T-Mobile Nokia Lumia 521 joins an elite crowd: will support Wi-Fi calling

You might not know this, but before I was 110% Windows Phone I had a thing for Blackberry. Specifically the Curve 8320. That’s because it had one feature in a smartphone that I absolutely needed back then – Wi-Fi calling. If you’re a Windows Phone fan and hoping to get a phone with Wi-Fi calling you might want to check out the Nokia Lumia 521.

On May 20, anyone with a Lumia 521 on T-Mobile will be getting an update to software/firmware version 1030.6409.1316.0016. The update will be delivered over-the-air (OTA) and add Wi-Fi calling to the little handset that could.

The Lumia 521 isn’t on the wish list for most of you, but it’s a compelling handset for budget shoppers or first time smartphone owners. It’s also the first Windows Phone device that we can think of to have the ability to place calls over Wi-Fi. Know of any others? No word on if this is using Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) technology to get it done, but we’ll hit up T-Mobile and Nokia to find out more for you and if we can look forward to this feature in other handsets.

The Lumia 521 is becoming a compelling device between the low price and new Wi-Fi calling feature.

What do you think of placing calls over Wi-Fi? Is this a feature that should come to higher end Lumia devices?

Source: T-Mobile Support, Windows Phone Central Forums

Thanks for the tip Dustin H!

Sam Sabri
Former Managing Editor

Sam Sabri was formerly the Managing Editor for Windows Central, covering Windows Phone, Microsoft Build, and many more topics.