Review Nokia Lumia 520

Now, Nokia has released a cheaper phone towards the market, the Nokia Lumia 520, with less features than the 620 but potentially an even better cause buying it.

Therefore for recent months, as a result of individuals at MobiCity whom continue to provide us having a solid blast of review phones, I’ve been going hands-on with Nokia’s cheapest, lowest end Windows Phone. Despite the fact that this phone is one of the cheapest i have evaluated for quite some time, you may be amazed by the standard that Nokia has been in a position to pack into the small human anatomy. Continue reading to see if this $150 smartphone may be worth your cash.

Note The T-Mobile Nokia Lumia 521 is mostly exactly like the Lumia 520, therefore the most of this review should also apply to the US variation.

Specs

Don’t expect high-end parts in the Lumia 520; in reality, never also expect some fundamental features you’ve come to love in smart phones of belated. But to lower your expenses Nokia has removed a few of the more non-critical features present their higher-end phones, such as the camera flash, front-facing digital camera, NFC, 4G LTE radios and much more. Browse the complete requirements associated with the Lumia 520 below.

Design

Taking care of regarding the Lumia 620 that I was particularly disappointed with was the build quality, which felt low priced and plasticky, although for the price of the low-end unit it might were excused. From the things I experienced with the 620 I was not expecting anything better into the Lumia 520, but right from the minute we t k it out from the field I became happily surprised with what Nokia has crafted.

As opposed to ch sing similar glossy, two-toned plastic backing because the 620, Nokia has gone matte for the Lumia 520, ch sing a easily textured plastic for the detachable rear instance. The l k can be less rounded compared to 620, making it l k more attractive and modern, which gels well with the design language of Windows Phone 8.

As well as a more design that is rectangular Nokia have actually once again gone back again to basics using minimal points of attention round the unit. The front only provides the display, speaker, hardware key and Nokia branding for a sm th cup panel, even though the back simply includes a centered digital camera, an extra little bit of Nokia branding and a speaker hole that is small. It appears that the Lumia 520 has received the best of Nokia’s engineering despite the price, that will be just wonderful to see.

Interestingly, Nokia claims that the Lumia 520 is 9.9mm thick, although I beg to differ. Utilizing a micrometer, I measured the thickness to be 11.2mm, which certainly seems like a more accurate representation of just how visually thick these devices seems. Having said that, the way in which Nokia has tapered the edges of this phone helps it be nevertheless quite ergonomic and comfortable in the hand, so it frequently does not feel because thick as you might think.

The conventional Nokia Lumia key combination is once more used over the right-hand side of the phone, which features the quantity rocker above the energy switch, followed by the camera that is two-stage reduced down. Unfortuitously the small size for the phone therefore the position for the power key around half means down along side it sets it in a notably awkward place; I would personally have liked to see the energy button higher up, or potentially along the top panel.

In keeping with the Lumia ethos, the Lumia 520 comes in a range of vibrant colors, including red like the model I have actually beside me for review. Around you will turn and l k as you would expect, the colors are very vibrant and l k absolutely fantastic – when you pull out a colored Lumia 520, chances are people. The contrast involving the front that is black the red back is one more thing we enjoyed about the design regarding the Lumia 520, so kudos to Nokia.

I am really very impressed with the style and quality for the Lumia 520 during the cost that the device can be acquired at. It’s really a improvement that is huge the Lumia 620; the telephone feels great into the hand and there are a array of vibrant colors available. Especially when you are only forking down $150, there is certainly little to whine about the design you’ll get.

Display

Much to my surprise, Nokia has opted to use an IPS TFT LCD panel in the Lumia 520, which can be (on-paper) better quality than whatever they selected for the Lumia 620, inspite of the price difference. Regarding utilising the display, it might never be the greatest IPS panel that we’ve utilized, but it’s undoubtedly much better than a few of the cheap screens I’ve observed in low-end Android products. You may be very happy in what the 520 delivers in this realm.

At 4 ins, Nokia is offering up an extremely screen that is decent for the class of phone, as well as 800 x 480 there was small r m to complain. Certain, it’s no ‘Retina’ display, and it’s really not going to be the crispest device you have ever seen, nonetheless it works completely fine to show the majority of Windows Phone apps. You can thank Microsoft for limiting products up to a minimum of WVGA resolution, as it keeps Windows Phone shows to a standard that is decent.

So far as color and vibrancy reproduction goes, the Lumia 520 falls into the mid-range of everything you can get from phone shows. Nothing is t vibrant or oversaturated, but at the time that is same’re not getting the standard of higher-end IPS panels. Black levels are appropriate nevertheless the comparison is not t amazing, and also as we’re speaing frankly about an LCD panel there clearly was tinting that is little-to-no cope with.

Comparing a graphic on the Lumia 520 to your image that is same the high-end Lumia 920, which utilizes Nokia’s flagship IPS LCD display, you are going to observe that the standard huge difference is not as huge as you might expect through the cost distinction. The Lumia 920 is certainly the champion when it comes to quality, vibrance and comparison, however the Lumia 520 nevertheless happens of this battle quite respectably.