Budget phones can be miserable affairs. Poor screen and camera resolution, terrible keyboards and hand-me-down technology can make a user feel like the character in Barbra Streisand's 60s hit Second Hand Rose.
This isn't so with Nokia's new Windows 8 Lumia 620. With up-to-date features such as Near Field Communication (NFC), a digital wallet, Microsoft Office, and some not seen in the premium Lumia 920 model, such as a removable battery and micro SD card slot, budget users may make premium customers jealous.
The Lumia 620 is one of the best budget phones we've seen. At $329 it offers the latest software and connectivity made available through Microsoft's Windows Phone 8, a raft of great add-ons from Nokia, such as free worldwide maps, turn-by-turn car navigation and Nokia music, and social networking integrated in the People Hub.
Weighing 127g and 11mm thick, it is a smallish and lightweight phone that's easy to carry and easy to use no matter your hand size. Nokia says the 620 has a "youthful appeal". With its brightly coloured interchangeable back covers, you can have a blue day, lime green day, orange, magenta, yellow and cyan days, and change the screen theme colour to match.
But this trivialises the 620's youthful appeal. The fact it runs Windows Phone 8, integrates with Office, Skydrive and Office 365 means enterprises might choose this phone to issue to staff.
Being feature-packed yet cost-wise in the ambit of what users are prepared to pay, Nokia's Lumia 620 is the best ambassador Microsoft and Nokia have for popularising the Windows Phone 8 platform in the mass market.
Some corners are cut to keep costs down. The 620's Snapdragon 1.0 Gigahertz dual core processor is less powerful than the 920's 1.5GHz dual core one. But go a few months back, and no Windows Phone had a dual core processor, not even the expensive ones. The previous Windows Phone 7 version worked only with single core processors.
WP7 also didn't permit microSD card storage. In contrast the 620 excels here. It is the first phone we've reviewed with a microSD card slot that can add up to 64GB of additional storage. You will need to buy a 64GB microSD. They start around $60.
Throw in 8GB of internal storage and 7GB free in the cloud with Skydrive, and you have potentially 79GB aboard. That's not bad for a cheapie phone.
The 620's 3.8-inch screen isn't the quality of the iPhone's Retina display. Its 246-pixel resolution falls short of the 326 ppi on the iPhone 4S and 5. Yet images seem sharp enough. In size, the screen is a tad larger than that on the iPhone 4S.
And the 1300 milliampere hour battery is smallish, juice-wise. Yet we did manage to get more than six hours of battery life watching locally stored movies. Windows Phone 8 is efficient power-wise and, with moderate usage, you'll get through the day. Heavy users may be challenged. At least the battery is removable, so you can insert a spare.
The cameras too are average: 5 megapixels on the back and VGA at front. There's no image-stabilising PureView camera found on the premium Lumia 920. The biggest negative is the availability of apps for Windows Phones. Microsoft's Store now has 125,000 apps but many popular ones are yet to be added. Buyers should first check the Microsoft store.
Overall, the 620 makes compromises to be a cheaper phone but its rich features, usability and coupling with Microsoft's latest Windows Phone 8 we think will make it a hit. The 620 is available from February 22 from JB Hi-Fi, the Good Guys, Dick Smith, Harvey Norman and Allphones. Its recommended price is $329 but you can get it at discounted prices locally for about $280, or less.
