One of our fans Ronan Coughlan aged 19 is a new blogger in ireland which i helped him get started and likes all things tech and has reviewed the NOKIA LUMIA 520 he sent it in to us to have a look.
You can read the review here and tell us what you think yourself.
So about two weeks ago the Nokia Lumia 520 turned up at my doorstep for me to give my thoughts and review on this small but punchy smartphone. Earlier in the week I did a piece on the Lumia 520: Unboxed which you can find here. This is my thoughts and views on the Lumia 520 in a full review now!
Design:
A great feature on this device is the changeable back covers which are available in a range a colors including yellow, red, cyan, white and black. My device was yellow and its was very vibrant and colorful. With this added bonus you could change the back cover to suit your style, mood or day which brings great value for money and if you scratch the back of your 520 just replace it with a shiny new one and your good to go! On the device the design is nice and clean, it sports three buttons on the right side with a volume rocker, home button and a very handy dedicated camera button. The top of the phone has a headphone jack and at the bottom we see a usb port. The 5mp camera, mic and centered Nokia logo at the back that complete the Lumia’s design features on-board.
Display:
This device does indeed pack a punch with a fantastic resolution of 800 x 480 which turned a few heads when out and about with this device! With a 4 inch screen its not the biggest smartphone screen but for its value and great display its brilliant! The contrast and colour are rich and very sharp so no problems there.
Operating system:
The Lumia 520 runs Windows phone 8 software in its main form of live tiles (below). If you want something different than your friends S3 or iPhone than this is for you! Swiping to the left will bring you to all your apps, and with the colourful tiles you can chop and change, re size and minimize to suit your needs! The Windows store is still let down by big, official apps but its growing each day and hopefully will get to compete with android and iOS very soon but its very nice colourful and customizable!
The Lumia 520 running Windows phone 8 software (above)
Processor:
The Lumia’s powered by a dual-core 1GHz processor with 512MB of RAM. That’s the same processor you’ll find inside the Lumia 720 so, as with the screen resolution, you’re getting much better value for money at the lower end of the range than at the top. It’s a much lesser engine than the quad-core superphones of today but it being Windows Phone the processor is well able to handle and does not need such big power. With so many other budget phones they can lag through gameplay but the 520 betters all of them with flaw free gameplay with such games as Temple Run and Pac-Man which I played both an perfectly.
Camera:
The 520 packs a 5mp camera with no flash and no Carl Zeiss features we would see on the 820 or 920 but still it takes basic shots very well. Nokia chucks in a bunch of camera software too, all of which you’ll find on the 520. There’s a panorama function, built-in editing tools, a Cinemagraph app and a best-shot tool that combines multiple shots of people into one, letting you pick the best faces from each image. Overall for the price I an content with the camera functions for this budget device. (see camera test below).
In both photos the colours are captured well but you don’t get the sharpness of a high end cameraphone, but its still looks alright..
Conclusion;
The 520 packs many of the same specs as the Lumia 720/820 etc, making it excellent value and a fantastic smart phone to consider on a budget. Its bold display is one of the best I’ve seen in the low-end market and Nokia’s software additions of HERE Maps and the Drive app are brilliant! Unless you want a better camera this is the device for you! You can buy one from O2 Ireland for a bargain price of 109 euros here
Pros:
- Affordable price
- Excellent display
- Decent bundled apps, especially sat-nav
- Colourful changeable covers
- Expandable storage and swappable battery
Cons:
- Laclustire camera function
- Poor front facing camera
- Windows app store still trial a bit behind IOS and Android app stores as of now
So that’s my review of the Lumia 520! I hope you like it! I’d like to thank Nokia Connects and especially Laura from the team for giving me the opportunity to trial this device for two weeks. It was brilliant! Remember you can now follow the blog on twitter here @TechInfoIRL and get tweeting! : v)
Ronan , (technicallyinformed)