Nokia Lumia 525 – Should you wait?

Nokia made a serious comeback to Smartphone business with Windows Phones recently, especially in the budget Smartphone category. The flagship here was the dazzling Nokia Lumia 520. While many people would underestimate the phone for its low spec sheet, this device can power Windows Phone to its full potential sans for some games and some high-end phones. If you would compare this tiny with rest of the phones around the same price tag, this small guy can do wonders those underdog phones can’t. This was the major reason the Lumia 520 grew as one of the most popular budget Smartphones in India and all around the world this year. Moreover, the Lumia 520 has the maximum share of Windows Phones currently active in the world. Clearly, Nokia got a nice pitch in the budget smartphone with this guy. Now, Nokia is going to take the next move by introducing the Nokia Lumia 525, the successor to the Nokia Lumia 520, next month.

Today, we’re going to see whether the Nokia Lumia 525 is worth the buy for new customers looking at the budget category and we’ll see whether the Lumia 525 is worth an upgrade to people who own a Nokia Lumia 520. We’ll be doing the best forensic analysis ever possible to determine the best option for you.

Lumia 520 vs. Lumia 525 – What’s New?

For those who are very much anticipating the next device without knowing its full background, you would be slightly disappointed. This section is easy to cover as there isn’t much to speak here. Imagine the Lumia 525 as a Lumia 520 that has a 1GB RAM instead of the 512MB RAM that’s packed inside the Lumia 520. Besides this, the Lumia 525 is in every way equal to its predecessor.

This is quite a disappointing factor if you don’t consider the costs of the company. There’s not even a flash to the usual 5MP sensor in the Lumia 525. It’s all the same. In a nutshell, the Lumia 525 is in pretty much a minor revision to the Lumia 520. It’s the same inside and out in the rest of the form factor. Same display, same internal memory that’s expandable upto 64GB with SD cards and the same internal sensors. There isn’t anything new you can discover here.

But the addition of 1GB RAM to the people’s smartphone is a good move and it makes a huge difference. Why? This is because many powerful apps and games need much more memory for their functioning. The difference of compatibility is very much significant if you look at the major game titles. Most of these advanced games require a minimum 1GB RAM to work. This is the only thing that’s separating these low-budget devices from the rest of the Lumia family. The only main thing they can’t do when you consider the Windows Phone OS is the limitation in installing and running all these apps. Moreover, this can also promote the efficiency and the speed of the OS. You can also run more background apps and have more dynamic Live Tiles on your Start. This change can make the Lumia 525 nearly equivalent in efficiency with the big brothers of the Lumia family. So, even budget users can get the most out of this phone. Hence, this will enable the Lumia 525 to be a serious competitor for a long time.

The Lumia 525 will hit shelves purportedly next month i.e, January 2014, along with its big baby brother, the Lumia 1320 which is going to be a budget phablet.

First Windows Phone – Should I buy the Lumia 525?

If you’re a newbie and you’re going to buy a budget Windows Phone, the Lumia 525 won’t disappoint you with its performance. The 1GB RAM clearly gives you an advantage over the other low-budget phones and you will be able to play with all the apps present in the Windows Phone.

However, if you are looking for a Windows Phone with a good camera that can match upto the PureView branded Lumia phones or you want a phone with a larger display, the Lumia 525 won’t be the best option for you. The 5MP camera is excellent but the lack of a flash is a big down. Plus, the display is limited but sufficient and if you want a larger one, you can skip this one too.

For a budget phone that’d perform almost every task, the Lumia 525 is a good deal considering the price will be the same as its predecessors.

Already have a Lumia 520. Should I upgrade to Lumia 525?

A big NO. Sure, the 1GB RAM will definitely provide power but that’s not the only point we’re talking about, are we? If you expected the phone to have more features, you already are greatly disappointed. The addition of a 1GB RAM clearly makes a large difference but you will still be able to download most apps and games from the store sans the most powerful ones. And if you really wanted those apps to work, you wouldn’t have bought the Lumia 520.

If you are planning for an upgrade, the Lumia 525 is not yet your best deal. If you can get a good deal with the exchange of your current Lumia 520 and if you are very much hungry for the awesome games and apps, you can (deliberately) switch phones but this is not at all recommended. My advice would be to save money and wait until you can buy an awesome Lumia. Some alternatives are given in the next section.

What are my other choices for budget Windows Phones?

Although this category is getting populated slowly, we still need more phones with more juice and more features that can double up the competition. Even though there are some phones that have extra features, these aren’t perfect and in some way or the other, are underdogs to the cheaper phones. But if you do want some alternative Lumia phones, I can point out a few.

1. Nokia Lumia 720

By far, this is the best Windows Phone that fits between the budget and the middle-end phones. It has a great display, an excellent battery life and an awesome camera even if its not PureView branded. The only letdown is, it packs just 512MB of RAM. If you were to add a 1GB RAM to this phone, it would have been an unstoppable sensation but still, it is one of the best phones available today. So, if you can neglect the fact of the phone not being the best performer, the Nokia Lumia 720 is a gorgeous and an outstanding phone that you can have today.

2. Nokia Lumia 625

If you really want a large display to enjoy the great videos and movies and to get more content on your screen, the Lumia 625 is a good buy which is fairly equivalent in specs to the Lumia 625. However, the presence of the 512MB RAM instead of the 1GB RAM is again a disappointment. If you are in swift need of such a phone, the Lumia 625 won’t disappoint you with its big screen but you may need to reconsider before buying it as the future counts too.

3. Nokia Lumia 630/635 aka Moneypenny (Coming Soon)

It seems Nokia took an interest in James Bond characters too. Moneypenny, Goldfinger... what next?

Not, not James Bond. Nokia also has its own 'Moneypenny'. Moneypenny was reportedly under works while Nokia launched the phablets. However, very recently, more details were leaked included a purported screenshot of the phone by the famous leaker, evleaks. What’s interesting about this device? It’s a bloody Dual-SIM Windows Phone and that makes it the first of its kind. Moreover, it could very well pack the Windows Phone 8.1 aka Blue OS.

Dual-SIM models are very handy and today, they are very popular among people. It makes an ideal choice for people carrying multiple SIMs and reduces the weight of a secondary mobile phone. Moneypenny is also supposed to pack 1GB of RAM making it a powerful device and maybe a 1080p display. But that’s not very accurate from the details we currently have.

Expect the Moneypenny by Summer 2014 and if you have the patience, you maybe able to snatch one soon after its announcement as its probably going to be a budget device who’s price would be between that of Lumia 720 and Lumia 625. Lets hope she looks much more beautiful than the real Moneypenny.