I currently have had the chance to take Nokia Flagship Touch Screen Device the 5800 Xpress Music handset for a test drive to find out for myself what everyone is talking about.

Display

Screen resolution is fantastic and is comparable to other Nokia device such as the popular Nokia N95 but much wider which provides a better experience. The only downside i have with this device is the sensitivity of the touch screen, on some menus i would press once and the handset processed the request while on other menus it would only like to respond to a double touch. Now I am not too sure if Nokia have purposely done this as verification so you are not pressing the wrong thing but if this is the case I really think Nokia need to re think this one because you can't expect me to remember which menus I need to double press. If this is not the case and it just is purely not responding the first time I touch I feel Nokia needs to introduce a sensitivity bar in the settings to which a user can adjust it to his or her liking.

Sound/Music

The Nokia 5800 Xpress Music has been built for music and not surprisingly the sound quality on the built in speakers are fantastic which is great because Nokia have included 12 months unlimited music downloads from Nokia music so in no time you will have all the latest tracks to listen to on your handset.  

Software/System

The Nokia 5800 Xpress Music runs on a simplified Symbian S60 Touch Ui operating system which carries all the familiar menus found on all the latest Nokia symbian devices. The touch system itself is quite easy and before using this i was a bit worried but after about 10 minutes i had gone through all the settings and was able to change my theme, wallpaper, ringtones and shortcuts with ease, it is allot quicker and easier than any other symbian devices that i have used in the past as they have gotten rid of allot of unnecessary extra menus. Software wise is lacking, the edition I picked up which I believe all Australian distributors are doing comes with two games your standard calculator, converter, instant messenger, recorder, real player, notes, dictionary and Nokia maps 2.0 and that’s it. So as you can see it does have the bare programs needed but I have done a search around the net and you will find heaps of software out there out there for it and as a bonus most S60 series 3 programs will run on them so any program created for the Nokia N95, Nokia N96 will probably work. You will also need to keep in mind as this is the first Touch UI Nokia will release a Software update down the track which will enable allot more on the handset itself which is great as you can update the phones software from your own computer without sending it away.

In summing up this is Nokia's flagship, if you want a touch and want a Nokia this is your first choice. I do feel this is a stepping stone tho to the Nokia N97 but as seeing this won’t be released in Australia until around the end of 2009 why wait when you can get your hands on this one.