Nokia announces Lumia 620 with 3.8-inch display, Windows Phone 8 for $249

Nokia has quietly announced the first real "budget" Windows Phone 8 smartphone. Dubbed as the Nokia Lumia 620, it sports 3.8-inch screen with a ClearBlack WVGA display. There is a 5-megapixel rear camera and a VGA front camera on board. It is powered by 1GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor with 512MB of RAM and 8GB internal storage (expandable by 64GB).

According to Nokia, the Nokia Lumia 620 helps in adding more youthful appeal to the existing Windows Phone 8 range. The unsubsidised version of this smartphone will be available in the market for $249 and will start retailing some time in Q1 2013.

Nokia is betting big on Nokia Lumia 620's 'dual-shot' technique, which helps in creating new colours and textures for this smartphone. So what this 'dual shot' actually does is cast two layers of polycarbonate, a single base layer and a second colour, in a transparent/ translucent layer, to produce depth effects and secondary colour blends. For example, yellow and cyan are combined to produce a lime green colour.

As Nokia Lumia 620 is a Windows Phone 8 device it will have Live Tiles for updates direct to the Start Screen, PeopleHub and a Me Tile along with other Windows Phone 8 functions.

Currently Nokia is offering Lumia 920 and Lumia 820 in its Windows Phone 8 lineup. It had first showcased both these smartphones at a gala event in September 2012.

Nokia Lumia 920 (Pictures) comes with 4.5-inch PureMotion HD+ display, wireless charging support and 2000mAh battery. It comes with the 8.7-megapixel camera with Nokia's famed PureView technology. Other features of the smartphone include 1GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage, 1.2MP front camera, and Micro-USB port. Nokia Lumia 820 (Pictures) on the other hand is a mid-range Windows Phone 8 smartphone. It has a 1.5GHz Qualcomm S4 dual-core processor, 4.3-inch ClearBlack display, 8GB of internal storage and a 8-megapixel rear camera.

As of now, both Nokia Lumia 920 and Lumia 820 are not available in India but are expected to be launched sometime in December 2012, after Nokia failed to stick to its earlier announced date of launching these devices in the country in November.

Key specs for Nokia Lumia 620

•  3.8-inch TFT WVGA 800X480, ClearBlack
• 512MB RAM (8GB internal storage, Micro SD support up to 64GB)
• 5 megapixel autofocus, LED flash; video capture: HD 720p@30fps; VGA front camera
• NFC, WLAN 802.11 a/b/g/n 2.4Ghz + 5Ghz, Bluetooth 3.0, GPS/A-GPS, Glonass, micro-USB, 3.5mm audio connector (AHJ + WP Controls)
• 1 GHz Dual Core Snapdragon S4
• Up to 14.6 hours on GSM and up to 9.9 hours on WCDMA; Standby time: Up to 330 h
• 115.4 x 61.1 x 11.02 mm; 127g (including battery)