I bought a smartphone

So at long last the day has come, I don’t use a mobile phone very much. And when I do I don’t use the extra features, I don’t even text. I bought my trusty Nokia 6300 when it first came out and it is just about perfect. In fact all the Nokia phones I have bought over the years have been good. And every non Nokia phone less so. There is a reason they tend to have a 40% market share.

The thinking behind the move is to use the new phone as a web browser and email terminal. To carry the internet in my pocket.

After much looking at the market (and not being swayed by fashion) my new smartphone is a Nokia 5800. And there are some very good reasons why:

  • It has multitasking. I cannot believe anybody selling a general purpose computer that isn’t. Non multitasking is a primitive restriction from our historic past.
  • It supports Adobe Flash. You know, the industry standard for moving images on the internet.
  • The battery is removable and replaceable. So I can carry a spare, charged battery in my pocket. And replace any batteries that get tired in their old age.
  • It has a very nice form factor. Ergonomic in the hand and relatively light. Some smartphones are far too wide to actually comfortably use as a phone.
  • No keyboard. Thought about this and concluded that the smaller size when you go without is advantageous. If I find I am inputting a lot of text then maybe my next phone will need one.
  • High resolution screen. 640 x 360 is more than some offer.
  • 2 cameras. One on each side, so you can videophone. How cool is that?
  • When using the satnav the (free) maps download into the phone. So you can use it on the plane! And it doesn’t eat up expensive airtime when you are navigating.
  • Swappable memory on Micro SD cards. And web rumours say that the 32MB cards work.
  • Carl Zeiss autofocus camera with flash, autofocus and zoom.
  • It’s a Nokia, so all the actual telephone functions such as signal strength, network compatibility, global roaming, voice quality etc will be spot on.
  • Frequent firmware upgrades. The 5800 is a vastly superior phone now to the one they released just over a year ago. They even increased the processor clock speed in one upgrade!

There’s loads more, but those are the big ones. I have bought the phone outright so can put it on any service I want and upgrade as and when I feel like it. Smartphones are going to drop massively in price this year and the operating systems are going to become a lot more capable. But, as before, I won’t be swayed by fashion and will only replace the 5800 when there is a very good reason to do so.

3 Comments


  1. Glad you bought the 5800, I’ve had one for several months and have been very happy with it. It’s definitely the best phone I’ve ever used.

    I do find that texting is easier when I do it two handed, the keyboard orientates and possibly the keys are bigger.

    Watch out when you’re roaming. If you use the maps function the phone may go online as the GPS is “Assisted” by the network. There was a “stay offline” option in the old maps app but I can’t remember seeing it in the new one.


  2. Ah no! I just upgraded the firmware. I don’t want to use the qwerty keyboard when horizontal! Oh well. Hopefully there’s a setting somewhere that I can get back the old behaviour.


  3. Nokia 5800 is a nice enhancement in its series. Touch sensitivity is great.
    I wonder if it supports Evony online game. If anyone knows that pls respond.

Comments are closed.