Jan 21, 2014 10:00 PM
22354 Views
I have been a loyal Nokia user for years. My first mobile phone was a Nokia 6150 and I still have it and amazingly that still works! Then it was the 5110, 5210. After that I had the ever elegant 6610 and I lost it in a bar, don't ask me how. After that I thought about a switch and thought the Samsung C100 will serve me well, but I hated it the day I got it. The only thing that was good about it was it was slim and light. I used it for 2 weeks or so and I got away with it was back on the Nokia 6610, again.
What I liked about the Nokia was that the phones were beautifully designed and the OS(operating system) was so easy to use and I don't really think I should explain how easy it was. They were somehow the pioneers of simple and practical design and usability. Over the years I had a chance to own a few more Nokia phones like the 6681 and 6233 and finally the mighty Nokia N900, one of the best mobile phones ever made.
My N900 sadly had a horrible death as it slipped from my pocket while I was riding my motorcycle and ended up on the road. By then, the Lumia phones were all over the market. People just wouldn't accept the windows phone 7.5 plainly because it just couldn't keep up with the ever growing Android and of course the iPhone. But I liked the simplicity of the OS. It sort of had the simple and practical usability back in the Nokia equation. I totally agree the fact that the number of usable applications when compared with the iOS or Android at the time was a lot less, but the beautiful Nokia design, world class build quality and workmanship made me buy the Nokia Lumia 800 and I loved it. It looked like the best phone I ever had. It was the right size, it had a beautiful screen and I could update it to Windows 7.8 and by the time I had the update, there were a lot more applications for it as well. I had WhatApp, almost all social media applications, games(not the popular ones on android or ios) and a lot more interesting ones.
After 2 years of trouble free ownership, the phone still works and what I feel could be better on the Lumia 800 was its battery backup and the camera. But anyways, I still have it and use it as a back up phone just in case. Now on to the Lumia 625. Before I do, I apologize if the long history was a bit boring. Anyways, moving on.
The Nokia Lumia 625 was a sweet accident to me. I was shopping for a new phone for my wife who was using a Nokia 101 and it was on its last leg. I thought I was buying the phone for my wife and she gifted it to me and took my old Lumia 800 for her. A very lovely surprise. What I like about the Nokia Lumia 625 is that this phone is sleek, fast and applications open up in a flash. Since this runs Windows 8 its got some of the best applications in Windows store. Even though it only has a 5MP camera, with the Nokia Camera app, you take the humble 5MP camera to a whole new level. It clicks brilliant low light pictures if you could do a little bit of tweaking with the app. The gaming experience was great although some heavyweight games like the Ashpalt Airborne can make it run really hot. Browsing on this phone is a cakewalk and the battery runs for 2 days with ease. This phone makes it look like Nokia is back in business. Overall for INR17, 000 I think it is money well spent if you are choosing this phone for yourself.
Now you might be thinking why should I buy this when I can spend the same on a Samsung Galaxy Grand? My answer is, you may. And the reason why I say this is because most of the crowd are all behind Android and I have nothing against them. What all of them forget is the very purpose of a phone, and most of them use a high end Android phone plainly for making and receiving calls and SMS's and may be for clicking a few pics. A windows phone could do this too. I have been fortunate enough to meet a very few people who use Android efficiently but the majority buy it only because of the sheer number "free" apps. And most of these are usually games or may be a few productivity apps here and there. However I am not an apps guy to an extent, and I use a phone primarily to communicate, search for information using the internet available on it and of course I was all of my social media in one place, the Windows Phone 8.0 does this brilliantly and through the Nokia Lumia 625, it just makes it an enjoyable experience.
I wanted to move on to Android from the Lumia 800 but whenever I picked an Android phone, the user interface to me was a bit cluttered. You really had to search or dig deep into the phone to find what you are looking for and there was too much of stuff everywhere. Well I agree the fact that the world is moving on to handheld devices and that is the next step but, do we need something that is complicated like an Android phone. You really have to be some sort of a geek to use it and frankly, I am not. I think somewhere down the line, the simplicity of using a mobile phone was forgotten and I see that coming back through the Windows Phone 8.0 or may be its better future versions for sure.
Here is my take on the Nokia Lumia 625. If you are the sort of person who wants to use a straight to the point, in your face sort of interface, only a Windows Phone OS can pull it off and the Lumia 625 does this brilliantly. If you are the sort of person who wants the user interface to be beautiful as the device you use, the iOS is for you and you should get an Apple iPhone. But if you are the sort of person who wants everything else you should get an Android phone. The Lumia 625 is a great option for the heavy internet user, the hard core gamer or probably a chatter box as it has to power to make everyone happy. What I am totally disappointed however is the native 8GB storage and the inability to install your apps on the memory card although it supports up to 64GB of external storage. I really hope Microsoft comes up with some patch that enables you to do so. Other than that this is a great all round phone and do not deny it just because it runs Windows and the number of apps are less that the Android. Windows is a great OS and it comes alive in the Nokia Lumia 625.
