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Nokia Lumia 520 GoPhone (AT&T)
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| List Price: | $99.99 |
| Price: | $59.99 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details |
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com
109 new or used available from $59.99
Average customer review:
(503 customer reviews)
Product Description
Stay connected with this AT&T Nokia Lumia 520 mobile phone, which features 4G speed for rapid data transfer. The color touch screen with 800 x 480 resolution simplifies navigation and offers a clear view of photos, videos, documents, messages and more.Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #64 in Cell Phone Accessories
- Color: Black
- Brand: Nokia
- Model: Lumia 520
- Released on: 2013-07-26
- Dimensions: 4.72" h x .39" w x 2.51" l, .27 pounds
Features
- Dual Core (1GHz) Processor
- Listen to your favorite songs with Nokia Music
- 5MP Camera - Snap creative photos with built-in digital lenses
- 4 inch WVGA LCD display
- 4G Windows 8 Smartphone
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Nokia Lumia 520 GoPhone (AT&T) Product Overview
Do more. Wait less
The
Qualcomm Snapdragon processor CPU cores enable extra performance when
you need it and puts you in charge of running the most demanding
applications, including gaming, photography, as well as business and
personal productivity.
Nokia MixRadio
Imagine
a radio station where every track is chosen just for you, from music
you love and music you’ll want to discover. Meet Nokia MixRadio – we
bring you free streamed mixes of music created to your personal taste
that you just click and play. No subscription and no advertising, just
great music everyday.
Navigation Features
Pin
places to Start screen, Public transportation routing guidance, Reveal
the surrounding places, Reviews, info and photos for places, Routing
options, Save favorite destinations, Call, share and get directions to
places, Free maps, Find upcoming departure times, See places through the
camera viewfinder, Live traffic information, Automatic day/night view
switching, Venue maps - shopping and transport centers, Offline maps,
Online and offline favorites, Speed limit warnings, Free turn-by-turn
walk navigation, Save and sync favorites with HERE.com, Free regional
voice guided turn-by-turn drive navigation
| Product Specs | |
|---|---|
| Display | 4.0 inches (Resolution: 800x480, PPI: 235) |
| Camera | Rear-facing 5MP |
| Bettery Life | Talk Time: 9.2 Hours, Standby Time: 270 Hours |
| Processor | Dual core 1.0 GHz (Qualcomm 8227) |
| Wireless Technology | 3G/4G HSPA+ - GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850/900/1800/900 MHz) |
| Operating System | Windows Phone |
| Weight | 4.4 ounces |
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews377 of 397 people found the following review helpful.
What a surprise in such a cheap package!
By Nic
Given the MSRP for this phone, you have to set some expectations. But then you realize it doesn't carry a 2-year agreement. You can use this phone out of the box on an AT&T Prepaid (GoPhone) line or on AT&T postpaid (contract) plans. It comes with a Micro SIM card and GoPhone activation kit in the box.
It performs great! I've owned a Lumia 920, HTC 8x, Lumia 822, and a few older WP7 devices. This, just like any other Windows Phone, feels smooth and fluid throughout. Sometimes when a larger operation (filtering a photo, opening a big app) takes place, you will notice a "Resuming..." screen for a split second. Otherwise, it's every bit as smooth as any other Windows Phone. You can't really say that about an Android device at this price point.
Pros
1) Price! This phone can be used as a daily driver, backup phone, "I dropped my other phone in the toilet and I'm not due for an upgrade" phone, or even just a device you use with WiFi only.
2) The software library for Windows Phone is getting there. It still doesn't have Instagram, but it has everything else you could really want.
3) Comcast Xfinity remote lets me control my TV/DVR with this thing. It's like I got an amazing touch screen smart remote for free.
4) First-party Xbox apps. Xbox Smartglass lets you use this as a makeshift Xbox 360 controller. Xbox Live lets you keep track of anything like achievements, recently played, your avatar, etc.
5) Nokia Music lets you stream lots of music. FOR FREE!
6) Nokia HERE (Maps, Drive) are awesome! You can download GPS maps for offline use. Use it in the car for turn-by-turn directions, or use it while you're out and about for mapping. If this was the only feature this device had, it would be worth the MSRP!
7) You can swap the cover! If you get tired of the plain black color on this device, you can easily buy a colored variant from Nokia and just swap it out. The yellow one looks amazing!
Cons
1) There's no Front Facing Camera, so video calls are out.
2) It only has 512MB of RAM, which limits some apps. I've noticed very few that haven't been able to install, and none of them are deal-breakers.
3) The camera is 5MP, has no flash, and rather poor. But - it's still comparable or better than any Android device I've tested at this price point.
4) The display isn't the best, but what can you expect for the price? It's crisp and readable at WVGA resolution, and the nature of Windows Phone really makes up for any other shortcomings the display may have. The colors are pretty good, considering it's an IPS panel.
Note: I purchased this device directly from AT&T at full MSRP + sales tax. Any of my comments are based on that price point, which is definitely the upper limit you will see for this device. This phone is already listed cheaper here on Amazon just 3 days after it was released.
UPDATE
This phone (retail packaging from AT&T) DOES come with a USB cable. I previously stated that it did not, which is incorrect.
74 of 78 people found the following review helpful.
Amazing, inexpensive phone
By Morphling
I have owned flagship phones, prepaid pieces of junk, international phones, flip phones, etc. This Lumia 520 is by far and away the best deal on a phone I've ever seen. That's not to say it's the best phone ever, clearly you can spend hundreds more to make that happen. What this phone did was show that an inexpensive phone needn't be cheap too. As others have said, if you're on the fence, just purchase this already. It's a no brainer. I will note, I did get mine significantly cheaper than the price listed here - the brick and mortar store that makes the OS on this phone was running a demo that knocked off many dollars on any item. Anyway, onto more of the review.
Overall build/design of the phone - The phone is a very basic look which I find better. It's functional and nothing more, but it isn' also abrasive looking or ugly. The back is made of that soft touch plastic and I love that stuff. It provides grip, it doesn't feel 'cheap', and it doesn't scratch/dent easily. All the physical buttons are on the right side of the phone - which is nice too. You can grip your phone in your left hand without pushing some volume button or what not. The buttons are OK to push - the power works best and so does the camera button(which has two stages so you can focus and snap a pic quickly). The volume rocker is harder to push and push quickly, but you can just hold it to turn volume up/down. Also note, if you take the back off to pull the battery or SD card or what not, make sure you put the cover back on very well - mine was off by a tad and the camera button didn't engage. Overall, the phone is built solidly, it's good looking, and everything is laid out well.
Screen - This is always hard as you have to physically look at the screen to decide if you like it or not. I find the panel to be good given the price, size, etc. The resolution is just fine for a 4'' screen. Yes, a full 1080p screen is good, but even as a tech guy I thought it was overkill for a phone. The screen gets bright enough if you set it to high. You can only set it to low, medium, and high. Also you can leave it on auto, which I do. It works well enough and I can always read the screen. Colors are bright and accurate as far as I can tell. You can adjust more specific color things in the settings too. The IPS makes it so you can view it well without having it dead on. I will say it's a very glossy screen so reflections do get noticed. There is some of that dark 'banding' I'll call it at the bottom of the screen. Many phones, laptops, etc. I have, have had this, so I get over it.
The touch screen works very well and while I'm not wearing gloves in the Arizona summer, I did put a cloth over my hand and try it - it worked just as well. No bad touches or anything amiss with the touch screen.
Call quality/data/signal - I'll put these all into the same category as I don't wish to review any specific network. The calls on this phone work well, they sound OK. It's a bit fuzzy, as if you're talking on a cell phone (go figure, but I've had much clearer calls on cell phones recently). Nobody has complained that they can't hear me well. Data on this sucker is HSPA 21, which is fast enough for me. I get the typical 2-5mbps down in my area and about 1.5mpbs up. Things load quickly on the phone, it syncs stuff well, and it doesn't stop my day. My signal strength is about par for my other Samsung, LG, etc. phones, so it's nothing to write home about, but it's acceptable. My old motorola phone still holds a great signal where my other phones struggle, so it could be better.
Software/OS - I won't be reviewing the Windows phone 8 in depth. It's a very nice OS, slick, good looking, gets stuff done without getting in your way. Yes, it has limits. Sure, the available applications are behind iOS and Android, which is a valid concern. The store is also confusing compared to the others, so finding stuff isn't as easy, which is odd given most apps are very easy to use. The included Nokia software is awesome I'll say. Their version of maps and navigation are very good - hasn't failed me yet and just as good as google maps/nav. The Nokia music is great - it beats pandora and google music hands down - simply because it's free. Also, it does work very well. The included software for the camera is nice - nothing mind-blowing but it's useful and I like it. I'll talk about the physical camera more. Mail, messages, phone, etc. are all very easy to use and look nice. Overall, Microsoft did well with the OS here and partnering with Nokia provided a bit of extra 'oomph' to the mix. Go to a phone store and tell the sales people to leave you alone and try out a windows phone for a while to see how it works. That's the only way you'll know regardless of how many reviews you read.
Camera - It's a basic camera. Nokia does well with optics so even though this is 'only' 5mp, it takes decent looking and clear pictures. It doesn't have a flash, which I don't mind anyway - any cell phone with a flash makes pictures look washed out or if you don't use a flash, it's just dark and grainy. It takes pictures quickly and as I said about some of the nice software, you can flash 5 pictures quickly to pick your favorite. I don't get why people slam cameras on phones - they work well enough and aren't the main attraction - some phones come with respectable cameras now but you'll pay for it. If you need that, get one. Otherwise, buy a good stand-alone camera you can use lenses and such on and enjoy excellent pictures.
Overall - I'm impressed with this phone and even more so given the rock-bottom price. It has some signs of a 'cheap' phone such as you must manually pull your SD card out - no spring loaded ejection (this phone can take an SD card, unlike MANY new Android devices and all iPhones. The ability to add a lot more storage, cheaply and quickly, is good regardless.) The screen is a bit glossy, but oh well. It's a full, honest smartphone that has good specs and works scarily well for the price of an impulse buy. Purchase this phone and save yourself money upfront with a cheap phone. Purchase a prepaid plan and save yourself money every month. Don't ever worry about a 2 year contract again!
38 of 38 people found the following review helpful.
Great off contract phone at a steal of a price.
By Moe
I had an iPhone 5 a year ago and then it got stolen. I can't afford to buy another iPhone because it is off contract with AT&T and even the iPhone 4s would cost me over $350 off contract. I've been curious about Windows Phone 8 and thought this would be a good way to try it out. It is a Go Phone ( marketed for prepaid plans), but if you already have an AT&T post paid phone plan, simply swap in your own SIM card and it will work right out of the box with your current phone number and plan (If you have a larger SIM card you can buy a SIM cutter for under $5 and it should work fine).
I purchased this Nokia Lumia 520 phone from Amazon in mid-august 2013 (about 8 weeks ago). Anyways, I figured that for $100, I could try out WP8 operating system and if I didn't like it it would be not much of a risk or loss to me. So far, I have been really, really happy with it. It is pretty much equivalent in performance and specs to the iPhone 4s. With the Lumia 520, you lose the front camera and flash of the iPhone 4s, but you get a bigger 4-inch screen and bigger battery. The 520 only comes with 8 GB of storage, but I added a 16 GB SD card for a total of 24 gigabytes, which is more than enough for my purposes. Including the SD card, the total phone cost $115 (w/ free amazon prime shipping). I'd be satisfied with this phone if I paid $200 for it, but at $115 - I'm very happy indeed.
The only shortcoming I can think of is there are not as many Windows Phone apps as there are for Android or Apple iOS, but I will not take any stars off of the phone because that is not an issue with the phone and there are more WP apps coming every day. If this was my first smartphone, there would be no complaints whatsoever. I know Apple and Android really have the smartphone market locked up in the US, Japan and UK, but I think Windows Phone will really get a foothold in EU and the developing world, so lots more WP apps should be coming down the pipeline soon form enterprising app developers internationally.
My phone use is for texting first, camera second, phone calls third... fourth would be browsing the web while taking the bus to/from school, fifth as a music player and sixth for maps/directions. It does all of those things very well. The Nokia Camera app is great - I'm a photographer and I like that I can change the exposure by +- 2 stops, Nokia Here apps are awesome (maps, public transit and turn-by-tun driving) - the driving app even lets you download maps to your phone so you can get directions and view maps where there is no cell phone service (came very handy driving through the mountains in Western Nevada). The Nokia "Transfer MY Data" app was great and pulled all 300+ of my address book from an iPod Touch in about 20 seconds via bluetooth. I like the Windows Phone integration with SkyDrive and find it much easier to use and more user friendly than iCloud - there is a lot more customization options with SkyDrive whereas iCloud has a really dumbed down and simplistic interface over the web.
I've even been able to do a small amount of data tethering with my iPod Touch. I've only had to do it once when I had no Windows Phone app for what I wanted to do. I've hear AT&T locks out tethering from data plans unless you pay more, but I think it was only a small amount of data and since it went to a mobile device it was able to get thru the system. I think if I had tried to tether with a laptop, it might have been blocked. I wouldn't say this is a feature, and your mileage if you try this may vary.
I really like this phone and for the price ($100), I LOVE IT! I think my next phone may be a Windows Phone with LTE and I may end up getting an iPad for those few iOS apps I can do without.
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