Nokia

Nokia Asha 503 Review

Name: Nokia Asha 503 Review
Item: Nokia Asha 503
Rating: 3
Author: Victor H.

posted by Victor H. / Dec 18, 2013, 5:34 AM

Introduction

The Nokia Asha 503 is a fun little affordable feature phone coming in vibrant colorful tones. With a unique glass-like outer coating, it appears as if it’s in a transparent glossy case and is definitely aiming for the younger crowds.

The Asha 503 comes in a dual and single SIM models (we have the single SIM version for review). It builds up on the blocky design and colors of the Asha 501, but adds in 3G connectivity, a more capable 5-megapixel camera and a bit more in performance power. Is all of that enough to justify you buying this feature phone rather than getting an affordable modern smartphone?

Let’s find out.

In the box:

Wall charger
Earbud headphones
User manual

Design

The Nokia Asha 503 has a pretty unique design - a translucent glass-like (it’s actually plastic) coating covers its vibrant color without hiding it. It looks a bit as if Nokia took this summer’s Asha 501 and put it in a glass case. Initially, we were surprised rather than impressed by the Asha 503 design, but overtime this hard coating grew on us and we ended up liking it for the sense of rigidity it gives the phone and just for its unique visuals. The Asha 503 comes in vivid red, yellow, green, cyan, white and black.

This new member of the Asha family is also small and compact as most of its Asha peers and while that does mean you get a smaller display, it also means that the device fits easily in pockets and is actually easy to use with a single hand. It’s a bit larger and thicker than the preceding Asha 501, but the difference is small. Truth is it’s a bit chubby, but given its compact size, this is not really much of an issue. The phone is solidly put together and it feels like you’re holding something that will withstand the test of time and elements, even though this phone is not water or dust protected in any way.

The Asha 503 features a single capacitive ‘back’ button right below the display and it works in a predictable and consistent way, bringing you back one step at a time. All other navigation in Asha’s interface happens conveniently via swipes, but more on that later.

The handset also features a very clicky and easy to press lock key and volume rocker, fittingly positioned on the right. There’s also a microUSB port and 3.5mm headset jack on top.

Front view
Side view

To see the phones in real size or compare them with other models, visit our Visual Phone Size Comparison page

View more + 16 images

Display

The Asha 503 features a 3-inch capacitive LCD display (covered with protective Gorilla Glass) supporting 262 thousand colors and not the 16 million we’re used to seeing on most smartphones nowadays. This makes color transitions less smooth and with a very low resolution of 240 x 320 pixels, images look pixelized, not sharp.

Image: 1 of 3

It does not make much sense speaking about color accuracy for such an affordable device, but we still ran our tests only to prove what we suspected - colors are way off in many occasions with a noticeable blueish tint.
Brightness is also way below the average and that makes the screen hard to read outdoors. Viewing angles are also poor and the image washes out significantly at an angle and nearly completely at more extreme angles. Despite all the price considerations, we were underwhelmed by the screen of the Asha 503.

Display measurements and quality

	Maximum brightness Higher is better	Minimum brightness (nits) Lower is better	Contrast Higher is better	Color temperature (Kelvins)	Gamma	Delta E rgbcmy Lower is better	Delta E grayscale Lower is better
Nokia Asha 503	268 (Poor)	1 (Excellent)	1:943 (Average)	15384 (Poor)	2.54	9.93 (Poor)	11.73 (Poor)
Nokia Lumia 520	364 (Average)	67 (Poor)	1:846 (Average)	6282 (Excellent)	2.2	7.22 (Average)	1.95 (Excellent)
Samsung Galaxy Pocket Neo	325 (Average)	15 (Poor)	1:744 (Poor)	11578 (Poor)	2.39	11.95 (Poor)	9.96 (Poor)

View all

The numbers below represent the amount of deviation in the respective property, observed when a display is viewed from a 45-degree angle as opposed to direct viewing.

	Maximum brightness Lower is better	Minimum brightness Lower is better	Contrast Lower is better	Color temperature Lower is better	Gamma Lower is better	Delta E rgbcmy Lower is better	Delta E grayscale Lower is better
Nokia Asha 503	92.5%	100%	92.3%	33.6%	131.1%	9.9%	89.7%
Nokia Lumia 520	No data	No data	80.4%	61.2%	10%	5.1%	223.1%
Samsung Galaxy Pocket Neo	No data	No data	96.9%	22.3%	82.4%	1.7%	162.3%

View all

The CIE 1931 xy color gamut chart represents the set (area) of colors that a display can reproduce, with the sRGB colorspace (the highlighted triangle) serving as reference. The chart also provides a visual representation of a display's color accuracy. The small squares across the boundaries of the triangle are the reference points for the various colors, while the small dots are the actual measurements. Ideally, each dot should be positioned on top of its respective square. The 'x: CIE31' and 'y: CIE31' values in the table below the chart indicate the position of each measurement on the chart. 'Y' shows the luminance (in nits) of each measured color, while 'Target Y' is the desired luminance level for that color. Finally, 'ΔE 2000' is the Delta E value of the measured color. Delta E values of below 2 are ideal.

These measurements are made using SpectraCal's CalMAN calibration software.

View all

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32 Comments

1. xperiaDROID

Posts: 5629; Member since: Mar 08, 2013

Wow, 3 out of 10? Come on Victor, this is a $99 feature phone, what do you expect for such a cheap feature phone? I know there are better alternatives, but this phone has a decent camera, stylish colorful design, sturdy construction and an easy to use UI, it's more easy to use than Android. This phone deserves at least 4.5 out of 10.

posted on Dec 18, 2013, 5:48 AM 14

5. taikucing unregistered

You better check Lenovo A390 for $99. No contest. Sturdy is not enough if you can't run whatsapp.

posted on Dec 18, 2013, 6:04 AM 9

10. sri_tech

Posts: 188; Member since: May 21, 2013

This phone can run whatsapp. Whatsapp released for these new asha devices a month ago.

posted on Dec 18, 2013, 6:34 AM 9

12. taikucing unregistered

Does it have GPS & WiFi? Can it play subway surfer & fifa like this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LV0zEXjLofY If I want texting & calling only, I'll buy Nokia 3310. It's as hard as steel.

posted on Dec 18, 2013, 6:55 AM 4

32. mothana1998

Posts: 2; Member since: Mar 27, 2014

yes it has wifi put no gps and it can run subway put i don't know about the other one i don't know it its a great phone its easyer than android

posted on Mar 27, 2014, 2:56 AM 0

21. kaikuheadhunterz

Posts: 1157; Member since: Jul 18, 2013

Find me a phone that is of the same price AND can be easily found in stores (don't even think about suggesting eBay)

posted on Dec 18, 2013, 9:29 AM 3

23. dratomic

Posts: 483; Member since: Oct 09, 2013

im wonderin if it had an apple logo on its back and priced 199$ what score pa wouldve given it... hmm..

posted on Dec 18, 2013, 10:48 AM 5

30. irellemot

Posts: 109; Member since: Nov 29, 2012

The thing is, you can get a lumia 521 or 520 for less than this, so they'res really no reason to buy this.

posted on Jan 06, 2014, 7:49 PM 1

2. eisenbricher

Posts: 973; Member since: Aug 09, 2012

Typical PA. C'mon, there is a variable involved in review process called PRICE (or segment).

posted on Dec 18, 2013, 5:52 AM 3

3. PhoneArena Team

Posts: 258; Member since: Jun 27, 2006

We rate every phone according to its (price) class. This one gets 3/10 not compared to high-end phone, but compared to its class.

posted on Dec 18, 2013, 5:56 AM 12

6. eisenbricher

Posts: 973; Member since: Aug 09, 2012

What hemedans said in comment no.4 Feature phone strongholds are Battery, Call Quality, Ruggedness and Ease of Use. This phone did excellent in these areas. I guess the phone rating is downgraded by availability of good apps, RAM, and screen quality. Problem is, these are the reasons why smartphones exist. Basic phone user knows what he's buying and these aren't definitely the reasons. I'm no stranger to tech reviews. Please don't try to defend the review as everybody knows and this has been repeated numerous times while reviewing feature phones, by PA.

posted on Dec 18, 2013, 6:06 AM 10

8. taikucing unregistered

Have you ever heard Lenovo A390? It's almost the same price as this Asha phone.

posted on Dec 18, 2013, 6:13 AM 5

13. taikucing unregistered

"Feature phone strongholds are Battery, Call Quality, Ruggedness and Ease of Use." *cough* Then buy Nokia 3310 *cough*

posted on Dec 18, 2013, 6:58 AM 3

18. Gaurav008

Posts: 328; Member since: Jul 20, 2012

Find me one.

posted on Dec 18, 2013, 8:37 AM 3

25. dratomic

Posts: 483; Member since: Oct 09, 2013

if you want unbiased reviews then you should look elsewhere.

posted on Dec 19, 2013, 1:21 AM 1

4. hemedans

Posts: 755; Member since: Jun 01, 2013

most people buy featurephone because they want good battery life to make calls and sms. this phone has good battery life, decent camera and good call quality. these are most important things. phonearena better learn from gsmarena on how to review feature phone

posted on Dec 18, 2013, 5:57 AM 12

14. boosook

Posts: 1442; Member since: Nov 19, 2012

If the feature phone is priced like a smartphone, then the price must be considered. With this hardware, it should cost no more than $49/EUR49, since for $99/EUR99 you can buy something with much better hardware, e.g. bigger screen with higher resolution, and with good call quality and good battery life as well. GSMArema makes very good and detailed reviews, but they're usually too complaisant and you must learn to read between the lines because they never say explicitly that a phone is crap, but they let you understand it.

posted on Dec 18, 2013, 7:09 AM 4

7. taikucing unregistered

Asha is a fail phone. Chinese phones are the king in sub $100 segment. No contest for Samsung & Sony, let alone Nokia. I don't mean Chinese crappy phones, but they are high quality cheap phones like Lenovo A390 or Huawei phones.

posted on Dec 18, 2013, 6:12 AM 4

9. Antonyjoseph

Posts: 217; Member since: Apr 06, 2013

Much as I like Nokia and the efforts at feature phones, I think the days of feature phones are over, when you can buy cheap Andoid phones (at least in India) for equivalent of $60 and above. Feature phones with physical keyboards may still have a market, but not with touchscreens.

posted on Dec 18, 2013, 6:20 AM 5

11. livyatan

Posts: 867; Member since: Jun 19, 2013

The conclusion of the article is spot on. Only idiots, Nokia fanboys and clueless people will give 100 dollars for this. Best android offers for the price are a science fiction in comparison!

posted on Dec 18, 2013, 6:35 AM 7

15. itsdeepak4u2000

Posts: 3718; Member since: Nov 03, 2012

Yes Victor, it should be between 4.5 or 5.

posted on Dec 18, 2013, 7:29 AM 4

16. ArtZGraphic

Posts: 16; Member since: Sep 04, 2013

it's a good phone for its class. unfortunately, it's an overprice device. nowadays, most people have been more clever in choose a phone. with $99 we should've got a basic or midend smartphone such as chinesse phone has to offer. if this is not overprice, maybe Victor would have give a higher score for the review.

posted on Dec 18, 2013, 7:40 AM 1

17. jroc74

Posts: 6023; Member since: Dec 30, 2010

As smartphones become even more cheaper...feature phones that try to compete with them with features will get compared to them. It is what it is. Might as well get a similarly priced Android phone and call it a day. I think you can still get older iPhones for this price too.

posted on Dec 18, 2013, 8:19 AM 2

19. loveHEAVYMETAL unregistered

what?! just two cons?but rated at 3/10

posted on Dec 18, 2013, 8:45 AM 2

20. mercorp

Posts: 1045; Member since: Jan 28, 2012

It only supports very basic Java games with a maximum size of 5MP. Is it 5mb??

posted on Dec 18, 2013, 9:07 AM 2

22. kaikuheadhunterz

Posts: 1157; Member since: Jul 18, 2013

Yeah, it's 5mb. Most Java games don't exceed that size

posted on Dec 18, 2013, 9:31 AM 0

24. HalaMadrid

Posts: 92; Member since: Sep 04, 2013

3 Out of 10 LOL What a crap phone asha 503 is.

posted on Dec 18, 2013, 11:11 AM 0

26. Tech_Junkie1996

Posts: 43; Member since: Aug 29, 2013

For those saying "its only $99," I would like to say that I have a phone from Virgin Mobile that was $99 MSRP. Sure, since Virgin in the US is a CDMA carrier, you can hold that against me, however, the MSRP for the phone means that even if the phone was unlocked it would probably go for the same price. With that being said, my phone, ZTE N800, has a 1.2 GHz Snapdragon ARM 7 dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 4GB ROM, 4" 800x480 display, GPS, and a front-facing 1 MP camera. In terms of tadays smart phones, it doesn't look like much, but when compared to the Asha, it whens hands down. Now, I must repeat that this is a CDMA phone, which means that the Asha has the advantagte in terms of availabilty, since it can go on GSM networks, but, besides that small caveat, the N800 is much better, and isn't that great of a phone.

posted on Dec 20, 2013, 7:45 PM 0

27. arnis

Posts: 1; Member since: Dec 21, 2013

I hope that a Nokia with their Asha will continue to support their wide array of languages. After all they were the only phone company to carry such a wide spectrum of language packs.

posted on Dec 21, 2013, 12:37 AM 0

28. PorkyBurger

Posts: 585; Member since: May 18, 2013

It is OK phone, but Nokia has a lot of time to make this Asha line even better. I could start off with it's tiny screen, ending with price tags. There are a lot better phones out there with this price tag, which I find sad to see.