Released in December and overshadowed by the Lumina 710, the 800 and the fortcoming 900 models, the Nokia Asha 303 slipped into the market with little fanfare. Unfortunately, that fanfare was earned in the low-cost price group, and we’re giving the Nokia Asha 303 a bit of its due by spotlighting the mobile phone for review.

Overview

The Asha series from Nokia brings a old “new” facet to smartphones. While the overall appearance is like many other QWERTY-keyboard mobile phones, it’s what’s inside and displayed that counts.

Housed in an eye-catching, bright red case, the Asha 303 has oval upper and lower edges whilst the sides are straight-edged off noted corners. The slightly curved keyboard resting below the screen provides additional typing comfort as it allows for the natural curvature of the finger line.

It often takes new users a moment or two to become familiar with the S40 operation requirements, but it’s Nokia all the way, and loyal fans will find it easily navigated.

Specifications

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Dimensions: 116.5 x 55.7 x 13.9 mm / 99 g
Display: 2.6 inches / TFT capacitive touchscreen / 320 x 240 pixels at 154 ppi
Operating System: S40
Speed: 1 GHz with accelerator.
Memory: 128 MB RAM / 256 ROM / expandable storage to 32 GB via microSD card
Battery: 1300 mAh / 2G: Talk: up to 8.2 hours; standby: up to 720 hours. / 3G: Talk: up to 7.2 hours; standby: up to 840 hours / Music play: up to 47 hours.
Camera: 3.2 MP / 2048 x 1536 pixels / fixed focus / Video: VGA at 15 fps
Connectivity: 2G: GSM 850, 900, 1800, 1900 / 3G: HSDPA 850, 900, 1700, 1900, 2100 / Data: WiFi 802.11 b/g/n. / GRPS / EDGE / HSDPA / HSUSA

Features: Full QWERTY keyboard below display. Photocall phonebook. Stereo FM with RDS. SMS, MMS. Email, Push email, IM. Onboard games include an S40-unique Angry Birds; other games are downloadable. Single camera, light video capabililities.

Additional comments: Lots of updates to the S40 platform. While the S40 platform isn’t intended to replace Nokia’s association with the Windows Phone OS, it will probably open new markets that can rival WP exposure and loyalty. Decent but far from top-tier music play time. Social network integration. MP4/H.264/H.263/WMV video player; MP3/WAV/WMA/AAC audio player. The lack of a front-facing camera of any kind might be a disappointment. The video capabilities of the 3MP rear camera won’t set quality records, but it does have video capabilities. The fixed focus, however, will probably drive users crazy. Very respectable connectivity options.

Overall opinion: For a moderately priced mobile phone and the Nokia loyalty factor, the Nokia Asha 303 appears to be a decent smartphone for QWERTY lovers who don’t require big-name bells and whistles. Within its class, we give this mobile phone 7 notches out of 10.