Nokia 5230

Nokia 5230

Though late to embrace touchscreen technology, Nokia certainly seem intent on making up for lost time with a host of touchscreen phones on the horizon. We’re not talking about the N97 Mini or the N900 Maemo (expect more from those next week at Nokia World), no, today Nokia has unveiled to the world the Nokia 5230, a new touchscreen phone that plans to fill the gap (we didn’t know existed) between the Nokia 5530 and 5800 XpressMusic. Want to know more about the latest offering from the boy and girls from Espoo? Read on…

Despite the 5xxx model number, Nokia have opted not to garnish the 5230 with the XpressMusic branding of its peers. Don’t be fooled though, music is still very much in the 5230’s mindset but more on that shortly. The 5230 features a 3.2 inch resistive touchscreen with a resolution of 360 x 640 pixels; the same display found in the 5800. We also find the usual suspects such as an accelerometer, proximity sensor and handwriting recognition. No word yet whether the 5230 will ship with a stylus or if it actually accommodates a slide out one in the body itself but as the touchscreen is resistive, you can be sure it will work with one all the same. The 5230 runs on Symbian offering the usual host of customisation options, downloadable apps from the Ovi Store and the new scrolling contacts bar (as first featured in the Nokia 5530 XpressMusic) which lets you add up to 20 of your favourite contacts, with an accompanying photo, to the home screen for quick and easy access.

The 5230 also takes a leaf out of the 5530’s book with a heavy emphasis on social networking. The phone features shortcuts to YouTube, Facebook and MySpace giving you one touch access to literally millions of people across the globe. The scrolling contacts bar will also give you access to status updates and conversations through social networking sites. Better still, Ovi Share lets you share all your photos with friends and family similar to photo sharing site Flickr.

If all this is starting to sound a little familiar it’s not surprising so lets take a look at what sets the 5230 apart from its stable mates. Firstly, the 5230 features a 2.0 Megapixel camera positioning itself below the 3.15 Megapixel camera found on the 5530 and 5800. Where the 5230 does excel for an entry level phone is in the connectivity options available. Firstly, the 5230 dispenses with the less commonly used Wi-Fi found in the 5530 in favour of HSDPA connection. This offers a massive advantage as you’re no longer restricted to Wi-Fi hotspots to get your high speed web fix. The second, and perhaps even more impressive addition to the 5230 is that of A-GPS offering a host of navigation solutions and with Ovi Maps pre-installed on the device.

So; out goes Wi-Fi and the 3.15 Megapixel camera and in comes HSDPA, A-GPS and a 2.0 Megapixel shooter. If the Nokia 5230 can stay within touching distance of the price of the Nokia 5530 XpressMusic, Nokia could be on to a winner. Click here to check out the Nokia 5230 in full and keep an eye on the Blog for all the latest announcements from Nokia in the run up to Nokia World (though at the rate Nokia are revealing new products they may well have run out by Tuesday!).