Nokia has officially announced the availability of the Nokia Lumia 625 in Malaysia, the biggest Lumia to date with a 4.7-inch screen and high-speed LTE connectivity. The Lumia 625 is priced at RM939 (SRP) and will be available next week in the Klang Valley, and early September for the rest of Malaysia.
Having ‘test-driven’ the Nokia Lumia 920, Lumia 720 and the Lumia 520, one wonders where the new Lumia 625 sits in Nokia’s product line-up. The Lumia 625 sits in between the new flagship Lumia 925 and Lumia 720. It is positioned as the most affordable LTE-enabled Lumia, and features the biggest screen in the line-up.
See also: Nokia Enters Phablet Territory With Lumia 625
The brilliant 4.7-inch IPD LCD WVGA display (800×480 @ 201ppi) will not break Retina Display records, however, its size makes it an ideal gaming and media consumption device. Protecting the display is Gorilla Glass 2, while retaining its super sensitive touch that works even with nails and gloves.
Changeable shells is a signature Lumia trait, and the Lumia 625 continues this trend – offering a buffet of colours including Orange, Bright Green, Yellow, White and Black. The new shells are of different material to the previous line of Lumia phones though, now thinner and semi-transparent, complete with a matt finish on the outer layer.
Comparing to the outgoing flagship Lumia 920, the Lumia 625 is thinner and lighter, measuring 9.15mm thin and 159g in weight. The Lumia range was never known to be lightweight, but for the size, the weight of the Lumia 625 is perfect.
Powering the device is a 1.2Ghz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4, a processor common in the Nokia range. The new smartphone packs in a bare minimum 512MB RAM and 8GB internal storage, however, supports microSD expansion with up to 64GB of additional storage. Nokia also bundles free 7GB of SkyDrive storage.
The Lumia 625 sports some new optics, rated at 5MP for the main camera, good for 1080p video @ 30fps, and some fancy lens features with bundled Nokia-apps – Cinemagraph, Panorama, Smart Camera and Nokia Glam me. These additional camera lenses come with the latest Lumia Amber Windows Phone 8 update.
No smartphone platform is complete nor relevant without apps, and thus Nokia and Microsoft, has been touting the growing number of apps on the Windows Store. The Lumia 625 has access to over 170,000 apps and Nokia services out of the box. XBox Live and Microsoft Office integration also comes built-in. Nokia Here Drive is also available although it lacks turn-by-turn navigation due to the absence of a built-in compass.
Some recent roll-out of major apps include Viber, VEVO, Vimeo, Keek and local apps Smart Shopper, Phaze and MyPeribahasa. Joining the gaming fray is also the highly addictive Temple Run, which runs perfect on the big 4.7-inch display. If you’re an Instagrammer like me who is still disappointed that the popular social photosharing app hasn’t made an appearance on the Windows platform, fret not. A fully-functional Instagram client called Instance (http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/instance/ef18d20f-0ce9-426c-ad6a-04f42157bb19) is all you need to satisfy your Insta cravings.
Pricing and Availability
The Lumia 625 retails at RM939 and is available at all Nokia authorised outlets and dealers in the Klang Valley starting next week; and mid-September for the rest of Malaysia.
For full Nokia Lumia 625 specifications, visit http://www.nokia.com/global/products/phone/lumia625/specifications/
Our impressions of the Lumia 625
Nokia continues to improve the Lumia range with each iteration and the Lumia 625 is no different. Priced at the mid-range, the phone will not break any speed records but is still a full featured, value-for-money buy thanks to its big 4.7-inch display and LTE connectivity. The absence of a compass is baffling seeing that Nokia’s mapping and navigation apps and services are one of its key selling points. However, the Lumia 625 does have more going for it to matter too much.
For more photos of the Lumia 625, visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/vernieman/sets/72157635185365931/
