Nokia 5730 XpressMusic

Available now
11th March 2009

Very closely related to the new Nokia E75, the Nokia 5730 XpressMusic is an S60 smartphone with 3.5G support, WiFi, GPS and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard.

When we say "closely related", what we really mean is that the 5730 XpressMusic is almost identical in every way, except that the 5730 is a prettier phone to look at, more fun to use.. and priced at just €280 before tax and subsidy, the 5730 is about €100 cheaper than the E75.

The 5730 XpressMusic looks more plasticky than the E75, and it seems to lack the "dual home screen" of the E75, and perhaps email support isn't quite as good (although it does support Microsoft Exchange push email), but there seem to be no significant features missing from the E75. Usefully, the 5730 comes with an 8GB microSD card where the E75 only has a 4GB card, and the XpressMusic phone has dedicated media keys. The 5730 has a better stills camera, using Carl Zeiss optics, but the maximum video capture rate at 640 x 480 pixels is only 15 frames per second, half that of the E75.

This is a tri-band UMTS phone with quad-band GSM and WiFi support, and the maximum download speed on HSDPA is 3.6 Mbps. The display is a 2.4" 320 x 240 pixel panel, on the back is a 3.2 megapixel camera. GPS is included, so the 5730 can support Nokia Maps and Google Maps. Audio output is via a 3.5mm audio socket or stereo Bluetooth, and the 5730 XpressMusic comes with a media player capable of playing back MP3, AAC and WMA audio.

The 5730 has access to Nokia's new "Music Store" and can share files on Ovi. It also supports Myspace, Flickr, YouTube, Facebook and N-Gage gaming.

It's quite a heavy phone at 135 grams, and it measures a largish 112 x 51 x 15mm. The 1000 mAh battery provides up to 4 hours talktime and 11 days standby time on 3G. Available colour combinations are red, monochrome, blue and pink.

So.. it's cheaper than the E75, nicer to look at, it's a lot more fun, it has a slightly better camera and more memory in the standard sales package. What's the catch? Well, the E75 is likely to hit the shops in the next few weeks, and the Nokia 5730 XpressMusic is coming out sometime in the third quarter of this year.

If you are prepared to wait, then we would definitely go for the Nokia 5730 XpressMusic over the E75. And if you think that the 5730 is a bit garish to look at, then our best bet is that the E75 will be a lot cheaper when the 5730 comes out.