The Nokia 5610 XpressMusic, T-Mobile’s higher-end cousin to the Nokia 5310, forgoes the svelte candy-bar form factor for a chunkier slider design with a larger display. Adding easier-to-use music controls and a sharper 3.2-megapixel camera, the phone is more multimedia-friendly, but is it worth the extra $50?

Design

We loved the original 5310 because it was super slim and pocket-friendly at 4.1 x 1.8 x 0.4 inches. The new white and black (also in red and black) 5610 is nearly twice as thick, measuring 3.9 x 1.9 x 0.7 inches. The 5610’s 2.2-inch display (larger than the 2-inch LCD on the 5310) is sufficient for surfing the Web and controlling tunes, and bright enough for viewing outdoors.

The back of the 5610 has a nice textured feel, so the phone doesn’t feel as though it might fall out of your hand. The front-and-center Play/Pause button was excellent for controlling music, and it doubles as a direction pad for navigating menus. A slider below the display let us easily jump among the home screen, radio, and music player.

Volume controls are on the right side accompanying the camera-launch key. Power, USB, the headphone jack, and a battery latch lock are all on top of the phone. However, the handset’s keypad is glossy and seems a bit chintzy; we felt like we were typing on miniature Chiclets, although the response was good.

We’re not fans of the small 2.5mm headphone jack on the 5610, especially since the thinner 5310 has a full-size 3.5mm headphone jack. On the plus side, the included 3.5mm adapter isn’t cumbersome, and the built-in mic allows you to take calls with your own earphones plugged in.

User Interface

The home screen of the 5310 features T-Mobile’s five rotating myFaves icons. The main menu has shortcuts to applications such as Music Player, T-Zones, phone book, and IM and E-mail, among others. We thought the UI was ugly; icons have jagged edges, and the animation is sluggish. The music player was easy to use, however, and it looked much sharper than the home screen.