Nokia is known for its creativity in their phone models. The 5300 is no exception to the rule. They seem to be releasing a new model every month. Their design team must be working overtime. Now the Nokia 5300 is not a new design nor will the interface be new to a regular Nokia user. In fact those who’ve used the 6270 slider will find this phone really easy to use. It runs on the same Series 40 UI and is part of the 'XPress Music' range of phones.

Design
The 5300 is small and its roundish design not only makes it a cute looking phone but also easy to hold or store. It’s available in 2 colors–Red and Black. On the minus side it does look a little delicate (kind of like a woman’s powder compact). It has dedicated keys on its sides for playing, skipping, rewinding/forwarding and also for volume and the camera. The colored portion has a rubberized feel to it and that makes it little easier to grip.

The 5300’s slider is smooth and easily pops up and down. The rear panel is however, quite difficult to remove so try to avoid removing your SIM or memory card too often. Its 2.5mm earphone jack on the side is what really put me off till I checked the box, and what do you know, Nokia provides you with AV converter. I knew they’d come through. So it can be plugged and played through an amp or speakers.

It’s 2-inch, true color (262K colors), TFT display sports a resolution of QVGA (240x320) pixels. If you’re out for a walk during the day the screen is a wee bit reflective so it’s not extremely easy to read a message, but since the numbers show up rather large on the main screen dialing a number from memory is no problem. But accessing your phone book, well that would be a bit tricky to find who you’re calling. The pre-installed themes and wallpapers are colorful enough. With its white and Red/black body the menus do tend to stand out a bit.

There’s also the Nokia 5200 that’s, in the simplest of terms, the un-matured Twin of the 5300, with a resolution of 128x160 pixels and 256k colors. It's also part of the XpressMuisc series. You need to be careful not to get confused between the two because of the looks.

Now unlike the Series 60 models, which have more option with regards to features, the 5300 is perfect if you want to keep things simple. Its user interface like the others in the S40 series is clear and easy to maneuver. It does have its regular features like currency converter, or the usual Calendar features. However, World Clock software is not available. Getting software for these S40 of a problem as software is not easily available. But it’s out there - try Mobile 9, or Zedge.