We recently reviewed the Nokia 5800′s hardware, but it’s now time to do some stuff on it. Most of my usage includes web browsing so I made a video of how it typically looks like. I made sure not to cut and edit this video too much to show better accuracy of the speed and experience. Go watch it.

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Scrolling

You may have noticed that there’s two kinds of scrolling on the Nokia 5800. On a list, you drag your finger down to scroll down. On a web page, you drag your finger up to scroll down the page. The latter is how it’s done on the iPhone throughout its interface.

Typing/Clicking

I gave the Nokia 5800 to a couple of iPhone users and they noticed right away that it required more force to use the touchscreen on the Nokia 5800. If you’re an iPhone user transferring to the 5800, prepare to press harder. Otherwise, it should be fine for others.

Typing on the screen’s keyboard takes some time to get used to. The address bar, login or comment forms disappear completely to give way for the on-screen qwerty. I find minimal issues typing on the on-screen keyboard, but would really prefer having a physical one. This is why I’m looking forward to the Nokia N97.

Mobile Web vs Full Version

Most of my browsing on the phone are viewing mobile versions of web pages like Facebook, Gmail, and Techmeme. They load fast on the Nokia 5800. I can check my emails and update my social media sites just fine. However, the browser struggles loading full versions of web pages. It’s frustrating not being able to scroll or zoom in when the sites aren’t fully downloaded. I rarely go on those type of pages though.

To view full versions of web pages, I suggest installing Opera Mini. It does a more accurate job at displaying larger sites. What I hate about Opera on the 5800 is the address bar. Your current page disappears to show a notepad-looking thing, then you have to click on the screen again to display the qwerty, then type the web address, then press the check sign to go back to the notepad-looking thing, then click options on the lower right corner, then click OK. All of this just to go to a web page?! WTF!?

Final Thoughts

Browsing the web on the Nokia 5800 can best be described as tolerable. Mobile versions of web sites load fast on the default browser, but really struggles with larger sites. You will have faster loads and more accurate results with the alternate browser, Opera Mini, but a simple task such as typing a web address is really frustrating. In the end, I think web browsing on Nokia 5800′s OS, Symbian S60 5th edition, is better suited for a phone with a physical input like a keyboard.

I’d like do more reviews with supplemental videos like this in the future. Please let me know if you like/dislike this format.