re: Nokia 5210 Review
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nokia.com
>>Test: Nokia 5210
February 27, 2002
Matteo Dal Pra'
Miranda Drew
GSMBOX
uk.gsmbox.com
Introduced a few months ago by the prolific Finnish company, the Nokia GSM 5210 is one of the most interesting new offers in Nokia´s recent production. At a price of about 294 euros, the GSM 5210 has been on the market for a few weeks, available in most European stores. Because of its price and series number (5000) Nokia assigns this model to the middle area of its own range of cellular phones.
After due consideration of its technical characteristics and functions, however, it could be assigned to one step above the sought-after and by now mythical 8210. The 8210, which has been one of the best sellers of the 8000 series, is soon-to-be retired, seeing as it is no longer in production and, excluding re-editions, can only be found as warehouse leftovers.
This is important because the 5210 has inherited the software, the user/graphic interface, and absolutely all of the functions of the 8210. The 5210 also has new functions that will be described later on, and new rubberised covers, now called Shells, which should make the phone more shock and water-resistant. Because of this, as the 6250 is the “reinforced” version of the 6210, this model should technically be called 8250. But as this identification number has already been used for a model designed for the Asian market only, the 5210 could have been called 8230. It’s a mystery why Nokia has been creating so much confusion with its numbers lately (see also the 6510 which has almost nothing in common with the 6000 series!)
Seeing the close kinship in this review, we will make continuous references to the parent 8210. For example the “fabric” is very similar to that of the 8210 as well as the battery opening (and also the battery, naturally.) The slot for the SIM card is also the same (luckily it was not made like the terrible one for the 8310/6510.) Obviously, with voluminous rubber shells the external dimensions are larger with respect to the 8210, but not by much (105.5 x 47.5 x 22.5 mm vs 101.5 x 44.5 x 17.5 mm). Also the total weight (battery included) is slightly greater (92 grams vs 79 grams): 13 grams of difference are not felt very much. It’s much less of a difference than the 133 grams of the 3330, 40 grams of difference are noticeable!
The rubber shells should make the telephone more resistant to shocks and spills. We say “should” because in the User’s Manual Nokia does not guarantee anything in that sense, also because there are no silicone seals (as on other similar models) or Gore-Tex membrane (as on the massive Ericsson R310s) nor does it seem that more resistant electronics or welding were used. Therefore, it is not a “very strong” telephone, like its big brother (in every sense) the 6250. The latter is an honest to goodness almost indestructible telephone, in the sense that one can calmly throw it against the wall (without exaggerating however), or submerge it in water (not for too long) without any damage...only the latter, therefore, is a real telephone for construction sites or extreme sports. Instead, the 5210 is slightly more resistant and less permeable to liquids than a normal telephone, a bit like the reinforced Siemens M35 or ME45, but not like the Nokia 625 or the Ericsson R310s or R250 (which is no longer in production), which have actual armour. In any case, the 5210 seems to be a very solid and robust telephone and the closure of the two quite hermetical shells is well made. The finishings and quality of the materials used are optimum.
The function buttons, placed in the upper part of the phone, are in hard silver plastic. They rispond to commands quickly and well. The alphanumeric buttons, placed in the bottom part of the phone, are instead made of rubber that is not very soft. They are very close to each other but sufficiently wide and comfortable to use. Also these respond quickly and well to commands given. The display is the same as that of the 8210, high resolution graphics with the same dimensions. What has changed is the illumination, which is now an orange/amber colour, very pleasing as well as an absolute novelty for a Nokia phone.
The new characteristics do not stop here. We can find different, more or less important ones inside the telephone. The first is represented by the Wap browser in version 1.1 with a Wap Push function, for receiving desired information from the web. The browser accepts up to 5 profiles and can memorise up to 15 bookmarks. As the phone is not GPRS, the navigation speed stops at 14,400 bps (if the web supports it).
A small, but very useful addition is the automatic keyboard block which Nokia finally decided to introduce in its new models (also the brand-new 6510 has it). The functioning of the keyboard block is regulatable at your pleasure, thanks to a programmable timer. For example you can set it to automatically block the keyboard after 10 seconds of inactivity.
Another interesting and useful addition is the possibility to time the mode, or set the activation of the mode (Silent, Meeting, Outside, etc.) for a determined time. For example, if you go to a meeting that lasts about an hour, you can set the Meeting mode for the duration of the meeting, so that at the end of the meeting you will not forget, as usual, to reset it to normal mode. Or at night, in order not to disturb people who are sleeping, you can set the Silent mode to last until dawn.
The 5210 is probably the only GSM to have a particular innovation, that is the thermometer function, which allows you to measure the external temperature. The thermometer is not professional and the result is very approximate, as in our tests it always indicated a temperature that was a few degrees higher than the actual one.
As on the other recent models from the NorthEuropean company, the 5210 contains animated and non-animated screen savers, which can be associated to different user modes. In all there are 16 screen savers, among which is one which allows you to see a full screen digital clock, another which, aside from showing the time, shows the date as well. Who knows if one day Nokia phones will have the date displayed also in standby! Other personalisable features can be found in the vibration setting which can be set alone, with the ring tone, before the ring tone (first it vibrates and then rings) and can also be rhythmic. This last setting is also availbe for the illumination (a solution already seen in the Telit GM822.) With respect to the 8210, but already seen on other models in the Nokia range, other additions are the chronometre, countdown, SMS chat, SMS length of 450 characters, and the new games Snake II, Pairs II, Bantumi, Space Impact, and Bumper. These are all functions which attract the eyes of young consumers, but not only them.
The last, and most captivating addition is definitely the function of the Picture Editor, which will be enjoyed by the young and by SMS maniacs. This function has already been anticipated on the 3350 Asian model, and is now present on this captivating European GSM. This editor allows the user to create drawings from zero or to modify existing drawings (to attach to SMS messages). Using a virtual pen with continuous or discontinuous lines, nets, circles, squares, and predefined Clip Art. To move the pen you use all the number keys: 2 and 8 to go up and down, 4 and 6 to move left and right, and 1, 3, 7 and 9 to move diagonally. The shapes you create can be “coloured” in black, white or gray (dotted). Arming yourself with patience and a lot of imagination you can create fun, pretty and best of all original drawings than the predefined ones (there are 10, plus more than 6 screens of Clip Art.) Those who love SMS will go crazy!
The remaining, numerous functions are the same as the 8210, slight modifications notwithstanding
- date, alarm clock and time that you do not need to reset every time you change the SIM, (which happened with the 3000 series) thanks to a battery plug;
- agenda containing up to 100 appointments, birthdays (which are remembered every year) and various notes. You can also use icons to personalise the notes;
- telephone book with an internal memory of 250 numbers (aside from those available on the SIM card);
- Voice Dial, to call up to 10 numbers vocally;
- calculator and exchange function
- 5 personalisable user modes
- 35 predefined ring tones (some new), plus another 7 you can download via SMS
- updatable T9 for easy SMS writing;
- Finally, even though many people think that it is not there, there is the IrDA infrared port.
It is taken for granted that the user interface is the simple and intuitive one as always. The audio quality is good but not excellent. With high volume, the trasmitted voice arrives a bit metallic, as with almost all Nokias, with slight static in the background. Using analog for the transmission and reception quality is good but not excellent. The sensivitity is a bit lacking, but overall the signal is unstable. This is a typical limit of the GSMs with integrated antennas (except for rare exceptions, see the Alcatel 511.) Instead, the connection to the web and research are fast if the signal is good.
The 5210 is gifted with the 750 mAh BLB-2, which is already noted and used (by the 8000 series and the 6510.) The telephone is parsimonious, it consumes little. It easily lasts over 100 hours in standby (also on the 900 MHz band), with mixed usage (standby and a few calls) four/five working days are available without problems (turning off the phone at night.) Apart from the shells all of the accessories are compatible with those of the 8000 series telephones (8210, 8310, 8850, 8890) and also the “out of production” 6510.
The series accessories are scarse: just one battery, the classic travel battery charger ACP-7 (slow), the User’s Manual and a telephone case made of little belts to attach the telephone to your trousers. A peculiarity of this belts is that, hear hear, actually, smell because they are scented! Since when have mobile phones been scented? Data Suite, the software for connecting to the PC is not included on the packaging, but you can download it free from the Club Nokia site.
The 5210 is sold with only one series shell, only in blue/orange. We have not seen them on sale, but optional shells are planned in another 4 colours: blue/light blue, blue/shy blue, blue/green and blue/yellow. The sale price is about 294 euros, not much to tell the truth, if you consider that the 8210, even having fewer functions, is sold at the same price (except for unusual promotions). Many think that the public which the phone is aimed at is so young that they are not willing to pay more than 200 euros for a mobile phone (it’s enough to see the success of the 3310 and 3330, the most successful among youth.) The right price, according to us, should be around 250 euros. But seeing the strange commercial strategies of Nokia, which recently reduced the price of the 5510, the 5210 could fall in price soon. The terminal we tested was produced in February 2002, with software version 5.12 from 17-01-02. It has not presented any software bugs or hardware problems as yet.
CONSIDER ALSO...
With about 60 euros more it is possible to find the optimum Siemens ME45 which is also reinforced to resist against shocks and spills, slightly bigger but with a much wider display. It does not have the thermometer or message editor, but it does have integrated viva voice and a GPRS modem (with many serial cables) and that’s not nothing. Or with 30 euros less it’s possible to buy the Ericsson T65. It is not rubberised or waterproof but still has a solid and robust construction (thanks also to the integrated battery) and is equally small but has a much larger display. It does not have the thermometer but it does have the plus of having GPRS which is probably a more interesting function!
VERDICT
This is a GSM of generally good make, solid and robust, with reliable software. The software on which the 5210 was developed is the same as the 8210, enriched with some functions. The main functions are: Wap 1.1, thermometer, screen savers, automatic keyboard block, timer for user mode and the innovative and fun Picture Editor. This last function will make SMS maniacs go crazy. As simple as it is genius is the rubber shell solution, which makes the phone more resistant to shocks and spills than a normal GSM. Pay attention that it is not (almost) indestructible like its big brother the 6250. The audio and reception quality is good but not excellent, (on 900 band or 1800 MHz). The operative autonomy is more than satisfactory, it surpasses four/five working days. Yet again Nokia has demonstrated itself to be an innovator in the field with an “invention”, the rubber shells, simple but effective (like the covers for remote controls), which probably will not take long to become popular, as the interchangable covers have done. <<
- Eric - |
