Review: Nokia Asha 300

An another powerful, neatly priced touch and type phone by Nokia, tagged under the new evolving Asha series is Nokia Asha 300. The Nokia Asha 300 is a classy good looking piece that gives the dual advantage of a touchscreen phone and a physical alphanumeric keypad packed into one stylish frame. The phone runs on the refreshed Series 40 Operating system and possesses a powerful 1 GHz processor. The Nokia Asha series aims at providing the user an entry-level phone with some more daily-used features other than just making calls and sending SMS. Social Network Integration, 3G connectivity, Push-Email feature, App store and many more Smartphone like features are packed into this entry level phone. So, is Nokia Asha 300 a better and affordable pick than the pricey Smartphones? Let’s find out as we review the Nokia Asha 300 in detail..

Look And Feel

Nokia phones ruled the market in the previous decade and yet many of us cherish those wonderful Nokia memories. The all plastic body with classy metallic finishes reminds us of that era of Nokia phones. Its rounded edges gives us the feeling of modern day curve generation. The build is perfect solid and I’m sure it has enough endurance to take a mighty fall, without much damage. The phone weighs just 85gms. The compact size, light weight and simplicity of design are the biggest assets of the Asha 300.

The 2.4″ TFT  resistive touchscreen is a bit smaller than most of the smartphones, but the S40 is happy to have it. The screen quality is same as other new S40 phones in the business and nothing to get excited about. The resistive nature of the touchscreen makes the device draggy to use leaving you with a slightly frustrated experience. It would have been better if Nokia would have charged a bit more and offered an improved touchscreen experience. The touch also provides a tactile feedback which is good for all the first timers!

Like every other phone, it has a MicroUSB slot, 3.5mm audio jack and a dedicated thin pin charging socket. Overall the built of Nokia Asha 300 resembles a typical Nokia phone!

Features and Performance

The Nokia Asha 300 is not a cheap replacement for a Smartphone; Well its more of an App centric phone, basically a Feature phone with Social Networking, Email and 3G Internet capabilities. However there is no WiFi, you can stay connected via EDGE or 3G mobile connection.

Asha 300 runs on a all new upgraded touch-and-type S40 Operating system. The slide-to-unlock feature, homescreen swipes and Symbian Anna like icons makes you feel proud owner of a budget phone. Homescreen displays any 4 widgets from a variety of in-built widgets. By default, it includes an all new Social (Facebook, Twitter and Flickr integration) App which keeps on updating instantly and gives us the Smatphone like feeling.

The biggest disadvantage of the phone is lack of multitasking i.e you can’t simultaneously run two or more applications except check the latest notifications (notifications do come in the background). This means, you can’t download music in the background and play games the same time. With 1Ghz processor, 256 MB ROM, 128 MB RAM, I’m sure Nokia S40 will have multitasking capabilities in future. But, the new S40 interface makes sure that you have a good experiences as it runs loads of Apps, Social Notifications, Chats and our favorite WhatsApp!!

The Video viewing experience on this phone is decent and its Video player is capable of playing the MP4 as well as 3GP formats!

Nokia Asha 300 comes with a impressive 5 megapixel camera. But lack of auto-focus and poor video recording is a downside. The photos do not look very crisp on the phone screen but are decent when seen on a desktop or Laptop.

Asha 300 comes with an inbuilt FM radio with RDS and a good Music Player. The quality of music with headphones attached IS REALLY IMPRESSIVE. It matches good quality music standards set by Lumia, which is great for a budget phone.

The battery life of the Nokia Asha 300 is simply awesome. Its 1110 mAh battery lasted for about two days with average use of Chatting, Social networking, Calling and Messaging; way better than most of the smartphones and bugdet phones.

The S40 App Store

Nokia has contributed 1.5 billion S40 cellphones till date around the globe and 600+ million phones are downloading apps everyday on them. This massive number of S40 users has excited every App developer around the globe. Hence we see a whole new set of advance Apps available(most of them free) on an improved Nokia App store!

For a Feature budget phone to have lots of Apps itself is a great achievement for the Asha series specifically the Nokia Asha 300 and 303. The apps are still trying to match standards set by Android and iPhone, but with many big players already in S40 app and game development, its a good future ahead for the new S40. The Nokia Asha 300 comes with inbuilt demo version of Angry Birds too, which adds to the cool quotient of this phone!!

Price

With the MRP ranging around the Rs. 6500 mark, this phone is available for as low as Rs. 5700 in some shops! This low price makes this phone a smart choice for a budget buyer!

Pros

• 1GHz processor
• Good Built quality
• Easy To Use
• 3G connectivity
• 5 Megapixel Camera

Cons

• No Multitasking
• No Wifi
• Resistive Touchscreen

Our Verdict

While Windows Phone 7 is a new hope for Nokia to beat into the Smartphone market, the Asha series is already making its mark in the market which is ruled by Nokia from ages: the S40 market!! The touch and type series by Nokia with loads of Apps is now the new benchmark for entry-level phones world-wide. If you looking for a budget phone that gives you access to basic Email on the go, a bit of web browsing and social networking, the Nokia Asha 300 is the best in the business. At a price of Rs. 6,500 this phone offers some very cool features such as touch and type screen, 3G connectivity, a 1GHz processor with strong build and a good 5 mpx camera. We rate this feature phone as 3.5/5 and a good buy in the budget entry-level phone category!