With a neutral gaze Nokia 5610 XPRESSMUSIC, involuntarily one gets the impression that the device has failed in line with the original idea. The stereotype, or rather the game "by the rules", which the manufacturer himself began to establish, to the surprise of the masses, stopped working in this model. There are no additional playback control keys and a 3.5 mm minijack for connecting a headset / headphones. Released with the 5310 XPRESSMUSIC contrasts sharply on the above grounds. Still, there are good reasons for this positioning.
Outside
Nokia 5610 XPRESSMUSIC is made in the form-factor of a phone, received a number of distinctive features, those that definitely characterize it as a music communicator. There are only 2 color variations: a combination of blue with black and crimson with black. Ideologically, the purple one is closer to the previous musical devices of the Finnish vendor - 5300 XPRESSMUSIC, 5700 XPRESSMUSIC. A small, however, strongly "bright" stroke - the designation of the faceless middle button of the navigation node with the symbols "Play" and "Pause".
The device turned out to be of medium size, and the dominant black color of the body elements visually even reduces it a little. At the same time, it lies well in the hand and does not look small at all.
The texture of most of the body elements is smooth to the touch. At the same time, the battery cover, which was made in relief, is very different. A similar "decoration" initiates associations with other or free-style sportswear.
On the front side, the plastic is glossy and quite easily soiled: fingerprints appear immediately. Above the speech speaker, there is a light-sensitive photosensor for adjusting the brightness of the display and a camera for video calls. A close examination reveals quite a lot of "empty" space from the display to the horizontal slider. I immediately remembered the story with a similar "gap" in Nokia N73. The key reason for the hunters to criticize was the so-so successful ergonomics of the digital monoblock of the keypad, and the small parameters of the buttons themselves. It was considered and is believed that its reduction would make it possible to increase the buttons and do everything much more conveniently. However, there are skeptics to criticize. There is absolutely nothing to declare to our guest about this: the buttons of the navigation monoblock have very decent parameters, and the digital ones are generally located on the other half. One does not interfere with the second, so to speak.
On the "relief" of the back side there is a window of the built-in 3.2 Megapixel module and a hole for a multimedia speaker. The location of the ends does not imply anything peculiar: there is nothing on the left side, on the right - a tandem of a two-position camera quick activation key and a two-contact volume control.
The upper end, according to the emerging custom, is filled to capacity. A connector for connecting a slim charger, a button for unlocking the battery cover, a MICROUSB connector and a 2.5 mm jack connector for connecting a complete headset or a 3.5 mm adapter for connecting headphones.
The quality of the body elements and their assembly did not cause any comments. I am glad that nothing, with the exception of the front part, does not get dirty with your fingers.
The slide mechanism is a critical issue for the masses. Experienced and simply heard potential consumers consider this parameter to be one of the most significant ones. Nokia 5610 does not stand out from the 6500 Slide in terms of the execution of the slide mechanism and the automatic finishing mechanism. The move is solid, however, our specimen had a barely discernible backlash of the halves, it, as it turned out, is inherent in this specimen itself. No other such defects were noted. Opening the communicator, a huge finger finds it intuitively and rushes to the slider.
Keyboard, control ergonomics As already described above, the navigation unit and soft buttons are quite large in size, which ensures comfortable control. The digital block is not interesting in anything, and no bad sides were found. The buttons are separate, well spaced, have average parameters and a shallow stroke. The navigation button is four-position. The middle position is designated as "Play" and "Pause". The fact that it is not "planted" on a separate contact - does not become a separate element - does not affect the ease of use. Separately, it is necessary to talk about the slider - a distinctive feature of the model. Its options include switching between the "desktop", FM radio and audio player. Depending on which side you move it, the currently active element is scrolled (horizontally). The location order does not change. To the right is FM radio, to the left is a turntable. Left again - there will be radio again. The list is "looped". It will not work to add fresh elements to it - you will not find such an option in the settings. The quality of the slider's implementation is acceptable, but you should still treat it carefully. It is necessary to declare that this slider, no matter what program you run, will execute the same parameters. For example, when the camera is activated, there is always a desire to use it as a zoom control. But in practice, moving it to the side, you will find yourself either in the player's menu or in the FM radio menu. This fact proves that the 5610 XPRESSMUSIC is a musical restyling of the 6500 Slide. The movable slider is intended to become a distinctive feature of the 5610. The software has not been sharpened for its operation in other sections of applications and menus. Inside As stated many times, the 5610 XPRESSMUSIC becomes the musical version of the 6500 Slide. Therefore, there is no need to wait for any specific changes: this is the S40 5th Edition. A detailed description of the software part is in the 7500 Prism review. Taking into account the "musical" nature of the device, the corresponding themes are installed in it, while their color design depends on the color of the case. The rest of the devices are almost the same. The amount of photo memory, as in the 6500 Slide, is about 20 megabytes. The situation is undoubtedly saved by the MICROSD memory cards. Hot swap is not supported. Musical component Despite the direct relation to the "musical development" of the Nokia lines, 5610 received a number of "oddities". First of all, the rejection of 3.5 mm jack in favor of 2.5 mm is not completely clear. It turns out that neither the parameters nor the conceptual component interfere with the use of a connector that is standard for most of the headphones. And the point is just the hardware relationship with the 6500 Slide. Most likely, the manufacturer considered it impractical, and it may turn out to be overhead, the process of replacing the input. But, the desire to compensate for the user is not noticeable either. The kit of the same 5300 XPRESSMUSIC already includes a proprietary 3.5 mm connector. In our opinion, the 5610 XPRESSMUSIC could have enjoyed the same fate. This is not a budget communicator, the equipment of which, by definition, is never "lush". Secondly, additional playback control keys cannot be found on the case. Such elements of the ideological colleague 5310 XPRESSMUSIC are, so to speak, in place and, we note, are very convenient. Immediately, in return, the consumer is invited to use a part specially created for this model - a slider. The folk method of controlling playback "c / z pocket", unfortunately, and ah, is now unrealizable. Thirdly, a complete headset. It is called the HS-45 with the AD-56 control panel. To explain more easily, it is structurally very close to the one in the 6300 set with the HS-47 index. She has a small claim on the sound quality, and the overall impression from her is not entirely "musical". Summing up a small summary, I would like to state that the circumstances are not the most suitable for comfortable listening to music. And even though a separate AIC33 chip is used for playback. The same is installed in the 5310 XPRESSMUSIC. The sound quality is at a very high level. The volume reserve is enough to listen to music in the subway. Sound adjustment is supported by presets of the equalizer. The audio player itself does not stand out in software from those installed in S40 5th Edition devices, with a single difference in design themes. A fully charged communicator in player mode with a headset connected at the highest volume worked for almost 18 hours. The indicator, you see, is significant. FM radio is implemented at a good level. Automatic search easily finds the most stations if you are in a zone of confident acquisition. RDS supported. Camera We will not assert that the use of Carl Zeiss optics in the 6500 Slide is just a marketing ploy, but the quality of the obtained photographs from a 3.2 Megapixel camera with autofocus and without Carl Zeiss optics is quite comparable. Autofocus functions confidently, almost without gross failures and is very suitable for close (with the amendment that this is a communicator) focal lengths. The proposed photographs clearly demonstrate that the image on the monitor looks strong and very dignified. The coding algorithm functions well. In the photographs, for the most part, only the insufficient physical scale of the matrix is visible. But it's better not to use the approximation. The frame size is very possible - 1536x2048. The shutter release sound may be turned off. Video shooting is possible with a size of 640 by 480 pixels, 15 photos per second. - and will be of the highest quality. Such videos can be adequately viewed on the display. The battery is installed BP-5m, Li-Ion with a capacity of 900 meters / Ah. Despite the rather high parameters of the operating time in the player mode, 2 days of operation for the 5610 is considered a standard indicator. Conclusion Nokia 5610 XPRESSMUSIC is a very curious product, with its own oddities, it seems, but still worthy of preference. The communicator has an entertaining and ideologically similar "musical" design to other Nokia devices. The build quality is also amusing. The 5610 XPRESSMUSIC is quite capable of supplanting a separate player in sound, the volume is quite high, which is actually quite high. The quality of camera stills is free to print in 10 by 15 format and claim that it was taken with your new compact camera - perhaps you will be believed. A number of inconveniences associated with the organization of playback, such as the lack of additional control keys, 3.5 mm jack input and a "non-musical" headset, can be overcome. However, again, the stereotype that the set of a musical communicator has everything you need is hard to break. Nokia 5610XPRESSMUSIC will certainly find its fans: the model is fresh and partly unusual. Set deliveries: • Nokia 5610 XPRESSMUSIC communicator; • BP-5m 900 mAh battery; • wired stereo headset HS-45; • MICROUSB cable CA-101; • charging model AC-4; • photo memory card of MICROSD 512 MEGABYTES format; • CD with software; • user manual.
