Mobile Review: Nokia Lumia 720 is a mid-range bonanza

The Nokia Lumia 720 has hit the markets last month and a lot of people are wondering if it’s worth the money.

The smartphone is the technology giant’s mid-range Lumia smartphone that seems to conveniently fall good on the pockets with its decent price while it still manages to look pretty chic.

My experience with the phone for two weeks has been quite satisfactory. With its sturdy design, colourful appearance, satisfactory long battery life and light weight; the phone has an impressive build.

Key Specifications of the phone

* 4.3-inch IPS ClearBlack display

* Snapdragon S4 dual-core 1GHz processor

* 512MB RAM

* 8GB internal storage expandable up to 64GB via microSD card

* 6.7-megapixel rear camera

* 1.3-megapixel front camera

* Bluetooth 3.0,NFC,Wi-Fi, 3G

* 2000mAH battery

* Windows Phone 8

* 127.9x67.5x9 mm

* 128 grams

First Impressions
The phone with its bright colours looks classy and sleek. It is available in white, red, yellow and cyan/black catering to different personalities.

The camera is a definite thumbs-up. The 6.7 megapixel rear camera with Carl Zeiss optics and low-light imaging is quite good for everyday photography. Even though low-light imaging might not be as advanced in quality as the 920, it is very user satisfactory.

The phone is a decent sandwich between the Nokia Lumia 520 and Nokia Lumia 920. In terms of design and build it looks like the much-lighter version of 920. The 920 was ridiculed for its weight whereas the 720 fits perfectly in the hand. Even with its rich features and specs, the phone still is pocket friendly like the 520.

The only setback is the 512 MB RAM.

Initially, Temple Run, a very popular game required at least 1GB on Windows Phone for it to run smoothly. However, now Temple Run  is available on Windows Phones with 512 MB RAM and an external memory that goes up to 64 GB of storage, that little flaw does not cause so much hindrance. 

A big hindrance personally was the absence of Vine and Instagram on the App store of the Windows Phone. Being an avid user of both the apps, it was a disappointment to not have them on my phone.

Feel and look of the phone
It’s easy to fall in love with the phone. There is something beautiful about the matt colour finish, the size of the screen and the creative display of the Windows Phone UI is pleasing to the eyes.

With respect to the button and speaker placements, it is pretty much similar to the other recent members of the Nokia Lumia smartphones .

It is small enough to fit into a tight jean pockets while the display screen is big enough to enjoy a movie.

Display
With its 4.3-inch display of 480x800 pixels resolution, translating to a density of 217 pixels per inch, the phone makes the movie-watching-experience worthwhile. It’s definitely not HD quality, but still it's sharp, clear, and bright; and displays movies, websites and pictures intelligently.

The viewing angles and outdoor visibility is impressive. The reading experience is good enough as the UI font is pleasing to the eye. 

The front is covered by a sheet of tough, scratch-resistant Corning Gorilla Glass that protects the IPS touchscreen.

Camera
As mentioned earlier, the camera with its low light imaging feature is a definite plus. A 1.3 megapixel front camera does a neat job for video calls and selfies .

The video quality is not bad at all and the built-in mic captures sound fairly smartly .

Apart from this, the camera has a lot of settings like the still picture scene, Smart Shoot, Cinemagraph, Nokia Glam me, panorama and Bing vision to play around with.

Battery
Unlike almost all the Android phones, the battery life on this Lumia phone is reasonably long. It was fully operational for about an average of 16 hours before there was a need to charge. All applications ran smoothly without any hiccups. In the span of those hours, music and games were also played heavily.

Should you buy it?
Nokia Lumia 720 is definitely worth the price. With its features  and satisfactory battery life , the phone can be an ideal everyday companion. Even though, the Windows Phone operating system still has a long way to go, unless you are hardcore app market user, this phone provides you with all your basic smartphone requirements.

If you are a heavy Instagram or Vine app user, then this phone is definitely not meant for you.

Apart from the average operating system, there is no other major deterrent. If you’re looking for a smartphone that looks good, decently light on the pockets, camera that does not disappoint and has a long satisfying battery life, this phones a definite no-brainer.