Nokia Asha 306 review: Smartphone Ash-pirations

20 October 2012
In a shrinking featurephone market, the Nokia Asha lineup is trying to deliver a near-smartphone experience with less complexity and, more crucially, at a more attractive price point. The Asha 306 slots just above the middle of the pack - delivering a touchscreen display and Wi-Fi connectivity.

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  • ?
  • Anonymous
  • I59
  • 22 Oct 2012

Nokia used to be the number one and now can only produce low end phone. Common Nokia step up and fight against others

    • ?
    • Anonymous
    • nF7
    • 22 Oct 2012

    If you are looking for a cheap touch phone then Xperia Miro is £99 in the UK. Gsmarena did not factor in this price in their Miro review.

      • B
      • Blondy
      • Mfx
      • 22 Oct 2012

      I work at cells shop, i try this phone before cuple a week ago... i really don't like it... its slow, laag and fat =] nope nope nope and price are too big too.. sry nokia..

        • S
        • SB
        • SeQ
        • 22 Oct 2012

        Tried this in-store a couple of weeks ago and have to say, was put off immediately by the response of that screen. Sorry Nokia, the price is right for an entry level smartphone but the specifications are too basic for most consumers at this level.

          • D
          • AnonD-40493
          • mEB
          • 21 Oct 2012

          The blaze of glory for phones like these is long gone. Few years ago, when Android was some bizarre exotic and Symbian phones were expensive luxury, feature touchscreen "dumb"phones had a really big market share, because for a reasonable price you get a cool gadget. But today with lots and lots of fully capable budget droids like HTC Explorer, SE Xperia Mini, Sony Tipo, etc the whole Asha line is... well, pathetic.

            • N
            • Nokia stop joking
            • fnh
            • 21 Oct 2012

            Anonymous, 20 Oct 2012galaxy y , xperia mini, galaxy pocket , lg l3 are are droid... moreyou're right , how a s40 can be so laggy.

            seems like these phone were error, and they get corrected with the 309 and 308.

            the resistve screen on N900 is really good, but with the ones on those phones, it get difficult to chat with.

              • M
              • Marc Aurel
              • nx6
              • 21 Oct 2012

              Dr.Jason Deruda, 21 Oct 2012Are you kidding ? This is clearly the worst phone made by N... moreThe real question is: why do people, GSMArena included, think that the Asha Touch phones are not "real" smartphones? What are the criteria that meaninfully separate them from all acknowledged smartphone platforms? If you do the "math", there in fact is no such criteria. The definition of a smartphone has become almost completely arbitrary, so saying that the Ashas are not smartphones is actually based on their pedigree (Series 40) rather than any functionality or lack thereof that all so called "real" smartphones have but the Ashas don't.

                • D
                • Dr.Jason Deruda
                • vGt
                • 21 Oct 2012

                JOhnny the king, 21 Oct 2012The best phone ever for the low budget, sure beat the galax... moreAre you kidding ? This is clearly the worst phone made by Nokia , especially when the competition is so intense , what with budget droids becoming increasingly affordable. Not to mention that they are truly smartphones and not "pretending-to-be-smartphones".

                Nokia should sell 1Ghz phones with 512MB RAM and Symbian software for this price if it wants to be profitable at-least in feature-phone race. Not to mention VGA video recording at 30FPS and a 3.2MP autofocus camera.

                Don't tell me its not possible. To make it possible , that will be called innovation. And that is what Nokia should do.

                  • m
                  • mArCo
                  • m%2
                  • 21 Oct 2012

                  But for battery life? Where's the test?

                    • a
                    • ascarkz
                    • g82
                    • 21 Oct 2012

                    nokia choose android!!! and people will turn their faces to you

                      • o
                      • oscarkz
                      • g82
                      • 21 Oct 2012

                      Nokia goes mad, lives in the past, my Sony mini had more power, specs and lower price almost one and half year ago

                        • ?
                        • Anonymous
                        • Kxy
                        • 21 Oct 2012

                        Nokia should put Symbian in this phone instead of S40.
                        Symbian will perform better since it's capable of performing multitasking.

                          • J
                          • JOhnny the king
                          • tVw
                          • 21 Oct 2012

                          The best phone ever for the low budget, sure beat the galaxy y like hell~

                            • ?
                            • Anonymous
                            • KBS
                            • 21 Oct 2012

                            Worst phone in its price category.Android phones with a lot better specification can be bought in this price range

                              • ?
                              • Anonymous
                              • 3TL
                              • 21 Oct 2012

                              I would happily pay more just not to have that resistive touchscreen. If someone gifted me a resistive screen phone i would gift it to someone else.

                                • ?
                                • Anonymous
                                • U}}
                                • 21 Oct 2012

                                Fugly phone, sorry nokia i moved to sammy

                                  • ?
                                  • Anonymous
                                  • thu
                                  • 21 Oct 2012

                                  "The Nokia Asha 306 has something that makes
                                  the (supposedly dumb) S40 UI look much smarter
                                  than the likes of iOS and Windows Phone (even
                                  stock Android out of the box). That's right, we are
                                  talking about a full-featured file browser."

                                  LOL...
                                  like this one!

                                    • D
                                    • AnonD-16180
                                    • fu4
                                    • 20 Oct 2012

                                    Smartphone Ash-pirations. lol. GSMArena f.t.w

                                      • A
                                      • Agreed
                                      • mSm
                                      • 20 Oct 2012

                                      genty, 20 Oct 2012worst camera ever, and nokia audio used to be better than t... moreAnd worst screen ever. And the largest bezels ever. 5" phone with 3" screen. Well done.

                                        • b
                                        • blabla
                                        • L12
                                        • 20 Oct 2012

                                        AnonD-58198, 20 Oct 2012resensitve ?????passSpellcheck. Fail.