Nokia Asha 305 and 311 Preview + First Impressions

Nokia Asha 305 and 311 Preview + First Impressions

Nokia organized a preview session for their latest addition to their Asha range of phones, bringing smartphone-like (think Nokia Lumia) towards the entry-level sector. The 2 new models are the 305 and 311.


You may view their specs on the pages provided above. 🙂

Asha 305

The key feature to me is the dual-SIM card support, and of course the attractive price of RM 299 with FREE 40 EA games (that you must download within 60 days after the first download).

The data network speed goes up to 2G only so you’re capped regardless what super duper uber speed the ISP gives. I’m disappointed that it doesn’t support Wi-Fi.

While Nokia claims the phone to target “budget conscious” people, my take is that people with budget constraints are not likely to have 2 SIM cards, let alone SIM cards with data plan. In fact budget conscious people would prefer to use WiFi whenever possible, which I think these points just go against their claims.

On a brighter note, the phone has long battery life and allows you to also set which SIM to use for what purpose, for example you can set SIM 1 for SMS and call and SIM 2 for data.

Asha 311

While it doesn’t support dual-SIM, the 311 has WiFi and 3G connectivity. It also comes with the FREE 40 EA games just as the 305. The 305 retails at RM 419, I think if you can stretch an additional RM 100, the 311 is most definitely the better buy.

The faster processor also allows it to play games like Angry Birds, not that the 305 can’t do so but the experience won’t be as nice, therefore it’s not pre-loaded.

Other points to note

– Cloud accelerated
– Data efficient (up to 70% data saving)
– Comes with Nokia Maps
– Comes with 4GB Micro SD
– 40 FREE games from EA are valued up to RM 300
– Data Counter for data usage control.

Summary

Regardless the negative points I highlighted about them, they’re are devices that are VALUE FOR MONEY – there’s no doubt about that. RM 299 and you get an interface that’s pretty much like the (dead but great) Nokia N9. You get 40 games and Internet connectivity. You get data compression that maximizes your bandwidth quota, and it also has super long standby time. 🙂 Audio quality seems to be decent.

I look at these devices, I think of my father who’s currently using my rather aged (but mint condition) Nokia N86. 🙂 I’ll probably get him the 311.