Nokia C5-03 was released way back in 2010, same year the Finnish company shifted its attention to Windows as its core operating system for high-end products, leaving the traditional Symbian software for entry-level siblings. The phone looks hurriedly made considering the out-dated software and under-performing hardware; in fact, there are better mid-range devices out-there with impressive hardware for less money. Nokia C5-03 comes with a resistive touch-screen rather than capacitive, at this point-in-time, resistive technology is long-forgotten, at least by major industry players, resistive screens are not as responsive and doesn’t support multi-touch gestures such as pinch-to-zoom. Surprisingly, the phone lacks LED flash despite falling under mid-range category; having LED flash in this genre is a prerequisite, at least in my opinion, any device short of that can easily succumb to competition.
Summing-up the list of disappointments is Symbian S60 OS, it’s notably out-dated a midst rising popularity of Android and Windows Phone. Recent developments from the Finnish phone maker to use Windows Phone OS on its high-end devices may have come as a shock especially to its hard-core fans, but after scrutinizing Nokia C5-03 on our bench-marks, that’s the change we need and its long over-due. There’s no alphanumeric keypad on this device contrary to the rest of Symbian siblings, instead, a 3.2inch resistive touch-screen takes its place. The front panel is dominated by a 3.2inch display screen except for the usual call and end call physical controls, there’s a lock button and volume rocker on the sides, but no dedicated
camera which seems weird. Nokia C5-03’s 3.2inch screen is resistive rather than capacitive; a cheaper option from a manufacturing perspective, 360×640 pixel resolution is pretty impressive for a mid-range device such as Nokia C5-03 as most devices in this range are capped at 480×320 pixels, images and text look sharp and crisp.
Nokia C5-03’s connectivity options are impressive especially with 3G, WiFi and Bluetooth all present, sadly, web browsing experience is bellow par without multi-touch gestures and a poor browser. There’s a decent 5.0Megapixel camera around the back; however, without LED flash, we’re back to square one. There’s OVI maps bundled underneath and after the typical convoluted process of downloading latest system files, you’ll get free satellite navigation with turn by turn navigation. You’ll get inadequate 40MB internal storage though can be expanded up to 16GB using a MicroSD card.
Nokia C5-03 Features/Specifications;
- Operating System: Symbian V9.4 OS, Series 60 rel.5
- Processor: 600MHz ARMv11
- Display : 3.2inch (360x640p) (229ppi) TFT, Resistive, 16m colors
- Camera: Pri: 5.0Megapixel (2592x1944p), Sec: VGA
- Storage: Up to 16GB MicroSD (2GB included), 40MB internal, 128MB RAM
- Connectivity: MicroUSB v2.0, Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP
- Internet: 10.2Mbps HSDPA, 2Mbps HSUPA, WiFi 802.11b/g/n
- Other ft: Stereo FM radio, GPS, Sensors: Accelerometer
- Battery: Standard Lithium ion 1000mAh
Nokia C5-03 Price in Kenya: Kshs.24,700
