Nokia Lumia 520: Hands on and first impression

Nokia recently announced their new range of Lumia devices in India one of which was the Nokia Lumia 520. The handset is apparently a sharper and better upgrade of the Lumia 510 and runs on the latest Windows Phone 8 platform.

The Nokia Lumia 520 doesn’t have the curved edges like the Nokia Lumia 510 however, the dimensions and weight of the Nokia Lumia 520 are almost the same is it predecessor. Coming in yellow, red, cyan white and black colour options, it has the usual plastic back and full glass front. On paper, the 520 has some welcoming upgrades including more RAM (512MB from 256MB), more storage (8GB from 4GB), expandable memory card slot (supports up to 64GB), better display (IPS LCD 16million colours from TFT 65,000 colours), better video recording (720p from VGA), faster processor (1GHz dual core from 800MHz), bigger battery (1,430 mAh from 1,300 mAh) and of course the upgraded OS (Windows Phone 8 from Windows Phone 7.8)

Windows Phone 8 runs smooth and fluid on the device and no lags were noticed. Apart from the usual WP8 goodies, Nokia apps including Nokia Music, HERE maps, and various camera apps are a delight. The 520 has 5MP camera which is surprisingly a good performer and features like Cinemagraph, Smart Shoot and Panorama make it even more interesting. Also, Nokia has upgraded the display which now enables you to use the touch-screen even when you are wearing gloves.

Nokia Lumia 520 Specifications

• 4-inch WVGA ClearBlack IPS display with 800×480 resolution
• Windows Phone 8
• 1 GHz Dual-core Qualcomm Krait processor
• 512MB RAM
• 8GB internal storage expandable up to 64GB
• 5 megapixel camera with auto-focus, 720p video recording
• 1,430 mAh battery
• 2G, 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity
• Bluetooth v3.0
• USB v2.0

To be honest, it is a worthy upgrade for a Windows Phone device, and priced at Rs.10,499 it is also the most affordable Windows Phone 8 platform device.