The Nokia Asha 500 is one of the hottest selling Nokia devices in Kenya. The Asha 500 device brings forth a reminiscence of the insanely popular Nokia Asha 311. The Asha 311 had an attractive price tag and was the first entry-level device to feature a scratch resistant display.
The Nokia Asha 500 is expected to change the Kenyan entry-level Smartphone market scene. Let us now get ‘iced’ with the Nokia Asha 500.
Nokia.com
Display
The Nokia Asha 500 has a 240 x 320 pixels, 2.8 Inches TFT display. The device has one of the tiniest displays for Smartphones in its price category. The petite screen, however, gives out a decent 143-ppi resolution density but lacks any form of screen protection.
This is in comparison to the Nokia 503, which has corning Gorilla glass protection.The only standout feature of the Nokia Asha 500 display is that the device supports multi-touch.
Body and Design
The Nokia Asha 500 has 100.3 x 58.1 x 12.8 mm frame.The miniature all-plastic construction makes the device look cute and ‘girly’. The phone has an awesome transparent plastic outline that makes the device appear ‘frozen’ hence; the ‘get iced’ tag line.
The Symbian handset weighs in at just 101g and thus you hardly feel its weight in your pocket. To further appeal to the younger section of the Smartphone market, the Nokia Asha 500 comes in a selection of Bright Red, Cyan, Bright Green, Yellow, Black and White exteriors.
Nokia.com
Technical Specifications
Let us now jump onto the stats for the nerds. Information about the Nokia Asha 500 CPU is scanty. My best bet is on an 832 MHz Single Core CPU. The RAM for the device is a paltry 64MB.
These specs are just enough to support the basic phone operations such as calling and texting.Another important aspect that I just have to mention is that the Nokia Asha 500 lacks 3G internet. Internet connectivity is exclusively through 2G internet. The upside is that the device has Bluetooth v 3.0 with Slam and has Dual SIM functionality.
Camera
The Nokia Asha 500 has a 2MP fixed focus camera that captures images at a maximum resolution of 1600×1200 pixels. Additionally, the handset captures QVGA quality video. With that, we wrap up most of the multimedia aspects of the Nokia Asha 500.
Battery Life
A Li-Ion 1200 mAh battery powers the Asha 500. The Nokia Asha 500 battery has quite a low capacity in comparison with many other entry-level devices. However, it is worthwhile to mention that the device has below average components.
As a result, the components suck in less battery juice compared to those found in devices with powerful components.The battery, therefore, gets you through a day or two of moderate usage.
Tech Trends Diary Verdict
The Nokia Asha 500 clearly targets the younger section of Smartphone users. An attractive price tag plus a trendy design is just the perfect sales pitch to pump up the sales figures of the device.
To further appeal to the ‘YOLO’ generation, the Nokia Asha 500 comes with WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter Apps pre-installed. Facebook and Twitter services
integrate to Fastlane, Nokia’s proprietary on-screen feature.
Nokia Asha 500: [usr 7.2]
Competitors
The Alcatel One Touch T’Pop is the perfect alternative of the Nokia Asha 500.
Pricing in Kenya
The Nokia Asha 500 is selling at a suggested retail price of Ksh 7,599.
Kevin is a tech enthusiast and the lead writer at MobiTrends.co.ke. He has been writing about smartphones and tech related topics since October 2012. About Us | Contact Us
