My editor lent me the 5500 for review because he knows I go to the gym – well, not really as a devoted disciple but as somebody who wants to work out to keep fit. I was elated to find that when switched to Sports Mode, the phone can calculate exactly the distance you run and the number of calories you discharge; no need for your gym’s treadmill or cross-trainer to do it for you. This holds true for other activities like walking, cycling, rowing and simple stair stepping.

Naturally, I was excited to test this sports offering of the Nokia 5500 and its other fun features. But first things first; a word about the phone’s appearance which is similar to the Nokia 3220 I saw being clutched by another friend. The phone has a rubberized keypad and a metal back cover. It also has a separate steel hinge covering the battery, which I found most cumbersome. While I figured that the cover is better off closed using a screwdriver or a coin, I was content doing so with my nails and the cover ended up dropping off every now and then. Also, unlike the other phones I tried, the charging port was hidden from view and I ended up flipping open the rubber casing just so I can charge the battery.

I found texting on the rubber keypad difficult at first, but soon enough I got used to composing messages on the bright 256K screen. And when I was tired of texting, I was thrilled to find that I can actually program the phone’s message reading software so it can read my messages for me. Again, I think this is related to the sports function, as you really don’t want to be texting or reading messages while jogging in the park, do you? The only problem was that my phone’s female message reader spoke with a British accent.  At first, I thought “she” only read out English messages until I pressed “Listen” with the Taglish messages and she read them too. Just a warning though: her pronunciation can be inaudible when she speaks in a language other than British. Amusing is a better word.

Apart from this, the phone can also be programmed to say a caller’s name when the phone is ringing, as long as the person is in your address book. To top off these smart features, the phone has a series of tapping commands to make the work easier for you. You can tap twice on the upper part of the keypad within 30 seconds of receiving an SMS to listen to the message or monitor your sports exercise. Likewise, tap twice on the left or right lower side of the phone with your fingertips to skip tracks in the music player.

The Nokia 5500’s integrated MP3 player with built-in equalizer is good too. Using the instant swap key found on the upper right hand side of the phone, you can switch from sports mode to music mode to enjoy this mobile’s sound features to the fullest. You can store your own tracks and organize your own music library by album, by artist, by genre or by composer. There is Visual Radio, which was virtually useless since this service is not offered in the country, but I remember I can simply listen to the radio and save as many as 20 stations in the directory depending on my preference.

During a recent vacation out of the country, I brought the Nokia 5500 to take some pictures with its 2 mega pixel camera. The pictures were okay, except in low light conditions where the shots turned out to be dark with just the auto-focus being used. With the phone’s sequence mode, you can capture images consecutively, or as much as six shots in short intervals.

The phone also has a built-in flashlight which you can turn on needlessly when you press * or + since they are all located on the same key. The card slot supports microSD (TransFlash) for expanding the phone’s internal 64MB memory. As with most other phones these days, the Nokia 5500 comes with WAP 2.0, Bluetooth, Infrared and USB connectivity plus a Flash Player and a Real Player that can play media files. You can have fun with installed games like Snakes and Labyrinth plus a host of others you can download with Java.

Operating on the Symbian OS v9.1, I have to say that the 5500 is the most unique of all the Nokia phones I’ve used and tested. I’ve mentioned a few of its downsides but if the trusty MP3 player you’re presently using in your workouts isn’t enough, this phone’s music player AND built-in pedometer (3D Accelerometer) should be worth giving a try. I would recommend this phone though only to those with very active lifestyles.