It's not called the urban jungle for nothing. We brave tropical rainstorms scouring for food during lunch hour. We race fearsome rivals getting into the peak-time train before the trapdoor closes. We grope around in pitch darkness, searching for the right seat in the cinema.

That's why, for people like us--the adventurous or adventurous-at-heart--Nokia has delivered the 5100, a phone that resists water splashes, bumps and dust, takes your timing for the 100m dash, and literally lights your way.

Get The Funk?
Austin Powers taught us that not all action heroes have to be brawny or good-looking. Certainly the 104g 5100 isn't attractive in the conventional sense. Our unit came in an azure and opaque-white cover. The thick rubber housing protects the phone's inner core, swelling it up like a spaceman in his astronaut suit.

Encased in this shell, the phone looks almost impervious to the elements. I say almost because there appear to be intentional gaps in the body armor, such as the ear piece and a strange little opening at the bottom whose function has yet to be identified. These may possibly be the phone’s Achilles heel; Nokia took pains to inform us that the phone can be used in rain, but while we successfully played some games with the mobile under a tap, the underside of the display went misty after our experiment.

Other than that, the bottom of the mobile where the charger and headset port are, can be sealed with a rubber flap that’s attached to the main housing. The cover opens up in the middle and is also tightly secured. There's even an extra plastic layer shielding the battery, possibly the last line of defense against invading water droplets. The result is a phone which comfortably withstood our 1m drop test.

But as the hapless Don Quixote discovered, all that armor exacted a toll on the good knight's performance. The buttons of the 5100 are sluggish and sticky. In addition, a single piece of rubber can house three different keys: The soft key, the "right" direction, as well as the command to hang up. This makes it even more confusing for the user, and we were prone to pressing the wrong part of the plastic.

Swiss Army Knife Features
On the inside, the 5100 sports the usual works. It has a large 4,096-color display as well as several high-quality polyphonic ringtones. Wireless Java makes an appearance in the form of three games: Sky Diver, Triple Pop, and Bounce.

More interesting are the extras that Nokia has built into this device. Its flashlight is strategically positioned at the top of the phone, and can be activated when you press the "up" button during standby. This certainly proved plenty bright in the cinema.

The 5100's thermometer reading--which isn't too accurate--is prominently set at the top of the screen. It doesn't measure body temperature, so don't go sticking this into your mouth or under your armpit. Other features include a calorie calculator that counts how much energy you expend while exercising, as well as a very cool noise meter which measures the decibel level of the environment.

Phones are said to be adopting the Swiss Army knife approach, squeezing in all manners of functions. This is certainly true of the 5100. We won't be surprised if the next incarnation of the 5100 comes with an altimeter, compass and a toothpick.

SAR Rating, Reception And Battery Life
According to Nokia, the 5100 measures 0.49 W/kg on Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) tests. Based on the recommendations of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP), this is well below the limit of 2.0 W/kg.

The reception of the phone proved to be good. Signal reception was generally acceptable, although we had to try a few times to send an SMS message in an area with poor network coverage. Voice quality was also adequate in both normal and loudspeaker mode.

In addition, the 5100's battery life was credible. We managed three days of usage with avid use of the integrated FM radio before the 720mAh Lithium-ion cell ran out of juice.

Conclusion
The 5100 currently goes for about S$518 with a two-year contract or S$638 without a line. At first glance, this flamboyant handset appears to be a statement of lifestyle rather than a practical tool for outdoorsy types. That said, the phone and its myriad functions grew on us. We have to agree the 5100 can be truly useful for some people, especially if you're the careless kind and tend to have butter fingers, or if you're often out in the field as part of the armed forces.

Certainly, the triband 5100 will prove equally useful when you're backpacking in other countries. It reminded me of my time in Vietnam when I had to use an unlit toilet, and ended up harnessing my Palm handheld's color display as a source of light. The 5100 and its built-in flashlight would have proved invaluable then.