GLOBAL – Yesterday’s launch of the Nokia C5 saw us gasping under a tsunami of incoming traffic, but now that we’ve mopped the decks (and injected our servers with morphine) it’s time to peek over the wall and look at reactions from around the web. Join us after the jump for highlights on what’s being said about the compact C5 smartphone, and to share your thoughts and any interesting quotes you may have come across elsewhere.
Within the last 24 hours we’ve witnessed hundreds of stories emerge around the new Nokia C5, with many picking up on the low price tag. Techradar was among those, saying:
Techradar: “It’s like a smartphone, only cheaper… The C5 will run Symbian S60 3rd edition, which means it just falls into the category of smartphone. This is impressive when you consider that it only costs €135 (£120) unsubsidised, with a decent feature set behind.”
Engadget queried the C5’s smartphone credentials, which in turn poses an interesting question in terms of what expectations are now placed on a device to be dubbed a smartphone? The Nokia C5 is built on the S60 3rd edition platform of Nseries fame, and comes with a host of IM and social networking features built in. It also comes loaded with free walk and drive voice-guided navigation courtesy of Ovi Maps. Not to mention speedy HSDPA connectivity, granting maximum speeds of up to 10.2 Mbps via your operator, and HSUPA for rapid uploads of up to 2Mbps over the air. Does a smartphone need a large touchscreen and heaps of onboard memory to be called a smartphone? Let us know what you think below. However, Engadget did also highlight what good value it thinks the C5 presents:
Engadget: “We’re not going to kid you, the already leaked C5 is not going to woo many smartphone hunters as we traditionally understand this defining term for high-end handsets. Although Nokia dubs it as such, the 2.2-inch display riding 2GB of microSD storage and S60 3rd OS just doesn’t hold up. It does, however, come with Nokia Messaging baked in as well as GPS with free Ovi Maps turn-by-turn navigation making it a heck of a featurephone for the price: just €135”
Electricpig wrote about the app-handling and social talents of the C5, and championed it’s low price tag:
Electricpig: “The fact it runs Symbian S60 3rd edition is an eye opener: this little mobile can cope with all the apps of much chunkier and expensive E and Nseries smartphones… Nokia is also touting the social networking skills of the Nokia C5, with Facebook statuses of your mates now appearing by their name in the phone book. Not a bad package, eh? Here’s where things get really exciting: the Nokia C5 will cost just €135 (£122) SIM-free when it lands in Europe between April and June. That’s a remarkable price”
PocketGamer picked up on the compact size of the C5 and like the others highlighted the low price as a key point:
PocketGamer: “Smartphones are traditionally quite chunky affairs but Nokia’s latest hardware announcement has taken a rather different approach: the dainty C5 (no relation to the ill-fated mode of transportation) manages to squeeze a considerable amount of computing power into its diminutive 12x46x112mm frame. Despite offering a tiny 2.2-inch display and a rather unassuming exterior, the C5 is packing the Symbian S60 3rd Edition operating system, which means it’s capable of running a wide range of applications and programs… The most amazing thing about the C5 is the price – it’s expected to retail for about £125 SIM-free when it arrives.”
Let us know what you think about these reactions, and if you’ve read any others you’d like to highlight, post snippets and links in the comments section below with your opinions.