The one advantage for non-smartphone seekers is that these phones can now be purchased at very reasonable prices for the features they offer. The Nokia Asha 300 is one such device, and includes a 5 megapixel camera, standard numeric keypad below a touchscreen in a classic format which has an upmarket feel about it. At just 85 grams it's nice and light too.
2.4 inch touchscreen
The screen is a decent sized 2.4 inches for this type of handset but unfortunately the touchscreen is resistive rather than capacitive, which most of you will know from days of yore take a little more prodding than a modern smartphone. Still, it's good to see a touchscreen on a phone generally considered to a basic these days, and most of you who are used to a standard keypad for dialling and texting will probably be using that keypad most of the time in practical use.
Quality 5MP camera
The camera is a very good quality 5 megapixel snapper and takes excellent clear and bright photos as good as anything else we have seen at this resolution, better than we expected in fact, and you can also record VGA video at 30 frames per second. However there is no LED flash so camera use is restricted depending on available light.
Memory card slot
Internal memory is fairly limited at 140MB, or at least will seem so for those of us used to measuring memory space in Gigabytes, but you can add a memory card up to 32GB and with the Nokia Asha 300 the Finnish manufacturers have probably taken into consideration that the type of people who use this type of phone do not generally require a lot of memory space in situ.
Nokia Store apps
Nokia Store has thousands of apps you can download, but you will need to consider that this phone does not include Wi-Fi so anything you want to add is best done from your computer via USB. Angry Birds is pre-installed although it is only a 'Lite' version.
Excellent call quality
Call quality is first class, either through the mics or the built-in speakerphone. Even tracks from the music player sound loud and clear without distortion though of course this is no Bang & Olufsen. However you can add a stereo headset via the standard 3.5mm audio jack.
3G handset
This is a 3G handset with a surprisingly generous 1GHz processor which is actually more than the phone is able to use but this does make it quick in general use and surfing is pretty quick for a non-wi-fi handset too.
Our summary
Nokia also include a good selection of games and apps as standard and if you are in the market for a basic style of handset rather than a smartphone you will be pleased with what the Nokia has to offer at a very reasonable price.
