Nokia Asha 210 SIM-Free Mobile Phone - Black

Nokia phones are well-known for their simplicity and ease of use, and this phone is no exception. It's a cheaper and more affordable alternative if you enjoy texting and keeping in touch via social networks but don't wish to fork out that bit more for one of the much pricier options in the smartphone range, i.e Blackberry, Samsung or HTC. Bought one of these to replace my Blackberry Q5 which unexpectedly died a death earlier this year, and it was always my next choice should the worst happen. But my head was turned yet again when I spotted an iPhone 4S on a low-cost deal on Virgin Mobile, and so I signed up for one and decided to keep my 210 as a replacement work phone. Lately however I have discovered that owning an iPhone on contract is not as cheap as it should be if you use internet and social media on an almost daily basis, and as a result I'm having issues with my monthly bill being higher than expected. So should I decide to ditch the iPhone and revert to a sim-only deal, I've recently bought another 210 - albeit this time in white - as a possible replacement phone through having had experience in using one, and because it's more affordable. As I do a lot of texting I tend to find it faster and easier to do so on a QWERTY keypad phone, so this fits the bill really quite nicely. There are however a couple of gripes, one being that even though the display screen is wide enough it is perhaps still a little too cluttered, and the second is that wallpaper choice is very limited in that there are only five readily available on the phone - a wider range can be accessed and downloaded from the Nokia store. There is, as a bonus, a good choice of ringtones and messaging tones to help make up for it, which is standard for Nokia. So a good all rounder if maybe you're thinking of parting company with your smartphone and replacing it with a budget-priced alternative, that plus it won't consume a huge amount of battery power and will stay fully charged at least a week, if not more. Nokia does it again!

Firstly, the company were very efficient. It was dispatched on the day and although I was given expected delivery dates between 5th December and 15th December, it arrived on the 3rd.... As for the phone, I've been really impressed. It is absolutely jam-packed to the rim full of features yet for one tenth of the price of an iPhone (or equivalent top-end smart phone). Granted, these features are in a more rudimentary form, but actually this simplicity, efficiency, user friendliness and sheer value for money are fantastic in this modern age of technology. It seems to combine everything that is good about smart phones with everything that was good about the old style phones. If you plug headphones in you can use it as a radio and you can even use the handset as an internet modem! I haven't tried many of the apps, but it seems to come with some good games and plentiful applications (ebuddy, whatsapp, facebook, nokia nearby, internet, store, calendar, mail, gift, chat, voice recorder, converter, to-do list, notes, calculator, countdown timer, stopwatch....) Just like old times you can select exactly what you want your shortcut keys to do which makes for rapid navigation of the phone. I was surprised at how nice the screen looks, although it doesn't quite go bright enough to stop it being a little bit annoyingly reflective in certain lighting conditions. I've also noticed this phone picks up phone/Wi-Fi signal in places my older BlackBerry cannot. Although I haven't worked out how to connect it to one particular institution network (that has a few security layers) it did connect to my university network fine (which requires username and password). What REALLY surprised me was how easy and quickly it setup my microsoft exchange account, these accounts normally drive the user insane! I didn't think it would work, but it was straightforward and was successful first time around. However, although you can setup many e-mail accounts, you can only select one of them to automatically update itself every 15mins. I have also been remarkably impressed by the camera. The quality seems good and it zooms for quite a long way. It even allows you to add effects or take a "selfie" by turning the camera around to face you and following the voice command instructions (presumably from some kind of facial recognition system within). You can also shoot videos and edit pictures, with frames and colours etc etc etc. [Something even my blackberry didn't allow] The keyboard has gotten good reviews across Amazon, but it is actually taking me a little while to get used to, a couple of the keys don't feel positioned in their natural location. Overall, the phone is built to a decent quality standard. It doesn't feel cheap, has a nice finish to it, although it does feel a little light and I wouldn't like to drop it too many times... It seems to give you control over every tiny little facet, from font size and colour to home screen display, alerts, shortcuts and it also offers genuinely helpful tips along the way. The keypad is backlit too and comes with a dedicated facebook button to take you directly there. The battery life seems good so far (especially in comparison to modern smartphones) and inserting sim cards and memory cards isn't fiddly or tedious. When you link it up to a computer via USB it's very straightforward (again, unlike a Blackberry). It allows you to access the memory card directly and you could probably use it as a USB memory stick if you wanted to. My only negative comment about this phone is that it is slow. I think without a memory card the phone's internal memory would soon become a problem. I think it either has low RAM and/or a slow processor. There is certainly no quick flicking around apps, everything is definitely very purposeful and the phone can be quite unforgiving. It doesn't allow you to keep apps open in the background, once you close them they're gone. Basically what this phone has proven to me, is that everything decent about a smartphone only costs about £50... iPhones are simply charging £500 for nice polish, an aluminium body and an excessive amount of features that you're being conned for. This phone really seems to have been made as if the company is on your side, and wanted to give you a fair deal and a good phone. It doesn't feel like they've tried to do you out of as much money as possible and then purposely left flaws in the device so you have to spend even more cash to be happy. It just comes in the box as a really user friendly device that is jam-packed to the rim full of features that should really embarrass those people who've spent £500 on a smartphone. This is definitely value for money. Don't get me wrong, you certainly get what you pay for, and you're certainly ONLY getting £50 worth of features here.... but any models too far above this are simply excessive. If you can cope with this, put the other £450 towards a holiday or something, you won't regret it!

Cheap, flimsy, charger did not even fit the socket thus not charge, with the small amount of charge the phone had it could not see the sim card, useless, only gave one star because you cannot give no stars!

Good basic phone, but it is plastic & looks basic & cheap, works well.

IT WAS OK USED A LOT THOW

I bought this Nokia Asha 210 a month ago and since then I’ve been amazed at its great performance. I am much happier with it, rather than having a complex and filled with every possible app mobile phone that takes so much time when you try (or you are seduced) to use all its functions. Using a simple and convenient phone saves you a lot of time, money, and sometimes – troubles. This Nokia has a very convenient (and quite large) keyboard, and texting messages is just fun. Each of its buttons is so well designed and thoughtfully displayed, and you need just portions of a second to operate with them. Excellent phone, I would recommend it to everyone who values their time and their well eared money!

It is an excellent mobile phone for texting, it is suitable for me as I am profoundly deaf so I do not need the speaking phone. That is why I bought this phone for qwerty keypad is an absolutely essential! I decided to go back to the basic mobile phone after I have just lost my lovely blackberry with an organised software, email and diaries etc... Not having a smart phone anymore just in case if I lost it again with a high cost. At first I ordered the Nokia 130 two weeks ago (under £20, brilliant!!), it is an excellent simple phone but it is too fiddly for me as I have a fairly long hand if using the texting, just like the old fashion mobile number keypad. Although it is suitable just for speaking phone if you want to easy to use and a quick call. I decided that the Nokia 130 was not for me, so upgrade for slightly bigger and useful keyboard. I found this Nokia Asha 210, please bearing in mind, this phone software is a very basic (not quite as blackberry or similar). Unfortunately it is not up to date, due Microsoft has taken over Nokia few years ago, it has stopped all the least apps and the update software. I have just read the review about this model, it is made in 2012 and released in 2013 so it is dated. That's fine by me because I am sticking with basic phone and a simple software without worry about an upgrade software. If you are plan to buy a phone for texting a lot, simple calling, basic facebook (good for a quick reference as update news), then this is phone is what you are looking for. Of course, there is something else, it comes with a simple camera for pictures and video, 2.0 mp, it is a good enough and very useful for a quick snappy. Also, it has some emails, organised apps and music software but all are very basic. This phone can be connect to the PC, only use on memory card for transferring the music, pictures, and videos. I love the font is big and easy to read! That phone is under £50, what could you ask for more! Overall, I am delighted to use this phone and it is what I after. I removed one star from five stars because the software cannot up to date. Four stars are for everything else...i.e design, buttons and colour etc..

So originally brought this phone for my mother in law so she can have what's app , so we can send photos of her grandson. My son saw it and also loved it (so we are reordering another one! He is 12 and perfect for his first phone for high school) Easy to use, Easy to setup. Fast delivery and excellent value for money. Excellent customer service