Nokia 500

Ok, first things first. The service from Fipkart was great and as usual was delivered before time(got this in two days).

Disclaimer : I have used two android phones (galaxy 3 and optimus one) and a Blackberry(8520). I love Nokia and it's designs.

Also please read the entire review to make up your mind as there is some good news/points at the end. Even though this phone has lots of flaws in it, i just LOVE it.

The actual review :

The actual selling point of this mobile i.e 1Ghz processor is the most useless feature on this device. Why ? Read ahead.

1) Buggy OS :
Its got Symbian Anna but a different flavor of it(different than the one running on a C7 or a N8). But this is so bad, the phone frequently restarts and sometimes the screen goes blank.

Before some shouts "your particular phone might be bad", i can point to a list of Nokia discussion forums with countless people facing the same problem.And this cannot be solved by going to the Nokia care center. Even after the latest update (11.333) this happens but the frequency has reduced.

2) Low Memory :
You open just the camera, or the default browser (with no apps running in the background), you are greeted with the most annoying message "Please close apps, memory full".
Again this is a common issue faced by lots of users.

3)No 3D GPU
What does this mean, and how will this affect you ?
In a sense No Angry Birds. Yes, or no Ninja Fruit, or any other good games. We all know that there are very few good games and apps on the Nokia store. And this phone cannot run the only decent apps present there. And because it does not have a 3D gpu, the UI is slow and choppy.

So people planning to spend your bored afternoons by playing Angry birds please stay away. No software fix or update can fix this, as this is a hardware deficiency.

The only games that run on this phone are so bad, it makes the games that run on my old NGage look as if they are from the future.

Compare the UI of 500 to a C7 next to you and see how smooth the UI is in the C7. BTW the C7 has 600-odd Mhz processor,512MB ram while Nokia 500 has 1Ghz processor, 256 MB ram.

3)Bad battery backup and build quality.
Battery lasts for 1.5 days with medium usage, and just a day with heavy usage. The battery door/interchangable panels are very hard to open. The volume rocker and lock button wiggle and squeak.

I have not included the fact that the camera is very average and doesn't have a flash, or it doesn't have a front facing camera as these were known facts, even before you buy this phone.

So to summarize, the UI/UX is very bad, phone restarts frequently, has memory issues and it does not support 3d games, and the battery is less than perfect. So here is the main question. What is the point of having a 1Ghz processor on a phone that can't utilize it ?

So the good points

1)The phone looks lovely(not sexy, as it is a bit flabby)
The design is classic Nokia and is a bit European.It just looks good.

2) Very good resolution:
The screen is brilliant(bad in sunlight though). Mind you this is plain LCD display. The colours just popout and are vibrant. reading text is very easy and good.

3) The best news : This phone WILL get the Belle update.

Yes that's right, the 500 will get the Belle update(confirmed by Nokia website and their twitter account). When ? Probably in Feb 12, but should be out sooner.

So will the above problems be solved by this update ?
Probably not, but will definitely increase the user-experience. The memory issue might be solved and finally phone will be usable. Though you still can't play some games and install some apps(no 3D GPU).

So should you buy the phone ?

I assume that you are not interested in Android/more inclined towards Symbian if are reading this review.

If you want to taste Belle, please buy the other expensive handsets(701,603 etc), as they are bug free and are loaded with more features as they are worth the extra money.

If you want to still buy this phone, as it is the cheapest phone to get the Belle update and you like this phone, go ahead. But bear in mind the above flaws it has. Also the Belle update might not solve all these problems.

So there it is, my review of this little device with whom i currently have a love-hate relationship. Even though it is flawed, and as mentioned earlier in this review, I LOVE MY NOKIA 500.

i have been using this phone for the past 2 months.....based on my experiance,here id my analysation.
Pros:
1.superior display & screen pixels
2.highly responsive capacitive touch.
3.symbian anna ,gives it killer looks and beside that nokia is providing many new apps 4 anna os.
4.it's camera delivers very crisp snaps in good light conditions.(i really loved it)
5.inbuit browser is fast as u would have liked and maps much more userfriendly.
6.speaker are good and loud.
7.finally,it's look with 3 changeble panels,really mindblowing.

Cons:

1.no front camera and no flash(being in 10k range it deserves it).
2.gets automatically switched off and on ,on being used continously.(though this problem is solved to large extent with 10.31 version of anna)

so over all value 4 money,worth buying.....

Dont agree to Josh.You are buying some other mobile a C5-03,and you are reviewing this phone?? come on,man.You see,I am a nokia fan. I love nokia,actually all the phones i had are of this brand. The nokia 500 is the best mobile in 10k range. This is because :-
-Nokia's trust.
-Symbian Anna,i know not as good as Android,but this phone is soon to receive a belle upgrade.
-5MP camera.
-nHD resolution of 640x480,a pixel density of about 200ppi.
-Stylish.
-Lighweight.
-2 exchangeable back panels,also more available soon.
-touch experience is good.
CONS-
No frontal camera.
No flash.
Anna will be available till 2015! Dude,you will change phones,wont you?? :P
Verdict:-go for it.If you are not dying to download thousands of apps,and want a decent phone with good features, you should buy this. :))

Hi All,

I bought this phone in March 1st, this is my first touch mobile.
Nokia 2100 ---> Nokia 3220 ---> Nokia 5130 XMusic ---> Nokia 500

. The look and feel of this device is good. For a device under 10k, you get what you paid for nothing more/ nothing less. This is a good budget device and a great one if you are a Nokia Fanatic!!!

The only problem is the Anna OS, the phone hanged and the UI was not that responsive. So i updated it to Belle OS(314 MB download) through Nokia Ovi suite!!

With Belle OS, the UI is cool and very responsive to our commands. But after the Belle upgrade the RAM(256 Mb) is only 25 % free. I removed certain 'APPS' which are available for free in Nokia store and available free RAM is about 30-35% free.

Still even with this memory "Web Browser" is ok and able to access FB properly! I have EDGE no 3G, but still the experience is good. Have not tested the WLAN/WiFi options.

The camera is ok as it does not have a flash for taking pictures during low light conditions!

For people wanting to have their first touch phone or a good "smart" phone under 10K.

This is a good value for your money!!

Nokia 500 is best phone in this category of price range 8 to 10k. I have brought this phone 2 months back while it was having Os Symbian Anna. But in Feb 2012 it has got the update of Symbian Belle which i have upgraded through Nokia suite. Now the phone is amazing and i bet it can challenge any version of Android.
I must say Android is just a free open license OS while Symbian belle is burn tested OS through Nokia and has lots of features over Android. Android sucks lots of Battery power while Symbian Belle just utilise 50% of what android mobile do.
Definately Nokia has done the best thing by not accompanied with a cheap OS like Android.
I would suggest all Nokia users as well as Android users to get in touch with Symbian belle you will def forget Android experiece.