While Android phones continue to eat into the feature phone market, Nokia’s Asha line is still doing surprisingly well. Just today, Nokia Philippines announced the availability of a new Asha handset, the Asha 502 Dual SIM. The Asha series of feature phones have always blurred the lines between feature phone and smartphone, and the Asha 502 Dual SIM is no different, delivering a few specs and features here and there that you would typically expect from a smartphone at the affordable price of a feature phone.
The Nokia Asha 502 Dual SIM features a 3 inch QVGA TFT and runs on the Asha Software Platform 1.1. It doesn’t have 3G, but you can easily connect to WiFi and if you really need to check your emails and social media accounts on the go, EDGE connectivity should suffice. The OS is pretty lightweight, which is why the Asha 502 Dual SIM can get away with just 64MB or RAM. And if you want storage, you can expand it via a micro SD slot up to 32GB, and there’s even a 4GB card thrown in. Pinoys will really like the dual SIM support too.
Some neat features include the ability to swipe to capture and then one touch to share to your favorite social networks. The homescreen is also pretty intuitive with the help of Fastlane, which remembers all of your past activities and makes them easily accessible while allowing you to customize the shortcuts at the same time. Finally, there’s the Nokia Xpress Browser that compresses pages to make them load faster and cost less if you’re on mobile data.
On the imaging side, you get a 5mp camera with LED flash. It’s only capable of QVGA video recording at 15 frames per second so don’t let this double as a handycam. There’s also no front camera, so you’ll have to make do with the rear shooter.
However, where the Nokia Asha 502 really shines is in the design. The body features a layer of clear plastic on top of the finish. It’s a particularly stunning effect whichever color variant you choose, although my personal favorite is yellow. It’s an example of great design that Apple can’t possibly claim credit for.
The Nokia Asha 502 Dual SIM doesn’t pretend to be anything more than a cute feature phone. However, it does deliver a number of features that help introduce feature phone users to the more intimidating world of smartphones. If you’re looking to upgrade from your basic dumbphone but find smartphones to be too complicated, the Nokia Asha 502 Dual SIM has your back.
Nokia Asha Dual SIM Specs
- 3″ QVGA TFT display (240 x 320 resolution, 133ppi)
- Nokia Asha Software Platform 1.1
- 64MB RAM
- 5mp camera with LED flash
- 2G/EDGe
- WiFi b/g/n
- Bluetooth 3.0
- Dual SIM/dual standby
- 1,010mAh battery
- Weight: 100g with battery
- Dimensions: 99.55 x 59.5 x 11.1mm
- Price: Php4,800
