Nokia Lumia 620 review: Auxiliary troops

Display

The Nokia Lumia 620 packs a 3.8" ClearBlack LCD (that's first gen) of WVGA resolution (480 x 800 pixels). The pixel density of 246ppi provides excellent sharpness and the image quality is surprisingly good.

The 3.8" WVGA screen

Brightness levels are good and make up for the blacks, which are only average, so the overall contrast is excellent for the class. Colors are very punchy and viewing angles are quite decent too. There's a lot of color shifting going on when you increase the viewing angle, but what's on the screen remains legible unless you reach absolute extremes.

Here's a microscopic image of the screen's RGB matrix. The pixel arrangement is pretty standard for an LCD unit.

Although we found the blacks and pixel density of the Lumia 620 to be only average we should note that the contrast is very good, particularly for this price range.

Display test	50% brightness			100% brightness
	Black, cd/m2	White, cd/m2	Contrast ratio	Black, cd/m2	White, cd/m2	Contrast ratio
Sony Xperia Z				0.70	492	705
Nokia Lumia 620	-	-	-	0.72	762	1068
Oppo Find 5	0.17	176	1123	0.51	565	1107
Sony Xperia S	-	-	-	0.48	495	1038
Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III	0	174	∞	0	330	∞
HTC One X	0.15	200	1375	0.39	550	1410
Nokia Lumia 920	-	-	-	0.48	513	1065
Nexus 4	0.22	314	1447	0.45	608	1341
LG Optimus G	0.14	197	1445	0.33	417	1438
Apple iPhone 5	0.13	200	1490	0.48	640	1320

The smartphone also excelled in our sunlight legibility test, beating much more expensive offerings in the process.

Contrast ratio

• Nokia 808 PureView
  4.698
• Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III
  3.419
• Samsung Omnia W
  3.301
• Samsung Galaxy S
  3.155
• Nokia N9
  3.069
• Samsung Galaxy Note
  2.970
• HTC One S
  2.901
• Samsung Galaxy S II
  2.832
• Samsung Galaxy S II Plus
  2.801
• Huawei Ascend P1
  2.655
• Nokia Lumia 900
  2.562
• Sony Xperia Z
  2.462
• Samsung Galaxy S III mini
  2.422
• Motorola RAZR i
  2.366
• Apple iPhone 4S
  2.269
• HTC One X
  2.158
• Nokia N8
  2.144
• Oppo Find 5
  2.088
• Nokia Lumia 620
  2.142
• Apple iPhone 4
  2.016
• Sony Ericsson Xperia ray
  1.955
• Samsung Galaxy Camera
  1.938
• Sony Xperia V
  1.792
• Sony Xperia U
  1.758
• LG Optimus 4X HD
  1.691
• HTC One V
  1.685
• LG Optimus Vu
  1.680
• HTC Desire V
  1.646
• LG Optimus 3D
  1.542
• Nokia Asha 302
  1.537
• Nokia Lumia 610
  1.432
• Gigabyte GSmart G1355
  1.361
• HTC Desire C
  1.300
• LG Optimus L7
  1.269
• LG Optimus L9
  1.227
• Meizu MX
  1.221
• Sony Xperia E dual
  1.203
• Samsung Galaxy Pocket
  1.180
• Sony Xperia tipo
  1.166
• Samsung Galaxy mini 2
  1.114

Handling

The Nokia Lumia 620 is comfortable to use and single-handed operation is quite easy. As we said, it could have been thinner, but having all the controls on one side and a small display certainly helps.

We are not particularly excited about the 11mm profile of the Nokia Lumia 620, which makes the smartphone feel a bit bulkier than it should have been, but it's not too bad either way. The ample space below the capacitive keys at the front could have also been put to better use.

As for the 127g of weight, we think Nokia found a good balance between pocketability and a solid feel. Furthermore, the smartphone's curved sides allow it to fit perfectly in-hand.

Handling the Lumia 620

As an added bonus, the matte black finish really facilitates the grip and we'd take it any day over the glossy lime green version we previously had around.