The phone was unveiled in May as the first device to run on the new Asha platform, which Nokia has designed from the ground up to help make the user experience faster and more responsive.
Nokia Asha 501 comes with 3.0-inch capacitive touchscreen with 240x320 pixels display a single 'back' button and it weighs a mere 91 grams. The smartphone packs in 3.2-megapixel rear camera. Nokia had said at the time of launch that it will be offering single-SIM and dual-SIM variant of Asha 501. The one that has been currently listed on the India store is the dual-SIM variant that comes with Nokia's easy swap feature. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, but no 3G or GPS.
The phone comes with 64MB internal storage, that is expandable by another 32GB. Nokia is bundling a 4GB card free with the phone. Asha 501 is rated at talk time of 17 hours and a standby time of 26 days on a single charge.
Some of the popular applications such as CNN, eBuddy, ESPN, Facebook, Foursquare, Line, LinkedIn, Nimbuzz, Pictelligent, The Weather Channel, Twitter, WeChat, World of Red Bull and a few popular games from Electronic Arts, Gameloft, Indiagames, NamcoBandai and Reliance Games are already available on the Asha platform. Nokia claims that it will be adding some more popular apps to this platform in the near future.
At the launch of Nokia Asha 501, the company also announced that is has collaborated with Facebook and telecom operator Airtel to offer data-free access to the standalone Facebook app, as well as the mobile site m.facebook.com. Under this arrangement, current Airtel subscribers in India and Africa will be able to enjoy unlimited data-free access to Faceboook from Nokia Asha 501 for a limited period of time. This offer will be available from second quarter of 2013.
Nokia Asha 501 key specifications
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