NOKIA Lumia 510 Pro Reviews

The Nokia Lumia 510 is basically a further trimmed down version of last year's Lumia 610. It offers less in an attempt to reduce the price even more, while still providing a complete smartphone experience. The 510 also has a larger screen than the 610 (although of the same resolution), so it's more in line with the current trend. The Nokia Lumia 510 costs about €160 at launch, which is not a bad price if you consider that a full-featured Office suite and a life-time SatNav license are part of the deal. The Windows Phone 7.8 update managed to spray some of the WP 8.0 goodies around the park and has helped improve the UI, while the excellent social skills and the auto-focus 5MP camera turn this into a package that's seemingly too hard to resist. Unfortunately, there's a catch. Not that any smartphone in this price range could realistically be expected to be perfect, but the 4GB storage is nowhere near enough for anyone with even a hint of multimedia addiction. 256MB of RAM is not just a number either that looks bad on the spec sheet - it takes its toll on the user experience by ruling out some key apps (like Skype).

There are no overly weak points in the Lumia 510 performance, and Nokia has even managed to create an above average looking and feeling 4” handset for its sub-$200 price point without a contract. What will make many potential buyers turn away from the phone, though, is the lack of a microSD slot for storage expansion. There are a few Windows Phone handsets out there which will offer more than the Lumia 510's mere 4 GB of storage for about the same, or a little higher price, like the Lumia 710, and even the 610. If you mainly use your handset for talking, navigation, quick browsing and taking pictures, though, the Lumia 510 is a good choice, as it makes pretty decent photos, and the browser performs well. If you venture outside the Windows Phone world, however, a sea of Android handsets awaits you at rock bottom prices, like the LG Optimus L5, which goes for about the same money also with a 4” screen and 5 MP camera, but offers all the advantages of Android and its application store.