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WIND Mobile Nokia 500 Review

Daniel Bader — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 19:12:41 +0000

We know, we know. It’s hard getting excited for the Nokia 500′s of the world when there are so many smartphones to choose from. But everyone has a mom, brother or cousin who just doesn’t care about pixel density, megahertz and aperture size. Often, these folks want a phone to, you know, call people and, occasionally, check their email or open a web page. Rarely, if ever, does this group want to spend over $200 for a device, and, ideally wants to keep the monthly bill below $40.

These folks are a diminishing bunch, but an ample herd they still are. Which brings us to the Nokia 500. I had a chance to check out Nokia World in London this past October, and let me tell you, outside of North America the brand is still very much a big player. And it’s devices like this, in that important sub-$200 category, keeping them in business.

And while the Nokia 500 runs Symbian, it’s the C^3 Anna version “optimized” for touch screens — we stress the quotes — and purports to offer similar functionality to smartphones hundreds of dollars more expensive. Does it deliver? The short answer is Yes but there are a lot of sacrifices. Read on to find out if it’s still the device for you (or your cousin).

Specs:

- Symbian Anna OS
- 3.2″ 360 x 640 pixel capacitive LCD display
- 1Ghz ARM11 processor
- 256MB RAM, 512MB ROM, 2GB microSD card included (max 32GB)
- 5MP camera, VGA video@15fps
- WiFi, A-GPS, Bluetooth 2.1 w/A2DP, Compass
- Stereo FM radio
- 111.3 x 53.8 x 14.1 mm, 93 grams
- 1100 mAh battery

The Phone

For lack of a better description, the Nokia 500 looks like a Nokia device. It’s a candybar, thick and narrow, three buttons below a deeply-recessed 3.2″ screen. There is a power button on the right side which sits below a single-button volume rocker. All the buttons are cheap, with barely any give, and feel like they could fall off at any moment. The top portion, amply-spaced, houses a headphone jack, microUSB, and proprietary circular charging port.

The back of the 500 actually fares quite a bit better, and appeals to the matte plastic lover in me: it is smooth and grippy and simple. The camera lens is deeply recessed and covered with glass that dirties very easily. The Nokia logo, arrayed vertically, stares at you warmly; “I am the last of my kind,” it seems to say. We can’t say we’re sorry for the loss.

For a 3.2″ display the capacitive screen performs well. You will rarely find such a high-density screen at this price point, and Nokia does well to furnish its three home screens with playful round icons and plenty of helpful widgets. Colours are muted; all yellows appear mustard; all reds a dappled fuschia. Nonetheless, the backlight is strong so whites are bright and accurate. Blacks are more grey than I’d like, but viewing angles hold up remarkably, and the screen performs decently in sunlight. What more could we ask for?

Symbian & Performance

Incredibly, the Nokia 500 wipes the floor with your N8 or E7. Indeed, I noticed this the moment I booted it; it took around 30 seconds, nearly half the time of the former flagships. Symbian Anna is a capable operating system if you give it the right guts, and the 500 is able to keep up with our gestures, for the most part.

Like previous C^3 versions of Symbian, there are three home screens bedecked with widgets and icons. These widgets can be moved to any grid of three icon spaces and, like Android, can update intermittently. By default your main home screen gives you access to the most important tenets of the OS: Camera, Contacts, Nokia Store, Nokia Maps, Messages, Email and Browser. Scrolling through them or, when you enter the app drawer by pressing the middle button below the display, vertically through a list of apps, is no longer an arduous, painstaking activity. Nokia have also improved the look of its icons immeasurably, creating squared-off ovals (or rounded-off squares) where before there was just noise.

Slow and inaccurate text input has been improved in this new version, offering a full QWERTY option in portrait mode where before there was only a keypad. Predictive text has been beefed up and, as long as you go slowly, is remarkably accurate. While the narrowness of the screen offsets the portrait keyboard’s usefulness it is a dramatic improvement over S60 and the original C^3 versions of Symbian.

You also have access to Nokia Store, the evolution of the now-defunct Ovi Store. Apps can be downloaded to either the 512MB of ROM or the 2GB microSD card, and though the fare is pretty meagre — you won’t be using your favourite iOS app on here anytime soon — there are some multi-platform favourites to choose from. Mainstays like Skype, Slacker Radio, WhatsApp and, yes, Angry Birds, are available from Nokia Store and while you’re there do yourself a favour and download Swype. It will be the best texting decision you’ve ever made.

Nokia bundles some decent native apps, too: Mail for Exchange now works, which is the first time we have been able to say that, well, ever. That means Gmail, Hotmail or corporate Exchange users can sync their mail, contacts and calendars without receiving an error every ten minutes. (Yes, we’re a little bitter.) The browser has received an overhaul, rendering pages much faster and more accurately than previous versions. For those of us used to an iPhone or Android browser, this is most definitely still a WAP experience — expect wait times in minutes, not seconds — but at least Javascript no longer locks up the phone and desktop pages can be scrolled through and zoomed in on.

The rest of the phone’s offerings is pretty standard Nokia fare: Maps has recently been updated and for many people is reason enough to buy a Nokia device. You get free turn-by-turn navigation, offline map caching, detailed driving and walking maps, and tie-ins with tons of services such as Lonely Planet, Michelin and Trip Advisor. While these may seem to be little more than advertising in the guise of features, being in a foreign country with a context-aware Lonely Planet guide at your fingertips could be invaluable.

There is a very capable music player, which is bundled with Nokia Music, an unlimited streaming service that hasn’t quite launched yet so we didn’t get to try it out. It looks to be like a Zune Pass where you can download tracks to your device and keep them for up to 12 months. Shazam, everyone’s favourite song name hunter, is pre-installed, along with a stereo FM radio.

Social networking is covered by integrated Facebook and Twitter support. The apps are clunky, slow and frustrating, but lacking official third-party apps makes Nokia’s built-in option the most convenient. If you’re really truly sticking with Symbian for the long haul, I’d recommend the excellent (and pricey) Gravity app for Twitter. It may in fact be the best app on Symbian as a whole but at $9.99 is also one of the most expensive.

Incredibly, we’re not done with the Nokia 500′s built-in features. As with any good smartphone OS there are dictionary, calculator, voice recorder and note taking apps, as well as popular third-party voice-to-text solution Vlingo. Also hidden in there is the F-Secure Anti-Theft app which, once activated, allows you to find your lost phone through GPS or, if it’s truly gone forever, remotely wipe the memory. It also offers browser protection and attachment scanning.

Camera

There really isn’t much to say about the Nokia 500′s camera. While it claims to be 5 megapixels, and I have no reason to believe otherwise, pictures look to be of about the same quality as my Motorola RAZR. No, not this new Android version, but the one from years ago.

Colours are muted, detail is lacking and despite being thick enough to support an auto-focus mechanism there is none to speak of. Add to the experience a barely-usable camera UI and a “Please wait: deleting data from memory” message every time I open the app there may as well not be a camera on the back of the device. Oh, and the device takes VGA video at 15fps. Go figure.

Drawbacks

What, you mean besides the camera? Yes, Symbian Anna does have some outstanding issues. Firstly, connectivity: Symbian does not deal with multiple APNs and WiFi networks very well. Every app stores its own settings, and prioritizes them based on your last selection. Used a WiFi hotspot when last in the browser? It will attempt to reconnect to it, regardless of whether you’re a thousand miles away. Instead of dynamically selecting the best option — if no WiFi, move down the APN list until one connects — it explicitly asks you to choose, every time. It’s like a nagging six year-old.

And while the overall performance is dramatically improved over previous Symbian devices the Nokia 500 is by no means fast. It saunters along at its own pace, and slows to a crawl when you have more than a couple apps open. Forget about streaming music and browsing at the same time, or doing anything else while you’re downloading and installing an app from Nokia Store. It just won’t happen.

Speaking of Nokia Store, I continue to have problems getting apps to install. For every success there are three failures. Eventually the app will just snap to life and work, but it’s a frustrating endeavour to say the least.

Network, Sound and Battery

WIND has done a great job picking devices that support their HD Voice protocol, and the Nokia 500 is no exception. Like the C5-04 before it, when calling another WIND or Mobilicity user with a supported device (which, admittedly, is pretty unlikely) sound quality is crisp and lag-free.

Network speed is decent, though after using LTE devices like the Raider and Optimus LTE, WIND’s network seems slow. In reality it’s operating at a crisp 14.4Mbps, but due to Symbian’s inherent speed limitations it never feels as such.

And what of the battery? Well, it’s no surprise it lasts forever, at least in comparison to most modern smartphones. I was able to eek out three full days of use from it; Nokia claims seven hours of talk time and 18 days of standby.

Conclusions

I’ve said a lot about a phone that probably won’t appeal to you. But it may, and I hope it appeals to your mom, brother or cousin. The Nokia 500 is one of the best deals currently available on WIND, and the more people that don’t buy cheap Android devices and instead opt to buy decent workhorses like this one, the better the industry will be. Let’s give credit where it’s due: Nokia has done a fantastic job catering to the budget-friendly phone buyer who just wants something that works, lasts a long time and makes really great sounding, reliable phone calls.

The Nokia 500 is available from WIND Mobile for $179 or $29 on WINDtab.

Pros:

- Sharp, responsive screen
- Small and light, well-constructed
- Symbian Anna is fast and much-improved from previous versions
- Nokia Maps is the best free mapping software available, anywhere
- Browsing and text entry improvements are notable
- Inexpensive smartphone alternative
- Excellent messaging and email solution
- Fantastic call quality

Cons:

- Terrible camera
- Slowdown is common
- Nokia Store has meagre selection
- Finicky connectivity settings
- Slow network speeds
- Browser is still way behind iOS and Android, even BlackBerry 7

Stephen Elop says Q4 for Nokia Windows Phone rollout

Daniel Bader — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 23:24:28 +0000

Stephen Elop, Nokia’s relatively fresh-faced CEO, is a huge proponent of Windows Phone. He’s even putting most of his eggs in one basket as the company scales down its massive Symbian phone output (though complete support won’t stop until 2016) and is hoping to get as many customers to switch over to WP7 as possible. They’re even offering tools and support to trepidatious users unsure of the transition.

In a recent chat with some Chinese tech journalists, Elop says that Nokia’s first Windows Phone devices will debut in Q4 of this year, but will have a country-by-country rollout plan. This means that Canada may not get the much-anticipated devices until sometime next year as the phone giant taps into bigger, more lucrative markets. Certainly they will look to appease their current fan base in Europe and Asia, as well as the huge North American market, though no insight into when us Canadians will be so lucky.

There is no doubt that Nokia is on the right track with Windows Phone — Mango is set to release any day now and buzz has been excellent for the impending upgrade. Whether this will translate into actual sales is another story, but consumers already know of Nokia as a maker of top-of-the-line hardware; adding a touch-friendly, stable operating system with a sizable app library and excellent social media support will be key.

Source: WPCentral

Nokia: Ovi Store sees a “whopping three million downloads a day”

Ian Hardy — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 13:21:57 +0000

Nokia is the largest mobile manufacturer in the world and today they have literally just dumped a bunch of impressive stats regarding their Ovi Store. On the company blog they stated that their application store sees a “whopping three million downloads a day”. Those are huge numbers. It gets better… there are now over 165 million Ovi users in 190 countries and 250,000 people join every day. Nokia also says that 90% of users who visit the Ovi Store download an app (average visitor downloads 2.6 apps).

Would be good to see a breakdown per country. No word of how Canada contributes to the overall numbers but most likely it trails behind Apple’s App Store and the Google Android Market.

Source: Nokia
Via: CrunchGear

Video: Nokia demonstrates the future is in “stretchable electronic skin”, “super capacitor” and “nanowire sensing”

Ian Hardy — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 13:09:16 +0000

Nokia is going through a massive transition in leadership which will hopefully spur on new devices. One of Nokia’s strengths is that they are always sharing their ideas and innovation for possible future technologies.

3 video have just been uploaded by Nokia Conversations that give an insight into what might be coming up in a few years. One of the videos shows a “stretchable electronic skin” that can literally take the shape of whatever it’s put on. Nokia states that this could be on a touchscreen for use on a tablet or a mobile phone. The other videos show a “super capacitor” (sounds like the flux capacitor in Back to the Future) that is a flexible printed circuit board that could enable better use for the flash in your camera. The last shows how “nanowire sensing” can detect changes in air quality. Check them out after the break

Source: IntoMobile

Video: Rogers Nokia C3 quick overview

Ian Hardy — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 20:32:33 +0000

The Nokia C3 was recently released on Rogers “Pay As You Go” and comes with a 2.4 inch display with customizable home screena, full QWERTY keyboard, MP3 Player, 2.0 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi and holds up to 8 GB with microSD card (only has 55 MB internal memory). We got a preview of this in action a few days ago and it looks good, especially for those upgrading from a basic phone. The overall design is similar to E71 and E72… just not as professional looking. It’s actually got a decent prepaid price of $89.99.

Check out the video after the break

Video: Nokia 6700 Slide quick overview

Ian Hardy — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 18:57:26 +0000

There are about 30% of Canadians who’ve yet to get their first mobile phone and some of those people just want a basic device. Enter the Rogers Nokia 6700 Slide. You have to admit that for an entry level device it looks good, plus comes with a 2.2-inch display, 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, auto-focus, LED flash (better camera than some other smartphones out there). Another positive is that it holds up to 16GB with a microSD card and weighs only 110 grams. The downside is that it has a 2.5mm headset jack and that the 3-year price is $79.99 (but the no-contract is reasonable at $229.99).

Check out video overview after the break

Nokia 6700 Slide arrives at Rogers

Kate O'Brien — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:29:22 +0000

The 6700 Slide is off the rumour list and officially available. The price tag for this is as low as $79.99 on a 3-year and ranges to an affordable no-contract $229.99. There are Canadians who will be happy with this as their first device, or those who don’t want the features of a smartphone. Specs of this S60 device have a 2.2-inch display (resolution of 240 x 320), unfortunately a 2.5mm headset jack, holds up to 16GB with a microSD card, stereo FM radio and an impressive 5 megapixel Carl Zeiss camera, auto-focus, LED flash and includes a front camera for video calling.

More here about the 6700 Slide over at Rogers
(Thanks HC – NO “i”)

Video: Nokia in-vehicle “Terminal Mode” in action

Kate O'Brien — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 15:01:32 +0000

Here’s something cool that Nokia Beta Labs is up to. They’ve put a quick video together that demonstrates how they’re integrating your smartphone right into your car. Basically all you have to do is plug it in everything shows up on the display: maps, music, weather. I guess you could even stream movies and play them on those long road trips. Check it out here

Via: Nokia YouTube

TELUS launches the Nokia E72 at $349.99

Ian Hardy — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 14:58:17 +0000

At the Nokia E72 launch party it was announced that the device was going to be released by TELUS on July 11th… however it seems that the date was pushed up as it’s now available. As we stated earlier it’s got some good price points to it:

3-year contract: $99.99
2-year contract: $249.99
1-year contract: $299.99
No contract is $349.99

Specs of the E72 are that it has a 2.4 inch display with a resolution of 240 x 320, full QWERTY keyboard, has a 600 mhz processor, 3.5 mm headset jack, 5 megapixel camera with a front-camera for video calling, auto-focus and flash, built-in GPS, WiFi.

Check it here at TELUS

Also, here’s a quick overview of the E72:

Nokia touring Canada with RV to promote N97 mini

Kate O'Brien — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 13:32:08 +0000

You just might find a blue RV make its way through your city as Nokia Canada has started their cross-Canada tour to promote the N97 mini. Nokia will be putting live updates, photos and videos of the experience. Plus Nokia says you can “track our progress as we share our location on Nokia’s Ovi Maps”.

The places and dates Nokia will stop are:
West Coast:
Vancouver: July 3rd – 6th
Banff: july 7th – 8th
Calgary: July 9th – 11th

East Coast
Montreal July 16th – 19th
Ottawa July 19th – 21st
Toronto July 21st – 24th

Check it out here at the Nokia Facebook page
Via: Nokia Blog