Nokia 5800 Woes: Faulty Earpieces & Broken US 3G

Nokia has been under the microscope recently, with their 5800 XpressMusic handset coming in for criticism.  According to Mobile-Review, the company's PR Director for Europe & Asia has confirmed that, prior to January 27th, the touchscreen handset was being manufactured with a faulty earpiece.  When customers complained, and their handsets were sent away to be repaired, the earpiece was replaced with another from a faulty batch.

Nokia insists that they were unaware of the issue at the time, and that current 5800 XpressMusic handsets are fully-functional.  Any handset repaired after late January will have been fitted with a part from an alternative manufacturer.

Meanwhile, after going on sale in the US last Friday, there are now reports that the NAM-version of the 5800 XpressMusic is suffering widespread failures also, this time in its inability to connect properly to a 3G network.  Some users are reporting a complete lack of signal bars, when another Nokia handset in the same location claims full-strength.  Nokia are yet to comment on the issue.

[via MobileBurn]