In anticipation of a new range of handsets, Nokia recently announced the C5, a phone that is a Smartphone in the technical sense, as it runs on the Symbian Operating System, but with a focus on the ‘phone’ element. This is not a device aimed at geeks who want the all singing all dancing, but at the mid range market who want steady reliable performance.
The announcement of the C5 also brings to completion the new naming convention for Nokia mobile phones. New releases will be announced in one of four different categories, The X Series, E Series, N Series and the new C Series. The N Series will continue to be flagship media devices, whilst E Series will continue to service the business user. The X Series already has a few devices, the X3 and X6. The focus of the X Series is on social connectivity, whilst the C Series will focus on the core range of Nokia devices. Despite the naming policy, it is very likely, almost inevitable, that there will be an element of cross over between products in terms of features and functionality.
So, the new C5 is part of Nokia’s core range. Nokia have long since announced a policy of aspiring to bring the Symbian platform to a wider user base, promoting the products with a focus on their usability rather than any smartphone capability. It’s a smart move, the term smartphone can be very off putting to consumers, whose main focus for a phone is more calls and text with a little extra rather than the full range of features found on a smartphone. With Symbian running on the device, almost unnoticed by the user, it still allows Nokia to promote future services and integrated apps to a wider audience.
The C5 itself is a rather plain looking phone, standard block design, with a traditional layout of 12 key alpha numeric keypad under the main display, with the Navi key and menu option keys lying in between. The display itself is a 2.2 inch QVGA TFT display, supporting up to 16 million colours. The quad band C5 is a compact handset, measuring 112 x 46 x 12mm, and weighing just a little over 89g.
In terms of features the C5 is a middle of the range device, as indicated by the ‘5’ in the model name. The higher the number, the higher the specification. So we find the C5 equipped with a 3.2 Megapixel camera, with LED flash and video recording at 15 fps, VGA resolution. There is a secondary VGA front facing camera, for video calling. The inclusion of video calling reveals the C5 to be a 3G device, enabled with dual band HSDPA, offering download speeds at up to 10.2 Mbps, and uploads at up to 2 Mbps. Class 10 GPRS and EDGE is also included, and the device also offers Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP. Internal memory on the phone is set at 50 MB, with memory expansion available via Micro SD Memory cards. The C5 can handle cards up to 16 GB in size.
A capable media device, the Nokia C5 has a fully enabled media player, playing multiple audio and video files, although sadly there is no native support for DivX or XviD codecs. The handset does offer a 3.5mm audio jack, and there is a built in stereo FM radio, with RDS support. The C5 has a wide variety of messaging options included, with email and push email offered by the Nokia Messaging app. Instant messaging and RSS feeds are also supported, and there are apps for Facebook, YouTube, Flickr and MySpace included. The C5 comes with a built in GPS receiver, and also supports aGPS. With Nokia Maps available totally free of charge these days, it instantly makes C5 a great SatNav product, with full access to voice turn by turn commands, all free.
The C5 is a steady, if a little unspectacular, middle of the range device, the sort of phone on which Nokia built there enviable reputation. Hard working, not showy, just easy to use, getting the job done with a minimum amount of fuss.
The Nokia C5 is expected to be available to buy during Q2 2010.
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9:07 pm
Some idea about the price of the phone would be quite handy for Nokia fans.
11:19 pm
Does built in stereo FM radio mean there is no need to plug headphones in for the aerial?
5:12 pm
No, for that it would need a built in antenna like the Nokia X2 has. Built in FM radio just means it has FM radio functionality
5:14 am
I bought my C5 at midvalley nokia booth. It was a great phone with GPS ovimaps and quality camera. But in one weeks time these problem occured:
1) in started to reset once in awhile.
2) ovimaps had problem sync with satelite (outdoors).
3) it hanged and theeeeeennnn shutdown permenantly!!!
ive tried doing everytg the manual or website said but didnt work.
my action:
1) sent to Nokia care center (Bukit bintang plaza)
customer servis was good. they said "C5 common prob is hang and the solution= change motherboard" which means changing the whole THING. They told me since its new series, will take time to change motherb due to availability. so...they told me to wait few DAYS..
decent of them to give me a nokia 7900 for a temp replacement.
2) im writing on day 3 of not having my C5.
11:30 am
There is nothing in the user manual or anywhere on the web that I can find to tell you how to create a voice tag for a contact. You can listen to an electronic guess of the name of the contact - but cannot set the voice tag using ones own voice command. I am amazed that this 'modern' phone is virtually useless and has a vital feature missing. Even my trusty 6210i that is over 10 years old has voice recognition to enable hands free dialing.
7:28 am
Dear Graham, I saw your comment regarding the voice tags, as i have just received a c5 and drive a lot, very frustrated that I cannot record voice tags and also, I cannot figure out how to ring a contact by using a voice command, do you have any advice. thank you.
3:42 pm
I don't have a C5 to hand but I don't think you need to set a voice tag. Just press the button to initiate a voice call, then say the name. Voice calling tends not to need pre recorded voice tags anymore.
10:35 pm
I cant give this phone enough praise. Ive just taken delivery and already it feels right. Ive just got rid of a Nokia X6 because the touchscreen was a ballache, but this phone has everything the X6 had plus a normal keypad, and it also has the same operating system. The screen is a little small but its a small price to pay for such an easy to operate up to date phone. I would gladly pay £200 for this phone. Raise a glass to Nokia!!
4:02 am
Hey Nokia fans. I need some advice on which phone to choose between the 2710 navigation or the C5, whch of the two is a great phone overall?
5:32 pm
I need some help guys, should i buy the Nokia C5 or not? it looks like a really good phone but im not sure i want to buy it just dont want it to break down on me after a while, i have bad luck with phones you see but this could be my first Nokia phone. Thaaanks
10:46 am
I got the C5 recently and having problems already it keeps freezing every time i want to send a txt. Also i don't know how to get my contacts from my sim to my phone it so confusing.
8:01 pm
Can anyone who has a C5 tell me how good the loud speeker is, and also how well the bluetooth works? My 6700 is useless on both counts!!