Nokia Lumia 620 preview: First look

Introduction

The Lumia 820 and Lumia 920 give Nokia all the presence they need in the higher WP8 circles, but a smart maneuver has helped HTC emerge as a serious threat in the lower midrange. The Finns, who are obviously having none of that, responded swiftly to the Windows Phone 8S. After all, when the future of the whole company is resting on a single platform, you just can't leave anything to chance.

Nokia Lumia 620 official photos

The Nokia Lumia 620 has obviously done its homework. Just like the HTC WP 8S, it offers a downclocked dual-core Krait CPU, 512MB of RAM and a styling that's clearly targeting youths. This kind of approach makes a lot of sense - the WP8 definitely needs an awareness boost among younger users and reasonable spenders, if it's going to seriously challenge the dominating smartphone platforms.

Nokia Lumia 620 at a glance:

• General: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, UMTS 850/900/1900/2100 MHz; HSDPA 21 Mbps, HSUPA 5.76Mbps
• Form factor: Touchscreen bar
• Dimensions: 115.4 x 61.1 x 11 mm, 76 cc; 127 g
• Display: 3.8" 16M-color WVGA (480 x 800 pixels) ClearBlack TFT capacitive touchscreen
• Chipset: 1GHz dual-core Krait processor, Adreno 305 GPU, 512MB RAM
• OS: Windows Phone 8
• Memory: 8 GB of inbuilt storage, microSD card slot (up to 64 GB)
• Camera: 5 megapixel auto-focus, face and smile detection; 720p (1280 x 720) video recording at 30fps; VGA front-facing camera
• Connectivity: dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, stereo Bluetooth 3.0, standard microUSB port, GPS receiver with A-GPS and GLONASS, 3.5mm audio jack, NFC
• Misc: built-in accelerometer, multi-touch input, proximity sensor

Specs-wise the Nokia Lumia 620 is virtually identical to the HTC Windows Phone 8S. The two major differences are a smaller screen (just 0.2 inches, at the same resolution) and the 4GB of extra storage the Nokia offers. Make no mistake though - the superior brand recognition, and more importantly, the exclusive software make the Lumia 620 the favorite in this fight. Free lifetime voice guided navigation is not a bad thing to have and can make all the difference when two devices are as closely matched as this.

Nokia Lumia 620 studio shots

On the other hand the HTC 8S has a two-month head start and a seemingly superior build. Looks are important and HTC are always tough opposition when it comes to design and build. So, has the Lumia 620 got what it takes to be the WP8 smartphone to have in the early 2013? And can it mount a serious challenge to the bunch of dual-core droids that pretty much own the mid-range market? We hope to find out the answers when we are done with the preview, so let's get started.