Design
The Nokia 5140i is the update to the
5140 "sports" phone the mobile giant released last year,
although in terms of design, the 5140i doesn't seem to have been
updated at all. The 5140i and the 5140 are essentially identical,
with both featuring a rubberised outside casing to protect the
phone from the bumps and shocks of an active lifestyle. Like its
predecessor, the 5140i's rubber case can be slipped off to reveal
the innards of the phone, something you'll need to do when first
entering your battery and SIM card. All of the rubber and lining
also serve to make the phone water resistant -- it'll survive an
infrequent splash but don't expect to take it snorkelling with
you. About the only differences between the 5140 and the new
5140i is the weight and colour availability. Some of the expanded
technical specs of the 5140i have made it weigh in at 100g, as
opposed to the 86g of the earlier model. The 5140i is also
available in different colours -- black, orange or green.
Features
You'll have to turn the phone on to see
the biggest improvement with the 5140i. Instead of the low-res
screen that graced the last model, the 5140i has a much better
65K colour display (128x128 pixel). It's still not approaching
the colour resolution of the best mobiles out there, but it's
certainly streets ahead of the 4K screen that was on the
5140.
The 5140i shares the sports-themed multi-function aspirations of the original. You'll find such handy applications here as a compass, built-in flashlight, stopwatch, countdown timer, thermometer and personal trainer application (which is essentially just a glorified diary of your upcoming exercise schedule). The sports motif extends to the phone's menus and themes, with several options such as cycling, slalom and trainer themes to choose from.
Of course, the 5140i is still first and foremost a phone. This tri-band GSM model has many of features you could expect from other mid-range models, such as MMS-capabilities, FM radio, MP3 ring tones and a VGA camera. It also features push to talk functionality, which can be accessed via a large button on the right hand side of the phone.
Performance
Your opinion of the Nokia 5140i will
much depend on whether you're a fan of the rubberised interface
of the phone. As opposed to having separate buttons, the 5140i's
design means there's essentially one rubber sheet covering all
the buttons. Pressing the buttons on the 5140i is a different
tactile experience to most other phones, and may take some
getting used to. Plus there may be times when pressing down on
one button accidentally activates another -- particularly with
the navigation pad underneath the screen, where we occasionally
pressed the centre confirm button when trying to press up. That
said, a bit of practice on the phone should sort out most
concerns.
The 5140i has a long stand-by time of 150-300 hours, with a talktime of 2-5 hours. The phone certainly had a long battery life in our tests, needing only one full charge in our two weeks of testing. The built-in camera, however, was less impressive, and seemed quite prone to taking jagged shots at the slightest movement. Without any options for external memory, you'll be limited to the number of shots you can take. The 5140i only has 3.5MB of internal memory that is shared between texts, emails, calendar, pictures and more.
But those looking for a rugged phone that can take the bumps will do well to flock to the Nokia 5140i. The design of the phone is certainly able to take shocks -- we dropped the phone several times (purely for testing purposes, of course) over heights that we'd be nervous to let go of other mobiles, but the Nokia 5140i took the hits without a skip.
Nokia 5140i
Company: Nokia
Price: AU$439
Phone: 1300 366 733
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1%
I wish my two Nokia's I've already purchased would take those knocks. Both of them suffer intermittant volume problems. I won't be buying another Nokia!!!