We’ve previously seen Nokia manage to come up with affordable handsets housed with workable specs, but were rather disappointed on Nokia Asha 306. Apart from the looks, there’s little to admire on this handset considering its EUR160 price tag. There’s a built-in Wi-Fi adapter, but that’s not the point, most devices within this price range have it, contrary to our expectations, you’ll have to deal with a resistive touch screen rather than an almost standard capacitive panel. There are several flaws associated with resistive displays of which you can research on later; the point is capacitive screens are way better. A 3.0inch screen on Nokia Asha 306 is big enough at least, but a low resolution again waters down this benefit; icons and small text appear more pixilated than rivals. The phone is light though and can fit in those skinny jeans without a hitch. We also expect prices to come down in the near future, but that’s just a wish, it can go either side.

The Asha 311 runs on Nokia’s traditional Series 40 operating system; but it has a 1GHz processor and Wi-Fi, so it’s a big contender if analyzed all inclusive. Unlike its twin sibling Asha 305/3050, at least the Finnish based phone maker pimped in some smart phone quality stuff such as 3G and WLAN to be precise. Nokia Asha 311 is brimful of features considering its tiny price tag; although it won’t carry any awards, smart phones with similar features costs almost twice as much. It has the looks, you have a choice of four different colors but icons don’t come close to Android’s or iPhone’s. It has a better capacitive display compared to a resistive one used on 305; the corning gorilla branded glass will escape most scratches. If you’ve had an android or iOS device before, Nokia Asha 311 won’t bring in new value additions but at EUR 92, you can’t really complain. Something that’s at par with mid-range smart phones is a pleasingly 1GHz processor that should handle just about any app with little effort.

It doesn’t make sense for Nokia to continue releasing Symbian based devices while the entire industry is shaping towards android and iOS; however we can live with the fact that Nokia Asha 305 won’t cost as much. The phone is slated to cost around 70EUR and for those Nokia diehards; it comes with the robustness that’s typical to the manufacturer’s hardware. It doesn’t have the best specs in its genre, but it can achieve basic telephony functions with modest value additions. It comes with a resistive display screen rather than the now standard capacitive panel, but what do you expect at that price tag? Resistive panels accepts input by sensing pressure on the screen and are cheaper to make while capacitive displays responds to materials which are conductive or dielectric such as a human finger. Nokia Asha 305/3050 is a dual handset, that’s something you’d not expect on any smart phone even the most cherished but expensive  Galaxy SIII and iPhone 4S.

For a device in its genre, Nokia Lumia 710 is a big contender considering all the flourished specs that come on-board. This handset goes toe-to-toe with Samsung’s Omnia M S57530, both run on easy-to-use Windows Phone 7.5 Mango, have the same 800x480p screen resolution, same 5.0Megapixel camera; though Nokia Lumia 710 boasts of a superior 1.4GHz processor compared to Omnia M’s 1GHz but its TFT screen doesn’t match Omnia M S57530’s Super-AMOLED panel. Basically, it depends on what you’re looking for in a handset that’ll separate the two devices suitability. From a layman’s perspective, Nokia Lumia 710’s clock speed has a better performance ratio compared to Omnia M; however, the difference between the two screen technologies is like day and night, so you’d better decide on your preferences first before you’re in a limbo. I wouldn’t say Nokia Lumia 710 is the sleekest handset we’ve seen; however, it’s easy to use and Microsoft’s software makes it even more responsive than most rivals.

Looks like Samsung is not just about to leave any screen size un-exploited especially after the release of Galaxy Pocket S5300 budget Android smart phone. It has a small 2.8inch screen though runs on the most recent and popular Android v2.3 Gingerbread OS. We only get to see such small displays on devices with a QWERTY keypad sharing the same front panel; however, that’s not the case with Samsung Galaxy Pocket S5300. This phone is not only tiny, but suitable for cheapskates out there looking for an android phone; as you’d expect, several compromises were enforced to retain low prices despite a top tier operating system underneath. For about $100, you’ll part with a 2.0Megapixel camera, 832MHz processor and a staggering 3GB worth of internal storage. We’ll forgive a lot for a device in this price range, and I’d describe the enclosed specs as modest-to-the-max; though max isn’t a term I’d casually use unless the device is considerably cool.