Nokia launches Asha 501, cute dual-SIM touchscreen phone for P4,490

Nokia just launched their first smartphone built on the new Asha 2013 platform, the Asha 501, which is now available in stores for Php4,490.

First thing you’ll notice about the Asha 501 is how cute, colorful, and well-designed it is, which is something you can always expect from Nokia. The pictures here don’t do the Asha 501’s beauty justice. You got to see and feel them to appreciate.

It has a 3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen limited to just 256k colors on a 240 x 320 resolution. Something you will definitely take note of when you turn on the phone but it’s also one of the reason that this phone can last 26 days on standby (48 days for the single-SIM version which is not available here).

The colorful and exchangeable shells are made of unibody polycarbonate while the front is protected by Gorilla Glass to give that durable feel for an affordable phone.

The Asha 501 runs on the Asha Platform 2013 which is still S40 but with a lot of features and improvements that makes it feel like you’re really using a smartphone. Menus and notifications are handled by swipes that are designed intuitively. There’s even a pull-down bar to access some quick settings. It also has Nokia’s latest and exclusive Xpress Browser that allows you to save on data and at the same time speed up browsing (no 3G here) by compressing web pages by up to 90%. The new browser also supports multiple page browsing as well. There’s also the Fastlane homescreen which shows you your recent activity so it somehow acts as the Recent App page found in other smartphones for semi-multitasking.

Aside from having dual-SIM support, the Asha 501 also has a 3.2 megapixel camera (no flash and front cam), WiFi, FM Radio, and a microSD slot. Battery is rated at 1200 mAh but there are some really power saving features here like viewing the clock and notifications without turning on the screen, unless you need some brightness of course.

It has some useful apps and games pre-installed, as well as the 40 free EA games available through the Nokia Gift app like Sims 3, Need for Speed: Undercover, and Plants vs. Zombies.

The Nokia Asha 501 is already available for Php4,490 in bright red, yellow, and classic black. It comes with a red headset regardless of the color you purchase but you can also buy extra shells for switching colors. White, cyan, and bright green colors will arrive in the comings weeks.