Review : Nokia Lumia 720, The Mini Lumia 920
I would have chosen Lumia 720 over Lumia 920 if it had the Optical Image stabilization; There that’s one line review you can bet on.
This phone has remarkable balance when it comes to getting the best features among all Windows Phone. Not only it has one of the best screen quality, it does an amazing job when used in sunlight. The gaming performance is as good as Lumia 920 without heating issue.
Even with speakers at the back, sound is not cut off when placed on desk which means you can enjoy the same speaker quality anywhere anytime. I have no words to express how much the camera of Lumia 720 has impressed me. Nokia managed to put in a f/1.9 6.3 MP camera which does a tremendous job in low light and day light both and comes very close to Lumia 920 quality.
Video Review
Next is the video where I have talked in detail about the phone followed by more details below.
Display & Screen Quality:
You would be surprised to know that Lumia 720 display is 800×480(217 ppi) only but when you use the phone it feels and looks as good as Lumia 920 display. There are a couple of reasons for it
- The glass is Corning Gorilla Glass 2 which comes with color boost making it look vibrant.
- The glass is sculpted exactly like 920.
- It’s IPS Lumia 520 but comes with Clear Black display which makes sure you don’t get to see your face a lot often than the display.
- Though it attracts moisture a bit like the Lumia 520, it’s comparatively less.
- The screen has Super-sensitive touch and it feels silky when using it.
- Sunlight readability is good. I was able to read my tweets, emails and surf websites. Though when compared to Lumia 920, 720 lags a bit.
Build Quality:
I am quite impressed with Lumia 720 build and I wish Lumia 920 was so thin. It’s a unibody design which means you cannot take off the case and the material gives you excellent grip when holding the phone.
Not only is it thin but it weighs only 120 gms and even then does not feel like it. IMO, what makes the phone feel lightweight is because it is evenly distributed on all the sides and since the edges are curved it gives a very strong grip and doesn’t make using it an uncomfortable experience. Nokia is known for its remarkable design and Lumia 720 is a classical example of it making it even look better than Lumia 820.
Battery Life:
Those who never knew it before, Lumia 720 comes with 2000 mAH battery which is almost equal to battery power of Lumia 920 (2200 mAH). Lumia 920 has never impressed me for battery on 3G. It drains way too fast when compared to 2G. However, 720 performed better but I expected a lot more than this. Below are my results.
Case 1: Heavy Usage
This was done on full brightness & completely on 3G network.
- 30 minutes of gaming
- 1 hr of music on speakers
- 1 hr of twitter
- 2 hrs idle time.
- 30 minutes of call in parts.
- 1 hour of feed reading in parts
The battery drained from 97% to 37% in 6 hours 30 minutes approximately. If this forms the major part of your day, it will last a maximum of 10 hours.
Case 2: Regular Usage
Everything that I said above but not dedicated. It was all random like I use my phone everyday. The battery lasted for almost 18 hours
Call Quality:
I am satisfied with overall quality of audio when it comes to making and receiving calls. In fact when I asked a couple of friends whom I talk more often over phone, they said I was sounding better than my earlier phone; I guess they noticed that I wasn’t using Lumia 920.
Game Performance:
Again, Impressive. I played hours of game on this phone and it never had any heating issues. Lumia 520 and 920 both used to get heated up in 15 minutes of gameplay but nothing happened here. The graphics were amazing, sound quality is super which makes this phone “A Perfect Gaming Phone” in Windows Phone range.
Camera (Photos + Video)
After trying out lot of pictures and videos, it felt like Nokia Lumia 720 is built keeping the camera in mind. Nokia has made a phone with camera powerful enough to capture quality low light images and still make it affordable.
The phone packs a 6.7-megapixel sensor and an f/1.9 Carl Zeiss lens. Keeping in mind Nokia has tons of apps for your camera i.e Cinematograph, Panorama App, etc. makes it’s a strong candidate for photography competitions. Also the phone comes with a front end camera which is capable of 720P making it a deal for video calls.
Low Light Pictures (with and without flash)
720 does some serious job when it comes to low light. We knew this right when it was announced but when testing it in the real world impressed me even more. It comes a bit close to Lumia 920 low light performance but there are differences that cannot be ignored.
Macros:
Day Light Pictures:
At Edens during the IPL Match
I am overall satisfied with camera experience of Lumia 720. It’s not as great as it was with Lumia 920 and that’s because it does have some amount of noise in day light photograph which becomes clear if you zoom in details on 100% crop, i.e. images aren’t that clean. However, they will never be deal breaker because Lumia 720 also comes with power low light photography which beats out any phone in the same range.
Video :
Daylight Video Sample
Music Quality:
Lumia 720 falls into the category of music phones also. Not only are the speakers pretty loud and clear (except at full volume) but even when kept down (speakers are on back so one can expect volume to get low) the amount of volume for speakers and clarity did not get compromised. It seems that the curves were designed such that it does not affect the speaker’s volume. Really loved this part.
When used with earphones or headphones, you can use the equalizer to enhance your listening experience. Unlike Lumia 520, it is enabled here with options to toggle Dolby and level overall volume.
Hardware & Benchmarking:
We at WPXBOX don’t talk much about technical details about hardware. We rather focus on perspective such as phone performance, build quality, camera, audio quality, battery life, etc. So instead of throwing all fancy specifications towards you, here is a simpler version:
Lumia 720 is the most powerful low end Windows Phone 8 device which runs on a 1GHz Snapdragon Processor with 512MB RAM. It comes with 8 GB of internal storage and up to 64GB is supported using microSD. The battery power is 2000 mAh. It comes with Flash and powerful f/1.9 & 6.3MP camera. The screen display is IPS, Gorilla Glass 2 which gives a smooth touch experience and amazing sunlight readability.
For geeks, starting with this review, we are now including benchmarking details. The AnTuTu benchmark tool is available in the store and the only app available for benchmarking.
Wireless Charging
Lumia 720 has inbuilt support for Wireless Charging but to use it you need to buy a case or cover. The prices are not out yet but if I compare to Lumia 820 cases it should be around 2K in Indian Currency.
Why buy a Nokia Lumia 720?
If you always thought that Lumia 920 is very costly and very bulky, this is your chance to grab Lumia 720 because except OIS and 512MB RAM there is not much of difference. You might argue about storage space but then you have SD card expansion slot for that which supports up to 64GB.
Lumia 720 is built keeping mind that it should become the best Windows Phone in low-mid range phone. It performs well in low light and in gaming, speakers are well done, screen quality is almost equal to 920 Screen and both front and rear camera supports 720P.
All this packed into 18,000 Indian Rupees. What more you could ask for in this budget phone. Go Buy it!!
[wp-review]
