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So, this is the second and final part for our Asha 501 review. You can read the first part of review by clicking the link below.
Settings, File manager:
Asha 501 has a functional file manager which can be used to access files in Phone memory and MicroSD card. This will be much liked by power users. Nokia has really paid attention to details in making handling the settings easy with many toggles in settings. This is hallmark of a modern UI. You can also watch our video demo of settings and file manager by clicking here.
Double tap to wake up, Glance screen, Alert clock:
Nokia has decorated Asha OS with few really neat and innovative features like Double tap to wake up, Glance screen and an Alert clock which changes its color according to timings of the day. You can watch video demo of these by clicking the link here.
Phone functions, Keyboard:
It has got pretty simple yet functional dialer and phone book design. Voice quality is typical Nokia. We really liked the Qwerty keyboard and prediction which is really smart. Swiping on the keyboard changes the language, which is very neat feature. Check the video demo of dialer and keyboard by clicking here.
Battery life:
Battery life is one of the best I have ever seen on any smartphone. It lasted on average for nearly 44-48 hours on a single charge and with normal smartphone browsing, video streaming, calling etc. Standby time is amazing and it was on for 6 days continuously when not in use and still raring to go. The device we used for our review was the dual-sim variant. So, single sim variant may have more juice.
Time to conclude the review of Asha 501 and here are the hits and misses as found by us,
Hits:
- Very intuitive Swipey UI, refreshingly easy and smooth navigation.
- Excellent build quality and beautiful design.
- Many innovative features not usually seen on a device of this price range.
- It is so pocket-able that it will get many takers for that only.
- Good still camera quality for again its price range
- Maps and Browser are something which give Asha 501 much firepower and lead over its competitors.
Misses:
- Biggest gripe is some missing apps which are available for other S40 devices but not yet for Asha 501. Most important of them is “Whatsapp” which may be a deal-braker for some. So, though it is coming, Nokia must try to get it really soon.
- Push notifications from apps like Twitter and facebook is something which we couldn’t see working. So, may be there is some issue with the API. But, at this price point it is hardly a big deal.
- Though Asha 501 is a cute looking very usable phone, the screen-size is small and Nokia would be wise to use bigger screen in upcoming devices to keep up with trend of larger sizes. It will help them in getting more buyers. Currently Nokia doesn’t have any Lumia phone with 3.5 inch screen size. So, Asha can cater to that.
In a nutshell, for its price range there is nothing which even comes close to design, UI, performance, Features, Maps and other innovative features of Asha 501. It is really joy to use and we loved it in our extended 20 days of testing. It is already selling well and with onset of whatsapp it will get many more buyers. It is a dream back-up phone which allows you to do everything your pricey phone will do and yet provides amazing battery life and portability.
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