Just for fun, I thought we’d start off with the things that I really despise about the Nokia 5530 XpressMusic. To be fair, I’ll leave out the obvious omission of 3G data support and a built-in GPS receiver. Of course, I wish the phone had those, but it doesn’t, so let’s not get caught up over missing specs. Instead, I’ve found a few things that really irk me about this phone. Note, this isn’t a comprehensive list, but rather the ones that stand out the most in my usage.
1. Flimsy battery cover. When I say flimsy, I mean it’s only one step away from just being a piece of paper. Nokia had to have used the thinnest plastic they could find, and it’s really worrisome. Compounding this problem is that fact that to remove the back cover (to access the battery or eject the SIM card), there’s no release button – you just start pulling on it, and hope you don’t snap it in half. It’s a horrid design, and the flimsy plastic only makes it worse.
2. Idiotic SIM card slot. Just like the 5800 XpressMusic, the 5530 XpressMusic’s SIM card slot is accessible through the side of the phone, rather than beneath the battery. You can insert the SIM card without removing the battery, but you have to power-cycle the phone for it to be recognized. Worse, to eject the SIM card, you have to dismantle the phone and then use the stylus to slide the SIM card out. It’s confusing at first, and just plain frustrating after you figure it out.
3. No microUSB charging. It’s 2009, almost 2010, and several Nokia smartphones (N85, N86, E75, N97) already support charging through their microUSB ports. There’s really no reason for the 5530 XpressMusic not to, especially since it even has a microUSB port anyways. I really hate that little bitty 2mm Nokia charging plug.
4. No calendar on the homescreen. While the Nokia 5530 XpressMusic’s homescreen is several times more useful than the 5800 XpressMusic’s, there’s no reason we should have to do without having calendar entries on the homescreen.
5. No predictive input in QWERTY mode. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again – Nokia should never again release a QWERTY phone without predictive input as an option, regardless of whether that’s a hardware keyboard or software. With so many keys in such a small area, it’s simply a requirement.
Those are the five things that bother me the most about the Nokia 5530 XpressMusic. Do the same things annoy you, or do you think I’m a bit nitpicky? What things annoy you? Check back tomorrow, as I’ll go over the 5 things that I absolutely love about this little touchscreen smartphone.
