Nokia 5233 Review : First Impressions

5233

by Clinton Jeff | on February 1st, 2010 | 129 comments

We’ve had the Nokia 5233 for about 2 days here at ZCJ.

Here are our First Impressions.

What we liked:

It has a nice 3.2″ Resistive touchscreen. It’s nowhere near the most sensitive we’ve used, but it’s “okay“.
It’s really cheap (for a smartphone). Last I heard it was selling for Indian Rs 7850 which is about US $170 (120 Euros).
It has the same Homescreen as the 5530 and 5800 (on v40 firmware). Upto 20 Homescreen Contacts, 4 App shortcuts, etc. Software and UI-wise its basically identical to the 5800 and 5530.

3.5 mm Audio Jack present (no TV-out though).
Has built-in Accelerometer and Proximity Sensor.
Has the sliding screen-lock switch from the 5800.

The White-Silver 5233 comes with White Headphones, while the Black 5233 comes with Black Headphones. A minor, but nice, touch.

What we werent too sure about :

The dedicated Camera key, volume keys, Menu and Green and Red calling buttons all seem to have “okay” feedback to them. Nothing out of the ordinary.

There’s no front facing camera. Ofcourse the 5233 doesnt have Wifi or 3G so you’ll never really need that.

There’s no GPS onboard. Oh wait there is. Oh no there isnt. We’ve been hearing conflicting reports on this ever since we heard of the 5233. Nokia said the 5233 is exactly like the 5230 except that it doesnt have 3G. But both the 5230 and 5233 have “A-GPS” listed in their specs page. Which was the reason I was so surprised to find only “Network based” and “External GPS” listed under the positioning methods. I cant speak for the 5230 but the 5233 does not have real GPS.

Battery life seems pretty okay. The 5233 has a 1320 mAh battery which powers it to about a day and a couple hours worth of heavy usage.
It looks almost exactly like the 5800.

What we didnt like :

The phone actually feels cheap. Lots of plastic all around.
No MicroSD in the retail package.
Has microUSB port, but doesnt charge via microUSB.

No micro-USB-to-USB connecting cable in the retail package.
No PC/Ovi Suite Installation Dvd/CD in the retail package.
Only one Stylus with the device. If you loose the one in the device, you’re pretty much screwed because….
The 5233 has the same insane Sim-lock mechanism that the 5800 had. Y’know where you open the side plastic port cover, stick in your sim card, and then later if/when you need to remove it, need the Stylus to “push” it out with ? Not a big deal if you dont trade Sim Cards too often though.

The 2 Megapixel Standard Nokia lens Camera doesnt even have Auto-Focus. Nor a Flash.

Single Mono-Speaker isnt too loud or clear.

Here’s a video of our First Impressions :

I guess at this price range, you really cant complain about a lack of features as such.

What Nokia has done, is bring out a Touch-smartphone that’s very affordable for a majority of people out there. I can honestly say, I see the 5233 (and 5230) doing very well.

Were you considering a Nokia 5233 (or 5230) ? Have any questions about a feature ? Something we missed ? Do let us know in the comments y’all !

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Author Description

Clinton Jeff

Clinton is currently based in New Delhi, India and is executive editor for UnleashThePhones. He is responsible for all editorial decisions, and covers all forms of Mobile and mobile-related accessories. Cj is addicted to caffeine, social media, and technology. Always up for a good conversation, you can reach him through the contact form, his website, on Google Plus or on Facebook or Twitter: Follow @clintonjeff