Nokia Asha 311 Review

Since past couple of month Nokia Asha series seems to getting more attention from low and medium range customers. Cheap price with attractive features are the major element of Nokia Asha series. Similar in looks and style with its siblings Nokia Asha 311 is our focus today. Nokia Asha 311 was launched in June 2012 and packed with almost all the goodies that can be offered by an entry level smart phone. Yes, Nokia Asha 311 features almost as a smart phone but still runs on Nokia S40 OS.

Nokia Asha 311 offers a fine design with a bit glossy finishing (can be said cheap) but Nokia friendly UI and long lasting durability is well kept. Almost as a smart phone Nokia Asha 311 holds a decent touch functionality and pretty smooth execution while use on multi tasks. It runs on a 1 GHz CPU with 128MB of RAM, not much but justified as per its price. Now here is a catch…Nokia Asha 311 is not falling in the cheapest feature phones available. In its price you can also find entry level smart phones as well. Beside decent speed Nokia Asha 311 has a fine 3.15 MP camera with VGA video quality. A decent wide WQVGA Screen of 3 inches and above all a very impressive talk time of 14 hours with its 1100 mAh Li-Ion battery.

Similar to Nokia Asha 305 & 306, Nokia Asha 311 has the same design with curve edges. Nothing new from Nokia but an overall glossy finish is added to Nokia Asha 311. May be it seem a bit cheap to users who looking for a mat finish decent looking phone. For sure, it’s not looks as a high end smart phone, but for teenager it sure is vibrant while hold in hands.

Nokia Asha 311 felt good and comfortable in hands. Construct with all plastic body but there is no sound of squeaking or lose ends which makes Nokia Asha 311 durable and long lasting. It also resist to tough conditions or rough usage. To suit with personality Nokia Asha 311 is currently available in Dark Grey, Rose Red, Blue, Brown, and Sand White.

Nokia Asha 311 front side has only 2 physical buttons at the bottom for call answer and end call. Micro phone is also placed just beneath the buttons. Beside that top side of front screen has ear piece above Nokia logo. Just beside ear piece both proximity sensor and ambient light sensors are placed. Right side hold a volume rocker and lock/unlock key, both are fine in response and felt ok. Left side of Nokia Asha 311 only has a lanyard eye lit. Nokia can place a dedicated camera key to make the space more useful and this can also add a plus to this handset. Top side holds a 3.5mm audio jack, a microUSB port and charging port.

Nokia Asha 311 is a mid-range phone with a decent speed and smooth touch capability. With its 1GHz CPU it runs application good and menu responses are quiet swift. On continuous usage we didn’t find any delay or glitches while exploring different menus. Application execution seem fast enough, web browsing felt good and multitasking is impressive. Touch and swipe responses are almost perfect we didn’t find any noticeable delay. 128MB RAM seems small but with additional microSD card it doesn’t seem to be a problem.

Nokia Asha 311 comes with a 3 inch QVGA captive touch screen with multi touch capability. For long lasting durability it has a Corning Gorilla Glass, no need to worry about scratches or dings. Nokia Asha 311 display has 56K color resolution with 155 pixels per inch solidity. Menu colors look fine and a bit enhanced as we compare to Nokia Asha 305, but seems a bit washed out. We think Nokia can offer much better display even in the price tag of Nokia Asha 311. Contras ratio is 2.2 which is quiet better than other smart phones or handset available if compared to Nokia Asha 311. For an average handset with smart phone features we think Nokia Asha 311 display is fair.

Nokia Asha 311 comes with a 3.15MP camera with VGA video recording. Camera is fixed focus so there is no zoom in or out option. Image quality is good for an average camera. It allows users to take image on maximum resolution of 2048 x 1536. Means there are few options to set image quality as per requirement. While testing it outdoor we are impressed that for an average 3.15MP Nokia Asha 311 camera is good, but noise issue is present while we images. Exposure is fine even for indoor images but details might get a bit blur. Overall camera is decent and useful.

Video recording of Nokia Asha 311 is just average. It captures motion pictures at 25 frames per second in VGA resolution. Users might face image and sound lagging and capturing fast moving objects gets scrambles too. Video recording format of Nokia Asha 311 is 3GP.

Nokia Asha 311 has the same old Nokia S40 operating system but this time it’s more enhanced and vibrant. UI is very smart and we noticed that file manager is very useful and capable to manage all sort of data. Icons seems more clear and manageable, media files icons can be change to thumb nails which gives Nokia Asha 311 an exclusive look. All functionality of Nokia Asha 311 is very easy, no matter users have to sort or manage data, images or music.

Beside UI Nokia Asha 311 Wi-Fi functionality is great. On continues usage we notice that web pages loading speed is quick and 3 inch display makes web browsing fun. Nokia Asha 311 also has Accelerometer, display auto rotation which makes web browsing and multimedia more comfortable to watch. Fm radio is a great feature as Nokia Asha 311 sound quality is impressive. It holds music run for almost 40hours with its 1100mAh Li-Ion battery. Also, talk time on 2G network is 14 hours and 6 hours on 3G networks.

Nokia Asha 311 display is not justifying as per the screen size and its price. Nokia can offer better display resolution to users as other brands are offering good smart phones in same price tags. Dedicates camera key is missing which can be a good addition in device style and features. Camera features are disappointing as focus is fixed and image quality is less than expectations. Lastly, Nokia Asha 311 is a bit expensive for smart features phone as in same price users can get a decent smart phone.

Nokia Asha 311 is a great looking handset with good smart features. Though it’s not a smart phone but users won’t felt outdated or lagging behind in technology while using Nokia Asha 311. Usability is great and very user friendly. From file management to music play back Nokia Asha 311 has all the ingredients for loyal Nokia fans. Let’s not forget the promising Nokia durability with Nokia Asha 311, it will survive in rough conditions. We prefer Nokia Asha 311 for teenage users or youngster for its fun usage and good music capabilities. Beside that anyone with a limited budget can surly get impress by this great feature phone. We think price of Nokia Asha 311 can give it a hard time in competition as other brands are offering smart phone in similar price. Nokia Asha 311 is currently available from price range of $146 to $152 depending on regional market difference and demand.

So we conclude Nokia Asha 311 as a great addition in Asha series for its features. We recommend that before taking any decision to buy a smart phone do check Nokia Asha 311. It will surprise you.

We give Nokia Asha 311 rating of 7.6/10.