Weighing in at 5.2 ounces (including battery), the 5190 measures 5.2 inches high, 1.4 inches wide, and 0.7 inches deep, not counting a stubby antenna that extends another 0.7 inches. As a moderate-weight, midsize phone, the 5190 is highly portable. It's also extremely rugged in typical mobile phone environments--including being thrown into bags and cases and occasionally dropped on the ground.

Four buttons handle most of the menu navigation: a hefty button in the middle that Nokia calls the Navi key, up and down arrow buttons that control volume during calls, and a key marked "C" for "clear." Menu navigation is very intuitive. If you tap the Navi key, the first of a series of graphical menu items pops up. Hit the Navi key again to drill down to options within the menu or tap the up or down arrow keys to choose a different menu. The top-level menu choices are phone book, messages (SMS and voice mail alerts), call log, settings (for calls, phone, and security), call forwarding, games (Memory, Snake, and Logic), clock, tones, and keypad lock. The brightly backlit display works well with the control keys to simplify finding and making choices. In text mode, five 16-character lines are displayed. And as a bonus, the 5190 is shipped with a Jabra EarSet for hands-free use.

If you like distinctive ringing tones, you'll be satiated with the 5190, which lets you select from 35 preprogrammed tones to amuse or annoy yourself and others. Set your phone to play reveille on incoming calls and see who salutes, or choose "The Mexican Hat Dance" to get your feet moving. While there's no internal vibration mode, an optional vibrating battery is available--a pleasant break from the 30 ring tones, perhaps. The 100-name phone book is relatively small, compared to other phones. Then again, the phone is truly designed for personal use, so it doesn't necessarily need to have an advanced phone's capacious phone book. Seven numbers can be assigned one-touch dialing locations--to dial one, you simply press and hold the corresponding key (2 through 8).

The Nokia 5190 has the usual--but still impressive--array of standard call and messaging features. If supported by your carrier, you can use this phone with caller ID, call waiting, call forwarding, and voice mail alerts. A call history maintains the last 10 dialed numbers, 10 most recently received calls, and 10 missed calls. The phone supports two-way SMS text messaging, but is not WAP- or Internet-enabled.

There are four types of basic security with the Nokia 5190: different call restriction modes, phone lock, and access code storage. There is no standard method of connecting the 5190 to a PC or other device. While this phone doesn't have a standard headset jack, options abound for hands-free use, as well as a universe of compatible accessories, from car connection kits to the aforementioned faceplates. Also, the 5190 can be tethered to a pc or other computing device for data transmission.

The 5190's NiMH battery is rated to last for an impressive maximum 195 minutes of digital talk time and 200 hours of digital standby time. In our testing, we achieved 180 minutes of digital talk time and over 225 hours of digital standby time. And it only took two hours for the phone to recharge.

Pleasant and even fun to use, the Nokia 5190 makes menu navigation a breeze. Choose your favorite faceplate color and ringer tone and shock the world! --Testing and evaluation by Brown Consulting Associates

Pros:

• Portable; intuitive to use
• 5-line screen
• Hundreds of changeable faceplates available
• Huge range of Nokia and third-party accessories

Cons:

• Lacks standard vibration mode
• Not Web-enabled

How We Tested Battery-Talk/Standby Time

When reading our reviews, you should view the test results of mobile-phone battery talk time and standby time as relative information only. Many variables, including carrier signal strength at your location, signal consistency (including incoming and outgoing calls), display and ringer settings, and battery charging methods and history, will affect performance. When handset manufacturers and mobile phone carriers list talk-time and standby-time ratings, they usually include disclaimers about variable performance and often refer to the times they publish as maximum times. Some quote expected battery life ranges, and in this case you're probably safe to assume you'll experience at least the minimum rated range. Note that manufacturers of dual-mode digital and analog handsets publish battery-life rates for both digital and analog modes, as analog mode consumes much more power than digital mode.

Our Tests: We tested digital-mode talk and standby times with each phone. Prior to each test, we fully charged the phone's battery according to the manufacturer's directions. To test digital-phone talk time, we turned the phone on, established a digital carrier signal, dialed a number in our test lab, and, when the call rang through, took the receiving phone's handset off the hook. When all went well, we didn't do anything else except record the time when the phone died. In a couple of cases, the phones lost the signal and dropped the calls. If we were right there and could redial, we did so immediately and continued running the test. Otherwise, we halted the test, recharged the battery, and started the test over. Assuming consistent carrier-signal strength, this test should represent best-case talk time. And it's worth noting that several phones' talk-time performance significantly exceeded the manufacturers' ratings.