5 Things I Hate About The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic
Having used the 5800 XpressMusic as my primary phone off and on for the past several weeks now, I’ve come up with a laundry list of things that I simply can’t stand about this phone. All but one of these are easily fixed with a firmware update (that’s supposedly on its way already), but the hardware issue is one that I’ll simply have to live with. I’ve tried to keep this list as specific as I can, without all-out railing on this phone, so here it goes.
1. The Menu – The only action that you simply cannot do on the 5800 XpressMusic with the current v10 firmware without using a hardware button is open the menu. Yes, I know, it’s rather unbelievable. You can do nearly any action on the phone that you want, including turning it off, simply by touching the screen, but you cannot open the menu to get to your applications. You simply *must* use that non-descript white key in the middle. What makes this even more frustrating is that, on the S60 5th Edition emulator in the SDK, there is an on-screen S60 menu button, right at the bottom next to the dialler and contacts buttons. Basically, that means that, for some reason, Nokia specifically removed that button on the 5800 XpressMusic. I hope they bring it back.
2. The SIM card slot – the SIM card slot is not actually under the battery. It is accessed through a door on the side of the phone, next to the microSD card slot. You can insert a SIM card without opening the phone up, but you cannot remove the SIM without opening the phone up and using the stylus to push the SIM card out. It’s very annoying, and it’s actually somewhat of a juggling act, as you must hold the phone (and the removed backplate/battery), use the stylus inside this little slot, and pop the SIM card out, which you must then make sure you don’t drop. The whole process is far too involved, and left me missing the SIM card slot on the Nokia N79 (more on that later). This is actually the only thing I’ve needed the stylus for, thus far.
3. Rotate and input – This is actually somewhat of a mixed opinion still. Basically, when you rotate the phone while you have a text input field active, it does not automatically change from T9 to QWERTY, as I feel it should. If you have T9 open, it stays on that, and simply relocates it to the far right of the screen. As others have pointed out to me, it’s nice that you have the option of T9 in landscape, and that the phone allows you to choose. It just seems more natural that it would change to QWERTY when in landscape mode. Either way, it’s something I currently hate.
4. No predictive text on QWERTY – Nokia: from now on, if you build a QWERTY phone, touchscreen or hardware, it needs to have the E71’s predictive text feature integrated. Period. There are no exceptions to this rule, it’s absolutely absurd that you’re still putting out QWERTY phones without predictive text. Even the Sidekick beats you at this. Please, in a firmware update, add this predictive text software to the 5800 XpressMusic. For the love of all things rubber.
5. Geotagging is not native – This one completely blows my mind. With Nokia having such an emphasis on location and context and all that, why on earth doesn’t the 5800 XpressMusic support geotagging of photos natively? Similar to #4, if you put out a phone with a camera and GPS, include geotagging. It’s completely silly not to.
So there you have it, the quick-and-dirty of the 5 most annoying things about the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic. As I pointed out earlier, all but one are software issues that can (and hopefully will) easily be fixed in a firmware update. Since the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic includes that awesome tool to automatically check for new firmware updates, that shouldn’t be a major issue. On the SIM card slot, please don’t ever use that design again, ever. Never.
If you’ve got your hands on a 5800 XpressMusic already, do you find these things annoying, as well? If not, what else do you find incredibly annoying?
#3 I find very annoying. I guess it's nice to have the option of T9 in landscape (though I struggle to find the argument for it...?), but it's very un-natural and non-intuitive that it doesn't automatically adjust the input method when rotated. I hate it too.
#4- My absolute biggest complaint of the device so far- fortunately it's an easy fix, just give us the option! I completely agree that this should be available- it should be on every qwerty device released from this point on, it is inexcusable IMO that it is not. It's a bonehead move in the first place to leave this out of the 5800- it'll **** me off to no end if it's not included in the FIRST firmware update. I understand that not everyone likes the predictive text (some users won't give the chance, some users just hate it, and it certainly gets in the way of bilingual operation)- so I'm not even saying it needs to be enabled by default, but dammit- give me the option! Bad move, Nokia.
#5- No geotagging support? Seriously? There's a (rather capable) 3.2Mp camera and a GPS in the thing- why wouldn't there be geotagging support the second I open the box? Lame.
Those three items drive me a little nutty- the rest isn't so bad, but I do agree. SIM card slot is odd- I imagine this was done out of necessity, as it's not clever and it's not convenient in the least. Aside from Lonely Cat Games' miserable excuse for S60 5th compatibility and their silly, tiny, little buttons- it's the only time I use the stylus as well. The design is indeed a head scratcher.
On screen menu button- I was thinking the same thing. I mean, sure- the hardware button is there- but for some reason, every single time I press it, I wonder why there's no on screen button.
A few things that have disappointed me over the week that I've had mine-
Power plug- right on the top with everything else. USB is fine there, nice to see the headphone jack there- power? No. First of all, this sucks when you have the thing mounted in a car. It not only sucks just because there's a damn wire coming sticking out from the top of the device and then back down towards the floor where it should have been travelling in the first place- it also ensures that no one can make an actively powered vehicle holder, or a desktop charger cradle. Thanks for that. :-\
The buttons on the side of the screen in landscape is terrible. When you rotate an S60v3 device, obviously you need to move the labels for the buttons because the actual hardware keys, the softkeys, they don't move- but they don't exist with S60 5th. You can put those buttons wherever you want- why should 20% of my nice widescreen be rendered useless, or be taken up by 2 or 4 comically large buttons? This really annoys the hell out of me. It makes the web 'experience' that much more difficult and frustrating. Not what I'm looking for in a device like this. Of course, you can always switch to full screen mode, but there's that nearly as annoying 'return to 80% screen mode' icon that exits fullscreen- which is necessary because other exiting fullscreen, there's no back button...! Unless I'm just not getting something- it's not well thought out.
I see how multitouch comes into play other than just pinching a screen to zoom- I'm often making mistakes on the qwerty because I'm just typing too fast- just like the N96 (which still hasn't been fixed, even though they went through this with the N95) pressing two buttons at the same time creates a failure. The N96 simply won't recognize the second keypress if you still have the first key depressed- the 5800 does something a little more peculiar. It registers the second keypress, but it's not where either of your thumbs are. Say for instance you press the 'L' button- if at the same time you press the "A" button, the system will show that you are pressing 'g' or 'h' halfway between A and L. Much of the time this seems to result in a correct keypress so long as you release L before A- but in many cases the second character will not be entered. This forces me to slow down, which I don't like. Of course, if predictive/corrective text was an option, this would be far less frustrating. Currently, it makes the 5800's qwerty a pain in the butt.
I've certainly got plenty more thoughts on the device, which we'll be covering here shortly.
There is much to like about this device- but there is MUCH that can be improved.
Nokia: Right now, more importantly than ever in recent times, you need to keep listening (as you do), and listen *closely* to these concerns and suggestions with the 5800's initial release. A lot of this can be fixed via firmware. Keep your ears on, Nokia.
I empathize with your frustration on the SIM card location. One of the main reasons this have been my primary phone over the past several weeks is because it is such a pain to switch the SIM card. There are times I would rather be using my E71 or N95-3, but it doesn't seem worth it to go through the pain of switching the SIM.
The text entry another thing I agree with, although I have a little tweak to it. I think the 5800XM should be application specific with the entry, as well as orientation specific. What I mean by application specific is that each application should be able to have a default imput method that is remembered throughout sesssions, so that when I return to that application the input method is remembered.
I am not a big geotagger, but maybe if the camera were a little better, I would be more inclined to use it, instead I switch to the n95 for pictures, although switching the SIM is such a pain that I don't do it.
Here are other things that bother me about the phone:
1. No 360 degree rotation. In the web or gallery, you can only turn the phone counter-clockwise to auto-rotate the image. I would like to see 360 degree auto-rotation.
2. Home Screen customization. I would like to see more options for the home screen. Perhaps mail on the homescreen, or a menu button, as you mention, but give us the option.
Thanks for your posts and your site!!
The things which make me hate my 5800 are the access point handling, the UI rotation, the Download! catalog, new WLAN connection and SMS addressing.
Those really push my buttons...
The things which make me hate my 5800 are the access point handling, the UI rotation, the Download! catalog, new WLAN connection and SMS addressing.
Those really push my buttons...
I suppose one possible reason for the lack of the E71esque predictive is that you'd need to have two separate prediction engines, one for the alphanumeric (T9) input and one for the QWERTY input, it may or may not be possible to have both.
Lack of native Geotagging is a bummer I agree, just as I'd gotten to love it on the N96
That annoyance with the placement of the charging port is something that REALLY bugs me! Great when its sitting on the desk charging, not so much when in the car.
One other thing that irks me is the lack of much software for 5th Edition, yes I know its early in the piece, but if theres one thing that gets me green with envy re: iPhone is the sheer diversity of apps there are.
Having the slot secure and hard to accidently open so your sim card stays put is a good thing. The fact that you have to be "involved" to access it is a good thing, but an act only serial phone jugglers will be doing.
So in my opinion it shouldnt be on the list as a major annoyance, just a mild irritation.
Of course i do think it shouldn't be there just out of aesthetic reasons, its not attractive. Other than that, its not something i think Nokia should loose sleep over.
The rest of your annoyances are issues that Nokia should fix/apply in their next firmware update, INCLUDING A FAR MORE COMPETENT TOUCH BASED BROWSER. Also landscape GPS.
Folks should really stop referencing multitouch. Its a nice gimmick on that other phone, but its built for that phone from the ground up with its hardware. People were making do very well without it for years beforehand and the tech Nokia use is very adequate if people take time to learn. I've seen young people speed through the 5800 with ease and I'm amazed how well it kept up.
As the old adage says... "when in rome do as the romans do" (except throwing Christians to lions, that a No No)
Having the slot secure and hard to accidently open so your sim card stays put is a good thing. The fact that you have to be "involved" to access it is a good thing, but an act only serial phone jugglers will be doing.
So in my opinion it shouldnt be on the list as a major annoyance, just a mild irritation.
Of course i do think it shouldn't be there just out of aesthetic reasons, its not attractive. Other than that, its not something i think Nokia should loose sleep over.
The rest of your annoyances are issues that Nokia should fix/apply in their next firmware update, INCLUDING A FAR MORE COMPETENT TOUCH BASED BROWSER. Also landscape GPS.
Folks should really stop referencing multitouch. Its a nice gimmick on that other phone, but its built for that phone from the ground up with its hardware. People were making do very well without it for years beforehand and the tech Nokia use is very adequate if people take time to learn. I've seen young people speed through the 5800 with ease and I'm amazed how well it kept up.
As the old adage says... "when in rome do as the romans do" (except throwing Christians to lions, that a No No)
See how long it took for that other phone to release an official store of apps (i.e. allow people to legitimately write apps).
I'd say change your colour from green to proud of having an OS that is open and allows most any app to be built for it, good and bad.
Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_2 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5G77 Safari/525.20
Heh, just kidding, that just kinda struck me as odd.
This is by no means meant to be a review, just the top five things that annoy me. I realize the SIM slot is minor, but for a serial phoneswapper like myself (I used three different ones in a single day recently), it's a big issue.
I have been using Nokia touchscreen devices for a couple of years- I've been using touchscreen devices quite regularly ever since my old monochrome Philips Nino ten years ago. I'm familiar with a touchscreen. I agree that we've been getting along well without multitouch, but why shouldn't we reference it in the discussion of the 5800?
If I type to fast on the device, I'm pressing a second key before my thumb has left the previous key. This isn't much different than a bug that was addressed on the N95; a bug that also presently exists with the N96. It's a legitimate issue for many users. My actual point was not to sing the praise of multitouch and admonish Nokia for not using the technology, but rather how predictive/corrective text would help out.
I just don't see why you feel so strongly that people should stop referencing multitouch.
Web browser uses Destinations properly, Share online uses cellular - no cellular differentiation, Messaging does not use Destinations at all (only individual APs) and applications rarely use Destinations - only Easy WLAN and defined APs.
And the rest is also specific to 5800:
http://www.renegadefanboy.com/2009/0...my-nokia-5800/
I have been using Nokia touchscreen devices for a couple of years- I've been using touchscreen devices quite regularly ever since my old monochrome Philips Nino ten years ago. I'm familiar with a touchscreen. I agree that we've been getting along well without multitouch, but why shouldn't we reference it in the discussion of the 5800?
If I type to fast on the device, I'm pressing a second key before my thumb has left the previous key. This isn't much different than a bug that was addressed on the N95; a bug that also presently exists with the N96. It's a legitimate issue for many users. My actual point was not to sing the praise of multitouch and admonish Nokia for not using the technology, but rather how predictive/corrective text would help out.
I just don't see why you feel so strongly that people should stop referencing multitouch.
Considering how much its even utilized (limited) in that other phone i.e. photo app and browser, its being more rated by writers than the company that implement it. Of course i know there are third party apps that expand multitouch abilities, but fact is its not be all and end all feature even on that phone.
So yes its great and fun to have and you CAN talk about it, but my arm wont fall off without it.
Nokia need to concentrate on optimising the S60 5th engine for better for touch handling, speed and UI. I'm really hoping the N97 UI shown in the official demo vid is for real, because its the fluidity and speed that Nokia need.
Yet, I would prefer the best phone in the portfolio without the annoying things ;-)
On the other hand I believe it can be fixed by software using common sense and no need for multitouch.
1. Is to keep track of duration of each key-presses. Too quick means unintentional letters. these are the array of letters in-between the two simultaneously pressed keys.
Example: if letter 'J' has longer duration then followed by series of short duration letters like 'F','D','S' followed by longer duration 'A' therefore 'J' followed by 'A' are intentionally tapped.
2. Is to hash the key-patterns of all those unintended keys which usually travel in straight path.
Example: the short duration key-patterns 'G','F','E' are the unintentional key strokes from pressing 'M' then 'Q'.
Well, just my thought. Sadly, i believe Nokia will never ever get that idea unless they happen to read this forum. Perhaps I will implement it my own after I'm finished with my other programming stuff
Has anyone else noticed that??
Turns out I figured out a way to activate predictive text. I hail from Hong Kong, so my phone is a HK model - it includes two systems of Chinese input (traditional / simplified) for my phone on top of basic English as writing languages. After ****ing around with my phone for a bit, and switched to Chinese input as a writing language, I had a few options including number mode, lower-case alphabets and upper-case alphabets. Selecting lower-case alphabet as input (while Chinese was still the primary writing language), I was pleasantly surprised when I found a new option that popped up - "activate predictive text."
Joy, it's predictive text like I've grown to love on my Nokia N95!
Hoping that T9 would stay on even after switching writing languages, I selected English again...
...and now activate/deactivate predictive text shows up as a valid option! WTF?
Option's still there, my guess is software wasn't completely finished or bug in the system that didn't show predictive text as an option at first. I'm now very happy with my 5800 as I now can T9 quick and dirty with the onscreen dialer
I dunno what other writing languages your phone has besides English, but I'm writing in hope that if you switch to whatever other writing language and use basic alphabet as input, "activate predictive text" might show up as an option.
Many questions & help required on priority :
A> locked songs
i was having some problemwith my handset & i gave it to nokia priority (mumbai-india). till that time whatever songs pre-loaded by nokia were working fine. now after i got the software upgraded by nokia priority, all songs got locked.
when enquired, i came to know that i need to sms some key to some number after which the songs will get unlocked.... what the hell??#
B> pre-loaded videos
even i'm facing the same problem.... there r about 200+ videos in the list but only 4-5 seems to be of the right format. others have lock (key) image below the song title under videos & a red star above it... donno what it is....
i chkd in the box & there is no scrath card for unlocking the songs.... what i feel is somehow it is showing all videos + audio songs & this is the reason it takes a hell lot of time to open.
C> personalization
is there any way or software available to do following:
1. volume control shud work when the phone is locked
2. if songs r running & i'm in some other application (i.e. active window is not songs window), how do i stop/mute the song
3. when i goto songs, i have like 2000 songs. if i want to search, i need to goto options-->find & a find window appears just below the songs list. I want that to appear every time i goto the songs list
4. how do i personalize my home page like i want to add a sms icon on my desktop. the default options given (4 contacts) is pathetic....
if above things can be sorted out with any software addition/upgrade, it's great but otherwise nokia shud take up these as improvement suggestion i guess.... else i wud think nokia failed to look after the usability issue....
what do u feel?
D> contacts personalization
when i click on contacts, by default it gives me BIG key board where there r 2 screens. it's pretty sad to goto the next page.... either the keyboard shud be small enough to accomodate all avbl options or I shud be given a choice to choose a default key board
is it possible?
also mostly i feel the select (green correct symbol at the top left) button give is at a very odd position. can it be customized to put it at bottom right? i.e. when u operate 5800 with single (right) hand, it's easier to select something near to the thumb.
E> internet surfing
once i type a url, it doesn't give me GO button. also getting out of internet i find it very difficult.... any shortcuts to this?
how do i go back to the screen what i was doing just before the current active screen?
F> volume
any volume blaster software avbl? I feel the max sound is not max enough... both in headphone & without
G> songs
there's nothing called "now playing" when i'm already listening to one song. on top of it, if i want to add another or many more songs, I shud have "add to now playing"
any work arounds / alternatives to this requirement
H> tube
any idea why it's called TUBE?
I> pacman
any one is having the age old pacman in touch version?
Many questions & help required on priority :
A> locked songs
i was having some problemwith my handset & i gave it to nokia priority (mumbai-india). till that time whatever songs pre-loaded by nokia were working fine. now after i got the software upgraded by nokia priority, all songs got locked.
when enquired, i came to know that i need to sms some key to some number after which the songs will get unlocked.... what the hell??#
B> pre-loaded videos
even i'm facing the same problem.... there r about 200+ videos in the list but only 4-5 seems to be of the right format. others have lock (key) image below the song title under videos & a red star above it... donno what it is....
i chkd in the box & there is no scrath card for unlocking the songs.... what i feel is somehow it is showing all videos + audio songs & this is the reason it takes a hell lot of time to open.
C> personalization
is there any way or software available to do following:
1. volume control shud work when the phone is locked
2. if songs r running & i'm in some other application (i.e. active window is not songs window), how do i stop/mute the song
3. when i goto songs, i have like 2000 songs. if i want to search, i need to goto options-->find & a find window appears just below the songs list. I want that to appear every time i goto the songs list
4. how do i personalize my home page like i want to add a sms icon on my desktop. the default options given (4 contacts) is pathetic....
if above things can be sorted out with any software addition/upgrade, it's great but otherwise nokia shud take up these as improvement suggestion i guess.... else i wud think nokia failed to look after the usability issue....
what do u feel?
D> contacts personalization
when i click on contacts, by default it gives me BIG key board where there r 2 screens. it's pretty sad to goto the next page.... either the keyboard shud be small enough to accomodate all avbl options or I shud be given a choice to choose a default key board
is it possible?
also mostly i feel the select (green correct symbol at the top left) button give is at a very odd position. can it be customized to put it at bottom right? i.e. when u operate 5800 with single (right) hand, it's easier to select something near to the thumb.
E> internet surfing
once i type a url, it doesn't give me GO button. also getting out of internet i find it very difficult.... any shortcuts to this?
how do i go back to the screen what i was doing just before the current active screen?
F> volume
any volume blaster software avbl? I feel the max sound is not max enough... both in headphone & without
G> songs
there's nothing called "now playing" when i'm already listening to one song. on top of it, if i want to add another or many more songs, I shud have "add to now playing"
any work arounds / alternatives to this requirement
H> tube
any idea why it's called TUBE?
I> pacman
any one is having the age old pacman in touch version?[/QUOTE]
Also, applications like gmail, which trigger network connection in the background opens an message box "security warning: Allow application gmail to access network and send and receive data?" - even if I say "yes" it is going to ask me again when I read the next message. Is there anyway out of these?? Nokia Care couldn't help me - they said I have to live with it
The things which make me hate my 5800 are the access point handling, the UI rotation, the Download! catalog, new WLAN connection and SMS addressing.