Nokia Asha 210

Available now
24th April 2013

The Nokia Asha 210 is a low-cost messaging feature phone, and is the first handset in the world to feature a dedicated WhatsApp button.

If you're not familiar with WhatsApp, then here's the short version.. it's an instant messaging application with millions of users worldwide that acts as an effective (and free) replacement for SMS messaging, which is available for Android, Apple, Symbian, BlackBerry, Windows and Series 40 devices like the Asha 210. Confusingly though, some Asha 210 models will have a Facebook button instead.. we guess that you might need to check carefully before buying if this is important to you.

The Asha 210 itself is a pretty good looking 2G-only device with WiFi, a 2.4" 320 x 240 pixel display, a 2 megapixel camera and Bluetooth. There's a microSD slot but just 64MB of onboard flash memory, so you really will need a card if you want to do something. The standard sales package does include a stereo wired headset though.

The QWERTY keyboard is obviously a major selling point, and although it looks quite nice we prefer the one on the BlackBerry Curve but that costs three times as much.

There is a dual-SIM and single-SIM version of the Asha 210, both apparently priced at $72 (around €55 or £47) before tax and subsidy. The fairly large 1200 mAh battery is quoted as giving up to 12 hours talktime and 46 days standby for the single-SIM and 24 days standby for the dual-SIM version. The Asha 210 measures 112 x 60 x 11.8mm and weighs 97 grams.

Social networking support includes Twitter, Facebook and YouTube as well as WhatsApp. The Nokia Xpress Browser is specially designed to speed up web browsing while on the move and adapts web pages to the relatively modest screen, and Nokia's Slam application allows easy file sharing. One unusual feature is the voice-guided self-portrait mode for the camera, which helps users point the phone at themselves successfully. There are also some free games to download, although be aware that this isn't a smartphone so the applications tend to be a bit more limited.

Available colours are yellow, black, white, cyan and magenta. Nokia say that the Asha 210 will be available from Q2 2013 onwards.