Nokia Lumia 521

price, usability, portability, performance, camera

reliability

75% of the reviews on Amazon.com give this product a positive rating.

100% of the reviews on Amazon.ca give this product a positive rating.

The Nokia Lumia 521 is the kind of budget phone that really feels like one. It has some nice aspects – speedy performance, decent design, good call quality – but they’re overshadowed by the mediocre display and slow mobile data speeds. Plus, Windows...

Inexpensive. Minimal, elegant design. Adequate internal storage. Above-average call quality. Growing selection of Windows Phone apps.

No camera flash. No LTE. Slower than other Windows Phone devices.

Conclusions A few months ago, the Lumia 521 would've been the go-to budget phone on MetroPCS. And if you're looking for a solidly built phone that makes great calls, this is it. For a few dollars more, the $129 Huawei Vitria packs in a lot more in a...

Good call quality. Comfortable design. Inexpensive.

No camera flash. Weak app selection. No LTE or HSPA+ 42.

Multimedia, Camera, and Conclusions You get 4.61GB of free internal storage. Luckily, there's also the aforementioned microSD card slot under the back cover that worked with both my 32 and 64GB SanDisk cards. Windows Phone has fairly robust multimedia...

While I enjoy the visual style, I’ve long been critical of Windows Phone as a platform, particularly when it comes to high-end devices. I really, truly believed in it when it launched in 2010, and actually spent a fair amount of time on a few different...

The Nokia Lumia 521 isn’t the nicest Windows Phone 8 device on the market – and it’s certainly not the hottest Nokia machine out today – but it’s not meant to be. Working to be the cost-cutting entry level to the Windows Phone 8 universe with the good...

Nokia's ; packs in a better camera and more software features than you might expect for its $150 off-contract price tag.

No LTE, poor screen quality, and no camera flash remind you that the 521 wasn't built to be a premium smartphone.

Nokia's Lumia 521 is one of the best bargain smartphones on any platform, but skip it if LTE is of paramount concern.

Nokia's ; packs in a better camera and more software features than you might expect for its $150 off-contract price tag.

No LTE, poor screen quality, and no camera flash remind you that the 521 wasn't built to be a premium smartphone.

Nokia's Lumia 521 is one of the best bargain smartphones on any platform, but skip it if LTE is of paramount concern.

Very inexpensive ; Removable, inexpensive, easy-to-find battery ; Micro SD card expansion for extra photos, videos, and music ; Comfortable ergonomic form factor & design ; Wi-Fi calling ; Nokia HERE Suite (Offline GPS navigation for USA = worth the...

No flash ; only 8GB of storage available for apps ; Low resolution screen with mediocre outdoor visibility ; No compass for augmented reality apps ; 512Mb RAM means some apps won’t run ; No wireless charging option ; Nokia HERE Drive license only...

Our final rating is going to be an 7 out of 10. While there are a lot of limitations and areas that are lacking with the Lumia 521, the big draw for it is its pricing. Given the crazy low price, there is a huge amount of value included with this phone...

Amazing value for the price, tough build quality, HD Voice makes calls sound really clear and loud, you get many of the same great bundled Nokia apps that you would get on Nokia’s more premium handsets, quite a durable phone, very good performance,...

No LTE support, no front-facing camera or flash, backplate is tricky to remove