Nokia Lumia 520 release date, price and specifications

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Posted on 25 Feb 2013 at 09:26, by Chris Finnamore

Nokia has taken the wraps off a new, far cheaper Windows Phone 8 handset – the Lumia 520.

This will be the cheapest handset in Nokia's current Lumia range, and will be an absolute steal at €139 before tax.

Despite the new phone's low price, Nokia hasn't scrimped on specifications. You get a 1GHz dual-core processor and 512MB RAM, so the phone's core specification is the same as the more expensive Lumia 620 and will run Windows Phone 8 smoothly.

There's also 8GB of integrated storage and a microSD card slot for further expansion, so you don't even have to worry about running out of space. The phone also has the usual suite of Nokia Lumia apps, such as free music from Nokia Music and mapping and turn-by-turn navigation from the "HERE maps" and "HERE Drive" apps – the new names for Nokia Maps and Nokia Drive.

The only area where money appears to have been saved compared to the Lumia 620 is in the screen. This is a 4in model with 800x480-pixel resolution, which is standard for all Nokia's Lumia phones apart from the top-end 920, but it doesn't have some of the fancy display technologies from further up the range, such as ClearBlack for added contrast or a polarisation filter.

It's an impressive handset, and the €139 price translates to around £121. Add VAT and you have £145 SIM-free – around the same price as lower mid-range Android handsets, and great value if Nokia's standard high build quality remains intact. The Lumia 520 will be available from Q2 this year in the UK.

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