Nokia 5530: Down wiv da kidz

We've been to product launches in some odd places, but we were still pleasantly surprised by the invitation to get our hands on the Nokia 5530 phone in a pancake shop. Mmm, pancakes...

Nokia is lauding the 5530 as the cheapest smart phone going. It's a little brother to the Nokia 5800, a 2G touchscreen model with a 3.2-megapixel camera and an emphasis on social media. It's for da yoof, y'see. We liked the feature that allows you to place up to 20 of your favourite contacts on your home screen for quick access. You simply scroll back and forth across the icons, to which you can add profile photos.

What's really clever is that as well as firing up a text or email, you can add RSS feeds of their online activity, so you can quickly check up on your best mates' Twitter feeds, blogs or Facebook status updates.

Messages and other text input is achieved with a landscape keyboard, or handwriting into a translucent floating window which can be moved around the screen with the included stylus. The handwriting recognition was pretty good, including recognising the @ symbol without having to switch to the separate symbol keyboard.

Apps and games can be downloaded from Nokia's Ovi Store. Like the iPhone, the 5530 uses the accelerometer for gaming. We had a quick play on a racing game that felt exceptionally slick, despite the fact that we were driving like a drunken alpaca.

The Nokia 5530 will be available on pay as you go for £129. In the box you get a 4GB microSD card and a set of not 'alf-bad handsfree in-ear headphones. Right, we're off to debate that age-old, crucial question: savoury or sweet?

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• Nokia,
• Nokia 5530 XpressMusic,
• smart phone,
• touchscreen,
• handwriting recognition