Nokia Asha 501 is a low-end

smartphone A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...

from the

Nokia Asha series The Nokia Asha series was a range of low-end feature phones and smartphones produced and marketed by Nokia. The name "Asha" came from the Hindi word meaning "hope". On 3 September 2013, Microsoft announced its purchase of Nokia's mobile devi ...

, announced by

Nokia Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational telecommunications, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, established in 1865. Nokia's main headquarters are in Espoo, Finland, i ...

on 9 May 2013 in India, and released on 24 June 2013. The device is classified by Nokia as a "Full Touch"

. The phone is available in either single- or

dual SIM Some mobile phones support use of two SIM cards, described as dual SIM operation. When a second SIM card is installed, the phone either allows users to switch between two separate mobile network services manually, has hardware support for keeping ...

configuration. The cell phone is built on Nokia Asha software platform 1.0, a new

software platform A computing platform or digital platform is an environment in which a piece of software is executed. It may be the hardware or the operating system (OS), even a web browser and associated application programming interfaces, or other underlying ...

descended from

Series 40 Series 40, often shortened as S40, is a software platform and application user interface (UI) software on Nokia's broad range of mid-tier feature phones, as well as on some of the Vertu line of luxury phones. It was one of the world's most wi ...

, with a user interface similar to

MeeGo MeeGo is a discontinued Linux distribution hosted by the Linux Foundation, using source code from the operating systems Moblin (produced by Intel) and Maemo (produced by Nokia). Primarily targeted at mobile devices and information appliances ...

Nokia N9 The Nokia N9 (codename '' Lankku'') is a flagship smartphone developed by Nokia, running on the Linux-based MeeGo mobile operating system. Announced in June 2011 and released in September, it was the first and only device from Nokia with MeeGo, ...

, and featuring technology from Smarterphone, a software company acquired by Nokia in 2012. The device includes Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, but no 3G connectivity, relying on EDGE and GPRS (2.75G) for mobile-based networking. The phone has been noted for its user-friendliness and a battery with long talk and standby times. It has been called "tiny" by some due to its size, being one of the smallest Nokia ever produced. The suggested price for the phone is US $99 before taxes and subsidies. Models sold in South Asia support at least eight languages: English,

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub ...

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

, and

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 2 ...

Software

Nokia Asha 501 comes preloaded with the Nokia Xpress browser, which (according to Nokia) compresses data server-side by 90% to facilitate the least amount of transferable data with the phone. Nokia Xpress Now is a new app that offers location-based content. The device was announced to feature built-in social applications for Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Other apps announced were Here Maps,

Bandai Namco also known as the Bandai Namco Group and generally Bandai Namco, is a Japanese multinational holding company, production enterprise and entertainment conglomerate headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, formed from the merger of Bandai and Namco on S ...

games, EA games,

eBuddy eBuddy is a privately held Dutch software company that offers instant messaging services. As of 2011, eBuddy reported 100 million downloads. The company's flagship service is XMS, a proprietary cross-platform instant messaging service. After so ...

, CNN, ESPN, and The Weather Channel.

Here Maps HERE WeGo is a web mapping and navigation service, operated by HERE Technologies and originally developed by Nokia. In 2013, HERE Technologies released this web mapping application for Windows Phone and the World Wide Web as a revamped version ...

beta for Asha 501 was released on 3 July in select countries.

Foursquare Four square is a ball game. Four square may also refer to: Internet and entertainment * Foursquare City Guide, a local search and discovery app * ''4 Square'' (game show), a British game show * ''4 Square'' (TV series), a Canadian children's s ...

was released for the model on 25 July; the app won't require GPS and uses location data from the network connection. A

LinkedIn LinkedIn () is an American business and employment-oriented online service that operates via websites and mobile apps. Launched on May 5, 2003, the platform is primarily used for professional networking and career development, and allows job se ...

app was released on 6 August for Asha 501 and other Asha full-touch phones. On 7 August 2013 the Line instant messaging app was made available for the device. Other instant messaging apps officially on offer are

WeChat WeChat () is a Chinese instant messaging, social media, and mobile payment app developed by Tencent. First released in 2011, it became the world's largest standalone mobile app in 2018, with over 1 billion monthly active users. WeChat has b ...

and eBuddy Mobile Messenger.

WhatsApp WhatsApp (also called WhatsApp Messenger) is an internationally available freeware, cross-platform, centralized instant messaging (IM) and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service owned by American company Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook). It allows use ...

is made available for this phone in November 2013. Facebook messenger was made available for this device on March 18, 2014. The phone supports 12 languages native to the Indian subcontinent in the on-screen Swipe keyboard. The selection of included apps and user interface customisations may vary by availability and geographical region.

Features

Nokia Asha 501 has a Nokia Glance Screen and a Nokia Fastlane plus Screen Double-tap. A panorama camera and a voice guide on camera for self-portrait were introduced in a new update that rolled out in April 2014. This update also brought a paternal control for the apps installed on the phone.

Reception

Nokia Asha 501 has been noted for its battery, which offers long standby and talk times — 52 days and 17 hours, respectively — that in turn allows the phone to be used in places with inefficient or nonexistent electricity supply. The Asha 501 was followed by the Nokia Asha 500,

502 __NOTOC__ Year 502 ( DII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Avienus and Probus (or, less frequently, year 1255 ' ...

503 __NOTOC__ Year 503 (Roman numerals, DIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Volusianus and Dixicrates (or, less frequ ...

, and

230 Year 230 ( CCXXX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Agricola and Clementinus (or, less frequently, year 983 '' Ab urbe ...

, all based on the design of the 501.

Model variants

Gallery

File:Asha501-1.jpg, Camera app

References

External links

Nokia Developer device page for Asha 501

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