Review: T-Mobile Nokia Lumia 521
While Nokia has been busy unleashing the Lumia 520 Windows Phone to various global markets, T-Mobile has landed an sectional variation, the Lumia 521. It's a compact, budget oriented Windows Phone that reminds me of the Lumia 710. Maybe a little more than refined that the older Lumia.
The scaled back Lumia 521 lacks a front facing camera, camera light and isn't that bountiful on RAM or storage space. While the Lumia 521 may not be a "loftier finish" Windows Telephone it fills a niche. In combining the depression-cost of about $150 and T-Mobile's "no contract" plans, the Lumia 521 is a practiced choice for the first fourth dimension Windows Phone possessor, parents looking for a reliable Windows Phone for their teenager, or anyone else just looking to salve a few dollars.
After spending a little time with the Lumia 521, we've constitute information technology to be a rather solid add-on to the Windows Phone family.
 The Proficient? Build quality, fit and experience, the 5MP camera, the pricing, the battery life, Wi-Fi calling and more. |  The Bad? It may exist obvious. Depression on-board storage, low RAM, no lite, no front facing photographic camera. But with what's on lath, at that place really isn't whatever ane feature that sinks the Lumia 521. Maybe the white color? |
 The Lumia 521 isn't for everyone. Information technology is missing features nosotros've come up to know and appreciate on other Windows Phones but you've got to remember it's a budget oriented Windows Telephone. At that place had to be some sacrifices to maintain the sub-$150 pricing point. What we go is a well congenital, solid performing Windows Telephone. Nokia did a good job of scaling dorsum the Lumia 521 to keep its price depression while not driving a stake through the telephone's functioning. | |
The Design
The Nokia Lumia 521 departs from the uni-body blueprint of the Lumia 92x phones with a removable bombardment cover. The phone does have a "plastic" feel to it but non a cheap plastic feel that would misfile the phone with a children's toy. Measuring 4.8x2.5x.4 inches and weighing simply 4.39 ounces, the Lumia 521 is fairly meaty and with the curved sides, fits rather comfortably in the hand. It's compact size also makes it a very comfortable pocket acquit phone.
Working around the device you'll find the book rocker, ability push and photographic camera button forth the correct side; down below is the micro-USB port, the left side of the telephone is bare; and upwards acme you'll observe the headphone jack. To the rear is a 5MP camera and the phones speakers.
Underneath the battery cover yous'll detect a 1430 mAh battery, your SIM card slot, and microSD expansion carte du jour slot.
The button layout is fairly typical of Nokia's Windows Phones. The buttons are raised ever and then slightly to give them definition and functioned in suitable fashion. No stickiness, softness, or other unpleasantries to report.
What'due south missing? The Lumia 521 lacks a photographic camera light/flash, NFC, wireless charging and a front-facing photographic camera. Personally, I've never had much use for the camera light beyond using it as a flashlight and don't video chat much. I've used NFC maybe once on the Lumia 920 simply have grown addicted to wireless charging. For the most part, what's missing isn't that much of a loss for me but others may meet information technology differently.
Over again, the Lumia 521 does take a "plastic" experience to it but a solid "plastic" feel. The plastic bombardment cover has a piddling bit of texture to provide a decent grip and snaps firmly in identify. I'm non particularly a fan of the white color but was impressed how it held upwardly to dust and dirt. The Lumia 521 did get a little dusty hanging effectually the wood shop only wiped clean rather nicely.
Overall, the Lumia 521 doesn't step out on the wild side with regards to blueprint and is a well built offering from Nokia.
Nether The Hood
Here is where some will shy away from the Nokia Lumia 521. Nether the hood the Lumia 521 has a dual-core 1GHz Snapdragon CPU, microSD card expansion, and Windows Telephone viii. Pretty good so far, right?
What will make many pause is that the Lumia 521 only has 512MB of RAM and 8GB of storage (only 4.61GB free out of the box). At that place'due south no NFC but the Lumia 521 does accept Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. While 1GB of RAM would be nicer, the 512MB performs quite well. As Dan noted in his offset impressions post, there is a delay hither and there but not plenty to be frustrating.
The 8GB of storage may seem paltry simply you do have microSD expansion and deject storage to aid handle your storage needs. Yous may have to manage your apps, games and music files a trivial more than carefully but 8GB of storage is doable.
The 4" screen is an IPS 800x480 Super-sensitive Bear upon display. It lacks the Clearblack screen polarizer, PureMotion engineering science and Gorilla Glass just for all that is missing, the Lumia 521's screen performs rather nicely. Colors are abrupt, brightness levels good and in near lighting conditions the screen has a bit of pop to it. The Super-sensitive touch gives the screen fantastic touch responsiveness. The Achilles heel for the Lumia 521's screen is what hinders near screens, brilliant sunny days. The screen but gets overwhelmed by bright lord's day more easily. The Lumia 521 does have the "Sunlight Readability" setting that does help with things only you'll even so observe yourself hunting for shade on those clement, sunny summer days.
Another downside to the screen is that it tin can be a fingerprint magnet. At first I thought information technology was the jelly doughnuts I ate earlier in the day (ran out of pie at the firm) just even with freshly washed hands, you'll see fingerprints a little more that usual. Nothing a few shirt swipes won't clear though.
Everything is powered by a 1430mAH bombardment that is rated for 400 hours of standby time, 9 hours of talk time and 45 hours of playback fourth dimension. Not sure we tin dispute those numbers but in using the Lumia 521 modestly during the day (a few calls, a few games, a few web searches, and email) the Windows Telephone fabricated information technology through a full day with about 25% battery life still on the ticker.
It'south hard to say Nokia skimped under the Lumia 521'south hood because the phone performed rather nicely. To keep the pricing point depression, Nokia had to make some concessions. Sure, in that location was some give and have but in the end, Nokia found a fashion to scale back the specs and maintain modest operation.
Camera
The Lumia 521 has a bit of an odd photographic camera layout. The Windows Phone has a 5MP rear photographic camera, no front end facing camera and no light, and a scaled back settings bill of fare. The photographic camera does capture both video and still images.
The rear lens has a focal length of 28mm and has a stock-still aperture of f2.4. Information technology lacks the Carl Zeiss lens and BSI sensor to keep costs down.Images captured at xvi:9 are 3.77MP while the 4:3 Ratio captures 5MP images.The camera also has a 4x digital zoom.
Nokia Lumia 521 28mm view
Nokia Lumia 521 at 4x Zoom
While I'm all the same skeptical off digital zooms, the Lumia 521 does a decent job of things with only a hint of distortion at four times zoom. Goose egg earth shattering but much better than what we've seen in the past.
Menu Settings for the nevertheless camera cover:
- Scenes: Motorcar, Close-up, Dark, Sports, and Backlight
- ISO: 100, 200, 400, 800
- Exposure Value (Compensation): +two to -2 stops
- White Remainder: Car, Cloudy, Daylight, Fluorescent, Incandescent
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9 and 4:3
While scaled back, the Lumia 521's camera carte does cover the bare boned nuts. The menu does feel similar something was left out with no creative filters but you lot practice have Nokia'south Creative Studio in the Lens section that makes up for the loss. Withal on-board filters can be rather convenient.
Nokia Lumia 521 Indoor Photograph Sample
Equally scaled back as the camera is on the Lumia 521, it performs rather nicely under a humble range of lighting conditions. It doesn't have the depression light punch of the Lumia 920 but did a decent task of things indoors under moderate lighting. Images were sharp but I did run into a chip of color cast and low color saturation with the Lumia 521. Then again, the weather condition wasn't exactly cooperative with overcast skies and pelting in the expanse.
Nokia Lumia 521 Outdoor Photograph Samples
The Lumia 521 has a Close-up Scenes setting that pulls the camera to inside six inches from your discipline and performs rather keen.
Nokia Lumia 521 Close-upward Photograph Samples
Night or low-light images are the cameras weak signal. With ISO maxing out at 800, the camera relies on slower shutter speeds which in plow results in blurry photos due to photographic camera movement. And then there'south the fact that you lack a light on the Lumia 521 then you won't have the benefit of any lighting to assist with focusing. Yous tin take "okay" photos at night merely a rock steady hand (better yet a tripod) and a little luck is a must.
Nokia Lumia 521 (left) and Nokia Lumia 920 Nighttime Photo Comparing
It may not be a off-white fight but the left image was taken with the Lumia 521 and the right with the Lumia 920. The lighting was a single street lamp well later on sunset. Information technology took four tries before I could hold the 521's camera still enough to eliminate the camera mistiness while the Lumia 920 but took one try. The tale of the tape? The Lumia 521 shot this at one/8th shutter speed at ISO 800. The Lumia 920 was set at 1/6th shutter speed at ISO 640.
Nokia Lumia 521 Photo Sample
Taking everything into consideration with regards to all the same images, the Lumia 521's camera isn't too shabby for a scaled back 5MP shooter. The camera does needs a footling fine tuning with the saturation levels and white rest but neither are then bad a trivial mail-processing can't fix.
Nokia Lumia 521 Photo Sample
Video quality was rather impressive. Footage was sharp, the microphone picked upward on things nicely, but without optical stabilization you go a lot of bounce.
With the Lumia 521's video settings, y'all have options for:
- White Remainder: Auto, Cloudy, Daylight, Fluorescent, Incandescent
- Continuous Focus: On or Off
- Video Way: High Quality (720p) or Standard Quality (WVGA)
I call up if you can control the bounce, the video quality on the Lumia 521 volition delight nigh.
Again, I've never been a fan of the calorie-free/flash on our Windows Telephone cameras so its absence on the Lumia 521 isn't missed. And while I rarely use a front facing photographic camera, I can see where some will miss this feature. Are either a bargain billow? Just not seeing it.
In looking at the large movie, the Lumia 521 has a rather peachy camera. While the photographic camera may lack optical stabilization, a higher pixel count, a lite, and a few menu features other Windows Telephone cameras may have it performs rather well. Whatever tinkering Nokia did under the hood of the photographic camera was washed exceptionally well in near areas of functioning.
The Software
The Lumia 521 runs Windows Telephone 8 and does come with a handful of pre-loaded apps. You have the Weather Channel, Slacker Radio, along with apps from the Nokia Drove such as the HERE Suite (Bulldoze, Maps, Transit), Nokia Music, Cinemagraph, and Creative Studio.
Yous besides accept preloaded T-Mobile software such as 411 & More, My Account, T-Mobile Tv, and CallerTunes. 411 & More is an odd sort of app that gives you lot a direct dialing link for 411 Directory Aid, the current weather, a horoscope line and a sports study line. The directory assistance link volition cost you lot up to $one.99 per phone call with the other calls existence free.
I'k suspecting CallerTunes is a ringtone app and T-Mobile TV streams your favorite television shows. I kept getting a "network not available" error in launching either app and so I can't say if they are worth keeping or not. The My Account app taps into your T-Mobile account where you can review your account status, whatever notifications and get device support.
Settings are fairly standard for a Windows Phone 8 device. Y'all're likely going to need to update the Lumia 521 out of the box to Bone version viii.0.10211.204. You won't accept firmware features such as Storage Check, but you can e'er pick up the Beta version.
While the pre-loaded software isn't too shabby, the Lumia 521 only has 4.61GB of complimentary storage out of the box. In the end, if you aren't going to use these apps, deleting them volition free upwardly some infinite. Also, keep in mind with the Nokia HERE maps, you lot can save them to your microSD Card to free upward on-lath storage likewise.
The Phone
We oft overlook or seldom mention the phone role of our Windows Phone. It's easy to have the phone aspects overshadowed by stunning camera performance or jaw dropping graphics.
With respect to the Lumia 521 as a phone, it performed rather approvingly. Nothing over the top but par for the grade as Windows Phones are concerned. Earpiece volume was good, the microphone picked upward my vocalism with no issues, and the rear speaker did a decent task of things.
In addition to the traditional wireless calling, the Lumia 521 too has Wifi Calling. It'southward a new characteristic that comes along with the latest firmware update and allows for calls to be made over Wi-Fi. It's a groovy characteristic when you lot're in an expanse with weak network coverage but have access to a Wi-Fi network. Recall of it as a mobile microcell for your Windows Phone.
Just think you'll need to hard reset your Lumia 521 afterward updating for the Wi-Fi Calling app to appear. Remember to back upwards things before hand.
The only issue I had with phone service was reception. The Lumia 521 barely made information technology past three bars simply I can't necessarily blame that on the phone. T-Mobile doesn't have the all-time coverage in my neck of the woods and it could hands be a network issue. It was prissy that Wi-Fi Calling is available for the Lumia 521.
The Overall Impression
After tinkering with the Nokia Lumia 521 for a few days nosotros find it to be a well congenital, budget friendly, solid performing Windows Phone.
The Lumia 521 is a scaled back phone with no camera light, no NFC, no front-facing camera, 512MB of RAM and 8GB. Sacrifices probable to keep the Lumia 521 at a very amicable pricing point. Fortunately, nosotros didn't discover any of this detrimental to the Lumia 521's overall functioning. The screen has a little pop, the camera is a good shooter, call quality won't exit you asking "Can you hear me now?", and battery life is respectable.
The Lumia 521 is what it is. It'southward not intended to compete with the Lumia 92x series but instead it offers a upkeep oriented option for those who want to save a picayune or just desire to dip their large toe into the Windows Phone swimming pool. I tin can also see the Lumia 521 as a good option for the younger Windows Phone user who doesn't demand the larger sized alternatives. My teenage son actually institute the compact size of the Lumia 521 a little more highly-seasoned than the larger Lumia 920.
The Lumia 521 is offered exclusively through T-Mobile and can be establish at your local T-Mobile Store and various retailers such as Wal-Mart and the Home Shopping Network. Pricing for the Lumia 521 ranges from nearly $130 to $150, depending on the retailer.
Oh Dearest
New study reveals Microsoft's futurity AR strategy; HoloLens 3 is dead
Business Insider has today published a follow-up report with more details nearly Microsoft'southward canceled HoloLens iii augmented reality headset. The partnership with Samsung is said to include a headset with a set of screens inside, powered past a Samsung phone in your pocket.
Keeping information technology affordable
Review: Surface Laptop SE is the new standard for K-8 Windows PCs
Starting at merely $250, Microsoft'southward first foray into affordable laptops for the education market is a winner. With a gorgeous pattern, excellent thermals, and a fantastic typing experience, Microsoft would do right to sell this directly to consumers every bit well. Let'southward merely hope Intel tin can make a meliorate CPU.
Source: https://www.windowscentral.com/t-mobile-nokia-lumia-521-windows-phone-budget
Posted by: strobelexproning.blogspot.com
0 Response to "Review: T-Mobile Nokia Lumia 521"
Post a Comment