Gents, I rarely give out and out product reviews. At least as it applies to hardware or electronic items. The variables are simply too great to mean a lot to mos t people. If a product is very good but lacks, or poorly executes, one feature you really need then the whole deal could be off and slant your review much more than the next person. So approach this as more of a 'what in the world were they thinking?' sort of post.
Let me set this up a bit. I am not a smartphone user. I get the tech, do not fear it, and don't think it is ridiculous for others to use it. I simply do not want to pay upwards of 80-100 dollars per month for the privilege of using a four inch computer screen. To me it makes imminent sense to use a cheap mobile phone service for voice(I despise texting, call me old) and available wifi with a handy tablet. And yes, I understand there are millions who want it all in one package and that is most viable approach. So with that in mind we understand that 'feature phones' are becoming more rare as time goes by and eventually will disappear. I simply wanted a touchscreen phone for the size of the icons and text. Enter the Lumia 520. I had noticed it at AT&T stores for $99. Hmm, I wonder if this would work as a plain phone since it is prepaid? Should have called ATT first but I was at a Microsoft factory store yesterday and they have them for $59 so against my judgment I let the impulse purchase bug hit me. Big mistake. It won't work with my current SIM and indeed, it will require a data plan to work. This is my fault and the unit is slated for return.
What struck me about this 'smart' phone was its horrendous camera and video capabilities. Opening the camera function(more about that in a moment) resulted in an image so blurry I thought I had the lens covered somehow. This was not the case. It really is that bad. Video mode is fares no better. I am watching my grandson today and thought I may as well give the video function workout before I take it back. What a waste. The Lumia line enjoys a good rep for video quality but it is obvious this entry model has been gutted. I had two lamps on and the daylight through the window and could not get a clear image! When I did snap the shutter it took between six and ten seconds to capture an image. What are you doing Nokia? I have never been so disappointed in a Nokia product. And speaking of opening the camera. There is a button on the side of the phone that will do this and even let you switch to video mode. But capturing is slow, the menu very limited and the ability to quickly jump back and forth between still and video is nonexistent. At least to me. What it does have on the home screen are tiles for panorama(largely useless by all accounts and reviews) camera, and creative studio. The first two are not labeled by text so you have to fiddle around til you find which is which. Creative is labeled as such. Nokia has some interesting effects for video imaging but they are relegated to superfluous status on this device.
Consider I bought a $20 Kyocera Event at Walmart on Black Friday. This little Android is much more intuitive than the Nokia. At least in the multimedia department. There is a well defined camera icon on the home screen. Clicking it opens up the camera straight away and you can slide the onscreen photo icon to video at any time and hit record. So simple and well defined. Notice I did not address the phone functions on the unit. I cannot use it that way so left it alone. And though it is not the primary function of the device, mutlimedia is a HUGE part of any phone device anymore. The only word to use here is, fail. I belabour this point because at $60 I seriously thought about keeping it as a Windows driven multimedia/mp3 type device for cheap. Perish the thought immediately. Unless you are working in direct daylight the camera is useless. I did not even explore the music capabilities because half the equation is already lost. Oh, and since there is no front facing cam you cannot even use this as a cheap Skype device. Oi.
What you essentially have is a feature phone with data capability but are forced to buy a data plan to use a crippled device. I say feature phone because as it sits, it is really only useable as a phone. Most of the 'smart' in smartphone is geared toward multimedia and web use. I won't even get into how poorly IE works and scales pages on the web. I accessed that through wifi. Suffice it to say you need to pay CAREFUL attention to details if you are going to use this device as a daily driver.
Cheers, Todd
Let me set this up a bit. I am not a smartphone user. I get the tech, do not fear it, and don't think it is ridiculous for others to use it. I simply do not want to pay upwards of 80-100 dollars per month for the privilege of using a four inch computer screen. To me it makes imminent sense to use a cheap mobile phone service for voice(I despise texting, call me old) and available wifi with a handy tablet. And yes, I understand there are millions who want it all in one package and that is most viable approach. So with that in mind we understand that 'feature phones' are becoming more rare as time goes by and eventually will disappear. I simply wanted a touchscreen phone for the size of the icons and text. Enter the Lumia 520. I had noticed it at AT&T stores for $99. Hmm, I wonder if this would work as a plain phone since it is prepaid? Should have called ATT first but I was at a Microsoft factory store yesterday and they have them for $59 so against my judgment I let the impulse purchase bug hit me. Big mistake. It won't work with my current SIM and indeed, it will require a data plan to work. This is my fault and the unit is slated for return.
What struck me about this 'smart' phone was its horrendous camera and video capabilities. Opening the camera function(more about that in a moment) resulted in an image so blurry I thought I had the lens covered somehow. This was not the case. It really is that bad. Video mode is fares no better. I am watching my grandson today and thought I may as well give the video function workout before I take it back. What a waste. The Lumia line enjoys a good rep for video quality but it is obvious this entry model has been gutted. I had two lamps on and the daylight through the window and could not get a clear image! When I did snap the shutter it took between six and ten seconds to capture an image. What are you doing Nokia? I have never been so disappointed in a Nokia product. And speaking of opening the camera. There is a button on the side of the phone that will do this and even let you switch to video mode. But capturing is slow, the menu very limited and the ability to quickly jump back and forth between still and video is nonexistent. At least to me. What it does have on the home screen are tiles for panorama(largely useless by all accounts and reviews) camera, and creative studio. The first two are not labeled by text so you have to fiddle around til you find which is which. Creative is labeled as such. Nokia has some interesting effects for video imaging but they are relegated to superfluous status on this device.
Consider I bought a $20 Kyocera Event at Walmart on Black Friday. This little Android is much more intuitive than the Nokia. At least in the multimedia department. There is a well defined camera icon on the home screen. Clicking it opens up the camera straight away and you can slide the onscreen photo icon to video at any time and hit record. So simple and well defined. Notice I did not address the phone functions on the unit. I cannot use it that way so left it alone. And though it is not the primary function of the device, mutlimedia is a HUGE part of any phone device anymore. The only word to use here is, fail. I belabour this point because at $60 I seriously thought about keeping it as a Windows driven multimedia/mp3 type device for cheap. Perish the thought immediately. Unless you are working in direct daylight the camera is useless. I did not even explore the music capabilities because half the equation is already lost. Oh, and since there is no front facing cam you cannot even use this as a cheap Skype device. Oi.
What you essentially have is a feature phone with data capability but are forced to buy a data plan to use a crippled device. I say feature phone because as it sits, it is really only useable as a phone. Most of the 'smart' in smartphone is geared toward multimedia and web use. I won't even get into how poorly IE works and scales pages on the web. I accessed that through wifi. Suffice it to say you need to pay CAREFUL attention to details if you are going to use this device as a daily driver.
Cheers, Todd
