Nokia Asha 306, in-depth analysis

Nokia has decided to expand the Asha family . It presented the first models last year, along with the new Lumia saga with Windows Phone, and in principle it did so to publicize new mobile phones in countries that are still in development. The current economic crisis has made all manufacturers have to rethink a new smartphone model : one that has all the functions of a smart mobile phone integrated , but which is designed to be included in a low-cost range. And so are the Nokia Asha . The new terminal that Nokia has presented arrives together with other devicesof the same class. The one in question is called Nokia Asha 306 and it is a phone specially designed for those people who do not want to give up the practicality of connecting to the Internet to check email or to find the nearest bakery. Best of all, Nokia has already announced that the Nokia Asha 306 will be available very soon in Spain .

Low cost is in . You just have to look at Swedish furniture stores and companies offering airline tickets at a cost that was practically unthinkable a few years ago. The same happens now with mobiles . Having a phone that serves as an agenda, that can work as a GPS and that has a touch screen for little money is no longer impossible. You will not have to pay all your savings to get it, so it is an alternative and interesting solution at times like the one we have to go through now. Next, we want to offer you a detailed analysis of all the functions that make up this Nokia Asha 306, so that you can know what its technical sheet consists of and know if it adapts to your needs . Let's go there!

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Design and display

The Nokia Asha 360 looks very similar to the other terminals in this range. It comes in very bright colors and looks almost identical to the latest N series terminals , presented in previous years. With a virtually blocky forms, it features measures 110.3 x 53.8 x of 12.8 mm and a weight of 96.3 grams (including battery). It is an especially light phone, suitable for traveling in any pocket without causing more discomfort than it should. It comes in four different colors that combine black with silver, red, blue and dark gray, something that will please lovers of color, but also those who advocate discretion . In any case, the availability of these colors will depend on each distributor and the agreements reached with Nokia . If you finally decide to opt for a free phone, you can choose more freely.

See, with respect to the screen , the phone incorporates a panel WQVGA of three inches . The only downside is that it is a resistive screen, whose more precise operation can be materialized thanks to a pencil or pointer. At the bottom of the phone, just below the screen, we will find two buttons , useful for picking up or hanging up calls. The buttons on the sides will allow us to close the device or control its volume. In the upper part, we find the connection slots for the headphones or for the charger and the USB cable that will allow us to synchronize the device with new files or applications.

Connectivity

The Nokia Asha 306 is not a mobile phone designed for heavy Internet users. To begin with, we have to say that it operates on GSM / EDGE Dual Band GSM 900/1800 and GSM 850/1900 networks . The Nokia Asha 306 only supports a 2G connection which will be interesting for those users who want to make occasional use of their Internet connection . For example, check e-mail promptly, post an update on your favorite social networks ( Facebook, Twitter ...) or search for the geolocation of a specific point through the GPS function . It must be said, on the other hand, that users have access to networksWifi 802.11 b / g , which will allow you to use the connection of any space such as your home, work or a hotel room. The Nokia Asha 306 also supports Bluetooth 2.1 and GPS technology through the free Nokia Maps service . This means that we can use the telephone to consult any information about a specific point or place, in addition to inserting orders and creating routes for our trips by car or on foot through a city.

Additionally, the phone offers direct access to these instant messaging and messaging services : Nokia Messaging, OMA v1.0 Email Notifications, Nokia Email, Windows Live / Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, Gmail, Nokia Chat, Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, Google Talk, Nokia Messaging or MySpace. Logically, users can also connect to the main social networks to stay in contact with their friends and share updates.

In the section on physical connections , the phone a micro USB input that will serve to charge your phone and synchronize data output is targeted for 3.5 mm headphones and microSD card slot that will allow us to expand the memory of the device up to 32GB .

Photographic and multimedia camera

The photographic system is not one of its strong points. The Finnish company is aware that many users do not use the terminal's camera with the intention of obtaining high-quality images. For this reason, Nokia has decided to insert a camera with a sensor of just two megapixels that allow a purely token use. In this case, we can obtain images of 1600 x 1200 pixels and enjoy additional functions such as fixed focus, four-fold digital zoom or the timer . It also has a simple photo editor and a viewer to view images in full screen. The camera will also allow usrecord QVGA video (320 x 24) at 10fps .

In the multimedia section things change a bit. And the phone is presented as a terminal compatible with most audio formats, image and video . As indicated in its official data sheet, users can enjoy the playback of the following file extensions : MIDI, AAC, AMR-NB, AMR-WB, Mobile XMF, MP3, MP4, M4A, NRT, WAV, SP MIDI , WMA, WMA 9, AAC LC, GSM FR, WMA 10, WMA 10 Pro, a-law, mu-law, .264 / AVC, MPEG-4, WMV, 3GPP formats (H.263), VC-1, GIF89a, BMP, GIF87a, WBMP, EXIF, PNG, DCF, JPEG. In principle, we should not have any problem with any of these formats. But this is not all. Nokia also guarantees Stereo FM Radio, with the possibility of making recordings, and compatibility with the JAVA language . This last question will be especially interesting for those users who have a special interest in playing video games . The phone, in fact, is presented to the great market with games as legendary as Tetris , in a slightly renewed version.

Memory and operating system

The Nokia Asha 306 is not a phone that needs a lot of machinery to work. In this sense, we do not know the exact potential of its processor, which must be basic, but we do know that it uses the traditional Nokia S40 Series operating system . It is a platform that has always been used by Nokia in all terminals that we could now classify as simple. Users accustomed to Nokia technology will feel very familiar with it, so we recommend this phone especially to users who do not want to change their habits or customs . The operating system, in this case, comes dressed with the Asha Touch interface, friendly, operational and easy to understand thanks to its icon system.

The phone also incorporates 64 MB of internal storage that you can use for very specific issues. If your intention is to stay on the phone apps, music or content of any kind , your best option is to buy separate card microSD . You can extend the memory up to 32 GB and always carry your favorite music or work files that you want to transport from one place to another.

Autonomy and availability

The autonomy section is always one of the most controversial. In this case, you should know that the phone has a built-in lithium-ion battery with the model name BL-4U and with a capacity of 1110 milliamps . According to Nokia estimates, the autonomy guarantees is 600 hours in standby and up to 14 hours in 2G conversation . It is expected that the phone can play music for 40 hours and provide up to 9.5 video recording . These amounts will depend, in one way or another, on the specific conditions of service and connectivity , as well as the use made by each person of the device.

Upon its arrival in Spain , Nokia has already confirmed that the Nokia Asha 306 will soon be part of the catalogs to be offered both in free format, and through the main operators in the country. The final landing will take place this summer , so that as we get closer to that date, the prices will be announced.

Data sheet