We've spoken before on the benefits that Windows Phone brings to a low-cost handset. By setting a consistent look and feel across the range, Microsoft have ensured continuity across the range, with a handful of omissions by third party apps looking for more memory or storage.
The Lumia 521, as AnandTech writer Vivek Gowri found out, is a very attractive proposition for someone looking for a budget handset. "The promise of a real smartphone at legitimately accessible price points, without the need to tie yourself into a contract or binding agreement of any kind, is fantastic."
Of course the low-end handsets are keenly focused on price, with T-Mobile USA have a new contract system in the US (essentially separating out the price of the handset from the monthly bill, reducing the hidden subsidy) that makes the Lumia 521 a bargain - the handset is available for around $130, and a monthly line rental of $50 featuring 500 MB of data).
When the Lumia 521 is stacked up against the competition, Gowri is in no doubts as to the winner:
$130 is on the border between high-end featurephones and the lowest of the low-end smartphones. We’re talking two year old devices—stuff like the Samsung Galaxy Exhibit II 4G (MSM8255 and Android 2.3) and the Sony Xperia tipo (tiny 3.2” display and MSM7225A with dual-core Cortex A5, but it does have Android 4.0). These are handsets that are either outdated, clearly flawed, or both. In comparison to those, the Lumia 521 comes out looking pretty good.
The Lumia 521 is a variant on the Nokia Lumia 520, which we've reviewed here on All About Windows Phone previously and come to the same conclusions. Yes there are some compromises when compared to the high end Lumia handsets, but in the budget territory, the combination of Nokia and Windows Phone with low-priced handsets and limited specs is a success:
The more Nokia push Windows Phone down into this price territory, the better it will do, I suspect - budget Android phones tend to be slow and clunky, whereas the 520, on the whole, flies. And with greater sales at the budget end will come marketshare increase and revenue, increasing awareness further up the price spectrum. Assuming that Windows Phone continues to grow, I suspect we'll be looking back in a year's time and realising just how much the Lumia 520 [and the Lumia 620] had to do with the ecosystem taking off across the world.
You can read the full review of the Lumia 521 over on AnandTech. What do you think of Windows Phone in the low-end, are you a 502/521 users who loves the phone, or is it too limiting for you? Let us know in the comments.