No other affordable smartphone looks quite like the Nokia Asha 501, but it’s not just the hardware that sets it apart. The operating system is also a world away from other handsets priced below USD 100, with a particularly cool feature – Fastlane – that transforms the way you use it. Read on to find out more about Fastlane.

The Nokia Asha 501 is the first phone in Nokia’s Asha range to run on the new Asha Platform. It’s smarter, easier to use and offers some killer features. You’ll now get two home screens: Fastlane, and ‘Home’, which is the main menu. All you have to do is swipe left or right to access one or the other.

Fastlane makes it a lot easier to access the apps you love using the most. Open an app or function on the Nokia Asha 501, and it automatically gets added to Fastlane.

This means that the features you use the most on your Nokia Asha will always make an appearance in Fastlane, letting you launch them straight from Fastlane versus the traditional main menu screen. Fastlane is split up into sections, with the top of the screen highlighting upcoming appointments, working just like a calendar. Swipe down and the calendar feature disappears.

Under the calendar, Fastlane is split into days, showing what you’ve used on each day. It means the apps you’ve used more recently appear closer to the top of the page, making it a lot easier to access the apps you use most often or used more recently.

It’s not just restricted to apps or settings either – start typing a message, and it will appear on Fastlane, making it easier to retrieve the message when you want to send it. When you receive messages or notifications, they also appear on Fastlane, effectively giving you a comprehensive hub.

Browse through your photographs, and the snaps you look at appear on Fastlane, making it quicker to open them again in future. The same happens to your other media content, which means your favourite and most listened-to music will always be easily accessible.

You can also make better use of features like Notes: write a couple of words on a note, save it, and it will appear at the top of the list on Fastlane. There’s enough space to read a couple of lines, so it’s ideal for setting short reminders.

And if you end up with shortcuts you don’t want in Fastlane, you can simply clear it and start again.

Fastlane is a welcome inclusion on the Nokia Asha 501. You can still customise the main menu so icons and apps can be easily accessed, but once you’ve been using the Asha 501 for a while, Fastlane means that you rarely need to access the second screen.

Check out Fastlane in action below: