Nokia Lumia 525 Review
posted by Chris P.
/ Feb 20, 2014, 10:03 AM
Introduction
You don’t mess with a winning formula, people say, and there’s no device out there that seems to follow that mantra as ardently as the Nokia Lumia 525. The successor to the wildly popular Lumia 520 has some big shoes to fill, as its inheriting quite the responsibility. There’s no dancing around the fact that it was the Lumia 520 that gave Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8 the push it needed to latch onto the honorary third place in the world of mobile. Thanks to its extremely affordable price tag, it drew consumers over to the platform in droves. It falls on the Lumia 525 to extend that streak, and Nokia isn't about to mess this one up. To that end, the two devices are virtually identical on the outside, with some very minor changes under the hood. Will these tweaks to the original recipe prove enough to continue winning smartphone buyers over? Let’s see.
In the box:
- Wall charger
- microUSB to USB cable
- In-ear headphones
Design
Signature Lumia, miniaturized
If we were to put the Nokia Lumia 520 and Lumia 525 side by side, you’d have a truly impossible time telling the two apart. A true twin to its predecessor, the Lumia 525 is, on the outside, a complete copy. The same petite proportions are at play here, and there’s still quite some space wasted in plastic. The playful exterior of the Lumia 525 communicates no high-end ambitions, but it looks sturdy and reliable. Unfortunately, we can't say we're happy with Nokia's decision to go back to glossy polycarbonate, as pertains to the rear shell – we much preferred the matte finish of the previous model.
Now, this is a one-handed device through and through. It sits comfortably in the hand, thanks to its conservative dimensions and rounded sides. Its angular frame digs into the palm, but we found the presence reassuring rather than unpleasant. The well-placed volume rocker, and power and camera shutter buttons also aid in the overall ergonomics of the phone. They are all confidently edging out from the right side of the Lumia 525, and provide a pronounced feedback on impact.
To see the phones in real size or compare them with other models, visit our Visual Phone Size Comparison page
Display
No 'wow' factor here. Practicality scored a landslide victory
The display is another area that remains firmly unchanged with the Lumia 525. We're still privy to the same highly-sensitive 4-inch, 480x800 resolution IPS LCD panel. This configuration works out to a rather low pixel density of 235 pixels per inch. It's also worth pointing out that the scratch-resistant glass on top, unfortunately, appears to lack an oleophobic treatment, resulting in a shower of greasy smudges. But hey, at least you can use it with gloves on!
Color reproduction with Nokia's screen of choice is not perfect, but doesn't leave too much to desire. Sure, colors are less saturated than the best out there, and there's a noticeable pinkish hue to whites, but it's leaps and bounds ahead compared to the average panel in this class. But one area – peak brightness – the display concedes to even inferior solutions out there, and that's just unfortunate. Our bright yellow unit, ironically, is not at all suited for play in the sun.
25 Comments
1. sprockkets
Posts: 1612; Member since: Jan 16, 2012
At $180 this phone is a joke.
posted on Feb 20, 2014, 10:16 AM 3
2. akki20892
Posts: 3902; Member since: Feb 04, 2013
You r seeing front of moto g dude. Moto g is the first phone get damn cheap price with great specs.
posted on Feb 20, 2014, 10:19 AM 11
17. cripton805
Posts: 1485; Member since: Mar 18, 2012
Dont kid yourself. Nokia almost went bankrupt too. And the first slim Razr was probably still better than some barebones OS Nokia when it was released. And it still continues to be barebones with a crippling OS. Let's wait and see if rumors are true.
Moto G>Lumia 525 by a long shot.
Its not an opinion. Its fact. Hardware and OS.
posted on Feb 20, 2014, 3:27 PM 1
18. sprockkets
Posts: 1612; Member since: Jan 16, 2012
And I say Moto's reputation in that regard is also up there.
posted on Feb 20, 2014, 5:07 PM 0
4. cripton805
Posts: 1485; Member since: Mar 18, 2012
I thought the same thing. The profit on this has to be close to $150. It's using just about everything from the 520. All those parts have to be dirt cheap to manufacture right about now. They're milking it far too much. Adding a little ram and bumping up the price back to $180 is cynical. If they had put in a front camera, slimmed it down, and put in a better screen, I'd justify the pricing. Maybe even add $10 if they wanted to make a bit more profit.
posted on Feb 20, 2014, 10:54 AM 1
3. lucid.brat unregistered
In my country Lumia 525 is more cheaper than moto g
posted on Feb 20, 2014, 10:51 AM 7
5. arenanew
Posts: 286; Member since: Dec 30, 2013
moto is pure chinese company and dont deserve 100$. reason phone means calling ability but motog have very bad quality , next problem poor battery backup plus no offline navigation moto g fail in prime aspect . for lumia 525 skype work for video calling . phone is not for gaming for gaming use pc or xbox . who play crap game on mobile . android people like cheap service and they are addicted to crap even they cant afford and rely on free service behave like poor beggar on street .
posted on Feb 20, 2014, 11:04 AM 1
6. cripton805
Posts: 1485; Member since: Mar 18, 2012
Moto G does have offline navigation. I actually own the phone. How is the lack of a front camera working for you for skype??? Fail. The only thing it really fails on is the lack of micro SD. If you had any type of logic, you would have mentioned that.
posted on Feb 20, 2014, 11:15 AM 5
11. sprockkets
Posts: 1612; Member since: Jan 16, 2012
There is this thing called the Google Play store where plenty of offline solutions exist. That, and Google maps can still re route offline anyhow.
Oh, and the battery life on the moto g speaks for itself not needing extra batteries.
And microsoft gave xbox live suppport to android simply due to the sheer amount of people using it. I'm sure it isn't the same on wp8 but whatever, you can download it anyhow.
posted on Feb 20, 2014, 12:11 PM 1
13. cripton805
Posts: 1485; Member since: Mar 18, 2012
Why would I need to prove anything to you? The information is available on every search engine. Also, that the battery on the moto g is great. I find myself forgetting to charge it. Your lack of common sense to research something is incredible. I'm not missing XBL, why would I? I switched over to PlayStation because of the disgusting greed that follows Microsoft products. Good luck to you now that MS owns Nokia.
posted on Feb 20, 2014, 1:21 PM 1
8. lucid.brat unregistered
If phone is not for gaming than how gaming app is making 16billion a year....plz not everyone is really gamers Bt it doesn't mean they can not play small games in phones...
posted on Feb 20, 2014, 11:45 AM 0
22. SuperMaoriBro
Posts: 533; Member since: Jun 23, 2012
It's good you've tried to learn English but using it badly when you are angry just makes you look stupid. Please stop.
posted on Mar 05, 2014, 6:34 PM 0
9. rajasasuke
Posts: 17; Member since: Feb 19, 2014
if there is no motog there is no competition for this phone it will crush the opponents.i thought 525 will get 8
posted on Feb 20, 2014, 11:46 AM 0
14. 7thspaceman
Posts: 1596; Member since: Feb 14, 2011
Hmm HSN sold a lot of lumia 520's so you can bet the farm Microsoft/Lumia 525 will get the LTE transceiver the 520 has for the American model of this 525 smart phone. The 525 has
1 gig of ram it will need that to run all the Windows phone store apps the Lumia 525 could not run and to to be easily upgraded to Windows phone 8.1 coming this Summer 2014. lik
posted on Feb 20, 2014, 1:42 PM 0
15. 7thspaceman
Posts: 1596; Member since: Feb 14, 2011
I meant say in the previous content that the 525 has 1 gig of that enables it to smoothly run all the windows phone store apps the "Lumia 520 could not run
posted on Feb 20, 2014, 1:45 PM 0
23. fzacek
Posts: 2486; Member since: Jan 26, 2014
This phone is NOTHING compared to the Moto G. The 525 won't be drawing anyone to Windows Phone, because the Moto G is a way better value at the same price.
posted on Mar 06, 2014, 5:20 PM 0
- Display 4.0" 480 x 800 pixels
- Camera 5 MP
- Processor Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Plus, Dual-core, 1000 MHz
- Memory
- Storage 8 GB + microSDXC
- Battery 1430 mAh(10.6h 3G talk time)
Recent articles
