Introduction to the 5320 XpressMusic
The Nokia 5320 XpressMusic was launched in August 2008 as a music and gaming phone, with an audio chip (for higher quality sound and longer playback time), N-Gage compatibility, and dedicated music and gaming controls.
One of its main features is also its launch price, which is the lowest of any S60 smartphone so far at just 200 euros plus taxes for the unlocked SIM-free version. That's about half the launch price of the N81 despite them containing similar hardware.
All About N-Gage's opinion of the 5320 XpressMusic as a gaming device:
The 5320 launched a few weeks before N-Gage was available for it, but the app has now been made available and you can download it straight onto the phone from the N-Gage link in its Games folder (or if you want to avoid phone network charges, you can also download and install it via your PC or Mac).
The 5320 has gaming buttons for use with N-Gage games in horizontal mode, but they're rather unusually placed: Button A is a small round button in the top right corner of the phone, while Button B is the fast-forward button of the music controls along the side of the phone. When used in horizontal mode A is near the bottom right corner of the front while B is on the right shoulder.
Button A is very small, but it's also very easy to press because it sticks out from the surface, so any size of thumb will do. Button B is slightly awkwardly placed on the shoulder of the phone, which is fine to use occasionally (and most games hardly use B at all) but it can be a strain if you're having to press it frequently.
There's also the question of left-handed players, who may prefer to flip the screen the other way round and have the D-pad on the right. These players will find it IMPOSSIBLE to press B simultaneously with A, as flipping the screen puts B on the underside of the phone and A near the top.
It might have been better for everyone if both buttons had used the same layout, for example if there had been two buttons above the screen like on the N81. Mixing the layout makes it harder to place your hand in a way that can press both buttons equally well. The 5320's layout means you often ignore the B button completely because it's more comfortable to position your hand just to press the A button. This works in most games though, B is very underused on N-Gage, and many games don't even need the buttons at all as they can be entirely driven from the D-pad.
The direction pad is pretty good for games, it moves smoothly in eight directions and clicks slightly when you press it. Its button is very easy to press too.
There are two "grips" on the back of the phone to make it easier to hold in horizontal mode. It didn't feel like they made a huge amount of difference, but it's nice that they're there.
The screen is 2 inches, which is the smallest of any N-Gage-compatible device so far. It works absolutely fine and the smallness of the screen makes the graphics look even more crisp, though of course if you have poor eyesight you may have trouble reading in-game text or other details.
The 5320 is also the first N-Gage device to use the S60 3rd Edition FP2 platform, and it launches and runs the N-Gage application much more quickly than its FP1 predecessors. The 5320's large amount of free RAM (85 megabytes) is more than double that on the N95, and perhaps also helps to speed up the N-Gage app.
The phone can also run unofficial games (i.e. Symbian S60 3rd Edition / S60v3 software) as well as Java J2ME and Flash Lite titles, but there's no way to put the phone in horizontal mode outside official N-Gage games.
Overall, the 5320 works fine as a gaming phone, though games which require constant and frequent use of Button B may cause ergonomic problems, especially if you play with the d-pad on the right.
Our sister-site All About Symbian's articles:
Nokia 5320 XpressMusic Hands-On Preview
The 5320 XpressMusic is one of the smallest S60 phones so far