Nokia launched its new range of featured phones called the Asha range in Johannesburg on the 12th of April 2012. The Asha range targeted at the youth consists of the Asha 201, Asha 302, Asha 303 all with the ever popular QWERTY keyboards, Facebook chat, MXit, Angry Birds Lite and Whatsapp. This range is focused on people who enjoy the functionality of smartphones but ia much more affordable.
Nokia Asha 303 the leader of the pack is a 2.6", 240 x 320 pixels and 154 ppi pixel density touchscreen phone coupled with a QWERTY keyboard. It measures in at 116.5 x 55.7 x 13.9 mm in size and 99g in weighs. The swift 1 GHz processor which powers the Asha 303 makes running apps and the Nokia S40 operating system a breeze. The Asha 303 has 100MB of onboard memory which can be expanded with a microSD memory card up to the size of 32GB.
For fast and easy connectivity the Asha 303 features Bluetooth 2.1+EDRA, HSDPA, Wi-Fi 802 and 11nsupport. The battery live promise to have up to 47h music playback time, 840h of standby time and up to 7h of talk time. Other great features included are Stereo FM radio, a 3.2mp fixed focus camera, Nokia browser (which compresses website up to 90%) and a 3.5mm audio jack.
The Asha 302 measuring at 115.2 x 58.9 x 13.5mm and weighing 106g it is very similar in shape to that of the Nokia E5. It has a QWERTY keypad and a 2.4" TFT display. The Asha 302 is the first in the series that supports Microsoft Exchange which allows users to sync work emails and calendar accounts. The Asha 302 has 140MB on board storage which can be expanded with a microsSD memory card of up to 32GB. The Asha 302 also features a 3.2pm camera, music player, 3.5mm audio jack, 1GHz CPU and enhanced stereo FM radio.
The Asha 201 is the most affordable phone in the range boasting stereo FM radio, a 2mp camera, QWERTY keyboard, 2.4" colour display screen, Bluetooth and has a microsSD card slot that can support up to 32GB cards. It also has email support and all the social messaging.The battery life impressively promises to last up to 888h on standby time and 52h of music playback time on one charge. The Asha 201 comes in fun bright colours such as lime green, pink, orange and blue.
The Asha range is aimed to provide mobile phones that not only look great but that also provides a rich calling, texting and web browsing experience at an affordable price.