Handset review: Nokia 5800 XpressMusic

Its web browser is fast, thanks to the phone's reliance on the high-speed 3G network and support for Wi-Fi, but it's just not as much fun to use as that on the iPhone.

Where the 5800 does score a major point over the iPhone, though, is in its support of Flash, a type of program used to power many online video services and websites, such as the film clips embedded in our own Telegraph website.

The iPhone is not compatible with this technology, leaving some web pages that contain video clips frustratingly blank. The 5800 is first and foremost a music phone, and this is the area in which it gives the iPhone a run for its money.

It has 8GB of memory, capable of storing about 4,000 songs, and this can be expanded to 16GB using a removable memory card. The use of a standard 3.5mm headphone jack is a welcome feature, as is one-touch access to music, photos and videos using the dedicated virtual ‘media bar’ key, which is always displayed on the phone’s screen regardless of what you’re doing on the handset.

Nokia's handset offers a variety of input methods. Users can choose between typing on a virtual Qwerty keyboard using their fingers, tapping out messages using a standard alpha-numeric keyboard with T9 predictive text, or using a stylus to scribble out messages on the touchscreen.

There's plenty else to recommend the phone in addition to its music-playback capabilities. Nokia has done a good job of making commonly used programs and functions – such as the alarm clock, internet and Bluetooth connectivity – accessible with a single click, rather than buried within nested menus.

The inclusion of Nokia Maps, GPS software and voice-guided navigation means the phone can pass as a sat-nav device, and it offers the option of walking directions if you're on foot rather than travelling by car.

Comes With Music offers one year of unlimited access to the entire Nokia Music Store catalogue and customers can keep all the music that they have downloaded at the end of the year to continue enjoying their music collection. Comes With Music will be available across a range of Nokia devices, including the new Nokia 5800 XpressMusic - also announced today and the Nokia N95 8GB and Nokia 5310 XpressMusic. With more than 10 million units sold globally since its introduction last year, the Nokia 5310 XpressMusic is the best selling music phone in the world.