Mobile Phone Review Nokia Asha 502 503

So, what is the Nokia Asha 502. Let me introduce the phone first , it’s a phone which is an upgraded version of the Asha 501. Let’s look at the basic comparison between the two phones, as always I will make use of a table to illustrate it for clarity

Design

This is where the Asha 502 is different, it looks completely different from the 501 . The 501 is curve, and Nokia has taken off the curves from the 502 and added a layer of transparent plastic to it . Of course the advertisement says that the difference is crystal clear , but its plastic , sad jokes apart . The plastic does give the phone a very elegant and classy finish. The finishing and the build quality feels good as well. And, in spite of the additional layer of plastic the 502 is slimmer than the 501. The 501 is 12.1 mm thick while the 502 is 11.1 mm. Well, its slimmer but it definitely heavier than the 501 and feels better when you hold it. Sometimes, weight does add an air of solidity to phones , is it , or is it me who feels so.

The navigation button of the 501 which is a physical button under the screen is replaced by a touch sensitive button. The phone has a 305m audio port and a micro USB port at the top. The power and Volume buttons are placed at the right.

The screen is 3 inches , which is the same as the 501 and the operating system is Asha 1.1 while the 501 had Asha 1.0 The micro SD card is already inserted into the slot , but it’s just 4 GB , what did I expect 32 GB , that would have been like a dream come true. The 3 inch screen has a 320x240 resolution and the touch is pretty responsive, yes but with the screen size , if you have bigger or fatter fingers it could become a little difficult.  Accelerometer and proximity sensors are in built in the phone and like the 501 the 502 also supports 2 point multi touch. 

Performance

The 64MB memory in the phone is enough to support it , and the extendable memory up to 32GB is enough storage. The Asha is a dual SIM phone and you need micro SIM’s , the same as the 501. Anyway, everyone is shifting to Micro SIMS, the iPhone started it all.  This is a 2G ( GPRS/EDGE) handset, no 3G supports Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. It runs pretty smooth and comes pre installed with Facebook and Twitter, and yes Whatsapp. After, Whatsapp came for the 501 the phone suddenly felt like it already got an upgrade.

Yes performance wise do remember, this is a budget phone, and comes with some basic games, if you want more performance , spend more money.  Don’t expect the Asha to be an iPhone competitor. 

Camera
This is an upgrade over the 501, the 501 had a 3.2MP camera and the 502 sports a 5MP camera and yes it has a flash , I mean the Lumia 525 doesn’t have one, so the Asha can keep clicking pictures even after sunset. The pictures come out pretty nice, again not a Lumia 1020 remember. The video quality , well how do I put it sucks, reminded me of the age old phones when camera phones just began. That’s it just one camera and no front camera, so all you selfie addicts , turn your phone and click. 

Battery

The 1010 mAh battery is a downgrade over the 1200 mAh battery of the 501 , now you know why the phone is slimmer, with the 501 you can talk for 17 hours and with the 502 the limit is set at 13 hours , so talk a little less. Anyway, with Whatsapp running constantly I don’t know how long your battery will last anyway. Yes you can play music up to around 40 hours. 

Verdict
If you ask me the 502 definitely looks better than the 501 with the transparent plastic , and the camera is better . If you want a budget handset then the 502 is a great option. You get 6 bright and brilliant colours too and with the price difference being about  Rs 1000 it is definitely better than the 501. 

A Note about Asha 503

The Nokia Asha 503 is a smart phone similar to the 502 in look and design , but it supports 3G , so if you want a Asha with 3G capabilities then the 503 is the phone for you, further the 503 has a battery which is 1200mah, slightly more than the 502, but with 3G the batterey won’t make such a big difference. The price difference between 502 and 503 is almost Rs 1500 and I don’t think that it’s that big an upgrade to pay 1500 for a 3G capable Asha. The rest is left to you.