Customer Reviews

Nokia 5300 XpressMusic Lilac Phone (T-Mobile)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I bought this phone because it was super cheap with a contract extension, and it had a nice set of features. Unfortunately, I was ready to send it back just moments after taking it out of the box. The first problem that I had with it was that the back is very hard to open. I'm pretty sure that the latch mechanism will fail eventually. Then, within five minutes of removing the plastic from the screen, the screen had a deep scratch on it. I don't know how this happened - I was just fiddling around with it in my hands. Other than the back cover, the phone strikes me as fairly solid, and the slider seems sturdy enough.

The music player seems to work just fine - haven't had any problems with it. It sounds terrible coming from the speaker, but with just a cheap $10 pair of headphones, the music sounds quite nice. I was very impressed with the sound quality. I haven't had any problems with any kind of hissing sounds using the adapter.

The Nokia software is very easy to use - no problems transferring files or anything like that.

The FM radio also appealed to me, and it works ok. I've read review that said the radio only works with the headphones, but that's not really accurate. The headphones need to be plugged into the phone to function as an antenna, but once you plug them in, you can choose to have the sound come from the phone's speaker.

Most aspects of the phone's interface are straightforward and intuitive, and I don't really have any rants or raves there. Like every other reviewer, I was shocked at the short battery life. Sometimes I've even had to charge the phone during the day after having charged it all night. Oh - an annoying thing - maybe some helpful reader can clue me in on this one - is that when I plug in the phone to charge it, the screen backlight turns on and it stays on for the duration of the charge. I can't figure out how to turn it off.

The screen quality (other than its tendency to scratch) is excellent. Very bright, easy to read, nice color. But I'd agree with the earlier reviewer who said that the clock is too small. I don't wear a watch and depend on my phone to keep me on time.

Other than the button on the back cover, the other buttons are fine. The power button and side buttons are harder to manage than I'd like, but they're not terrible. The keypad has great buttons and is easy to use accurately.

As other reviewers have mentioned, the voice recognition function is useless. It has never understood anything I've ever said to it. I have a a PEBL that is from the UK and only understands British English, but that phone still understands me most of the time. (They both use a speaker-independent system where you don't record voice tags or train the phone.)

The camera is ok, but I'd never use it in place of a regular digital camera. The pictures just aren't that good. After taking a picture, the phone prompts you to save or send the picture, which is annoying, but if you push the camera button again, it will go back to taking pictures and will save the last picture taken to your default location.

I don't text or use the web on this phone, so I can't say much about that. I have found the software it uses for guessing which words you type is not quite as good as that on the Motorola phones I've used in the past.

Where this phone was most disappointing to me was its function as a phone. I was surprised by this, as Nokia has such a good reputation, and Motorola is supposedly not as good - but I found the reverse to be true in this case. I've had a lot of reception problems with this phone. With my PEBL, it was very rare for me to have any kind of problem with dropped calls or bad reception, but it has been an ongoing issue with this phone. I've also had issues with the phone not ringing when someone calls - they get the voicemail and leave a message, but when I check the voicemail, the message isn't there. This happened three times over the three weeks that I used the phone (and I don't get a lot of calls, so three is a significant percentage). Even when the reception seemed good, I was still told that my voice sounded a little fuzzy. When I switched back to using my PEBL, my friends all heard the difference immediately. My home office is in a closet that is partly underground, and I only very rarely had problems with the PEBL in there, but the Nokia is useless in that room. The PEBL also works better with my bluetooth headset.

So this phone was bad enough that I stopped using it and went back to my PEBL, which is a far superior device (though not perfect by any means.) Still, the Nokia was such a bargain (especially with the 1GB card) and has so many other functions that it's nice to have around. My daughter uses the mp3 player, radio, and camera.

I've had my new Nokia 5300 for about a week now and I just love it! I am very new to all this fancy cell phone stuff, the last one I had was bare bones basic. It is great having a phone that you can do so much with. The camera is so handy since I never remember to take my other camera anywhere with me and the mp3 player and radio are also great to have. The music aspects of this phone are really what sold me on it, I had been looking at seperate mp3 players for awhile now and hadn't made up my mind until I saw this phone and what an awesome deal it was. You just can't beat a one cent phone with free shipping and $75.00 in rebates! T-Mobile had my old Net10 phone number ported to the new phone in 2 days! The customer service people have been so nice and the ability to buy ringtones, wall paper and myfaves icons right on the phone from T-Zones is awesome. I also like that you can check your bill and minutes used and all your account & plan info right on the phone. I am very impressed. The only issue I have been having is finding accessories for it-my usual discount accessory shops don't have much yet-I'm assuming because the phone is so new, but I'm sure that will get resolved soon. Buy this phone, it is great!

I upgraded to the Nokia 5300 XpressMusic after three years of service with TMobile and a Motorola V300. Comparing the Nokia 5300 to the Motorola I noticed one huge difference right out of the box: Nokia is made of very lightweight plasic. This wasn't much of an issue until I went to change the SIM card out of the Motorola and put it into the Nokia. While I didn't break the back cover of the Nokia, it was a fear throughout the process. It's a very thin cover and since they are relatively cheap, I think I'll buy an extra one to have on hand just in case. I think the case on the Nokia is a bit on the delicate side, and you may want to consider a hard pastic cover (as sold on Amazon by Bargain Cell).

A somewhat quirky design issue is the ON/OFF button. Not clearly identified in the documentation, it took me awhile to find it. (It's at the top of the phone near the USB and power inlets.) It's flush to the phone and although my fingers are small, it is tough to depress it. I have to use my nail or the end of a pencil to get it to work. Hold it for about two seconds and it will give you the option for 'Off' or several profiles such as 'normal', 'outdoor', etc. I guess if you don't turn your phone off, and keep it on standby, it's no big deal.

Now for the good stuff, of which there is much to brag about with this phone. The camera: takes great shots, easily uploads to the computer for printing, fabulous zoom, and YES there's video with this phone!

The music player is the big seller on this one, and doesn't disappoint. The 1GB card that it comes shipped with (installed) is enough for me right now, but I can tell I'll be upgrading to the 2GB card (about $24 on sale...) soon. Connecting to your PC through the included USB cord is simple and with XP, things pretty much recognized and synched without a problem. If you've navigated a cell phone menu and used a PC before, this shouldn't be a problem for you. Exporting video, images or music from your PC to the Nokia is very quick and easy.

Another fun function is that once you've uploaded your tunes, you can set them to specific functions on your phone such as the incoming call ring. Easy to change and fun!

The main reason for the phone: making and receiving calls. The Nokia seems to have a good antenna and where calls have been spotty with the Motorola, the Nokia has flawless reception. Volume control on the side is handy, as is the bluetooth and speakerphone, although I've yet to try them.

Getting the earpiece just right to hear your caller may take some practice, but once you find the sweet spot, the calls are clear and the recipients say that the call quality on their end is excellent.

A calendar, alarm, games (poker...one of my favorites), are all easy to find and use too.

The display is clear, bright and LARGE! Beautiful screen. The size of the phone is no where as thin as a RAZR, but since I'm used to the V300, it's pretty much the same size and a bit lighter in weight.

The slide on this phone is smooth, but since I'm new to this design I have no comparison. I hope it holds up as well as the flip design, but I would imagine that depends upon me. "Gently" would be the key word when using this phone.

A rubberized grip (the color) is on the side and back of the phone. Volume control, fwd, rwd, pause, play and camera buttons are on the side with the camera lens on the back of the phone.

This is a fun phone with many options. It was 'free' with a 2yr contract re-up on TMobile.com, and the SIM card can go back into my V300 if for some reason durability is an issue down the road. I think as long as you are careful with your Nokia 5300 XpressMusic phone, it will keep you smiling for some time to come.

I got this phone as an upgrade for renewing my contract with t-mobile, since I was tired of my motorola razr v3 and the fact that everyone had it, I decided to get something that not a lot of people have, and chose the Nokia 5300 in lilac. I've owed 4 other nokia phones in the past and have been pleased with them, and I can't say any different for this phone. For starters I fell in love with the phones unique slider design and color. It has a very good quality, bright color screen, but be careful because the screen can scratch easily, so I recommend a screen protector. As a phone it's very good, the calls sound clear, with no noise or distortion. This phone has so many features, containing an Mp3 player which is basically the phones main attraction, excellent bluetooth, 1.3 Megapixel camera, FM Radio, Web Browser, speakerphone, Video recorder/playback, infrared, etc. It comes with a wall charger, a 1 GB memory card (you can upgrade it to 2 GB), a USB Cable, and Headphones in which you can talk with, listen to the FM Radio, or listen to your Mp3's, of course you can also put your music on loudspeaker, which gives out a very good, clear sound. You can also set your Mp3's as your ringtone, so there is no need to buy ringtones, and I liked the toggle keys on the side of the phone used for the mp3 player, volume, and camera. The only con's to this phone are it does not have good battery life, most of my past nokia phones have all had excellent battery life, but since I'm guessing this contains an mp3 player the phones battery life is shorter, and I also didn't like the fact that the phone has 5MB of internal memory, but at least it has the memory card to back it up. Overall this phone is great, and I'm truly pleased with my purchase.

I bought this phone upon deciding to switch to T-mobile from Verizon. I wanted a phone with a user friendly music player that I wasn't required to purchase individual songs for if I didn't want to. I was able to use the player without having to purchase any additional software for my computer. It is compatible with Windows Media as well as Yahoo Music(which you can also purchase a subscription to.) It is a my faves phone, which is also a big plus. It is also IM enabled.
If you are into messaging, it has some nice features. It is capable of taking video and voice message clips. The camera is nice also, with a large screen. You can type in your message and the phone will predict what word you are typing, so you don't have to punch each button 2 or three times. Just type the word and the phone will guess what word you want.
The phone is blue tooth enabled and comes with a usb cord, ear plugs and an adaptor piece. There are many other features that I don't understand, but someone who is good with technology would have no problem understanding.
To sum things up, this is a phone with a lot of features. It isn't too advanced that a person can't eventually figure out how to use most of them, even if you are used to a basic phone like I am.

The Nokia 5300 Xpress is a feature rich phone. The camera is easy to work and takes good quality pictures that are readily transferred via bluetooth to a computer or a printer. The mp3 player sounds great for a phone, and good for an mp3 player. The sound quality is dramatically improved by the use of the headphones. The lilac is darker than the name suggests but is a nice contrast to all of the metallic phones available elsewhere. The phone is also wonderfully tactile--the navigation keys are responsive and easy to work. My husband and his sausage fingers have had no problem dialing (he has the black version). The slider mechanism works great and doesn't feel as if the phone might break. For its features and their quality the phone is a good deal at this price range.

The downside of the phone is the quality. My first phone arrived poorly machined so that the back had a gap which if left unchecked would certainly let in dirt, cat hair, and the like. My husband's phone had more serious problems in that it simply didn't work--there appeared to be a short where it would light up and then go dark. His second phone does not work either for similar reasons. We are now awaiting the fifth phone in 10 days. My second phone has been okay so far but it has received light use. I have yet to figure out all of the settings, and I am fairly tech savvy and not easily daunted by technology.

I won't know if these problems are flukes or poor quality for sometime to come. I am hoping for the former, obviously.

Easy to use, stylish, and PACKED with features. I have reorganized all the menus to suit me. It has only 2 preloaded games though. One is a trial version, but very cool. The other stinks so I haven't played it long enough to see if it is a trial version. The music player is great and easy to use. My last phone was TERRIBLE for getting songs onto it. Very convoluted process. With this phone, you go to the Nokia web site and download Nokia PC Suite for free and the apps are all easy to use and have tutorials for those who need them. Sweet Suite! With my last phone the transfer software was $80 and was so glitchy I gave up and never used it. Also, the software converts to an audio format that makes the song files so small you can really pack the phone with music! I think it is eACC or something like that. Very efficient. I also synched it with my outlook. Yay! You will love this phone. I bought a Motorola RAZR case for it. You can keep the headset plugged in, it has a swivel clip, fits snug but not tight, and the leather is soft enough that you can push the music player and volume buttons through the outside with ease, and you can answer the phone with the included headset - so no need to take it out of the case!

I really love this little phone. My only complain is the headphones. What idiot designed them? The left earbud is 6 inches long and has a large knob at the end which you click to change songs. It's like some strange dangling ear ring. Who wants to reach up to their ear to change tunes. The right earbud is 21 inches long. So you've got a bunch of wire flapping around your chin area if you're walking fast. Which I do every day. The knob cause the earbud to pop out if you walk too fast or turn your head before crossing a street. The earbud can't take the weight of it. The knob should be below the tie clip which holds the headphones close and the length of wire between ear buds should be the same.

I understand the idea of "sharing." But why would you need to lean head to head to share with a friend when the phone has a speaker option to play music? This should be the option. Not the norm.

Good Points
->looks good
->Good Voice Quality
-> Good Music quality

Negative Points
->Less Talk time for the battery

This may be a good music player but it is NOT a good phone. After 8 months of regular use the buttons aren't working to go through the menu options and it gets "stuck" on certain pages or options. This phone is Nokia, supposedly one of the better phones for reception, and the reception is terrible and it is not because service is strong or weak.