Nokia 500 Review

Introduction: The Nokia 500 is the mass production of the new Nokia Symbian line, as it has the lowest specs out of the bunch announced in time for the holiday shopping craze. With that said, it’s no slouch, as it sports a decent display with 229ppi pixel density, 5MP camera and a 1GHz processor, based, however, on the older ARM 11 architecture The Finns have skimped on things like an LED flash, and the internal memory – the handset has only 2GB - to keep costs down. The Nokia 500 ships with Symbian Anna unlike the rest of the new kids on the Symbian block, but is expected to receive a Belle upgrade further down the road. An affordable handset from Nokia with decent specs and some colorful battery covers thrown in to keep things exciting is usually a Finnish recipe for success among teens and in emerging markets, but is that the case with the Nokia 500? Read on our review to find out… What's in the box: One Nokia 500 handset Two extra swappable battery covers in different colors Wall charger MicroUSB cable Stereo headset with microphone Manual and warranty leaflets Design: The Nokia 500 is a true candybar phone with its narrow rectangular front, but turn it on its face to review the 5MP camera and the speaker grill, and a nice curved back is revealed. The tapered form and soft-touch plastic finish of the battery cover, plus the fact that the handset is chubby at 0.55” (14.1mm), make it very comfortable to hold and operate with one hand.

The 3.2” plain LCD display is not with the best viewing angles out there, but it’s bright enough, and, thanks to Nokia’s usual 360x640 pixels, sports 229ppi pixel density, which is above average for the phone’s category, and helps when reading small text.There is a simple lock/power button on the right below the volume rocker, and all ther ports are housed at the top. The back cover slides out or in with a simple click, making it easy to swap them when you get bored from the hue. Overall, a nice comfortable design, which even excels the phone’s price point a bit with the soft-touch plastic coating on the back.