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OG Review: Nokia 5233 (+ video)

Nokia, Reviews, smartphones, Videos 40

After failing to capture the touchscreen market in 2009. Nokia is back with a bang in 2010 with a slew of touchscreen handsets (or smartphones I must say) being released one after the other. With the 5800 doing well initially but failing to maintain the steady sales with time because of various shortcomings in terms of pricing and other issues like an unimpressive touchscreen and slow UI when used with various apps. Nokia seems to have got hold of the situation and their developers have come up with newer software versions for their S60 5th edition phones. Now with these problems taken care of, Nokia has started afresh and launched new phones like the Nokia 5230, 5233, 5530 and 5235 (this will be launched soon). Not to forget that the 5800 got a good price cut a few months back.

Unable to ignore the fact that the Nokia 5233 is the most basic; lacking advanced features like 3G and Wi-Fi (also its the cheapest of the lot), we decided to do a quick review of their basic touchscreen phone and compare it with Nokia 5800. Now the 5233 costs only about Rs. 7500 approx. compared to the Rs 13000 for a 5800 (India). So what has Nokia really done with this phone that justifies this steep drop in price. Hmmm. Lets take a look.

On first look you can easily notice that this one does not have a secondary camera (for 3G) in the front, a scaled down 2.0 MP camera with no LED flash and only a single speaker (it has a very low output I must say). They have done away with the free 8GB micro-SD card. You get a WH-102 headset instead of the way better HS-45, AD-54 music headsets. A VGA camera for video recording. Most importantly, its got 3G & Wi-Fi missing. Being heavier by 4gms (weighing 113g), lack of mini qwerty input method are the other minor differences. Now the 5233 costs only about Rs. 7500 approx. compared to the Rs 13000 for a 5800 (India). So what has Nokia really done with this phone that justifies this steep drop in price. Hmmm. Lets take a look.

Side pose 5800 vs 5233 (Speakers)

Side pose 5800 vs 5233 (Speakers)

The 5233 borrows its design from the good old 5800 which influences the entire touchscreen brigade currently. On the right of the device you have volume control, the screen lock and the camera buttons. The left side houses the two separate compartments for the SIM and the microSD card. The top of the phone retains the ergonomic lining of the switch button, charger plug, 3.5 mm jack and the USB plugin. The bottom just has the microphone. The screen of the 5233 is 3.2 inches wide and a resolution of 640 x 360 pixels (nHD) with 16:9 picture just like the 5800 but has a display of up to 16.7 million colours (which is better than 5800).
The 5233 Homescreen

The 5233 Homescreen

The 5233 Homescreen
What this phone does have is a better display and touchscreen. A customized homescreen better than its predecessor. And all the other important features that a touchscreen phone must have. It can play almost all the latest audio and video formats. The music sounds great on the earphones (we tried it on the Nokia HS-62). The 2MP camera is worth the price. The phone looks classy and sturdy at the same time. Though it still gives the pla-sticky feeling of the 5800.
The verdict:
With the 5233, Nokia has made a late entry to the low cost touchscreen market where Samsung has already sold as many as 40 million units last year alone. Cos like LG and Samsung have multiple touchscreen models in the market with different designs (though it can be said that they are all inspired from the iPhone) and are sold in the range of $200. The Corby and the Star by Samsung are the most buzzing in this segment. The new 5000 series after the 5800 are aimed towards the lower end of the market. If I am to compare the Samsung Corby or the Star to these Nokias – the Nokia with a better OS and UI. However the Corby steals the show with trendy design and Stylus-less approach. If you are looking to actually do any mobile internet or social networking, you know what serves better, its Symbian of-course. (Although my concern is that most of the users in this segment aren’t too much concerned about usability and that’s the challenge for Nokia – Its Styling!) The 5000 series touchscreen aren’t the best looking ones; perhaps the X6 and X3 could come to Nokias’ rescue here!
But my bet here is if marketed the right way coupled with the strong retail chain that Nokia has in India.This phone can sell well enough. If you are looking for something better? Wait for the Nokia 5530 that is expected to hit the Rs 11000 mark in India and features WiFi, 3.2MP camera and a design better than the 5800 and the 5233.

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Tassavur

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40 comments

  • the things that i need in the mobile is :
    camera (not less than 2 mp)
    music player
    touch screen (may or may not)
    bluetooth
    memory card
    usb port
    internet (2 use my yahoo, gmail, orkut accounts)
    best battery
    ……………….
    but the rstriction is that the price should be less than “8000” .

    I HAVE JUST SEEN SOME REVIEWS ON NOKIA 6303, 5233, ….

    COULD ANYONE PLEASE FIND ME A BEST MOBILE 4 ME .?…?
    IF U CAN THEN PLEASE MAKE A MAIL 2 “sijokthomas4u@gmail.com”

  • The best value 4 money……… fully loaded with all high range mobile features in mid range….but lack of wifi is one which disappoints

  • Awsume mobile & awsume review superb work i love it . keep it up please post more videos & images of nokia 5230 or 5233 please i love this mobile

  • a bought it yesterday.its nice phone with very good touch screen real time response.and all given features are very good..easy to handle.big screen……..
    only thing that lacks is music quality.but using sony head phones it 2 giving great response……….
    video recording is gr8 2..

    nice phone to buy.

  • Comparison is good, however the price is low so the feature’s been cut off.Want a phone 7000-9000 Rs. Samsung or Nokia with a touch screen with a high resolution camera.

  • Is 3G really required in a fone as of now in india?? lookin at the options available for 3g i dont think its a viable opion to swithover to sumthing like BSNL or amybe an MTNL. ITs been years the other biggies are waiting to get a chunk of the bandwitdh but its been endlessly delayed. However I would not like to downgrade myself to sumthing which hasnt proved itself in the indian market. So thumbs up to 5233 w/o 3G. It gives me the price my wallet can buy. Thanks

  • I really want to get the nokia 5800 with all it’s features with GPS etc. I just want to hear from someone who has had a good experience on the phone. I have heard about the touchscreen problems but I went to this shop and checked out the phone and checked out the touchscreen; It seemed fine to me. So is the touchscreen of the phone really that bad? Should I get this phone. I have to decide before june. Thanks in advance.

    E-mail to- abhisek_demon@hotmail.com

  • i realy like this phone its touch quality is good. i like the faster music player & camera quality in this phone which give me the best vedio quality.

  • heyy!!
    i want to buy a screentouch mobile,,,,,
    range 7000to 9000
    i hav confusion between samsung corby nd nokia 5233…
    plzzz suggest

  • Go for samsung Corby with the slide Qwerty keyboard. If you want to get something higher in range… go for the 5800 XM.

  • i m confused between nokia 5233 and samsung B5722…..
    i hav heard that videos dont run properly in samsung……..

  • i wana know that whats d msg capacity of nokia 5233 n hows d nokia 5233 should i buy
    plz give me suggestions n hows d internet speed in nokia 5233

  • I am planning to buy a Nokia 5233, please someone tell me about it. Is it a good dicision than Nokia 6303i Classic?Which one will be better?

  • I am Planning to bye a Nokia 5233, someone please tell me is it a nice decision?or Nokia 6303i Classic will be better than it?

  • Using 5233 for 2 months now.
    Touch screen is good with quick responsive time.
    Default Headset is a crap, so you have to buy good head set (sony or philips) .
    2mp camera is not bad but it is best if nokia would have add a built in flash for camera.
    I really do no use 3g or gprs but i wish nokia would have add wifi to 5233.

  • i have 5233, i observed that during the transfer of data via bluetooth, the phone got very hot. I think the battery is not good or the phone itself, i have to turn off to cool down the unit. Just got the phone yesterday.

  • I Am Comfused !!
    i want to buy a touchscreen phone i am confused in Nokia 5233 & Samsung Corby Plz tell me at 9897267007

  • Good enough phone for budget…
    Watching downloaded videos are not suitable with this phone.
    Video and sound quality sucks.
    Other than that, it’s a good phone. But if you can afford a 5800, go for it!

  • Nokia 5233 has 2 mega pixels camera and dual LED flash. The product has internal storage memory 70MB, 128 MB RAM and expandable up to 16GB. It supports music player formats like mp3, AAC, AAC+, WAV and video formats like mp4, 3gp. Its Camera produces clear images. Battery life is better.

  • I bought this 5233 few days ago. It is a very nice phone when we have a low budget. Touch screen response is quick. Sound is enough. Still photos are also nice. Video quality is like DVD. Screen is Big. No need of 3G if u hav a good signal nearby. Mp4 video quality is what i like the best as if u r seeing a Small TV. It is better to use Sony Headphones… and at last i suggest to upgrade the software from Nokia Care which is just arrived, it has improved the video quality too.

  • I bought nokia 5233 in 3week before, good quality video, but after now low quality video in vcr format not dvd format

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