The Nokia Lumia 520 just launched a couple of weeks back, marking the entry of the cheapest Windows Phone 8 device in the Indian market. We reviewed it recently and found it to be quite nice for the price. Talking of the price, one could actually spend a couple more thousands and get the Lumia 620 instead, but is it the right thing to do and is it worth the extra spend? Which one should you buy then? To answer you quickly, we have taken a look at both these devices in a video comparison, head past the video for the text and more photos –
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53_rKwtFIkA
The Nokia Lumia 520 is a good looking device, and so is the Lumia 620, but there are some design differences between the two. The Lumia 620 is more curvy than the Lumia 520, with its almost sharp edges. The sides of the 620 are flatter than the 520, as the latter’s sides curve into the back making it nicer to hold.
Coming to the dimensions of these devices, the Lumia 620 comes in at 11mm of thickness while the 520 comes in at 9.9mm. While the difference in thickness is not too apparent, the 620 definitely feels chunkier. The weight though, is not that different, with the 620 coming in at 127g and the 520 coming at 124g. Overall, one thing is for sure, Nokia knows how to keep build quality intact even in lower priced devices and both these devices are a testament to that fact. Also, a small difference between the shortcut keys on the front is the backlight, which is missing on the 520.
The display differences between the Lumia 520 and the 620 are a bit weird. Even though the 520 is supposedly the cheaper cousin of the 620, it has a larger screen, measuring at 4 inches. This was the same case with the earlier generation too, with the 510 having a larger screen than the 610. But larger doesn’t always mean better. The 3.8 inch TFT screen on the Lumia 620 has better viewing angles and colour reproduction thanks to the Clear Black coating from Nokia, but again, it was weird to find that the 520 had super sensitive touch(usage with gloves) while the 620 had no sign of it. In terms of quality, the 620’s display might be better, but if you are planning to use a device with gloves on, and don’t care for the extra quality from the 620, then the 520 might suffice your usage. Do note that the 520 display is not too bad either, just worse than the 620 in terms of viewing angles and colour quality.
The cameras on both the devices are capable of taking 5 megapixel stills and 720p videos. The quality of pictures from both the cameras were quite identical, but there is a small difference when it comes to audio recording on video. The 620 has the much famed Rich Recording HAAC chip inside iy, enabling it to record much better audio in a wide range of frequencies without distortion. That is absent from the 520 and is obviously a cost cutting measure. Regarding other hardware, the 520 misses a NFC chip unlike the 620, which can be used for Tap+Send purposes.
The Lumia 520 also misses a LED flash on the back, and along with the lack of a front facing camera, it is apparent that Nokia were going for some serious cost cutting here. Additionally, a minor difference is the presence of a secondary noise cancelling microphone on the 620, which might be used for stereo rich recording in the future.
In terms of software, both the phones are almost identical except for some few difference here and there. There is no Here Drive+ on the 520, instead you have the Here Drive, which can be used only in the region in which you use your local SIM, whereas Here Drive+ on the 620 comes with global navigation. So, if you are a world traveler, then the 520 might be a problem. other differences we found were the lack of additional Nokia specific settings on the 520, like for example the 520 lacks Dolby settings and even the display+touch settings. This is weird because there is no solid reason to not include them in the settings, except for the Dolby support of course.
These are all the differences we found between these two devices. So, in the end, if you don’t care for all the extra features that the Lumia 620 sports, the Lumia 520 might be well suited for you, considering all the similarities between the two, including the same software, same internals and very similar performance. Hope this article helped you choose the right phone.
More side by side images here –
