charger port, 3.5 mm jack and Micro USB port. One last addition, the 5530 features a stylus that slides out from the bottom left corner of the phone. While the 5530 may not win any awards for its design, it is a well made piece of kit with a quality look and feel and all the buttons found on the phone are easy to operate. Why Nokia insist on letting you insert the simcard from the outside without the ability to take it out without removing the battery is beyond me but it’s not a negative feature, just a slightly puzzling one.
Nokia have reduced the size of the touchscreen found in the 5800 from 3.2 inches down to 2.9. Apart from the physical size difference, it’s very much the same as the 5800 with the 5530 featuring the same pixel count of 360 x 640. The fact that the 5530 features the same amount of pixels in a smaller display actually makes for a brighter more vivid screen. The 5530 uses
resistive touchscreen technology meaning you can use your fingers or the aforementioned stylus. Though it does lack the fluid feel of capacitive touchscreen phones such as the iPhone 3GS, the 5530 is still very responsive and accurate when using the stylus or just your fingers. Personally, i steered clear of the stylus as i find using one somewhat fiddly. Besides, the touchscreen is more than capable of keeping up with you fingers alone. Scrolling through menus is simple and effective (though it doesn’t quite capture the finesse of HTC’s finger swipe technology).
The 5530 also benefits from an accelerometer, a proximity sensor which switches the screen off when the phone is held to your face when on a call and handwriting recognition. The handwriting recognition takes some getting used to; you do have to very precise or have a good legible writing style for the phone to understand. For those who don’t get on with this feature, fear not; when texting or emailing you can use a standard on screen alpha numeric keypad (including predictive text) or turn the phone on its side and use a full QWERTY keyboard. This level of choice is a nice touch as it means each individual can find a way to use the phone that suits them best.
Ok, so that’s the design and touchscreen out of the way, tune in tomorrow for the second and final installment of our 5530 review as we take a look at the user interface, features and give our final thoughts.
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I didn’t think the 5800 was overly big so not sure if it needed slimming down but the improved build quality is a welcome addition.
Ordered mine, should be here tomorrow, excited!
Hey!
I just this morning had a go on my friends 5800 and i was determined to get it and on her plan but i couldnt find on her plan and got upset and then vodafone saved me with a popup with this phone. I WANT IT!!!!!!! the only thing annoying me is the battery and the thing i wanna know is can you put a picture for your background????
thx x
Does this have Wifi or Wlan?
@Sarah: Yep you can use a photo as a wallpaper – go to the photo in your gallery, select options then use image and then select set as wallpaper. Click here to check out our deals for the 5800 on Vodafone.
@Qasim: Yes the 5530 has Wi-Fi
Does anyone know when the nokia 5530 is coming to Australia? ive been trying to find out for ages but i cant seem to get an answer?
i like both phones, but is the 5530 the same as the 5800,but without gps,3g,and a smaller screen? some people say its slower too
@niall: Smaller screen and no 3G or GPS is correct. As for the 5530 being slower, the phone actually has a more powerful processor than its predecessor and from our time using it appeared to run faster than the 5800.
thanx dan, i checked the specs on both phones and they both have the arm 11 434 mhz processor.i assume the video playback and upload are the same,i read somewhere that to view movies on the 5530, u have to click on audio first,dunno if thats correct.i was told today that the 5530 will be available in ireland in bout 3 weeks, so i’ll wait and see, and make by decision between the 5530 or the 5800.i had the 5800 but it had a fault so i got my money back lol.
also, can the nokia web browser be downloaded on the 5530 like on the 5800?
also , does the lack of 3g on the 5530 mean it will be slower on wifi too, or just on main internet browsing? i also see that that the camera and video recording isint as good as the 5800 although the movies are.
thanx, niall
@Niall: Lack of 3G has no impact on Wi-Fi, the connection will be as quick as the one you’re piggy-backing on. We didn’t really notice any difference in the 5530′s camera, Nokia have removed the Carl Zeiss lens in favour of a generic one but you’ll need to get your magnifying glass out to tell the difference. As for the web browser, both phones run the same version of Symbian so there’s no reason why it wouldn’t work. Hope this helps with your decision.
Dan
hi dan , thanx so much mate, just one quick question.can the nokia photo browser be downloaded to the 5530 like u can on the 5800?
Brilliant phone, you can keep your N97′s and your iPhones, the 5530′s the one for me.
I’ve got the 5530.it’s sooooooo kool! U shuld defenetly get it!IT’S WICKED!
thanx guys, i like this phone too.
i will get it when it comes out in ireland
Ive got this phone it beats the blackberry storm i had anyday i love it!!! so easy light and small and packed with some great features best touch screen i have had!
Nice phone, lot better looking than th 5800
hi Dan, can the nokia web browser read offline html files on the 5530?
I’ll also going to buy it tomorrow. I wanna test how it goes. I’ve read its history. Cool. But, have to wait and c.
Hey, just wondering, as i do want to buy this phone rather than the 5800 whether when you are in a call, you can accidently hang up, by leaning on the end button? I can see that on the 5530 that the call and end button are touch screen rather than buttons like the 5800, does that mean whilst your in a call you can ‘accidently’ hang up?
As the call & end buttons are touch screen; does that mean you can accidently end a call by leaning on it?
hey i was just wondering im getting my first phone tomorrow and i chose the 5530 to be my first phone can you tell me if its a good phone for my first time or do you think i should get something alot less high tech lol me and phones…dont go there lol
@Sabba – The 5530′s a good introduction to touchscreen phones. The screen’s nice and responsive but you’ve got the added security of a stylus. The camera’s good without being overly complex and above all the phone looks and feels great and is a doddle to use. Read both parts of our review to get a better idea of what the phone is like to use.
i bought the 5530 min december 2009, and it has been working perfectly, however, over the last week it has been switching off everytime i try to make a call or answer a call. texting works fine and at times the calls work too, but now this is gettin very annoying as sometimes i need to make urgent calls and as soon as it starts dialling the phone totally switches off, also the same as wen i am pressing the answer button for an incoming call. Any idea why this is happening? I dont know what to do about this, it was purchased from carphone warehouse on 02 pay as you go.
hi, can help me where i can buy the nokia 5530 stylux? right now im in dubai..can u tell me which shop/centre i can buy it?
umm nooora i dont think u can buy the stylus but u can steal from someone who has a similar phone lol….thats what i did
Am getting this phone at the weekend and I know the phone has wi-fi. is it easy to connect via wi-fi without going onto he operators internet?