When I opened the packaging box then I was looking for the user guide as it was my first experience with a Windows Phone but Nokia didn’t added any and I thought to try it on my own. From the very first instant, I was in love with the overall user interface Nokia Lumia 525 model number RM-977 was having. I’m bringing down here my complete review of the phone.
If you’re looking to buy a smartphone to stay connected to internet, use WhatsApp, Facebook and play some games then Nokia Lumia 525 is the best option available within the price range of Rs 10,000 in India. The packaging box was having the device, short guide, microUSB wall charger, microUSB cable and the common looking Nokia earphone (not good).
You may find lots of Android smartphones available in this price range but believe me you’re not going to buy a worthy phone. So go for Nokia Lumia 525 and to know why I’m recommending this over all Android phones then go through this review.
Nokia Lumia 525 Review
I’ve used many Android smartphones of brands like Samsung, HTC, Sony, Micromax, Karbonn, Gionee, etc. (list is long, I know) but none of the devices gave me a soft feel. When I picked up the RM-977 model number Nokia Lumia 525 from its box then I started feeling that holding this phone is very comfortable.
The soft back cover provides a very soft and comfortable feel and the overall design of the phone is simply luxurious. You can’t have better design than Nokia Lumia 525 within this price range.
The battery was included within the device and I just started it without even inserting the SIM card (though I did it later) as I was very excited to see what this phone packed with. It can hold one micro SIM card and also a microSD card. Approx 4.40GB of storage is free for users out of 8GB internal.
There was no labeling done on the side buttons so I found little trouble in recognizing which button is for launching camera and which one is the power (middle). Volume rockers are also there on the same side (right).
Front got three capacitive buttons. First one can take you to the previous location or app while the middle one can take you to the home screen and the third one will launch the Bing search. Long pressing the middle one can start the voice search and dial feature which worked good but there was very limited things I was allowed to do. You can even search by scanning QR codes or taking pictures of the text directly.
Display
Display is added on IPS LCD panel which offers good viewing angles but the display was shiny (reflection can be seen) which wasn’t a good thing to experience. Maximum resolution it can offer is 480×800 pixels and the display size is the 4.0 inch (perfect size to grip device comfortably). The display was easily grabbing the fingerprints so I instantly added the screen protector.
The display quality is average but I was wondering is there any other smartphone offering better display at this budget price tag. Let me know if there is any better option available.
Camera
This device is not meant for photography, in fact very few are meant to be. The 5MP shooter at the back is capable of recording HD (720p) quality of video and capture pictures but you can easily notice noise in the pictures. There is no LED flash on the back and no front camera.
Nokia Lumia 525 was packed with three camera apps and I used all three. Nokia Smart Cam was the one pinned to the home screen so I started it first. It was slow but its user interface was good. Then I tried the default camera app which was faster than the previous one but was having lesser options to try. Third one was Camera360 which includes photo editing tools along with picture taking capability.
You can take pictures, record videos, do some editing to make them look great and share instantly using the sharing option available in all three camera apps. You can share them via photos and videos apps too. The Nokia Lumia 525 is not going to say No when you’ll look to share some pictures through it.
Windows Phone is ‘Awesome’ but lacks apps
I’ve been using Android Jelly Bean and KitKat versions on my previous devices and obviously I liked the KitKat version over all previous ones (but only the stock Android, not any branded skin). But Windows Phone 8 was awesome. It was simple, elegant and well designed.
Nokia Lumia 525 was running the Black version of the OS and everything was looking great. Elements were visible even at direct sunlight exposure and there was nothing like I didn’t found in this OS.
Nokia Lumia 525 is almost similar to the original Nokia Lumia 520 but it got 1GB RAM over previous 512MB RAM. This particular feature will allow users to play games which require 1GB of RAM. Nokia Lumia 525 was packed with Rail Rush game and it was working good.
The only thing which I didn’t liked was the Windows Store which seriously lack lots of quality apps which we can easily find at the iTunes app store and Google Play store. But you can still find all the apps which you’re going to use on daily basis like WhatsApp, Viber, Photo editing, games, etc.
Overall user experience while using Nokia Lumia 525 was great just because of the Windows Phone OS. It was a new experience for me and I didn’t found any trouble in learning to do anything I wish. But I was badly missing the drop down notifications which is there in every Android device.
Web browsing speed and experience was good and I used Internet Explorer after a long time (lol) but I later installed UC Browser from the store which was offering better features than the IE. Official Office app is already installed and it’s still the best app to read and edit office files on the go.
To unlock device from sleep you need to swipe up and you are allowed to rearrange any app. To do so you need to long press any app tile at the home screen then move it anywhere and replace it. The default messaging app was showing messages in the form of conversations but I didn’t use that much as I installed WhatsApp on the side.
Also Read: 5 Messenger Apps that you need to try out
The phone app was very well designed. It was easy to dial any number and also to find any saved contact directly. Nokia Music app was simple but not as elegant as Play Music.
Wrap up
During my two days of testing I found one feature extraordinary. Yes, I’m talking about the battery life. Nokia Lumia 525 can easily make a day even after using apps which require data connectivity and playing few games. This was the first smartphone I used till now which is offering exceptional battery life.
Also Read: How to Increase Battery Life of Android Smartphone
It was awesome experience using a Windows Phone after using Android ICS, JB, KitKat and iOS 7. There are no reasons for Windows OS to stay behind than any other but it seriously lacks quality apps and games. Nokia Lumia 525 is the best smartphone to buy if your budget is limited to Rs. 10,000.
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Greatly reviewed Pawan. One of the best reviews I’ve ever read, quite well explained man. This really seems to be a good Lumia smartphone, worth checking out. Thanks for letting us know about it Pawan.
Hii Vicky, thanks for the comment. I did this Nokia Lumia 525 review just to help users as most of them are going for cheap Android devices specially the one who got low budget.