I wanted to gift my mother a new phone, and the requirements from the phone were basic. Symbian for the UI, USB Connectivity, expandable memory, a decent camera (1.3 MP+) and a decent looking phone considering women are far more conscious of form factor. Expandable memory knocked out the Sony Ericsson range, Symbian knocked out Motorola, Samsung & LG and I was back hunting at a Nokia store. The 5300 caught my eye and since it met every single basic requirement I went ahead at bought it.

What’s the verdict: Brilliant (except for average battery life)
Pros:
Symbian 40 phones, being simpler, are much faster than their Symbian 60 cousins.
Basic features like number duplication warnings make your life much easier.
This is something that neither the NSeries nor the ESeries offer.
A BRILLIANT PC Suite and USB Connectivity.
Backing up the entire phone has never been easier.
I’ve been known to curse Nokia for the ****ty versions of their PC Suite and compliance / connectivity issues with their phones over Bluetooth/ IR but from all the handling of this phone & the new suite , this version ROCKS.
The ability to backup every bit of information on your phone including messages, contacts, images etc by simple drag-drop mouse commands.
A crisp camera and 2GB Memory Cards.
Dedicated easy access buttons for Music and deep base earphones.
An additional pin to add after-market headphones.
Connectivity: IR, Bluetooth, USB (you’ll be surprised how many basic phones don’t come with all 3).

Cons:
Battery Life. For heavy users, this can be limiting.
From heavy user perspective: The inability to multitask with multiple java apps.