The Nokia Asha 501 begins a new generation of Asha smartphones. With one swipe to access everything and fast, affordable, more personal Internet access, it’s attracted a lot of attention. Additionally, Nokia has launched a new accessory in-line with the design of this new Asha, the DC-18; a portable power pack with digital display.

This power pack keeps your phone juiced-up when you need it most. Although, the Nokia Asha 501 has a 48-day standby time, it’s always good to have that little bit extra – for those emergencies.

In fact, the Nokia Asha 501 supports USB charging, and going forward this will be the norm.

Jarno Piironen, Director, Audio and Inbox accessories told us why this would be the case:

“We want to keep the phones juiced up so that people can stay connected. Last year we did an industry first by bringing wireless charging to mass market. We just launched the Nokia Asha 501 with an insanely long standby time, complemented it with DC-18 to provide power when most needed and enabled charging through millions of standard Micro-USB plugs out there.“

Made of a smooth, natural feeling plastic, the neon red square – which measures just 57mm x 57mm – fits neatly in your pocket or at the bottom of your bag, ready for when you need it.

To charge your phone, you’ll initially need to charge up the power pack. After that, whenever you need it, plugging in the Micro-USB will transfer the power from pack to phone.

In order to know exactly how much power you’ve got left in the DC-18, there’s a handy battery indicator positioned right on the front of the box.

Moreover, not only does the DC-18 work on the Nokia Asha 501, it’ll also work with other devices that support USB charging, such as all the smartphones in the Nokia Lumia family.

Do you like having as much power as possible? Will you be buying this power pack? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below.