Nokia Lumia 625 Review

Introduction

The newest member of the Lumia family is colorful like all its other peers and brings a spacious 4.7-inch display and the traditionally smooth performance of Windows Phone 8.

It is a device of budget, though, and that means a lot of compromise is involved too. Firing up the low-res screen speaks about that in an instant, and it’s not the only compromise. Will this fly in the ointment spoil all good that’s going on with the Lumia 625? Let’s find out.

In the box:

• User manualUSB cable
• Wall charger
• Headphones

Design

The Lumia 625 looks like a grown up Lumia 620 - it features the same translucent plastic shells that are easy to take off and swap. The color options include lime green, reddish orange, yellow, white and black. Nokia is once again using its ‘dual-shot’ technology applying a base color layer as the foundation and a different color layer on top for a more vibrant, neon-like color. Unlike the Lumia 620, though, the buttons on the side do not contrast and are painted in the same colors as the case. Speaking of it, the plastic casing has a soft touch to it that contributes to a better in-hand feel of the device. The build quality is overall solid.


The Lumia 625 is a large device, but it’s thin at 9.2mm and weighs a fairly heavy 159 grams (5.6oz). It’s not something you’d be able to easily use single-handedly, but then again most devices this size aren’t.


Just as any other Lumia, Nokia placed all the physical buttons on the Lumia 625 on its right side - the lock key is at the top, the volume rocker in the middle, and the dedicated camera shutter key below it. All buttons have nice travel to them and are comfortable to press. On the bottom, Nokia has placed a microUSB port and on top is a 3.5mm headset jack.

Display

The 4.7-inch IPS LCD display is the fly in the ointment in the otherwise very well-rounded package that is the Lumia 625. It’s the largest display ever put in a Lumia phone, but it features a middling resolution of 480 x 800 pixels (WVGA) that makes icons and text look fuzzy. Overall, the display is simply not sharp enough - pixel density comes at the lowly 201ppi.

Colors on it look a bit washed out, and not as vivid as we would have liked. It seems that almost all (if not all) Lumia 625s come with a very visible light leak that further spoils the experience. Nokia has now admitted this, but blames it on LCD tech limitations and does not consider it a valid reason for device returns.

The display picks up a lot of reflections outdoors and brightness just isn’t sufficient, all making this one of the least usable screens we’ve seen for outdoor use.

On a more positive note, the display is well protected against scratches with Gorilla Glass 2 and features Nokia’s super sensitive tech that allows you to use the display even with your gloves on. Viewing angles are also good.