Older Model, Up To Date Features (Nokia 5510)

Member Name: Khoahuynh

Product:	Nokia 5510
Date:	01/12/02 (517 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very Good MP3 Player and Sound, Hands-Free Unit, Nokia Audio Manager

Disadvantages: Radio Interface At First Can Be Confusing, Slightly Larger Size Can Attract Bad Attention, No Scrolling Artist/Track Names On MP3 Player

It's not the newest phone, but I had my eye on the Nokia 5510 for quite a while. My birthday came on 26 November and money in the bank allowed me to get out and buy one.

It's not that cheap though considering the relative age of the model - £99.99 pay as you go O2 from The Link, though it would have been £10 cheaper if I went with T-Mobile.

Anyway, the phone is surprisingly light for the features it has and is not that much larger than the 3310 or similar series. However, comments such as "I want to hold your brick" arose on occasion.

Phone handling is like any other Nokia phone and is functional and very good. Texting is very convenient. It will take a day or two to get used to the more convenient QWERTY keboard but after that it should be a doddle to use.

Now to the reason why you would consider buying this phone. First of all, it's a Nokia. Yes, secondly it has an MP3 Player and a Radio built in. The sound quality is magnificent for the size - the same as a CD player, of course if the encoding is 128kbps or higher. The memory space is 64MB and I managed to fit on about 14 songs on it. If you take a 4 minute song as 4MB, that's about 13 songs. A bit stingy for some, however it is good for me as I only put my favourite songs on.

Contrary to nearly every review of this phone, I have found Nokia Audio Manager 2.1 very functional and easy and simple to use. It has never crashed on me though I have a powerful computer running Windows XP Home. Adding MP3s from the Hard Disk to the Nokia database is simple and copying to the "Portable device" as in the 5510 is even more simpler. Also, you know if you've gone over the 64MB limit by a simple and colourful bar chart.

One bad thing with the MP3 player is that the artist name is not always displayed but that's probably the fault of the MP3 file. I'll update this review if I have found a solution. Also, if the song title / art
ist is too long for the screen, only part of the name is displayed. At least, Nokia should have made it 'marquee' across the LCD screen.

The radio is quite good however the interface could be improved. However, once you add the memories, it is quite easy to use.

An interesting bonus is that the headphones can be used as a hands-free unit so you don't have to hold the "brick" or phone up to your ear. Ending a call can be done by pressing the button on the microphone.

The games included are Bantumi, Snake II, Space Invaders, Pairs II and Bumper. Playing games with the keyboard is a little awkward however this can be overcome quite soon - after about a day of 20 minutes use I'd say.

Overall - this is a highly rated product and one of the best if not the best MP3 mobiles on the market (OK, the O2 xda is in a league of its own). A definate must buy if you are going to buy a new mobile and are in to the MP3 scene of downloading music. However, hurry now as The Link only had one left. It's on clearance and you get a cheap camera which they give you free. Emphasis on the cheap though. Not even a Zoom. It's an Olympus Trip camera. Oh well, I didn't expect one anyway.

Summary: