Nokia Lumia 520 Review and Price in Kenya

The Nokia Lumia 520 has a stunning 480 x 800 pixels 4.0-Inch screen. This equates to a ppi pixel density of about 233 ppi. This is quite impressive for an entry-level device and will by a large extent influence the purchasing decision of many potential buyers.

Due to the screen’s IPS technology, the Nokia Lumia 520 has some pretty decent viewing angles. The brightness of the screen is quite satisfactory and therefore outdoor visibility of the device is just right.

It is worth noting that the screen is quite super sensitive and it responds quite well, even for users with long fingernails or for those wearing gloves.

The Nokia Lumia 520 comes in a 119.9 x 64 x 9.9 mm frame and weighs in at just about 124g.  As it is the tradition with the Nokia Lumia series, the phone is covered with a single piece of solid plastic that covers the rear and sides of the phone.

The volume rockers, power button and camera button rest decently on the edges of the device. The curved edges plus the distinctive angular design gives users a strong grip while on the device.The Phone will be available in an assortment of colors namely Yellow, Cyan, Red and White/Black colors.

A Dual-core 1 GHz Qualcomm processor and 512MB of RAM powers the Nokia 520 handset. These technical specs are inferior to an array of other handsets in its price group.

Related: Compare Gadgets – Nokia 520 vs Nokia 620

However, it is worthwhile to know that unlike let’s say Android, the Windows 8 OS is a fairly feather weighted mobile operating system. This translates to comparable less system resources required to operate the device.

Nevertheless, the qualms about the performance of the device are overshadowed by the affordable price tag.The Phone runs on the proprietary Microsoft Windows Phone 8 Operating system. It is however upgradable to Window Phone 8 Amber.

Storage
The Nokia 520 handset comes with 8 GB of internal memory and a MicroSD slot that supports memory cards of up to 64 GB.

Related: How to Buy Genuine Nokia Micro SD Online in Kenya

Connectivity
The phones supports some decent speeds on the 3G network. Download speeds can reach up to 21.1 Mbps while upload speeds of up to 5.76 Mbps.

The Bluetooth V 4.0 chip provides super-fast transfer speeds and smooth connectivity with other wireless devices.

It is worthwhile to note that the handset uses a Micro SIM compared to the conventional Mini SIM. This implies that you have to trim the edges of your normal sized Safaricom, Airtel or Orange SIM card to make it fit in the device SIM Slot.

Multimedia

Multimedia on the phone is quite basic. The Nokia 520 handset comes with a 5MP snapper that can capture images at a maximum resolution of up to a 2592х1936 pixels resolution. Thumbnails of all the photos saved locally on the devices, can be viewed with the Camera Roll app.

The phone lacks an LED flash and a front facing camera thus image capturing is limited to well-lit scenes and Skype Video chats impossible.

The upside is that the presence of a dedicated camera button eliminates the constant need of having to fiddle with the onscreen controls when you wish to capture images.

Video shooting is limited to 720P video, which is by standard quite satisfactory.

Music playback is of decent quality and the video playback is quite smooth. The video player supports Full HD (1080P) video playback and delivers a smooth experience for music video as well as full length movies.

Battery

The Nokia 520 handset 1430 mAh battery packs in just enough juice to power the device through a day of normal usage.

Additionally, you can use the battery saving feature inbuilt in the windows 8 OS to squeeze in some more hours out of the battery.

Tech Trends Diary Verdict

For long, the Windows 8 OS has been out of reach for most in the emerging Smartphone market. The Nokia 520 handset strikes a fair bargain by equating some decent specs with a wallet friendly price tag.The phone will be perfect for the first time Smartphone users or alternatively a backup phone for the battery draining Android handset currently in your possession.

Update: The Nokia Lumia 520 was so good that it won the 2014 Global Mobile Awards as the Best Low Cost Smartphone.

Tech Trends Diary Rating

Nokia Lumia 520: [usr 8.2]

Competitors

The Nokia Lumia 620 provides a perfect ‘in-house’ alternative for the Lumia 520. While still on the Windows 8 Mobile platform, you could also take a look at the Huawei Ascend W1 handset.