A fairly common technological “chip” in mobile devices was a qwerty keyboard. It was on it that many users determined the attitude of the device to the so-called smart phones, which we today call the word “smartphones”. However, time passed, cellular devices evolved, underwent changes, slowly, painfully, but not curtailing, they went along the path of technological evolution. Now, old-timers in the smartphone market do not produce push-button devices. Only sensors and only hardcore, as experts in the field of studying smart devices like to joke. We are talking about old-timers like BlackBerry, which created its own operating system.
Thus, even in ordinary phones, manufacturers are now trying to install full-size keyboards. The Finnish company Nokia, which released a lot of really original, powerful, popular and sought-after devices, has taken this path in due time. And it's not just about the lineup called Lumia. This applies to all products of the company.
In general, phone models that work on the platform under the name S40 and have qwerty keyboards are no longer rare for a Finnish company. Portfolio in this direction Nokia at the time rather stubbornly replenished. And the Nokia Asha 302 mobile phone, which we will try to review today, is nothing more than a typical representative of this portfolio.
Equipment
The delivery set for such a phone is standard, quite simple. Opening the box from under the device, we can find, of course, the smart device itself, as well as all the necessary documentation. Of course, the charger is also located here. The battery of the Nokia Asha 302 phone, the characteristics of which will be given in the article, has a capacity of 1430 mAh. The complete set completes the wired stereo headset. It is naive to expect from her sky-high sound quality, and indeed the quality of her workmanship can be said to be poor.
Design
Nokia Asha 302, reviews of which can be found at the end of the article, is easily recognized among all other similar devices. Appearance, if you can call it that, is very specific. The Nokia 302 Asha entered the smartphone market back in 2012. Then the Finnish manufacturer was just starting to promote a product line called Lumia. Thus, the “Nokia Asha 302” is more like, rather, the traditional models of the company.
Materials of manufacture
The basis of the design was, of course, plastic. The sides of the device are disguised as metal, as well as three buttons that control the Nokia 302 Asha. The back cover is nevertheless made of aluminum.
Color schemes
The device comes in five color variations to the cell phone market. It is standard white and black, as well as red, gold and blue. In any of these designs, you can see that the color of the cover differs in hue from the case.
Build quality
It does not cause almost any complaints. Nokia 302 Asha is made very high quality. All parts in it sit tightly, the gaps are made evenly. The back cover, one might say, knows its place and does not leave anywhere. It sits on the structure quite tightly. Her creak can be heard only if you strongly press on it or twist the device.
Top end
It has all the connectors that are needed for the phone. This is a jack for connecting a charger (2 millimeters), a microUSB-USB port, as well as a jack for connecting a wired stereo headset (3.5 millimeters).
Left side
Here you can find the slot in which the microSD card is installed. It is covered with a plug for additional protection. By the way, it should be noted the quality of execution of the stub. It is hard enough to notice, because it is “recessed” in the slot well. Like the back cover, it sits tight. But this does not mean that pulling it out will be difficult. On the contrary, to pry off the plug is not difficult. Here, a little to the left, you can find the nest into which the strap is threaded.
Rear panel
There is an external sound speaker, as well as a camera eye. The latter is largely "drowned" inside. But this is when compared with the surface of the back cover. You can feel the difference in height with your finger. In addition, the back cover of the Nokia 302 Asha is curved in some way. This design decision of the Finnish developers can be called an advantage. Of course, the question may immediately arise: why? In fact, everything is very simple. Bending the back cover allows you to protect the camera from mechanical damage. Scratching the eye (at least not specifically) will be very, very difficult.
Backlight
The Nokia Asha 302 keyboard is equipped with this technological feature. The manual does not give any explanations on how to use the backlight. It will not work to change the color, the hardware and software does not give such an opportunity to the user. The backlight can be written into minor flaws. We answer the same question: why? If you try to use the device in the dark, you will see how light passes through the sidewalls. But due to the fact that this is visible only with an almost complete absence of lighting, we will write the flaw in the minor category.
Keyboard
It is divided in the subject of our review today. These are two blocks. The one on top is the manager. It consists of six keys, as well as a navigation button. At the same time, two elements are located at the edges, allowing you to assign them a call of certain applications that the user only wants. They can also call up certain menu items. The keys included in the control unit are made quite conveniently. It’s not difficult to distinguish them by touch. At the same time, you can easily click one of them, and in response the user will hear a characteristic click. It often happens that we miss incoming calls or text messages. If this happens, the owner of the phone about the missed events will notify the indicator light, which is described around the navigation key. It flickers once every 3-5 seconds.
A qwerty keyboard is a composition of 37 buttons. These elements are located very, very close to each other, almost back to back. All buttons are convex. They are pressed hard. In general, this keyboard can not be compared with those installed in other similar devices of the Finnish manufacturer. Well, if you make a comparison with the devices of the "dinosaur" BlackBerry, then the picture is generally unambiguous. And in favor of the latest brand. It is primarily about tactile sensations and comfort when using. The convenient keyboard installed in the Nokia Asha 302 will be only for owners of small palms. Well, or for those who have not yet had experience with monoblocks like qwerty.
The user can hold the key for additional characters for a few seconds, as well as a space. In this case, a menu will open in which you can change the settings for bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Almost all designations are printed with the same cipher. This rule does not apply to numbers, and also to an asterisk and a lattice. No matter how the situation with the backlight, but here it helps very well to distinguish the above characters.
The keyboard is less than Latin in terms of number of characters. That is why, to enter the letters “e” and “b”, respectively, it is necessary to hold the letters “u” and “z” for a few seconds. To the space “z” and “x” also moved closer, they are listed in the bottom row of keys. This layout can be said to be practical and convenient. Of course, it will take some time to get used to, but after that there will be no problems.
The lower left key (aka Alt) allows you to quickly enter special characters. And to change the layout from English to Russian (or vice versa), you need to hold down the Alt and Ctrl key combination for a couple of seconds. These are the bottom row buttons located on different sides. Unfortunately, you cannot change the input language in one click, there is no such function in this phone model. Which, by the way, is not very convenient for many users.
The Ctrl button allows you to enable or disable the predictive input mode, which we simply call T9.
Owner reviews. What to do if the phone does not turn on?
Those people who bought this phone noted that the updated platform was very appropriate. Among the advantages of the device are good sound quality in a wired headset, the presence of a Wi-Fi wireless module, as well as a fairly capacious battery.
The disadvantages include a hard keyboard, the lack of a flashlight (optional), as well as the lack of a control element that would allow you to quickly change the volume. One of the common problems is the sudden shutdown of the device. The user tries to activate the device, but the Nokia Asha 302 does not turn on. In this case, you must first check the battery charge.