Nokia today launched the Lumia 720 and Lumia 520 that were announced on February at Mobile World Congress. India got a local launch later on in March and today the East Africa market got it’s moment of Lumia.
The Lumia 720 is one work of art with a slim design that takes the best of Lumia 920 and Lumia 820. Interestingly, it picks the unibody design while at the same time having expandable memory. The display is a 4.3 inch WVGA at 800 x 480 pixels translating to 217 ppi and is powered by a 1GHz Dual-core Snapdragon processor and 512MB RAM. Internal storage is 8GB expandable via microSD to 64GB.
The camera is a 6.7MP with Flash and a front camera of 1.4MP capable of recording 720p HD video, the battery is 2000mAh. Pricing for the Lumia 720 is available for Kshs 29,000 from Nokia partner shops. Other features are NFC and wireless charging contacts, that unlike on the Lumia 920 that come included in the unibody cover, this one is optional in a bid to reduce the bulk and weight of the phone which lie at 9mm thickness and 128 grams.
The same impacts on pricing. For a user wishing to get wireless charging they will need to get a wireless charging cover as an add on, above and beyond the wireless charging plate.
The Lumia 520 has the same screen resolution at 480 x 800 pixels on the 4 inch screen hence going up in screen resolution at 235 ppi. It runs a 1 GHz Dual-Core processor, 512 MB RAM and 8 GB internal storage – also expandable via microSD to 64 GB. Battery is 1430 mAh. The rear camera is 5 MP, no flash or front camera though. Interestingly, unlike the Lumia 620, the Lumia 520 does have internet sharing, a feature that wasn’t available in lower end Windows phones.
The Lumia 520 is a bit bulkier at 9.9 mm but lighter at 124grams. The back is removable for colour options unlike in the 720.
Both Lumia 720 and Lumia 520 come preloaded with Apps for Africa, a category for apps made to work for Africa specific situations or made by Africans. Some of the apps include the Ushahidi app and Radio Africa App, demoed by Kingori Gitahi, Nokia EA Product Marketing Manager. These at the moment will only be available in Lumia 720 and 520 among Nokia phones and it’s a partnership with Microsoft of improving the experience for Africans who adopt Windows phone.
Bruce Howe, Nokia East Africa GM says that Lumia 520 which has specifications almost similar to the Lumia 620 was able to be priced at Kshs 16,000 compared to the 620 which sells at Ksh 23,000 because of the hardware strip down. The Lumia 620 has a unique back cover which has a technology called Dual-shot that involves the clamshell cover having two colours.
Others are the absense of a LED flash for the camera and NFC, but Lumia 520 does have a bigger battery life to power the larger screen which is 4 inch compared to Lumia 620’s 3.8 inch and a 1300 mAh battery.
