Nokia 5220 XpressMusic

So many phones coming out at the moment are simply rehashed versions of old handsets, with slightly higher specifications, and we're looking at a music phone from Nokia today that pretty much follows this trend, but with one big difference. I'm Nate Lanxon and today's handset is the new 5220 XpressMusic from Nokia. Now I mentioned this phone has something a bit different, but really it's just a bit different for a music phone. It's this: a standard 3.5mm headphone socket. It may seem incredible but the majority of music phones on the market -- even those high-end models from Sony Ericsson's Walkman line -- don't have standard headphone sockets. The mind, it boggles. Anywho, this is a fairly average phone, specs wise, and is in most ways just another typical Nokia handset. It's pretty sturdy though and these keys are dead easy to text on, and you've got a bunch of dedicated MP3 player buttons around both sides -- play, pause and skip buttons here, and volume on the other side here. Highlighting the fairly teen-oriented design -- which, by the way, comes not only from this shocking colour, but also from the asymmetrical shape -- is this: a lanyard hole, so you can hang the phone around your neck like a ponce. Inside is just 30MB of user memory, but this can be expanding up to 2GB with microSD cards. A 512MB card comes in the box. Supported audio formats are average, with just MP3, WMA and unprotected AAC compatible. Protected Windows Media files are supported though too, such as those you've bought from Napster. And you can get these files, and photos, onto the 5220 using either drag and drop through Windows, or by using Windows Media Player. Round the back here is -- my God, a horrible corrugated back plate, but a 2-megapixel camera to make up for it. There's no flash though, so night-time shots are pretty much out of the question. The phone's as easy to use as on all Nokia's really. The two-inch screen's fairly bright, and the Symbian operating system is as colourful as ever. Music's sorted by album, artist -- y'know, the usual way, so there's no great risk of confusion. But kids, please listen, there will be a great deal of annoyance if you use these mini speakers around the back to play your bloody awful music on the bus. Get yourself some decent headphones and keep the speakers for your bedroom. Music quality's not bad for a handset. Check my full written review for the last word on how it sounds, but for casual listening it's fine. Just make sure you upgrade from the headphones that come in the box. Interestingly pre-installed is the Opera Mini Web browser, which makes the 5220 a tiny bit more useful as a Web browser, despite the fact that this isn't a 3G handset. The screen's far too small to be cruising your regular Web sites, but for sending a quick email, looking up cinema listings or hopping on facebook to see if the girl you just met has a bloke, it'll do the job. Honestly, I like this phone, not for myself of course because it's just too small, doesn't support FLAC audio, won't do push email, doesn't sound as good as my iPod classic, hasn't got HSDPA data and has no flash on the camera. But if you don't care about any of that, and just want a fun little music phone, it could be for you. Hit up my full written review on CNET right now for more info and further details regarding exact sound qualities. I'm Nate Lanxon for CNET UK with the Nokia 5220.