The Nokia 5300 belongs to the XpressMusic series, which is at the tip of Nokia’s sword for battling Sony Ericsson’s Walkman brand. The most notable features on the 5300 are the new 2.5mm earphone jack and dedicated music keys. Today we will see if the 5300 can really substitute your music player.

At first glance you might think there’s nothing cutting edge about the Nokia 5300′s design. Yes, it’s a bit boxy and a little bulky (3.6 by 1.9 by 0.8 inches), but it’s lighter than it looks (3.6 ounces), and ultimately it’s a form factor that deserves closer inspection. First off, the 5300 Xpress Music is a slider phone. Though Nokia is just starting to ease into the slider craze, it hasn’t stopped the company from succeeding here. The slider mechanism slides up and down with one hand, yet it is sturdy enough to feel comfortable in the hand. Our only quibble–and this is a small one–is that the 5300 feels somewhat top-heavy when the slider is up. As with most slider phones, the 5300 won’t cradle against the curve of your head, but we’ve never considered that quirk to be a big deal. Durability is a key theme with this phone; its midsection is wrapped in a rubberized covering that extends down to the navigation controls (see below). We also like the offbeat red-and-white color scheme–call it the Austrian phone–but there’s a black-and-white version for more traditional tastes.

The picture-perfect QVGA display measures 2 inches (320×240 pixels) and supports 262,144 colors. Equal to the gorgeous screen on the Nokia 6126, it offers an eye-popping array of colors, and displayed everything from graphics to texts to games beautifully. The simple but attractive menus are also a treat to view, and we love that Nokia provides a description of unfamiliar applications if you hold the cursor over the corresponding icon. You can change the font size and the backlight time, and even though you can’t alter the brightness, the display is plenty bright as it is.

The keypad on the 5300 is one of the best out there. The keys are large and the tactile feedback is excellent. My only complaint actually arises from the built quality, and it is the obvious when you are text messaging. When you reach up for the d-pad, the slide will wobble, making your grip unstable. Apart from that, the whole keypad is extremely ergonomic, and even the lowest row of keys is very usable, as they are not that close to the edge of the device.

The half auto-open sliding mechanism works fine on the 5300. The only trouble would be the build, as we mentioned earlier, since it will not lock itself when slid up.

Key features:

• 1.3 megapixel camera
• Dedicated music keys
• microSD memory card slot (hot-swap)
• Enhanced MP3 player and stereo FM radio
• QVGA display resolution
• Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP profile
• Standard mini-USB port
• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack adapter in the package