31 December 2008

Extreme Nokia 5800 Stress Test!
It scored 22 out of a maximum 30 points!

Here are the results of the Extreme Nokia 5800 crash test that I wrote about few days ago.

Sure you may have seen similar tests of Nokia devices but as far asu I know none really went so far as to answer the questions about the build quality of Nokia 5800.

Anyway, Nokia's first S60 full touchscreen phone has scored 22 out of a maximum 30 points which is pretty good score for sensitive touchscreen device that is not made of high quality materials like glass and steel.

Nokia 5800 is typical mid-range device made of plastic which is more brittle and less shock-absorbent than metal but despite that, its shell is surprisingly strong and very durable mainly thanks to the strong metal frame that is hidden under the plastic cover.

Falls are probably the most common type of accident and therefore vertical drop test that simulate a full-tilt fall on the floor is key to the analysis and fortunately neither of those drops tests caused any harm to the 5800 XM whatsoever, and the device came out of this test as it is still brand new. Phone also survived the ‘accelerated drop test’, it did not yield any further physical damage, accelerometer, proximity as well as pretty delicate camera sensor works just fine after taking this extreme drop test.

Another test is interesting and very realistic as well. You see, if you drop your phone somewhere in the public, in the bus or on the street for example, there is a risk of someone stepping on the phone and break it but if you are proud owner of Nokia 5800 you shouldn’t worry about! The plastic ring around the front side of the phone protects display very well and phone survives the pressure test performed by a lady with a body weight of 60kg who step on it while walking by without any noticeable damage.

The well-known washing machine is the last and probably the most aggressive fall test which is designed to simulate multiple drops and strikes on a hard surface. The washing machine spin test was about 15 minutes long at 500 rpm and Russian testers claims that Nokia 5800 is the first phone ever that survived this test without losing the battery. It is expected that at least battery cover would come off but it is not the case and I am not surprised at all as I found it a bit difficult to remove it anyway.

So, Nokia 5800 has no problems with drops at all, after all those drop tests it works just fine, touchscreen is fully functional, phone it is capable to make and receive calls and all sensors works well including the camera module and Carl Zeiss optic.

I know few people who've dropped few hundreds of Euros down the toilet or some other sort of water or liquid and if you drop your 5800 into water better pull it out and remove battery as soon as possible. The resistance against liquids is the weakest point of Nokia 5800. Stereo speaker’s holes as well as huge stylus socket allow fluid to easily gets inside the phone body.

Fortunately Nokia has removable batteries and phone appeared to works without problems after removing the battery and proper dry without need to strip phone down to its bare parts.

All in all, Nokia 5800 is surprisingly strong and durable phone and I have never expected it will survive most of those tests. Phone performed well up until the ultimate and the most extreme car crash test and even then the touch layer remained functional, the display responds on the press although it is mostly useless as the main screen is totally broken.

That’s all for now folks, the full report with few more test is available over at mail.ru. Goolge's automated translation is not perfect but report is still readable.

Bonus: Set of videos from the crash test, those with a weak heart probably shouldn't watch this :]