My Nokia 520/WP8 Review

[OneOfTheseDays]

With Nokia 520's going so cheap these days I decided to pick one up as a backup for my main driver, iPhone 4S. Let me just put it bluntly, for under $100 there is no better unlocked, non-contract, phone available on the market. What you get for this price is nothing short of incredible. It even gives my iPhone 4S a run for its money in several areas.

That being said, it's not a perfect device, but the large majority of issues people are likely to have really don't have anything to do with the phone itself but rather the underlying WP8 OS.

Pros

• WP8 is a beautiful OS. When running native apps or those that closely follow the METRO design guidelines it really shows the potential that the OS has. Everything flows together beautifully in a way that is synchronous across the OS (much like iOS). You get the feeling that everything is sort of interconnected in a way, as opposed to all of the apps living in their own separate worlds like they do on iOS.
• The OS is extremely intuitive. Within an hour I was up and running with no issues. There really isn't a steep learning curve here.
• Live Tiles, when done right, are a nice addition. Unfortunately, few apps really take advantage of this in a meaningful way.
• Fast, smooth, responsive, zero lag. Wow who would have thought such a low-end device could deliver an experience that matches what you can achieve on the highest end Android phones running significantly better hardware. It's really a testament to the efficiency of WP8 OS.
• Awesome keyboard. Well it better be since you can't swap it out. My typing efficiency has gone way up compared to iOS. The keyboard suggestions are really good too.
• Back button. Such a simple and awesome concept that works surprisingly well. It literally takes you back to whatever you were doing, no matter what the context is/was.

Cons

• Web browser is not that great. It's passable, yes, but lacks some really obvious features. A software back/forward button is sorely lacking and needed as sometimes the hardware back button doesn't work correctly. Also I've noticed a lot of websites that are only Webkit compatible don't really render that well on WP8. This is not Microsoft's problem, but rather the web developers who chose not to abide by basic standards.
• App library is poor. Most of the major apps are there, yes, but some of them don't work as good as they do on other OS's. You can get by with 3rd party solutions for now for most things, but if you're coming from iOS you will be somewhat disappointed.
• Lack of notifications. This is really inexcusable to me. The fact that I can get an email alert, but not have any idea who it's from to give me context if I should bother reading it. The lack of a unified center for notifications means you will have to have those relevant tiles at the top to be aware of what is going on. It's a really poor solution, WP8.1 can't come soon enough.

That's all I can think of for now. Overall I feel the OS has a lot of potential but is missing some really key/basic features that it needs to have as well as an app library that can compete with the big boys. 2014 will likely be the make or break year for MSFT. If they can't deliver feature parity by 8.1 I don't think they will ever be able to make a dent.

 

[notposting]

Regarding the email, you can do two things that might help, you can have the lockscreen show detailed status for email (last one in) and you will get the same result with the double wide live tile as well.

Otherwise yeah. I hope 8.1 has the required feature parity and some refinements in existing stuff. I love it but I'm only buying a phone every year or two, you know?

 

[destrekor]

How is the size in your hand?

I've been eyeing these as a replacement media player. I'm debating if I really want to go that route, or if there will be an ideal phone with SD card expansion to also serve as the mp3 player.

I never minded, and actually always favored, the idea of carrying separate devices for their task. The Zune HD, and the Zune models before it, served me VERY well, especially during college. I use my Zune essentially every day, as my music player while driving, but it doesn't get much use outside of that, so I still don't mind the separate device because I won't be carrying it on my person all the time.

That said - I'm currently carrying a Galaxy Nexus (personal phone) and an iPhone 4S (work phone). When I go to my car, it's those two plus my ZuneHD and faceplate for the audio deck. So many things to juggle, lol.

Sadly, the Zune, due to nearly constant usage, is on its last legs. So many bad memory blocks (I suspect). I've had many songs which either get skipped, play for some time and then skip, have bad audio sections but keep playing, or have some song and then a whole bunch of blank/mute audio before sometimes quitting/skipping. Sometimes it plays for 30 seconds of nothingness on a given track.
Which tracks are bad rotate as the music is synced and changed around.

I'm still in the "I can put up with this" phase, so I'm also still looking into seeing whether Xbox Music service improves enough on Android - then I can replace my personal phone with a unified phone. It'd need a good battery and a MicroSD card slot, however.

But both Android or WP8, will need Xbox Music to sync. Not a problem, as I have Win8 (8.1), but the interface and features have always leaved much to be desired. I've personally found it to be lacking, terribly, compared to the Zune desktop software. I can't even sync the ZuneHD with the Xbox Music app.
I doubt I can sync WP8 or Android devices with the Zune desktop app, however, and I haven't really seen how well the on-disk library transfers into the Xbox Music library, and how well the device syncing relationship system works in that app. It seemed so counter-intuitive in many respects, and lacking in actual features, compared to the Zune app, so I don't know if I want to be forced to entirely depend upon said Xbox Music app.

But more importantly for this thread, how does the 520 work for you on that front? does it feel good in hand, and, in the event you want to use it, does it seem like it would fit well on an arm band?

I've got my MotoACTV (wrist) when I want to do sports tracking and music while running - I may or may not continue to use that when I start with my gym package coming up, but I will have music and headphones...my BT Jaybird Freedom buds would be preferred - as opposed to my wired Shure's - the latter sound better, but I've destroyed Shure's while working out, or at least through running and constant use - so I want to be careful and like the sweat-proof design of the Jaybirds - and no wires to trip up on while working out.

 

[pantsaregood]

The bit about e-mail notifications isn't really fair - you can set them to show up on your lock screen in place of your calendar, or you can resize your e-mail tile to be "large" so it displays extra information.

As for "it isn't going to make a dent without feature parity": for the most part, feature parity is there. Some things do need improvement, though. WP8 is slowly becoming less of a "fringe OS," however. It has broken 10% marketshare in a large number of markets on the back of the Lumia 520.

 

[bearxor]

The bit about e-mail notifications isn't really fair - you can set them to show up on your lock screen in place of your calendar, or you can resize your e-mail tile to be "large" so it displays extra information.

These features are useless. The lock screen notification only shows your last email received. So does the large tile. What annoyed me most about the email tiles were that there was no indication of which email account is which when you use a small tile. If you have two Exchange accounts, the tiles look identical. You've either got to remember which ones are which or be forced to use the medium tile to know which one is which.

Quite frankly, I found live tiles to be almost completely useless. The long period of time between refreshes, the lack of information that eventually gets displayed and the amount of time it takes for that information to flip on the tile makes the whole process an exercise in frustration.

But even with your proposed workaround, his point stands. You have to have the tile 4x1 in order to see the notification. He complains that he doesn't know which email account it comes from. If he put three email accounts at the top of his start screen in 4x1 configuration, then you're scrolling/swiping to do anything else on the phone.

Compare that to iOS, where I can turn on/off unlock screen notifications on a per account basis, I can have it say just "mail message" and the account it comes from or I can have it tell me who it's from and include a preview if I want for up to 10 different messages. And then, swiping that message takes me right to it.

WP is lacking in a lot of areas right now. I'm glad it works for you but Microsoft really needs to roll up their sleeves and make it work for the rest of us

 

[IamDavid]

the 520 isn't a perfect device but come on, its $100 with NO CONTRACT! its a perfect phone for my daughters and any other less then technical users.
New gdr3 makes it even better.

 

[OneOfTheseDays]

I'm hoping msft is taking their time with notifications to make them perfect. Frankly there are so many cool ways they can go, I'm excited to see what they come up with.



Also a control center of sorts is sorely needed. Swipe from the left would be so awesome and intuitive.

 

[phucheneh]

We're at the point where it's getting absurd that average people are paying 500+ for iPhones. If MS and Nokia do some good marketing, I don't see why something like this can't become as commonplace as the Nokia 'candy bar' phones from like 10-12 years ago.

An actual $100 price point (as in, what you pay in B&M stores, rather than buying overstock off eBay or whatever) for a very solid dual core phone with a decent WVGA screen? That should be the answer to the iPhone, rather than $400-500 Androids. 'Our phone has technically superior hardware and costs $100 less than Apple' doesn't exactly have the same impact as 'hey, wanna do everything an iPhone can do for 20% of the price?'

I thought the Windows tablet commercials were pretty convincing. No idea how that's doing...but I'd go even further for Windows phone commercials (which...I'm not sure even exist? Never seen one).

 

[hans007]

I've got a 521 but I can say size in hand is OK. I mean for a sub $100 phone its fine. I also have a moto x and the dimensions are just about the same. Then again the 521 has a smaller screen but yeah its $100

 

[hotlavaaaa]

We're at the point where it's getting absurd that average people are paying 500+ for iPhones. If MS and Nokia do some good marketing, I don't see why something like this can't become as commonplace as the Nokia 'candy bar' phones from like 10-12 years ago.

An actual $100 price point (as in, what you pay in B&M stores, rather than buying overstock off eBay or whatever) for a very solid dual core phone with a decent WVGA screen? That should be the answer to the iPhone, rather than $400-500 Androids. 'Our phone has technically superior hardware and costs $100 less than Apple' doesn't exactly have the same impact as 'hey, wanna do everything an iPhone can do for 20% of the price?'

I thought the Windows tablet commercials were pretty convincing. No idea how that's doing...but I'd go even further for Windows phone commercials (which...I'm not sure even exist? Never seen one).

I have never seen a TV ad for the 520/521. I don't get why MS and Nokia aren't pushing these phones harder. I see all kinds of commercials for the 1020 and an occasional 925 ad, but none for the phones that are dominating WP sales. They run their ads comparing the Surface and iPad and emphasize the price difference between them. Make the same ad with the 520/521 and the iPhone and emphasize the $550 price difference.

 

[notposting]

I'm hoping msft is taking their time with notifications to make them perfect. Frankly there are so many cool ways they can go, I'm excited to see what they come up with.



Also a control center of sorts is sorely needed. Swipe from the left would be so awesome and intuitive.

I'm really really really really hoping they have that as an option from the Start screen.

Their track record does not inspire me though.

 

[bearxor]

I have never seen a TV ad for the 520/521. I don't get why MS and Nokia aren't pushing these phones harder. I see all kinds of commercials for the 1020 and an occasional 925 ad, but none for the phones that are dominating WP sales. They run their ads comparing the Surface and iPad and emphasize the price difference between them. Make the same ad with the 520/521 and the iPhone and emphasize the $550 price difference.

That's a great idea but, unfortunately, not how most people in the US buy phones.

While the 520 is getting a great adoption rate worldwide (and it's deserved because it is an EXCELLENT device) comparing it on price in the US doesn't work. Because most people but their phones on a two-year contract and so you'd be comparing the $100 off-contract price of the Lumia 520 to the $200 on-contract price of the iPhone 5S, SGS4, HTC One, whatever.

 

[biostud]

You can try the UC browser to see if you like it better than IE.

 

[Crono]

I have never seen a TV ad for the 520/521. I don't get why MS and Nokia aren't pushing these phones harder. I see all kinds of commercials for the 1020 and an occasional 925 ad, but none for the phones that are dominating WP sales. They run their ads comparing the Surface and iPad and emphasize the price difference between them. Make the same ad with the 520/521 and the iPhone and emphasize the $550 price difference.

There isn't a high profit margin on the 520/521.

Name one sub $300 phone (off-contract) that is being advertised on television. I can't think of one, they are all $500 to $650 starting price flagship models.

 

[pm]

My wife has a Nokia 620 - a small step up from the 520 - because she wanted a front-facing camera for Skype. She generally likes it. She likes the small size of the 620 (it's actually a bit smaller than the 520), and took an immediate liking to the tile format of Windows 8. It takes good pictures, gets decent battery life, and she's generally happy. She doesn't like the editing method of Win8 (like if you have a typo, how you fix it) and says iOS and Android do that better, and she says the keyboard is too small and she makes a lot of mistakes (but then the phone itself is small...) but beyond these two quibbles and the fact that a couple of apps that she wants aren't available, she's a big fan of her new Nokia 620.

 

[pantsaregood]

Despite lack of marketing in America, the Lumia 520/521 have been dominating Amazon, AT&T, and T-Mobile's respective stores. According to AdDuplex, 18% of Windows Phones in America were Lumia 520/521, which is pretty ridiculous when you consider the lack of marketing involved.

Honestly, this strategy seems to be working for them. They're making gains by forcing their way into a somewhat untapped market.

 

[hans007]

There isn't a high profit margin on the 520/521.

Name one sub $300 phone (off-contract) that is being advertised on television. I can't think of one, they are all $500 to $650 starting price flagship models.

i'm doubting they make money at all on the 520/521. they are basically giving it away at cost or losing money to get people into the ecosystem.

 

[desura]

It has a functional browser which is comparable to mobile safari (and since it has the development backing of a major company, should continue to be robust), music playing ability, and most of the apps you need, though not all.

It's enough.

I actually find that the calendar in WP8 is better than the calendar in iOS. I guess it's easier to take seriously...

 

[Chrono]

I have a 521 as a spare phone right now and I have to say I'm pretty damn impressed. Sure there are a lot of applications that I can't find that are on Android/iOS, but I'm still freakin impressed I can play Tetris Blitz at full speed on this sucker. Looking for a smartphone but don't want it to pinch your wallet? Go for the 520/521!

 

[Red Storm]

The price is certainly attractive, but it definitely feels and looks like a low end phone. In other words it is priced correctly.

 

[OneOfTheseDays]

The price is certainly attractive, but it definitely feels and looks like a low end phone. In other words it is priced correctly.

This is a throw-away phone for sure. The beauty of it is it can keep up with really any midrange device out there today.

Once the WP app library catches up and they add in a real notification center and control center this will be one hell of a compelling buy for only $100.

 

[pantsaregood]

It isn't high-end, by any means. It has a solid enough build, though. Performance-wise, it really can't be beaten at its price.

 

[mikeford]

If it hits $80 shipped again I may get one.

That said, smart phones have so much value, its a bit crazy to get less than what you like best regardless of cost. Unfortunately I am too cheap to follow my own advice.

 

[AstroManLuca]

If it hits $80 shipped again I may get one.

That said, smart phones have so much value, its a bit crazy to get less than what you like best regardless of cost. Unfortunately I am too cheap to follow my own advice.

That's more for if you're buying on contract. Off contract, phones get expensive quick since you don't have a subsidy. I agree that it's crazy to get a budget phone if you're buying with a contract.

Oh and I've run into a problem with my Lumia 521 - the headphone jack has gotten kind of loose - if I bump the plug with headphones plugged in, it cuts in and out or just gets quieter. Tried multiple headphones that I also verified as good on other devices.

So I sent it back to Nokia and they held onto it for a week, took off my screen protector, wiped it, and sent it back. Didn't fix it. I'm kinda pissed. Not sure what I'm supposed to do now. Headphones still work if I hold it in my hand or put it in my breast pocket where it doesn't get bumped, but it's a PITA. Thinking the best course of action may be to contact Nokia support directly and actually open a conversation with them, since obviously, describing the problem wasn't enough.

 

[notposting]

I've seen various reports like that on WPCentral. Sometimes the support/repair people are described as awesome...other times (like yours) it's more of WTF?