I have an old connection with Nokia. Back from the late 90?s when I used to be the proud owner of a black 5110 handset, commonly called a horse in not-so-evolved gadget circles at that point of time. A sturdy handset with an amazing battery?at times, I used to charge it after 4-5 days of extensive usage.
Somewhere down the line, I shifted loyalties to other brands and have eventually settled down with BlackBerry devices for the past four years now. Recently, the Finnish handset maker sent across their Asha 502 for a product evaluation and the new device rekindled the old connection. Nokia has strengthened its Asha portfolio with three new devices? 502, 500 and 503. Company officials reckon that with the market for affordable smartphones making headway in the country, these new devices are set to place smartphone technology within reach of millions of consumers.
Out of the box, the new Asha 502 is a stylish device. It is priced at R5,969 and is available in four colours?bright red, yellow, white and black. It comes with a five megapixel camera with LED flash, certainly a big accomplishment for a phone at its price range. The beautiful handset design is matched by an
improved user interface, including enhancements to swipe and Fastlane (more on it later).
Just one swipe up from the lock screen accesses the 5 MP camera on the Asha 502. Once the camera is activated, one touch captures the image and another shares it to Facebook or Twitter. This faster and more accessible imaging experience ensures that users never miss a moment. Built-in filters allow photo enthusiasts to customise their image before sharing. New-to-Asha platform apps including Camera 5-in-1, Instagraph and PicFeed are also available to tag photos and apply special effects, with access to Instagram available through Instagraph and PicFeed.
Fastlane is the unique, second screen that acts as a shortcut to the phone?s recently accessed apps, features and content, as well as future activity, such as calendar appointments. It?s a quicker way to access an app in its last state. Deeper integration with social networks enables live updates, which alert people to new activity through notifications on Fastlane. By clicking on the Fastlane item with new notifications, people will be directed to the relevant post, so they never miss an important update.
WhatsApp joins other popular chat and messaging apps already available for Asha 502, such as WeChat, Line, eBuddy and Nimbuzz. Thousands more free apps, games and content items are available on Nokia Store. Nokia Music is also available on the 502; it supports three months of free music service.
My takeaways: The 502 has been designed to be easy to use with a responsive software and its touch is fairly good too. The phone provides many conveniences and apps to help keep users connected to
the people and information of their interest.
SPECIFICATIONS
Display: 3-inch QVGA screen
Network: 2G
SIM type: Dual SIM
Camera: 5 mega pixel camera with flash
Standby time: Upto 24 days
Weight: 100g
Connectivity: Bluetooth with SLAM
Estimated street price: Rs 5,969
