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You can find precisely where you are, get route planning information and search for locations and addresses using Nokia's Maps 2.0 application, which employs the phone's built-in A-GPS technology to get a satellite fix on your position.
Maps for the whole of the UK and Ireland are pre-loaded onto the supplied 8GB MicroSD card, reducing the time it takes to pull up and refresh maps to almost instantaneous (you can also download additional country maps).
The A-GPS system is swift at locking onto satellites and getting your position on the screen, taking just a few seconds from startup in various locations – though it can take longer in more built up areas.
A compass helps give you on-screen orientation too, so you can view the maps from the perspective from which direction you're heading.
Mapping information, supplied by Nokia's Navteq subsidiary, is accurate and detailed, and there are comprehensive search options for locating all sorts of businesses, services and amenities – as well as options for looking up addresses.
Maps can be viewed in 2D overhead, or in 3D mode, with easy zooming in and out. Satellite views can also be accessed, and the 5730 XpressMusic allows landscape views as well as portrait, giving you a bit of extra screen space to see the info.
You can look up routes for walking and driving. For full Satellite Navigation-style operation, voice guided instructions can be added; you get a 7-day trial licence included, after which you can subscribe to this extra add-on, which provides an in-car style UI for easy operation.
It works well, and is responsive as you're moving around. It's reasonably straightforward to use too, with most standard options based on menu lists. It's certainly a very useful application to have on your mobile.
Another app that may appeal to the younger music phone buyer is N-Gage gaming.
The application embedded on the 5730 XpressMusic enables you to trial play a bunch of games on this advanced mobile phone multi-player gaming platform, with a voucher in-box entitling you to purchase one of them. Dedicated gaming keys come alive on top of the phone, so you have more flexibility when playing in landscape mode.
The D-pad control wasn't as easy to manage as we'd like when gaming, however.
Nokia's included Accuweather.com software too – a useful weather forecasting application that can provide regularly updated information from user-defined locations.
Further applications can be downloaded to customise the 5730 XpressMusic via the Download! tool, or through the Ovi application pre-loaded onto the phone. Some software is available for free, and there are some useful tools and other apps to be picked up. It's not quite the iPhone App Store, though.
