Nokia Asha 305 Review

Once again Nokia has stunned the market with its new Nokia Asha 305 (launched in July 2012). It's a great looking hand set with cheapest price ever. Samsung is already trying to break the market for cheap android smart phones but now we think Nokia is taking this competition seriously with its almost smart like phones. So far Asha series has already taken attention of millions of users who were searching for decent phones with no extra cost. Nokia Asha 305 is a candy bar phone with fair touch capabilities and the amazing power of dual SIMs. As we said it's a low end cheap phone so don't expect it to be something outstanding or faster performing device. Nokia Asha 305 has a very neat exterior and this time internal interface is also changed and upgraded. For users who are waiting for a cheap stylish phone and loyal to Nokia brand, they sure like to get their hand on Nokia Asha 305 for its good looks and also offer features similar to smart phones.

Nokia Asha 305 offers neat and simple features for a basic phone with great power of Dual SIM management. Its touch response is fine but does lags at times if device is continuously in use. We can't say it's a big issue because slow response is bearable with cheap price. Beside Dual SIM, Nokia Asha 305 has a 2MP camera (with basic functions) with video recording at 10 frames per seconds. Nokia Asha 305 Internal memory is 10 MB with 64 MB ROM and 32 MB RAM. Due to low RAM Nokia Asha 305 do gives slight freezing issues at time and touch response becomes slower. Nokia Asha 305 offers a decent 3 inch display screen with resistive touch capabilities. Display is fair but low in resolution visibility is fair but could have been be better as Nokia has all the technology to offer in low price. The most important aspect of Nokia Asha 305 is its battery life. We were expecting a low battery time but Nokia surprise us with almost 14 hours of talk time and 40 hours of music play.

Nokia Asha 305 is very beautiful and stylish looking hand set. Its design is not something unusual but built quality is great. The non-glossy back and sides makes Nokia Asha 305 looks smooth and attractive but front screen is very glossy and reflective. Due to shiny screen it does reflects fingers and thumb prints frequently. Nokia Asha 305 is completely built with plastic body but Nokia finish it with a great metallic finish. While holding Nokia Asha 305 in hand, it doesn't felt cheap at all. There are no plastic squeaking sounds or light material feel as other cheap phones have.

Front side of Nokia Asha 305 has 3 inch touch screen display, beside that there are only two physical buttons (call receiving and call ending) beneath the screen. Primary Mic is also place between these two buttons. Top side of Nokia Asha 305 has a 3.5 mm audio jack, a mini USB port and charging jack. On the bottom side it has a charm connecting port which doesn't seem that useful at all. Right side of Nokia Asha 305 hold the volume rocker, lock/unlock button and a cut style space to remove the back cover. On the Left side it has secondary SIM slot with plastic cover and a micro SD card slot.

Nokia Asha 305 is seems to be a solid phone but we have little doubts on its durability. For color choice it is available in Silver White, Red, Mid Blue, and Dark Grey.

Nokia Asha 305 is an average phone with basic features and decent performance. We find it fair as the response of menus and applications are okay. The slower response and slight lagging or freezing is also noticed but not so often. Nokia Asha 305 works great for the basic calling and texting functionality. On continuous usage its slower responses becomes obvious. For a cheap price hand set Nokia Asha 305 is bearable for its performance. There are numerous brands available in market that offers good smart phones with better performance, but, when it’s comes to low price and new features then Nokia Asha 305 is a tuff competitor.

Nokia Asha 305 has a 3 inch WQVGA touch screen display. Screen is resistive but it a finger print magnet due to its glossy finish. Nokia Asha 305 display resolution is 155 pixels, means screen is dull and at time menu and icons becomes difficult to visibility. There is no option for color, brightness or contras adjustments. We were expecting a little better display quality from Nokia but cheap price seems to be the problem for Asha 305. While using it for games, images and videos everything seem okay but users will feel the dull display while they use it.

Nokia Asha 305 has 2MP Camera with 1600x1200 pixels resolution. Quality of camera is very basic as the images may result less sharpness and washed colors at times. On different photo shots we find Nokia Asha 305 is very easy to operate but users need to be very steady to avoid hazy images. For its video capture capability it is lagging a lot. Reason is very clear that in such low price Nokia can features whatever is possible. If capturing images or videos are important then we suggest searching other smart phones is better. Nokia Asha 305 is not the right phone for users who want a good camera with a good looking phone.

Key Feature of Nokia Asha 305 has the Dual SIM functionality. Just like other hand sets of Asha series, Nokia Asha 305 also has dual SIM cards capability with easy SIM management feature. Just like a normal handset primary SIM goes under the battery cover and secondary SIM slot is placed on left side of Nokia Asha 305. The hot Swap feature is great for handling both SIM cards at once. While using the phonebook or texting Nokia SIM management app will give you easy manageable options for both SIM card.

Nokia Asha 305 comes with the S40 OS interface but this time it's improved and upgraded. All menus and icons are placed very flat for easy touch and swipes. Nokia Asha 305 touch is far better than the previous Asha series smart phones but we do miss the faster performance due to its limitations. As we use continuous for few hours, apps and multimedia felt nice but delay in touch response and apps execution reflects major lagging. Nokia sure gets the attention for the Asha 305 improved UI among the users who are searching for a cheap phone but it can also face difficulties due to slower performance.

Beside the updated OS, Nokia Asha 305 also features an improved browser for internet surfing. Though we miss the WI-FI absence but its EDGE capabilities are good. Web pages are decently visible and text is also clear enough to understand. Here we gave credit to 3 inch display screen of Nokia Asha 305 which gives good life to internet browsing. For entertainment Nokia Asha 305 comes ready with Nokia Store for 40 EA games and without any charges, its free. For music lovers, Nokia Asha 305 has a good quality FM stereo Radio with RDS. User can enjoy great sound quality with 3.5mm audio jack while listening to favorite music stations. Nokia also included a complimentary 2GB microSD card with Asha 305 package it gives users a great advantage for storage multimedia and data as internal memory is quiet low.

Nokia Asha 305 battery time is unexpectedly good with the Standard Li-Ion 1110 mAh battery. Nokia Asha 305 talk time is 14 hours and it can stay alive for 528 hours on standby. For music play Nokia Asha 305 can keep users entertained for almost 40 hours, it sure can replace your mp3 player easily.

For cheap price and basic smart phone features, Nokia Asha 305 is great but the first major disappointment we find is the low resolution display. Touch screen reflects finger mark too much and it also felt uncomfortable. Colors and contras are very low and there is no brightness setting option present. Camera is lacking auto focus and other basic features which can be added easily. Video recording is very poor as well, audio is lacking with video most of the time. Last but not the least, on continuous usage OS gets freezes and stuck frequently.

If you are stuck with low spending budget then we say Nokia Asha 305 is a great device to buy. In such cheap price there are very less phones available that can offer stylish and decent design as Nokia Asha 305. Overall quality is great, not even look as cheap as its price is, Nokia durability is one of the key factors to buy this device. It offers upgraded UI and very easy to operate functionality. Nokia Asha 305 has almost all the basic features that any smart phone has. Touch and swipe response is fair enough, menus and icons looks better with new enhanced OS, and above all one can’t neglect its dual SIM management capabilities.

Nokia Asha 305 is a pretty fair deal as in price this less there is no other brand that could competes with Nokia. At present Nokia Asha 305 is available in price range of 78$-85$ Asian region. For Europe and American market price is a bit higher, from 120$-129$. So if you are looking for a great looking phone with basic smart phone like functionality then we recommend trying Nokia Asha 305 before you check any other brand. We sure believe that Nokia Asha 305 will not disappoint you for such cheap price and fine features.

Overall we gave 7.9/10 rating to Nokia Asha 305.