Overpriced Lumia. Review on Nokia Lumia 625

This is my third review on a Lumia phone- after 800 and 520. The experience was worst in Lumia 800, best in Lumia 520 and just ok in Lumia 625. So let us talk about the Lumia 625.

The phone has typical Lumia design with smooth curves on the edges, Corning Gorilla Glass 2 screen and polycarbonate panel at the back. All the corners and edges are rounded off, and the shell is marginally convex, so it rests nicely in the palm.

All the physical keys- volume rocker, power button/lock key, and camera are on right side.  The buttons are in plastic and in the same color as that of the phone's rear shell - unlike the black keys of Lumia 520 & 620. There are no keys or ports at the left side of the phone. The Micro-USB port and microphone are located at the bottom, while 3.5 mm headphone jack is on the top of the phone.

It is powered by 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor with 512MB of RAM and Adreno 305 graphics. It comes with8GB built-in storage(only 4GB is available to user), expandable to 64GB via a microSD card.

The 4.7 inch IPS LCD display with resolution of 480x800 pixels and 200 pixel density is clear and equipped with various sensors and outdoor viewing enhancements. Thetouch experience is very fluid and works well with gloves on and fingernails.

It is equipped with decent 5 MP camera with LED flash and equipped with all standard features like auto focus, two-stage capture key, HD video recording and panorama lens etc. There isnothing special or great about the camera, it is good enough to serve basic purpose. Pictures taken outdoors in good light are clear butindoors or low light pictures are grainy and missed out on details. It also features a VGA front-facing camera that serves the purpose of video chat.

The video and audio playback is up to the mark. Music quality is further enhanced Dolby sound. The call quality and signal reception is excellent like all the Nokia phones of all range.

There are all the connectivity options such as GPRS, EDGE, WLAN, Bluetooth and a USB port. And the best part is that it is 4G ready device that makes it cheapest 4G enabled device.

Proprietary HERE maps of Nokia is simple and accurate, and at par with Google maps.  There is provision of downloading maps and store them offline to assist on a daily basis without using data. HERE Drive app offers offline navigation completes with turn-by-turn directions is even ahead of navigation provided by Google Maps.

It is equipped with 2000 mAh battery that provides good battery life. It easily works for two days under normal circumstances -some browsing(over LTE), taking a few pictures, listening to music, a few phone calls, emails, etc. It is a known fact that Windows OS is not power hungry and the hardware has been optimized for good battery performance. It is capable to play video for about 10 hours constantly off a charge, of course with controlled screen resolution.

You will not experience any lag in launching apps, playing games, switching between apps or browsing.

Limitations

1. All apps are installed in phone storage and there is no option to install those on memory card. This apparently causes memory issues in phone.

   
   




2. There is no provision of file explorer that means that you cannot access files stored on memory card. Simply speaking, it cannot be used as a mass storage device.

   
   




3. The three capacitive touch keys are not backlit so you may face problem using this phone in night.

   
   




4. There is no centralised notification tray like in Android or iOS. Notifications are displayed in respective tiles.

   
   




5. Like many other modern phones the Lumia 625 does not support 3G video calls. It supports video calls over services like Skype.

   
   




6. You cannot listen music over Bluetooth headset.

   
   




7. There is no option to attach document files in mail.

   
   




8. The bundled headphone has no control button that means it is not possible to answer a call, control music playback, or issue voice commands without touching the phone.

   
   

Pros

1. Sturdy build quality, sporty looks and sleek user interface, pleasing design and comfortable to hold.

   
   




2. Integrations of MS office enable viewing and editing of documents.

   
   




3. Option to use offline ‘Here Maps’

   
   




4. Fluid touch sensitivity.

   
   




5. Full HD playback and recording.

   
   




6. Dual Core processor.

   
   




7. Larger 4.7" Display with crystal clear screen

   
   




8. 4G Connectivity.

   
   




9. MicroSD memory card expansion slot.

   
   

Cons

1. Low resolution display.

   
   




2. Comparatively low 512MB RAM.

   
   




3. VGA front camera.

   
   




4. Poor headphone quality.

   
   




5. Average camera performance.

   
   

Lumia 625 vs. 720

Lumia 625 and Lumia 720 are available in almost same price range so better have a comparison of both the phones:

1. Full HD(1080p) video recording on Lumia 625 compared to HD(720p) on Lumia 720.

   
   




2. Lumia 625 is 4G ready(capable of 20Mbps speed) whereas Lumia 720 supports 3.5G only

   
   




3. Lumia 625 has 1.2GHz dual-core processor compared to 1GHz dual-core processor of Lumia 720.

   
   




4. Lumia 625 comes with pre-installed Nokia Amber update and Bluetooth 4.0.

   
   




5. Lumia 625 has larger screen than Lumia 720.

   
   




6. Lumia 720 has better camera and supports wireless charging.

   
   

Wrap-up

In nutshell Nokia Lumia 625 is low cost Windows Phone with large screen and 4G connectivity. As on date there are very few cities where 4G LTE has been launched so this 4G feature is not of much use.

For me Lumia 520 is the winner of budget smartphone. Iwill recommend Lumia 520 in place of Lumia 625 because it is a value for money phone and best in that price range. The same is not applicable to Lumia 625 as better phones are available in this price range.

We are paying 7000 extra(Lumia 520 costs Rs.8000, Lumia 625 costs Rs.15000) to get 0.2GHz faster & dual-core processor, 0.7in larger screen and few useless features.

Better have a look at few important points:

1. If you don't have intention to play games and if you want to try something new - this phone is great.

   
   




2. There are better phones available in Android for the same price range and with better specifications.

   
   




3. It is a phone for those who wanted a non-Android phone with large screen.

   
   




4. If you are switching over from Android to Windows phone you may sometime feel lost. But a week of after using the phone you will definitely feel the awesomeness of the device.

   
   




5. This is a good phone for people upgrading from basic to smartphone.

   
   

My ratings 2.5/5