Nokia Asha 501

Nokia Asha 501

Overview

Nokia keeps redefining the line between pure smartphones and feature phones and with the introduction of the Nokia Asha 501, the line is now thinner than ever. It borrows heavily on the design cues from the Lumia range with bright candy colors and the bold form factor of the now very identifiable Lumia range of phones and introduces the newly minted Nokia Asha Software Platform 1.0 operating system. With it Nokia aims to build on its strong brand presence in emerging markets and the phone is bound to be a hit especially for people looking for a bridge between basic feature-phones and low end smartphones.

Feature phones have come a long way since the early days of the very Kenyan Nokia 3310. With the Asha 501, Nokia manages to produce a featurephone on the borderline between smart and dumb. A cursory glance reveals a presentable 3 inch capacitative touchscreen and although the pixel density is rather low at 133 ppi, it should serve for a budget phone. The screen is encased in a boxy casing and can be customized with a variety of colorful cases (yellow, red, green, blue, black and white). Weighing a lightweight 98g and measuring just 99.2 x 58 x 12.2mm, the phone would feel comfortable even in the smallest of hands.

Under the hood you will find limited internal memory of just 128MB which however can be expanded up to 32 GB and a meager 64MB of RAM which is obviously not meant for multitasking but should keep the Nokia Asha Software Platform 1.0 O.S chugging along happily. The battery is a modest1200mAh but Nokia’s new “low power display” software   trick should be able to keep the phone running without much of a power drain. Battery recharge is via the now almost standard micro-USB port

On the connectivity front the phone comes with a dual-SIM/single SIM setup with the ability to hotswap SIM cards without having to switch off the phone first. There is 2G support, Bluetooth support and Wi-Fi connectivity thrown in for good measure and but sadly no 3G connectivity.

On the media side of things the Asha 501 rocks a 3.15MP primary camera which supports QVGA video capture. There is FM radio support and MP3/MP4 which can be enjoyed via loudspeaker or through the 3.5mm headphones. The OS being still pretty new doesn’t have a rich ecosystem of applications but popular apps such as Whatsapp and Nokia Maps will find an easy home here. The Nokia-EA Sports partnership is also alive with the Asha 501 allowing owners to download up to 40 EA games and applications for free.

At a glance

Network

2G Network                                                        GSM 900/1800-RM-899

                850/1900-RM-900

SIM card                                                              Optional Dual SIM

Dimensions

Dimensions                                                           99.2 x 58 x12.1 mm

Weight                                                                 98.2 g

Display                                                                 TFT capacitative touchscreen

Size                                                                      240 x 320 pixels, 3.0 inches

Multitouch                                                            Up to 2 fingers

Loudspeaker                                                        Yes

3.5mm jack                                                           Yes

Memory

Memory card slot                                                 microSD expandable up to 32 GB,4GB included

Internal memory                                                   128MB, 64MB RAM

Data

GPRS                                                                   Up to 85.6kbps

EDGE                                                                   Up to 236.8kbps

Wireless                                                               Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n

Bluetooth                                                              Yes

USB                                                                     Yes, microUSB

Camera

Primary                                                                 3.2MP

Video                                                                   Yes, QVGA

Radio                                                                    FM radio

Music player                                                         Yes,MP3, MP4 player

Features

Operating System                                                 Nokia Asha Software Platform 1.0

Battery                                                                 Li-Ion 1200mAH battery

Available colors                                                   Red, Green, Yellow, White, Black