Nokia Asha 300

Nokia launched Asha series of handsets in December 2011 and today we have Asha 300, which is one of the first phones that come with Angry Birds pre-installed. One can say that Asha 300 is an entry-level phone, but it offers some of the features that take it beyond making and sending texts. Let us have a detailed look on the phone and find out if it is worth buying or not.

Asha 300 is one of the cheapest phones to offer touch screen facility, but it is certainly not for those who uses a QWERTY keypad. There is a nice five-megapixel camera with fixed focus, which is not that exciting, but you cannot expect something better at this price. It is capable for 3.5 G support, has a fast browser that does a competent job to bring Internet to the mobile and offers many games/apps via Nokia app store. Keypad of the phone is well spaced and gives complete comfort while typing.

Though it is not a smartphone, it has a customizable home screen. You can customize it with any four widgets, which can be any feature you want-date and time, chatting application, favorite contacts or even social networking. The 1GHz processor of the phone ensures that you can operate it a comfortable speed.

Nokia Asha 300 is a touch and type phone having a 2.4-inch QVGA TFT Resistive Touch screen with a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels and ability to display 262K colors. It comes with a 5-megapixel camera located at the back with 4X digital zoom and full focus. There is no front camera in the phone and the rear camera does not have flash. The phone can operate at frequencies of GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 / WCDMA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 MHz.

The 1110 mAh BL-4U Li-Ion battery of the phone provides a talk time of 6 hours 54 minutes on 2G while on 3G it is 4 hours 18 minutes. The phone has an internal memory of 140 MB, RAM of 128 MB, ROM of 256 MB and 1GHz processor. It runs on series 40 operating system and supports memory expansion up to 32 GB via micro SD card.

For connectivity, Bluetooth version 2.1 and A2DP is available in the phone. The music player of the handset supports majority of audio formats but the video player plays only MP4. It has a powerful loudspeaker and sound is quite good.

At first glance, this phone will make you remind the old days when Nokia used to rule the market. Like most of the Nokia phones, Asha 300 is created with superb build quality and great attention. It has a candy bar design with rounded edges that gives it a classic yet modern look. With a weight of 85g and dimensions of 12.8MM x 49.5MM x 12.7MM, the phone rests neatly in your palm.

Majority of the phone is built with plastic and there are not many glossy bits, except the chrome strip at the front. On the sides, you will find the volume controller and screen lock key. At the top, there is a charging port, micro USB port and headphone jack. Being a touch and type phone, there is no directional pad in it. You’ll find just the keypad, call answer and call end key.

To access the memory card slot, you have to remove the back panel while you have to remove both rear panel and battery to access SIM card slot. To remove the back cover, you have to take help of groove on the sides.

Nokia Asha 300 is available in variety of colors including white, graphite, silver, gold, red and pink.

Apart from giving you access to basic functionalities as well as internet on the move including a bit of social networking and web browsing, the phone offers some nice features like a 1 GHz processor and 3G connectivity. The biggest downfall for the phone is lack of Wi-Fi and a resistive touch screen that provides cumbersome experience. This phone is a perfect upgrade for those coming from a most basic Nokia phone and can stand up to their requirements and expectations. Overall, this phone is a great value for money.