Just got hold of a yellow Nokia Asha 501 two weeks ago while it was released few months ago (June 2013). This small phone does so many things as its big brothers do in the smart phone arena.
At P4,599 retail price this amazing piece of Nokia caters to the needs of the social network savvy individuals who preferred affordable smartphones while saving enough money for other most pressing needs.
FEATURES
Everything you’ve done with your Asha 501 phone is pinned to one screen–the Fastlane. Be it call log, SMS, task, apps, etc., everything is there for you to access anytime. If you want to reply later to an SMS, you can just scroll Fastlane and locate the previous SMS.
No other pages for the apps. It’s all placed in one page and few scrolling of the screen bring you to the app. The swipe motion makes switching between apps and the Fastlane fast and easy.
Simplicity makes the Asha 501 a different new phone. No other button but a single physical back button to toggle between apps and the Fastlane.
The Asha 501 sports a scratch-resistant glass screen and changeable covers.
Nokia claims Asha 501 can stand up to 48 days of stand-by time. Yeah! I even forgot when was the last time i recharged the phone during the time of this review.
The Nokia Xpress Browser proves efficient on Nokia 501 as it gives you fast browsing experience even on Wi-Fi.
You can also do tabs browsing and save some sites as tiles for quick access, or stream a YouTube or VuClip video in one tab while browsing in another.
There’s also the Nokia Xpress Now app that puts trending content from around the internet onto a single magazine-style page.
Lastly, the Asha 501 is a Dual-SIM phone that uses micro-SIM cards.
SPECIFICATIONS: (from GSMARENA)
GENERAL
2G Network
GSM 900 / 1800 – RM-899
850 / 1900 – RM-900
GSM 900 / 1800 – SIM 1 & SIM 2 – RM-902
SIM Optional Dual SIM (Micro-SIM, dual stand-by)
Announced 2013, May
Status Available. Released 2013, June
BODY Dimensions 99.2 x 58 x 12.1 mm (3.91 x 2.28 x 0.48 in)
Weight 98.2 g (3.46 oz)
DISPLAY Type TFT capacitive touchscreen, 256K colors
Size 240 x 320 pixels, 3.0 inches (~133 ppi pixel density)
Multitouch Up to 2 fingers
SOUND Alert types Vibration, MP3 ringtones
Loudspeaker Yes
3.5mm jack Yes
MEMORY Card slot microSD, up to 32 GB, 4 GB card included
Internal 128 MB, 64 MB RAM
DATA GPRS Up to 85.6 kbps
EDGE Up to 236.8 kbps
WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
Bluetooth Yes, v3.0 with EDR
USB Yes, microUSB v2.0
CAMERA Primary 3.15 MP, 2048×1536 pixels, check quality
Video Yes,QVGA@15fps
Secondary No
FEATURES OS Nokia Asha software platform 1.0
Sensors Accelerometer, proximity
Messaging SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, IM
Browser WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML
Radio FM radio
GPS No
Java Yes, MIDP 2.1
Colors Bright Red, Bright Green, Cyan, Yellow, White and Black
- SNS apps
- MP4/H.263 player
- MP3/WAV/AAC player
- Photo editor
- Organizer
- Voice memo
- Predictive text input
BATTERY Li-Ion 1200 mAh battery (BL-4U)
Stand-by Up to 1152 h
Talk time Up to 17 h
Music play Up to 56 h
Li-Ion 1200 mAh battery (BL-4U) for dual-SIM model
Stand-by Up to 624 h
Talk time Up to 17 h
MISC SAR US 1.41 W/kg (head)
SAR EU 0.96 W/kg (head)
Price group
TESTS Display Contrast ratio: 1004:1 (nominal) / 2.672:1 (sunlight)
Loudspeaker Voice 73dB / Noise 68dB / Ring 78dB
Audio quality Noise -80.4dB / Crosstalk -82.3dB
Camera Photo
PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES
DIMENSION: Display: 3.0 in Height: 99.2 mm Width: 58 mm Thickness: 12.1 mm Weight: 98 g
Like other smartphones, the Asha 501 has the Volume rocker and the Power/Sleep button on one side
TOP EDGE: Battery Recharging input, USB port, 3.5mm earphone jack input
The 3.15MP camera at the back has no flash. At the bottom of the back cover is the lock which you should push down to remove the cover from the main body.
Simply the camera alone with no flash beside it.
The SIM1 card has to be inserted on the card slot under the battery while the SIM2 card slot has a slit on the side where the SIM card has to be pushed on it. The microSD card slot is located just below the SIM2 card slot.
