Technknowledge

In the world of Nokia Xpress Music phones, we've seen a full range of models, from the high-end to the rather weird. T-Mobile is the only U.S. carrier to have offered Xpress Music phones. It started in 2006 with the 5300 and followed up two years later with the 5310 and 5610. Now the carrier offers a budget alternative, the Nokia 5130. Simple in both form and function, the 5130 is the lowest-end of all Xpress Music phones we've reviewed. The candy bar phone offers the normal music functions, but it goes easy on other features. Service is respectable, and the price--$29.99 with a rebate and a two-year service contract--is affordable.

Design
The 5130 Xpress Music somewhat resembles the earlier 5310. It also sports a slim candy bar design, though it's bit larger (4.23 inches by 1.83 inches by 0.58 inch; 3.10 ounces) and it features a glossier skin with a dotted pattern over its speaker on the rear side. The handset comes in two color schemes--aqua/silver and red/black. We tested the former, but the features are the same on both models. The 5130 has a comfortable feeling in the hand, and it travels well.

The 5130's two-inch display supports 256,000 colors. The resolution is decent (320x240 pixel), though some graphics, particularly the menu icons, weren't very sharp. On the upside, the Series 40 menus are intuitive, provided that you turn off the transition effects. You can adjust the standby font color and the font size.

The navigation array has a spacious, easy-to-use design. The square toggle is raised and shows a different color than the central OK button or the surrounding keys. The soft keys and Talk and End/power controls are flat, but they're quite large. You can set the toggle as a shortcut to user-defined features. The backlit keypad buttons are a mixed bag. Though they're sizable, they have a slippery, plastic feel. Dialing and texting takes some getting used to, and the numbers and letters are rather small.

On the rear side is the camera lens. The 5130 offers neither a flash nor a self-portrait mirror. On the left spine are the dedicated music controls, which you can use to activate the player and scan through your songs. On the right spine you'll find the large, accessible volume rocker and the microSD card slot. We were glad see a 3.5 millimeter headset jack on the top of the 5130. Next to it are the proprietary charger connection and the Micro-USB port.

Features
The 5130's phone book size is limited by its shared memory (30MB). Each contact holds six phone number types, an e-mail address, a URL, a company name and job title, a formal name and nickname, a birthday, and notes. The SIM card holds an additional 250 contacts. You can organize friends into groups and pair them with a video/photo and one of 23 polyphonic ringtones.

Essentials include a vibrate mode, text and multimedia messaging, an alarm clock, a calendar, a to-do list, a unit and currency converter, a world clock, a notepad, a calculator, a countdown timer, and a stopwatch. As for more advanced options, you'll find stereo Bluetooth, a voice recorder, USB transfer and mass storage, voice commands, PC syncing, instant messaging, and Web-based e-mail. The microSD slot can accommodate cards up to 2GB.

The 5130 offers the standard Nokia Xpress Music player. The interface is simple, but the controls are simple and intuitive, and the player supports album art. Features include an equalizer, shuffle and repeats modes, playlists, stereo widening, and an airplane mode for listening to tunes while you fly. The player supports a variety of file types, and you can use tracks as ringtones.

You can transfer music onto the phone via a USB cable or a microSD card. When using the former method, your computer should recognize the phone immediately; you then can drag and drop music back and forth. When listening to tracks, you can minimize the player so you can access other functions, and the player automatically pauses when you receive a call. If radio is your thing, the 5130 also offers an FM tuner with station presets.

Nokia has given U.S. carriers an interesting selection of cell phones over the past few months. We've seen quality music phones, quirky square models, and basic handsets just for making calls. The newest device to land on our desk, the Nokia Mural 6750 for AT&T, falls into yet another category. Slim, shiny, and armed with push-to-talk (PTT) and 3G, the Mural has a solid feel, thanks to its metal skin. Its performance was inconsistent, however, and it doesn't offer anything that we haven't seen before. The Mural costs $49.99 with a two-year contract and a $50 mail-in rebate.

Design
The Mural's design left us a bit divided. While its metal skin is both shiny and sturdy, it also looks a bit too much like a forgotten Motorola Krzr. It's certainly not unattractive, but the overall design--particularly the "chin" at the bottom of the handset--looks dated. At 3.83 inches by 1.85 inches by 0.68 inch, the Mural is slim and portable; it's also a bit on the heavy side (3.9 ounce), but we enjoy the solid feel in the hand. Indeed, the metal skin is welcome in a world of plastic phones.

The external display is hidden when the backlighting is off. When it's active it shows the time, battery life, and signal strength. It also displays numeric caller ID, but it won't show photos attached to contacts. Below are three music controls for activating and using the player when the phone is closed. They're a bit thin, but we didn't have any trouble using them. You'll also see two lights hidden beneath the front flap that glow when you get a call or message. It's a purely cosmetic touch, but you can choose a color and turn the lights off completely.

The remaining exterior controls include a volume rocker and the PTT button on the left spine. The former is easy to find when you're on a call, but the latter is too small and rather stiff. Just below is the headset jack, which unfortunately is just 2.5 millimeters (we prefer a 3.5 millimeter jack). On the right spine you'll find the Micro-USB port that accommodates both a USB cable and a charger. We applaud Nokia for moving toward the Micro-USB charger standard.

The camera lens sits on the rear side of the phone. There's no flash or self-portrait mirror, but you can use the reflective skin to get vanity shots. A speaker sits on the bottom of the Mural, and the memory card slot is behind the battery cover. That's not the best place for it, though we're glad you don't have to remove the battery as well.

The large (2.25-inch) internal display supports 16 million colors and 320x240 pixels. It's bright, vibrant, and very easy on the eyes. The icon-based menu interface (Nokia Series 40, sixth edition) is simple and intuitive, though accessing some apps like Cellular Video involves way too many clicks. You can change the display font color and size.

The navigation array is flush, but its spacious layout made up for the lack of definition. There's a four-way toggle with a central OK button, two soft keys, a Web browser control, a music key, Talk and End/power buttons, and a camera shortcut. That's a nice assortment of options, though we'd prefer to have a dedicated back button. You can program the toggle with shortcuts and you can add additional shortcut icons to the display. The flush keypad buttons are spacious with large numbers. They're somewhat, slippery, however, so it took us a few tries before we could dial and text quickly. The backlighting also could be brighter.

According to Nokia, the Mural's skin is made from 80 percent recycled plastic. What's more, the packing is made from 25 percent recycled materials, the user manual uses 10 percent recycled paper, and the handset is free of materials like asbestos, benzene, and CFCs.

Features
The Mural has a 1,000-contact phone book with room in each entry for five phone numbers, two e-mails, a street address, a birthday, a formal name and nickname, a company name and job title, and notes. You can save callers to groups and pair them with one of eight polyphonic ringtones and a photo. Just remember that photos won't show up on the external display. The SIM card holds an additional 250 contacts.

Essential features include a vibrate mode, text and multimedia messaging, an alarm clock, a calendar, a to-do list, a calculator, a notepad, a full duplex speakerphone, a stopwatch, and a notepad. You'll also find stereo Bluetooth, a file manager, USB mass storage, PC syncing, voice dialing, a voice recorder, and modem support. You also can access POP3 e-mail, but you must use a clunky Web-based interface. And of course, the Mural is compatible with AT&T's PTT network.

As a 3G (UMTS) phone, the Mural offers the full set of AT&T's wireless broadband multimedia services. You'll find Cellular Video (streaming-video content) and AT&T Mobile Music (wireless song downloads through partners). The experience with the two applications is similar to that on other AT&T phones; both are minimalist in their designs, but the music player supports a wide variety of file formats and it offers features like album art, an equalizer, playlists, shuffle and repeat modes, and an airplane mode.

The Mural follows its 3G predecessors by offering a solid selection of music-related features, such as support for XM Radio, a Music ID app, and music videos. You also get an application for creating your own ringtones and

Most of Nokia's recent cell phones for the U.S. market haven't been too exciting. Sure, the company gave us the odd Nokia Twist last month, but we're more likely to see functional handsets like AT&T's Nokia Mural 6750. Verizon's new Nokia Shade 2705 certainly is part of that majority. Its thin design doesn't call attention to itself, and its feature set centers on basic communication. Performance is satisfactory, but the Shade feels a bit too fragile in our hands. It's just $29.99 with service.

Design
Even on relatively simple phones, you can count on Nokia to add a bit of style to the design. The trim Shade is no exception to this rule--when it's open, it forms a clean curve without a protruding hinge. It's a Nokia trend that we first saw in Verizon's Nokia 2605 Mirage. Some might find that the shallow curve doesn't fully cradle your head, but we think that it gives the phone a unique design aesthetic. The Shade is black with a sliver trim, but you can mix it up with changeable covers in blue, red, and green. The covers are sold separately for $19.99 each.

At 3.32 inches by 1.70 inches by 0.64 inch and 2.6 ounces, the Shade is quite small and light. Though it's eminently portable, it also has a wispy, almost toylike feel in the hand. If you're careful with your phone, this shouldn't be a problem, but we're not confident that the plastic skin would withstand any rough treatment.

The postage stamp external display is full color (262,144 colors; 160x128 pixels). Besides showing photo caller ID, it also supports photo caller ID and doubles as a viewfinder for self-portraits. The camera lens sits just above, next to a small speaker--there is no camera flash. Other external features include a volume rocker on the left spine and a voice dialing control on the right spine. Both keys are flush and difficult to find when you're on a call. Also on the right spine are a Micro-USB port, which accommodates the USB cable, and a 2.5mm headset jack.

The interior display measures 2 inches and supports 262,144 colors (220x176 pixels). It's not the most vibrant display we've ever seen, but it's suitable for this type of phone. Colors were bright and graphics and photos were relatively sharp. The Shade's menu still shows some aspects of Verizon's standardized menu interface, but that's getting better. You can change the backlight time and the font size and color.

The Shade's navigation array is spacious and mostly easy to use. There's a four-way toggle with a central OK button, two soft keys, a speakerphone button, and a camera shutter. The keys are flush, but we were able to navigate accurately. The toggle doubles as a shortcut to four user-defined shortcuts. The keypad buttons left us divided, however. Though they're spacious, they're flush and have a plastic feel. We could dial and text without many problems, but dialing by feel is difficult, and we'd be worried about long-term use for a heavy texter. On the other hand, the keys are backlit for dialing in the dark.

Features
The Shade has a 1,000-contact phone book with room in each entry for four phone numbers and two e-mail addresses. You can assign callers to groups and can pair them with a photo and one of 12 polyphonic ringtones. Other essentials include a vibrate mode, text and multimedia messaging, a calculator, a calendar, an alarm lock, a stopwatch, a world clock, and a note pad.

Nokia fans in the United States don't get many breaks. Few of the company's phones make it to U.S. carriers and the models that land here tend to be basic handsets for making calls. The Nokia 3711 for T-Mobile is one such phone. Simple in form and function, the 3711 is built mainly for communication with a couple of extra features thrown in. Call quality is good, and it takes admirable photos, but the flip phone design feels a bit flimsy and the external display isn't very useful. The 3711 is $69 with an Even More service contract and $159 with a no-contract Even More Plus plan.

Design
With the 3711, Nokia continues a signature design trend that began with the Nokia 2605 and continued with the 7205 and the 2705. When you open the phone it forms the same smooth curve that gently cradles your head. We like the thin profile and clean lines, but we'd understand if others wanted something that cast a bigger shadow. Also, it's worth noting that the phone doesn't rest flat on a table when open. You can spin it like a top, but it wobbles if you try to text.

At 3.5 by 1.85 by 0.59 inches and 3.31 ounces, the 3711 is relatively compact and lightweight. The hinge is sturdy enough, but we couldn't help but notice a wispy feeling in the hand. It's sturdier then both the 2605 and the 2705, but it's still not a model that we'd want to bang around. We like the ribbed battery cover, but could take or leave the sable (aka brown) color scheme. According to Nokia, the 3711 is made from 8 percent recycled material.

Most of the front cover is black plastic. Behind the central panel is a hidden external display that disappears when the backlighting is off. While that's not an issue, the display only shows the time in large block numbers. Yes, knowing the time is useful, but we'd also like to see the battery life, signal strength, and even the date. Similarly, though it shows numeric caller ID, the monochrome won't display picture caller ID.

Completing the exterior of the phone are a volume rocker and 2.5mm headset jack on the left spine and a Micro-USB port on the right spine. The latter accommodates a USB cable and the charger. The camera lens sits at the top of the phone's back side. Make sure you finger is out of the way before you snap a photo.

The internal display measures 2.2 inches. It supports 16.7 million colors and has a 320x240-pixel resolution; it's quite bright and vibrant with bold colors and sharp graphics. The Nokia Series 40 menu interface is easy enough to use, but we'd like to have a couple of other design options beyond the icons. On the other hand, you can alter the wallpaper, display theme, and font size. And, of course, you can add shortcut options to the home screen.

The navigation array and keypad buttons are flat with the surface of the phone, but they make up for it with a spacious design. You'll find a square toggle with a central OK button, two soft keys, Talk and End/power control, and dedicated keys for the Web browser and camera. You also can program the toggle and left soft key with shortcuts. The keypad buttons are a tad slick, but we didn't have any problems dialing or testing. It is difficult to dial by feel, but the numbers on the keys are large.

Features
The 3711 has a 2,000-contact phone book with room in each entry for five phone numbers, a URL, an e-mail address, a street address, a formal name and nickname, a company name and job title, and a birthday. You can assign callers to groups and you can pair them with a photo or a video and one of 21 polyphonic ringtones. Just keep in mind that photos and videos won't show up on the external display.

Essential features include text and multimedia messaging, a to-do list, a calculator, a currency and unit converter, a countdown timer, a calendar, an alarm lock, a stopwatch, a world clock, and a note pad. You'll also find voice dialing, a voice recorder, stereo Bluetooth, USB mass storage, and PC syncing. Thanks to the 3711's Assisted-GPS, you also get access to Nokia Maps and Telenav GPS Navigator.