Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.
software
Connections on the Nokia 5530 are pretty well represented (although the earlier anger at a lack of 3G still hasn't subsided) as we've got Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth A2DP and of course, GPRS/EDGE if you're desperate.
The overall reception of the phone isn't that great, with coverage constantly dropping out on us in zones we knew worked on our network. It might be a small and wallet friendly device, but it still needs to be able to work most of the time.
Bluetooth 2.0 worked well on the phone - finding the PC connection easily and flipping into gear when needed. We had a little trouble getting the A2DP Bluetooth option to work with our Altec Lansing BackBeat 906 BT cans, but eventually the two paired (why they refused for so long, we don't know) and stayed locked together whenever one was turned on.
Nokia's decision to 'go Ovi' has started to pay dividends, as the new Ovi Suite in the box is great. The Ovi Suite was a lot more intuitive than previous efforts, encouraging us to sync across all our media, back up contacts and even throw it all online to make it safe forever as Nokia tries to integrate all its services.
We found no great urge to do so however thanks to a lifetime of ignoring bundled phone software, but Nokia's integrated approach certainly make it a lot more appealing.
It did take a little while to install, but we had to upgrade a few components on our PC in the process, which it helpfully did for us. If yours takes an unusually long time to install, don't worry, just go and make a cup of tea and have a nice slice of cake to pass the time.
However, the home media server software wasn't up to much, as again we couldn't make it work. Like DLNA, the notion of wirelessly connecting all your devices together via Wi-Fi seems a little too much for the program to handle.
You can also set things like maps up on the internet and have them sent to the handset. That example isn't the best here as the 5530 XpressMusic doesn't have Ovi Maps installed, but there's a whole host of other cloud-linked software to play with under the hood.
