Nokia Asha 311

The featurephone game is quite the non sequitur. It is simultaneously a vestige of a time before smartphones and a reflection of their influence - and sometimes not a very clear one at that. Yet undeniably there is market for such devices, and the Nokia Asha 311 shapes up as the likely frontrunner as the Asha series keep blurring the lines between old and new, smart and dumb.

At roughly 110, the 311 is by far the most expensive of the Asha series - and pretty pricey for a dumbphone, in general. read more →

We’ve looked at the Nokia Asha 311 from all sides, but we’ve reserved its most important aspect, the price, for last. The device costs between $120 to $140 depending on the market which puts it in the same category as low-end Android smartphones. Devices like the Samsung Galaxy Y (sold for around $130), the Galaxy Pocket (around $115), the LG Optimus L3 (some $140) cost either the same or lower than the Asha 311, but bring you into smartphone land with tons of actually useful and well performing apps unlike the Java horror that you’d have to deal with on the Asha. read more →

We really didn’t expect all that much from the Nokia Asha 311. After all, the other Asha handsets that we've looked at have been pretty mediocre. However, despite some weaknesses, such as the lack of GPS and basic web browser, it's a surprisingly strong feature phone, quite speedy to use, has a pretty intuitive user interface and long battery life. Still, as with a lot of recent Nokia handsets, when put next to the likes of the Huawei Ascend G300 it looks very basic, as that model has a much larger screen, GPS and the infinitely superior Android web browser. read more →