Nokia Asha 205

Feature phones don't grace our pages too often, but when Nokia said it had a new Asha to show us, we thought we'd go take a look. We've been following the Asha range since it launched a little more than a year ago, but we were also interested to see Nokia Slam in action, a new Bluetooth quick-sharing feature with Android compatibility. There were no touchscreens in sight as we were introduced to the Asha 205 -- a Series 40 QWERTY handset with a social angle aimed primarily at emerging markets, but also at those who either don't have the cash or the need for a top-of-the-range device. Bearing that in mind, we gave the phone a brief once over, looking at what it does for roughly $62 (excluding taxes, etc.), rather than what it lacks compared with smartphones at higher price points. During the meeting we also glanced over the Nokia 206, which shares many of the same features but isn't part of the Asha family due to its numpad input (see the video and gallery for more details). Head past the break for our thoughts on the Asha 205, and a demo of Nokia Slam in action.
The new Asha handset is a 2G only affair, with single- and dual-SIM variants -- the latter having an EasySwap port for access to the second SIM without removing the battery. It comes pre-loaded with a selection of native social networking apps: Facebook, Twitter and eBuddy messenger, as well as WhatsApp on the single-SIM versions. A catalogue of 40 EA games are also included, as long as you remember to download them within 60 days of your purchase, in which case you'll probably also want to upgrade the microSD card in there (up to 32GB supported) so you've got enough space left for other things.
Navigating the menus wasn't a hassle with the circular D-pad, and although apps weren't booting instantly, you couldn't call the user experience slow or at all frustrating. We paid special attention to the native Twitter client and couldn't find much lacking, as it appeared to be identical in function to any smartphone version. Nokia tried to make everything on the phone as data efficient as possible, and this can be seen in the light social apps and Xpress cloud-compression browser, which worked well in testing. It was surprising quick to load pages on the 2G connection, and the benefits of that compression were apparent when pointing to full desktop sites. So, if you don't have a plan and pay for every MB you use, all things have been considered to avoid bill shock scenarios.
So, what about the hardware? Well, the Asha 205 QWERTY device is definitely targeting the more social user, with a dedicated Facebook button nestled to the left of the D-pad. While the keyboard didn't have the super-efficient feel of a BlackBerry, the keys were responsive and well spaced. The 2.4-inch landscape screen leaves a little to be desired -- we'd like a few more pixels than the QVGA resolution provides -- but the color reproduction was adequate, and onscreen elements seemed appropriately scaled to make best use of the display. Nokia showed us the white / orange and black / cyan versions, but they spared us the pink / magenta scheme which will also be available. There wasn't much else of note aesthetically -- the charging and headphone ports are along the top edge, and on the back lives a fairly feeble VGA camera next to some breathing holes for the speaker. Despite being all plastic and fairly light in hand, it had the 'solid' feeling we're used too with Nokia, so we reckon it can take a hit or two. And, behind the richly colored plastic lies a battery capable of up to 37 days on standby, something smartphones could only dream of, and perfect for places where power isn't abundant.
A new feature is debuting with Asha 205 (and the 206), called Nokia Slam. Like a more aggressive version of bump, Slam is for quick-sharing media via Bluetooth (up to the 2.1 + EDR standard), based on proximity and without the need for pairing. You don't have to crash phones together though, as all that's required is for the receiving device to accept the transfer. It worked as described, and interestingly, it's compatible with Android phones -- no app or special settings required. Nokia is endeavoring to get Windows Phone 8 to cooperate, but at the moment, the new Lumia devices can't solicit Slam requests. Check out our quick demo of the feature and Android compatibility below.

Full Spesification's For Nokia Asha 205

General	2G Network	GSM 850 / 1900 - RM-863
		GSM 900 / 1800 - RM-863
	SIM	Optional Dual SIM (Mini-SIM)
	Announced	2012, November
	Status	Available. Released 2012, Q4
Body	Dimensions	112.8 x 61.1 x 13 mm, 104 cc (4.44 x 2.41 x 0.51 in)
	Weight	94 g (3.32 oz)
	Keyboard	QWERTY
Display	Type	TFT, 65K colors
	Size	320 x 240 pixels, 2.4 inches (~167 ppi pixel density)
Sound	Alert types	Vibration, MP3 ringtones
	Loudspeaker	Yes
	3.5mm jack	Yes
Memory	Card slot	microSD, up to 32 GB
	Phonebook	1000 entries
	Call records	Yes
	Internal	64 MB
Data	GPRS	Up to 85.6 kbps
	EDGE	Up to 236.8 kbps
	WLAN	No
	Bluetooth	Yes, v2.1 with EDR
	USB	No
Camera	Primary	VGA, 640x480 pixels
	Video	Yes, QCIF@10fps
	Secondary	No
Features	Messaging	SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Email, IM
	Browser	WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML, Adobe Flash Lite
	Radio	Stereo FM radio with RDS, FM recording
	Games	Yes
	GPS	No
	Java	Yes, MIDP 2.0
	Colors	Cyan, Magenta, Orange, Pink, White
		- Facebook dedicated key
		- SNS integration
		- MP4/H.263/WMV player
		- MP3/WAV/WMA/AAC player
		- Organizer
		- Voice memo
		- Predictive text input
Battery		Li-Ion 1020 mAh battery (BL-5C)
	Stand-by	Up to 891 h
	Talk time	Up to 11 h
	Music play	Up to 31 h