Nokia Suitcase

The new year has come and gone, and we have some good news for music aficionados, especially those who bought Nokia Xpressmusic phones. Early in December we had received a mysterious black suitcase (a good reason to panic, wouldn't you say?) However, brave souls that we are, we decided to take a chance and open it. To our credit, the contents proved to be rather a surprise.

The kit contained the already reviewed Nokia 5610 and 5310 phones, with a host of products to aid the music experience. Apparently, the suitcase was just a teaser to what we were later told were products not yet launched in India. After a lot of digging we found out that JBL might be interested in bringing its docking station (present in the suitcase) to India. Well, let’s hope that's true. And since we went ahead and played with these products, we will let you in on the secret.

JBL Docking Station

The docking station is primarily for the Nokia 5310 Xpressmusic phone. The phone fits snugly onto the given space and the buttons on the station sort of latch on to the ones given on the phone, allowing you to control playback and volume from the docking station itself.

The best thing about the docking station is that it also charges your phone. The sound quality is something to kill for – it’s brilliantly loud. The lows are well-rounded and have a lot of character. You can feel the thump, and if we are talking about a small room, well let's just say you can have a blast. The volume can be cranked up to the max without much visible jarring. Once the 5310 is connected to the docking station, you can control playback, forward/rewind and volume from the external controls itself. Also with the converter (generally provided) you can blast music from any Xpressmusic phone, or even a regular MP3 player. So you need not limit the docking station usability to the 5310.

Altec Lansing Speakers

Altec Lansing speakers are in all fairness decent. This, however, is when compared to the docking station. For a small room, you can have a decent output, provided you do not blast the volume. The bass lacks warmth, and jars when the volume is pumped up high. This is because it doesn't have proper drivers to drive the sound.

Mind you, this isn’t a docking station. It has a 3.5mm cable sticking out, which can attached to any MP3 player. From the way it was packed, we got the impression that the speaker was clubbed with the 5610. Well, if it is, it’s heavily undermining the 5610!

Philips Headphones

The Philips headset included in this ‘spy kit’ of sorts is quite light and easy to use. It can be folded and carried around easily. The sound quality is really good; you can comfortably listen to music with minimal distraction even while commuting. The cushioning around the ears helps to keep out ambient sounds. You will have to use it with a Nokia headphone adapter, as the wire is too short. I do wish the wire was longer so it could be used with any other AV devices as well.

AccessoriesThe Nokia kit comes with plenty of accessories for mobiles and dock stations. What’s included is a mobile charger, a DC charger for the JBL dock, an additional Nokia adapter, 3.5mm to 3.5mm and 2.5mm to 3.5mm cords that can be used to connect the phones to the docks as well as other devices. So the Nokia case is quite well equipped – not just for the 5610 and 5310 but for any mobile or media device that use 3.5mm universal connectors for music output.

Unfortunately the kit as a whole is not available in India. Then again, would you really buy it? I doubt it. We do know that the JBL dock will be available officially soon, but there's no definite word on price and availability. If you’re really interested you might want to try your luck in the gray market. Needless to say, we quite enjoyed using the kit with the phones provided. For more information on the phones just check out our reviews on this site.

via: http://www.tech2.com