Nokia C5 review: Smart and trusty Tweet

Gsmarena have posted their review of the Nokia C5. Here are the phone's key features, main disadvantages and their final impression.

Key features:
* Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support
* Dual-band 3G (900/2100) with 10Mbps HSDPA and 2Mbps HSUPA
* Neat and well built, metal on the body
* 2.2" 16M-color QVGA display, excellent sunlight legibility
* Symbian OS, S60 3.2 user interface
* ARM11 600 MHz CPU, 128 MB RAM
* 3 megapixel fixed-focus camera with LED flash
* VGA video recording at 15fps
* GPS receiver and free lifetime voice-guided navigation license
* Stereo FM radio with RDS, Visual radio
* Bluetooth (with A2DP)
* Standard microUSB port (with charging support)
* microSD card slot (16 GB supported, 2GB included)
* Smart dialing
* 3.5mm audio jack
* Great audio quality
* Document viewer preinstalled

Main disadvantages:
* No WLAN
* Small screen
* No accelerometer (hence no auto screen rotation)
* Fiddly memory card slot
* Document viewer doesn't support editing

It's pretty clear that we lost the geeks way back on page 1. Congratulations to all those of you who're still with us. We think we've got a phone for you. The Nokia C5 hasn't got all the features ever invented - it's the sensible buyer's choice. Performance within budget and a sense of style, the C5 is well on target.

A device trying to redefine classic, the Nokia C5 is very well built and packs the smartphone punch. Take away the voice-guidance charges and it goes for pennies really. Adding Wi-Fi to the mix would have made it an excellent package, but alas, we're in no luck on that. Besides, web browsing on a small screen isn't great anyway.

Let's not forget though, this is a phone for users that aren't keen on jumping on the touchscreen bandwagon. The Nokia C5 is definitely a phone for them to consider. By the way, it's exactly the kind of handset Nokia are so good at making. The C5 compares much more favorably to rivals in its class than the Finnish touchphones so far. A brief look at the (few) Nokia C5 alternatives available should convince you about that.

The Sony Ericsson Elm is a compact bar-shaped phone that packs a 5 megapixel camera to make up for the lacking smartphone capabilities. It will even throw in WLAN to match up the free navigation on the C5. And the GreenHeart badge counts too we guess. The Elm however costs more than the C5. All in all, it's less bang for your buck unless you get a good carrier deal.

If it's the camera performance of the Nokia C5 that bothers you, check out the Sony Ericsson C902. The Cyber-shot impressed us back in the day, but its screen is even smaller and there's neither GPS nor Wi-Fi. Still, the good build quality and the slim 10.5mm waistline makes it worth at least a second look.

The Samsung i7110 has it all: killer screen, imaging, media and a steel body. But it sure seems like ages that Samsung last made a phone like this. The i7110 never really caught on but it was pretty close to the ultimate of technology at that time. Sadly, it does look less likely to succeed on today's market.

It doesn't look like Samsung are having big plans about Symbian at this point, even if they say they do. So, Nokia are preparing to have the non-touch Symbian market all to themselves. The Cseries are an important part of that. Phones like the C5 are taking over from the likes of Nokia E51. Eseries will continue to offer premium service while the C5 and the ones to follow will be smartphones for the masses.

In any case, the first of the Cseries handsets to hit the shelves finds itself in a comfortable position in its market segment. The problem is that segment is perhaps shrinking in size, but the good feature set, quality finish and competitive pricing will help the C5 sell well. Not to mention, it looks like a phone that carriers will love.

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