Nokia Asha 501: Impressive Low-end Touchscreen Phone for $99 • Hacker News Board

Re: Nokia Asha 501: Impressive Low-end Touchscreen Phone for $99

#41

Post by bonchibuji » Thu, May 09, 2013, 10:24 AM UTC

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #21

RaduTyrsina wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

+1 to that. And, you won't be paying 100$. This is that type of phone you'll get for free on your carrier with a basic plan

The markets that are targeted by Asha and Chinese shanzhai white labels don't have phone subsidies, mostly. China doesn't, I assume India doesn't either.

You're right. Other than iPhone and some BB, I haven't seen anything coming with subsidies. Also, in India, almost of the connections are pre-paid. As per a Nielsen study, 97% of the youth (age 15 to 24) in India are on a pre-paid connection.

http://trak.in/tags/business/2011/02/24/indian-youth-mobile-...

Re: Nokia Asha 501: Impressive Low-end Touchscreen Phone for $99

#42

Post by pjmlp » Thu, May 09, 2013, 10:43 AM UTC

So, who will write J2ME apps for them?

Re: Nokia Asha 501: Impressive Low-end Touchscreen Phone for $99

#43

Post by Alterlife » Thu, May 09, 2013, 10:46 AM UTC

If by "free access to facebook" they mean no data charge for facebook access for the lifetime of the phone, I wouldn't be surprised by this being a hit with the college crowd... especially if the camera is decent.

Re: Nokia Asha 501: Impressive Low-end Touchscreen Phone for $99

#44

Post by Kurtz79 » Thu, May 09, 2013, 10:53 AM UTC

eliasmacpherson wrote: post #25

RyanZAG wrote: post #2

Hardly impressive - fairly pathetic really. Observe: http://androidandme.com/2013/04/smartphones-2/archos-reveals... http://www.androidforcheap.com/cell-phone-android-phone-c-58... http://www.pandawill.com/mobile-phone-c1/android-os-phone-c5... etc. Just Google around for tons more. Generally better in just about every way, and running a real OS that can run real apps.

"Another big selling point of the Asha 501 is definitely represented by its battery life, as it has an astonishing 17 hours talk time and up to 48 days of standby" I challenge you to find something comparable on the sites you've linked in terms of battery life.

Is it really relevant in this day and age ?

I can think of a very few cases (like, being lost in the Borneo jungle) where this would be actually useful in a normal environment.

If you live someplace where you don't have easy access to a power outlet at least once per day, it's unlikely you will have support for the advanced features of a smartphone, and an older Nokia phone will work just as well ...

Re: Nokia Asha 501: Impressive Low-end Touchscreen Phone for $99

#45

Post by jdhzzz » Thu, May 09, 2013, 10:54 AM UTC

JonnieCache wrote: post #39

If this is a return to the good old days of being able to throw your nokia down a flight of stairs without even dropping the call, then count me in.

Wait, you can make calls with it?

Re: Nokia Asha 501: Impressive Low-end Touchscreen Phone for $99

#46

Post by claudius » Thu, May 09, 2013, 10:57 AM UTC

Kurtz79 wrote: post #44

eliasmacpherson wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Another big selling point of the Asha 501 is definitely represented by its battery life, as it has an astonishing 17 hours talk time and up to 48 days of standby" I challenge you to find something comparable on the sites you've linked in terms of battery life.

Is it really relevant in this day and age ? I can think of a very few cases (like, being lost in the Borneo jungle) where this would be actually useful in a normal environment. If you live someplace where you don't have easy access to a power outlet at least once per day, it's unlikely you will have support for the advanced features of a smartphone, and an older Nokia phone will work just as well ...

I find it quite helpful that I don’t have to carry a charger with me for shortish trips, although my phone only lasts about 5 days with medium usage. Granted, if I carry my laptop with me anyway it is just an extra USB cable, but if I don’t, it’s another 200 or so grams I potentially have to carry uphill on a bike.

Re: Nokia Asha 501: Impressive Low-end Touchscreen Phone for $99

#47

Post by moystard » Thu, May 09, 2013, 11:00 AM UTC

ippisl wrote: post #28

moystard wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be perfectly honest, I have seen quite a few Chinese no name Android phones and I have never been impressed by any of them. On paper, everything looks great, but the reality differs a lot: stolen design, bad build quality, poor screen resolution/contrast/responsiveness, slow, under-performing battery, etc. The 401 is not pathetic at all. It includes everything people from emerging country needs: a nice design with…

RyanZAG also mentions an archos phone. Archos is definetly no a "a chinese no name android phone".

That's the exception in his list, but it does package the same hardware as the Chinese ones.

Regarding the Archos 35 Carbon Spec (the only one under $100), I have never seen a single core processor running Android decently. Most of the time, it actually drains the battery because the processor is struggling to accomplish any task. Not saying Android is a bad OS, just saying that Android requires much more power than S40, and I am sure the Meego-like UX on the Asha is actually nicer than the one proposed by a slow Android phone.

Re: Nokia Asha 501: Impressive Low-end Touchscreen Phone for $99

#48

Post by 6ren » Thu, May 09, 2013, 11:01 AM UTC

claudius wrote: post #27

eliasmacpherson wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Another big selling point of the Asha 501 is definitely represented by its battery life, as it has an astonishing 17 hours talk time and up to 48 days of standby" I challenge you to find something comparable on the sites you've linked in terms of battery life.

Hey, 48 hours standby isn’t all that much…oh wait.

48 DAYS (because I didn't pick up on it at first, even with your comment, it's so unexpected).

Re: Nokia Asha 501: Impressive Low-end Touchscreen Phone for $99

#49

Post by moystard » Thu, May 09, 2013, 11:01 AM UTC

Kurtz79 wrote: post #44

eliasmacpherson wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Another big selling point of the Asha 501 is definitely represented by its battery life, as it has an astonishing 17 hours talk time and up to 48 days of standby" I challenge you to find something comparable on the sites you've linked in terms of battery life.

Is it really relevant in this day and age ? I can think of a very few cases (like, being lost in the Borneo jungle) where this would be actually useful in a normal environment. If you live someplace where you don't have easy access to a power outlet at least once per day, it's unlikely you will have support for the advanced features of a smartphone, and an older Nokia phone will work just as well ...

I find it absolutely dramatic that people have just accepted that battery life should be terrible with modern smartphone.

Re: Nokia Asha 501: Impressive Low-end Touchscreen Phone for $99

#50

Post by eliasmacpherson » Thu, May 09, 2013, 11:09 AM UTC

Kurtz79 wrote: post #44

eliasmacpherson wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Another big selling point of the Asha 501 is definitely represented by its battery life, as it has an astonishing 17 hours talk time and up to 48 days of standby" I challenge you to find something comparable on the sites you've linked in terms of battery life.

Is it really relevant in this day and age ? I can think of a very few cases (like, being lost in the Borneo jungle) where this would be actually useful in a normal environment. If you live someplace where you don't have easy access to a power outlet at least once per day, it's unlikely you will have support for the advanced features of a smartphone, and an older Nokia phone will work just as well ...

Short battery life would be more acceptable if they all charged from usb, but they don't. Festivals, staying out of home for days at a time, holidays - times when you really need a phone, are easier with long battery life. Don't know why people accept it.