Nokia announces two new members of the touch based Asha series several days ago. Let’s meet the Nokia Asha 308 and Nokia Asha 309. Even though all eyes are on the hot flagship smartphones, Nokia decided to squeeze in a good deal for budget conscious people. Other Nokia Asha touch phones were recently launched here in the country and you can find the details about Nokia Asha 305, Nokia Asha 306 and Nokia Asha 311 here.
Features
Both Nokia Asha 308 and Nokia 309 have a 3-inch scratch resistant capacitive glass screen display with 240×400 pixel resolution, 800MHz processor, 2-megapixel camera, and a “fun-to-use Asha Touch operating system”. The 800MHz will definitely work wonders for the two since a feature phone doesn’t need much of a processing power to run smoothly.
A My Screen is a launcher app which takes all of your needed apps in one place. It will help you organize apps, contacts, and even create shortcuts. Also, there will be a third homescreen which will contain the most used features like the music player.
Internet Connectivity
In terms of connectivity, the Nokia Asha 309 and Asha 308 will be sporting the Nokia Xpress Browser which is claimed that it can save data consumption by up to 90% (formerly called as Nokia Browser 2.0). It also introduces the functionality to play Youtube videos directly from the phone’s video player. Video streaming reaches the s40 platform via Nokia Xpress Browser but that’s still not enough to be called as a smartphone. Aside from the new browser, it also includes instant messaging, chat, and email on the go through the help of WhatsApp.
Easy SWAP Dual-SIM Technology
As always, just like the early Nokia Asha phones like Nokia Asha 200 which we’ve reviewed before, these two comes with the Easy SWAP technology of Nokia which lets you to swap different networks in just a few clicks. This is a major plus for busy people who are always in need to be connected on two networks.
Enhanced Gaming Experience
Both of the new Nokia Asha handsets will be given access to 40 Free Electronic Arts (EA) games that are ready to be downloaded. The top games include Tetris, Need for Speed, and FIFA 2012. I bet gaming isn’t the best feature of these mobile phones but I believe it will suffice if you just need it for killing some time. If that’s not enough, there are tons of games available for download at Nokia Store.
Nokia Asha 308 Philippines
Nokia Asha 309 Philippines
Price and Availability in the Philippines
Nokia Asha 309 and Nokia Asha 308 were positioned to be in the middle class of their current line-up. These will also be Nokia’s cheapest capacitive touchscreen devices to date. The prices of these Nokia phones will start at $99 (approximately Php4,200) but this does not include taxes and other fees yet. They will be available by the 4th quarter of 2012.
[Source: Conversations.Nokia]