Nokia Asha 501

The Finnish giant Nokia has finally realized that its old age S40 OS need to be revamped. Of Course, company's Asha series is quite popular in India. No one can beat Nokia in the lower price segment .But the way Android handsets are getting cheaper day-by-day; the time has finally come when Nokia should answer some simple questions.

So the company decided to give Symbian OS a much needed boost. And the result is now in front of you - the Nokia Asha 501. It's a simple device with smartphone like UI. Having said that, this device has a chance to succeed due to fantastic built quality and most importantly its retail price is less than O.K type's Android phones available in market.

The phone is now up for pre-order at Rs. 5,199 through Nokia Online store. The handset is available in five candy colors: Red, Black, Cyan, White and Yellow. We decided to highlight top five reasons to buy Nokia Asha 501. Go for this phone for its quality, features, simplicity, price, and Nokia brand name. Take a look!

Design and Aesthetics

With Asha 501, Nokia tried to do copy the design from Lumia series. Well, we are thankful to Nokia. It is unapologetic to steal stuff from your closet. The phone has a 3-inch low resolution display having resolution of 320 x 240 pixels. The unibody style reminds of Lumia 520. The device is made from plastic. At this price point, it's a stupidity to expect metallic finish. There is no front facing camera provide. You also find a home button below the display. The volume rocker and power button are on right hand side.

Operating System and UI

We are all familiar with how S40 OS works. But this time around, Nokia made some efforts to revamp its age old operating system. Nokia says the Asha 501 is powered by a new software platform. The new platform is fat, clean and intuitive. It can be further improved by regular updates. There is a feature called ‘Fastlane', which basically brings swipe motion gestures. We saw this feature in Nokia N9. There is a lock screen and a home screen, just like a regular smartphone.

Camera, games and apps

You will find a 3.2-mega pixel rear camera on the back. Nothing fancy here. Still, if are using a non-camera phone till now -the Asha 501 should be considered. However, if you are into Skype then watch out for some other handset, as the front facing camera is missing.

If you are into gaming then luck is on your side. Nokia has a tie up with EA games, so you will get free 40 games bundled with the phone. You can always download games from Nokia OVI store.

Popular apps such as Facebook, Twitter, eBuddy, among others, are pre-loaded. You can download more apps from Online store.

Nokia Express Browser and Micro- SIM

Nokia says an updated version of the Nokia Xpress browser helps to reduce data by up to 90 per cent. What does that mean? In simple worlds, the web pages will load faster and you will be able to download your stuff a bit faster.

For the first time, a leading manufacturer has introduced micro -SIM facility at such a low price point. The phone will be made in Single and dual SIM versions.

Battery life

Some standard features of Asha 501 are as follows: a 4GB of internal memory which can be expanded up to 32GB via microSD card, Wi-Fi and 2G support. Unfortunately, the folks at Nokia are not providing 3G facility. Nokia says the phone has an incredible battery life of 48 days in standby and 17 hours of talk time. This is the reason why Nokia Asha 501 should be purchased over low grade Android phone.