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The Nokia Asha 201 is Nokia’s most recent budget phone. And as far as specs go, the Asha 201 is about as budget as it gets. But for customers who don’t need much from their phone, this bargain buy may have a few good perks to offer.

The QWERTY Keyboard

I have a soft spot for phones with QWERTY keyboards. Maybe it’s my big, clumsy fingers. But the satisfying click of the Nokia Asha 201’s keyboard is a major selling point for me and other text junkies who don’t have time to backspace.

Image Source: Recombu.com

Talk Time

If you’re a chatty Cathy, then the Nokia Asha 2011 is the phone for you. You can talk non-stop for up to 7 hours without needing a re-charge. And, you can record all of your calls.

There’s also plenty of access to social media and integrated Facebook and Twitter. The downside is that you have to manually input your contacts or upload them from your SIM. There’s no automatic syncing of Facebook or Twitter accounts. And once your contacts are in the phone, you can only search for them by number, not by name.

Music

In addition to extended talk time, the Nokia Asha 201 shines as an MP3 player. The MP3 player’s interface is basic but user friendly. There’s also an FM radio player on board.

Music junkies will be happy to hear that although the phone itself only has 10MB of storage, there’s a microSD slot to expand that to up to 32GB. And you get 52 hours of playback per charge.

Low Points

The Nokia Asha 201′s low points can be hard to swallow. First of all, there is no 3G or Wi-Fi. The screen is similarly low tech at a mere 2.4 inches and 320 x 240. And through it you have to look at the old school Symbian S40 OS.

Browsing can be cumbersome as well. The Opera Mini browser quickly loads mobile-friendly web pages. But other pages may take as long as 30 seconds to load. Once loaded, they are easy to read after a fair bit of zooming in. Embedded videos play with no problem, but you can’t load anything from YouTube. That will be a deal breaker for many.

As a budget phone, the Nokia Asha 201 has more highs than lows. But for a budget phone it is more than adequate. You can talk until you drop, play music and even surf the web a little. If your needs are basic, the Asha 201 will more than meet them.