Just as we’re wrapping up our Lumia 520 review, our Lumia 720 showed up today - in yellow no less. Huzzah! So instead of keeping it to ourselves we figured we’d unbox and give a brief tour of the newest mid-range Lumia with Windows Phone 8.
As you’ll be able to determine from the video, we’re really excited about this phone. Fetching for ~$350 off contract, the Lumia 720 has a lot going for it...
- It’s thin (9 mm) and light (128 g)
- 2000mAh battery (13-15 hours talk time)
- Expandable memory via microSD
- Unibody design
- Optional wireless rechargeable backplates
- ClearBlack 4.3” IPS display with Super Sensitive Touch
- NFC
- 6.7MP rear camera with a super low f/1.9 lens for a larger aperture; front facing camera
In our short time with it, we love every aspect of the Lumia 720. The audio for phone calls was stellar (loud and crisp), screen responsiveness is better than the 520 and 620, the rear speaker cranks and the main camera ranks as high or higher than the Lumia 810/820. All tucked away in a thin, svelte and shockingly light body, what’s not to like?
Yeah, make no mistake even though this “only” has HSPA 3G here on AT&T, we’re making this our daily driver for awhile
Look for our review in the coming week.
Family shot (L to R): Lumia 520, 620, 720 and 920 (820 was out at a party)
Reader comments
Nokia Lumia 720 – Unboxing and first impressions (Hint: It's awesome)
When is the review daniel??even the 520 review is not up yet.. :(
if this had a 1.2ghz cpu and something like 768mb ram, it would've been a perfect transition from 620 to 820.
Thats good!!! Here is full review and specification of nokia lumia 720 according to my point of view,its awesome
http://engineeringprogrammingsoftwaregames.blogspot.com/2013/04/nokia-lu...
why u forgot that it so many file managing issues and no game can run it requires 1 gb ram atleast , it has 512 mb only , and only viable option is 920
Read my review at http://texcitement.blogspot.in/2013/04/nokia-widens-its-lumia-serieslumi...
why u forgot that it so many file managing issues and no game can run it requires 1 gb ram atleast , it has 512 mb only , and only viable option is 920
So, you have tried a phone before its launch? dont go by specs only, these are great beasts and 512 is just about enough.
i posted about my 620 . i really miss playing temple run , other 1 gb ram games. i didn't have any idea that these game will not run on 620 otherwise i would have gone for something else .
I want temple fkin run on my lumia 620, also give prepaid billing . When is it coming ?? does wp blue has a file manager ?? would wp blue have full multitasking or ms made a fool of us ? full torrent client ?? if the answer is no to all then i ll throw lumia and get HTC One (latest one ).
I have a AT&T 820 right now, but this phone has peaked my interest again. Can any one who owns the 720 tell me if they have had any issues with people not being able to hear you? The 512MB of memory doesn't bug me, and neither does not having LTE (I turned it off on my iPhone for better battery life) The bigger battery is a plus, but not sure if it's enough. I just placed an order for the 3600 mAh Mugen battery for my 820. lol
EDIT: Is that tiny little hole by the flash the mic for the noise cancellation?
GSM arena has the 720 with a better gpu than the 920:
http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_lumia_720-5321.php
The Adreno 305 isn't better than the 225, its just the newer 3 series version of the 205, which was in most wp7 phones. All 512MB Ram windows phones have the lower specced 305.
Ah good to know. Kinda like how the video card companies ( Nvida/AMD) rebrand their existing chips i guess
Looks really good compared to the 820
Why doesnt the 822 get any love?
I own a 620 and happend to get hold of a 720. I should say one thing the display of 720 is really bad. Came home and did some research got the answer the 620 comes with a display ppi of 243 one of the best on its class but the 720 has only 217! Now I like my 620 even better. 720 has everything right except the display which is a huge thing in today's market. 620 wins.
This is actually the only gripe I have with the 720, i.e. why didn't they increase the resolution of the display just slightly or stayed with 3.8" or maybe 4.0" ? The image quality smokes that of the 620 though, which to me personally is a little more important than 217 vs. 246 PPI. The laptop I'm writing this at has a ppi of 170 and I seriously can't see the pixels at a 30 cm distance.
The reason of why they didn't increase the screen resolution would be not to steal further sales from the 820. I didn't go for the 820 because I knew that Nokia tried to push sales of their flagship model 920 by crippling the 820 severely at the 920's selling points: Unibody design, screen resolution, camera performance, scratch resistency, battery capacity. In my opinion, they did cripple the 820 way too much in comparison to the 920.
The reason of not going with 3.8" or 4.0" is likely due to the width of the battery. The battery of the 720 is the same as in the 920. In the 920 it is only a 5 mm or so less wide than the phone itself, so going for a smaller screen size would introduce a larger border size.
Along came the 620 - but it seems to be very important to Nokia that it shouldn't steal sales from the 820, so while the resolution is the same, the image quality is slightly inferior, and it features a slower cpu+gpu, no LTE, god forbid a unibody design, and of course it shouldn't last longer than the 820 with it's faster cpu+gpu. In my opinion, all this led to the introduction of the abysmal low capacity battery found in the 620. They had ALL in favor of increasing the battery life, but they crippled it.
Then came the 720 which seems to be more like the twin brother to the 920 that the 820 never was from a design perspective. Performance-wise the 720 seems to be introduced to the market as a step forward instead of making sure that it won't steal sales from the 820 - sans the 1 GB RAM. Yes, the cpu+gpu is slower on paper, but in real life use, who can really tell the difference? Try to look at the performance of Asphalt 7 executed on the high-spec'ed GS3 or 920 and on the 720 or 620. I honestly can't tell a difference.
Great review and great looking phone.
So whats the deal with wireless charging? You cant put it on the plate without some additional accessory right?
Right!
The 720 is appealing as I think it has bridged the gap sufficiently between the higher end 820/920 but adds much improved battery performance. This actually for me makes the phone a very good business phone with good talk times and adequate browsing/video/music playback. 2 days of use now seems a very real expectation.
In Russia 820 costs only 60$ more than 720 (560$ against 500$) but 820 has 1gb RAM, better processor, better rear camera, AMOLED display, it's much smaller while display size is the same, 820 comes with much better headset, it also has an LTE support so my choice would be 820.
Yep, but 720 has a better camera (f1.9: it's not about resolution) and a better front-camera (1 megapixel).
It's all about target buyer and what do you need on your phone.
Yes, I'm worried - me too - for the lack of 1GB of RAM, but... I hope we'll not have any problem for at least 1 year.
Less mAh on 820 than 720. Due the specs the 820 will drain more battery than 720. AND the biggest plus of the 720 is: the weight! If i am calling my girlfriend 2-3 hours straight (which i do every 2nd day) than my arm would fall apart... 720 has the perfect weight. Addionaly I dont need tons of games, that is why the 720 is better for the every-day use!
There's also personal preference/aesthetics. Personally, I never cared for the 820's looks and think the 720's unibody design is much better.
I'm trully amazed at how this phone looks in hands-on videos. Great ergonomy, beautiful matte plastics - a truly stylish phone I wouldn't take my eyes off.
If this came with the Lumia 920's display (not just the resolution but mostly the 60 FPS) and the accompaning 1 gb of RAM this would be the perfect phone for me. I'd pay a lot for it.
Can't wait to see the next Lumia designs.
Interesting how the 620 is the roundest WP8 Lumia compared to the rest of the handsets.
Not releasing the Lumia 720 in the United States is a *big* mistake on Nokia's part. Honestly...this is a great phone.
It takes two to tango...for all we know carriers weren't interested. I mean, I'm pretty sure Nokia would love every carrier to offer this phone, that's their business. I just can't imagine a meeting with them where they're like "Hey, let's sell the Lumia 720 to AT&T!" and someone responds with "Naaah, why bother?".
So...I've tested out *most* of the current Lumia line -- the 920, 820, 620 and now the 720.
The 920 is very much the "flagship phone", but I've struggled through 3 handsets now -- all with "battery drain" issues that I haven't been able to resolve. That aside, the size and weight of the 920 is still a bit much for me. The camera, however, is truly fantastic.
The 820 was a nicer phone than I thought it would be. Speedy, good size/weight, and the removeable case + microSD expansion is nice to have. I wish it had better low-light camera support, as well as a higher rez screen. Also, the screen seemed like a fingerprint magnet to me. Otherwise, a good phone that I can recommend to others.
The 620 was, sadly, a disappointment for me. It actually felt too small in my hand, and the screen was sluggish to respond to touch. Not only that, but the screen didn't feel at all slippery, which made using it fairly undesireable. Camera was "ok" at best. It was a budget phone that felt/operated like a budget phone.
The 720 is a different beast entirely. It has the CPU guts of the 620, but has never been sluggish for me. The camera, while not quite as nice as the 920, has great low-light capability. The screen feels nice to the touch, calls have been clear, and the external speaker gets nice and loud. The phone itself feels great in the hand -- not too big or small -- and the weight is almost bordering on too light, but not at the expense of feeling at all cheap. The gotcha? No LTE support for me on AT&T (USA), but HSPA+ has been fine for streaming Xbox Music during my commute. I would love a higher rez screen, but for 90% of typical phone use, the lower rez is fine. Yes, the 720 also "only" has 512mb of ram, but day-to-day it's no big deal at all.
All in all, I've actually been VERY happy using the Lumia 720 -- and it's the phone I hope to stay with. The 820 is also a great device, and probably a better choice if you need a removeable battery + LTE on AT&T (USA). I can't recommend the 620, personally, and I'm having a hard time recommending the 920 these days either -- not with going through three handsets personally, and two for my co-worker.
Lumia 720 rocks! :)
Love this phone, the only issues i might have with it is the 512 ram and the screen
Daniel, is there any reason this wouldn't get HSPA+ on TMobile USA? Or would it depend on if I'm in an area with the 1900 MHz frequency reused for HSPA+? I'm looking at the 810 and see the exact same frequencies listed on the 720 that would be used on HSPA+.
Does HSPA+ use 1900mhz for upload and 21000mhz for download? I thought that all 3G on Tmobile go 1700UL - 2100DL but I could be wrong.
I also always wondered how hard would it be to have an EDGE upload override for non 3G tmobile phones while using 3G universal download frequency. In other words all phones use UMTS 1900mhz-2100mhz so frequency for download is compatible with tmobile but not the upload.
From the TMobile USA wikipedia entry:
850 MHz: GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS/HSPA (2g/3g) beginning 1996 for 2g, 2012 for 3g
1900MHz: GSM/GPRS/EDGE (2g) beginning 1996
1700MHz / 2100MHz: UMTS/HSPA/HSPA+ (3g/4g) beginning 3g in 2008, marketed as 4g in 2010
1900MHz: UMTS/HSPA/HSPA+ (3g/4g) beginning 2011
If there was a way to check what frequencies my phone was currently using, that might help me make a decision. That said, my wife is currently on unlimited data at Verizon, but she doesn't care to nor need to keep it when she upgrades to a 928. If I stay at TMobile, we will spend roughly the same each month as if I switch to Verizon on a shared 2 gig plan (less obviously if we go to a 1 gig). Given the cost of an unlocked phone vs a subsidized one, I might just go back to a contract. My wife refuses to go to TMobile because she feels she won't have the coverage she needs (we rarely leave major metro areas so I think this is silly). She won't switch to ATT where I believe we'd save over Verizon and be able to save money on new 92x phones (not to mention could do that today)... Amazon has them for new family plan customers for $20 a pop.
Is this phone coming to ATT specifically or you can buy it unlocked and use on ATT?
I remember reading a few months ago this is not comign to u.S.
No evidence of a US release on carriers here.
Highly doubt that we will see this on any US carrier because of 820/810 and market segment that it very similar to 720. Having those two phones next to each other for the same price tag will make them redundant and they would cannibalize each other. I believe thats the business reasoning behind the decison not to bring 720 or any other low end Lumia to US.
Dan I kinda stalked you on twitter waiting for this ok so you putting down you're beloved 620 for the 720 says alot im trying to decide between the two $70 is going to weigh on me but it might be worth it cause it looks amazing can't wait for the full review
This gut in 4 inch version would be cool. Id highly consider to replace my 920 if it were smaller.
Anyone else reminded of the HTC 8X? Looks good, maybe needs a little more to distance it from the 620.
Nice Phone and great unboxing ,Thx.
Hmmm... Do I ditch my 900 back up and get this? Nah, I would miss LTE.
I don't see the point. This one is overpriced at 350$. In our local market (the Philippines), this costs 360$ whilst the Lumia 820 costs 330$.
It is too new, give it a month. In my country the Lumia 720 is now 339 ($440) euro on pre-order. Yet the 820 is 349 euro ($454), but a month ago the 820 was 449 euro ($584) Nokia always does this. Release a phone at a very high price, then after 4 to 7 weeks drops the price drastically. The 920 went from 629 euro to 479 euro in 7 weeks!
Honestly, I think the 720 is a better phone than the 820 -- despite the numbering system. The 820 has LTE support, more megapixels, 1GB ram, and faster CPU. The 720 feels more premium in the hand, larger battery, nicer screen, and better cameras. For "real world" use, I like the 720 more. Not everyone cares about LTE (or doesn't have it), and the extra ram is only useful for a half dozen apps.
My $.02
somehow i feel my 820 as cheap compared to other phones. This horrible horrible battery is killing my love for nokia
Wrong. The 820 is closer to $450.
Sweet.. Now this has to come to India soon. My friend is waiting for this device. And once he gets it, I can play with it. Haha :) cool phone though
Lumia 720 ad. Link to Nokia Pakistan. http://www.nokia.com/pk-en/products/phone/lumia720/#
The camera, the size, the battery, the weight, expandable memory, i love this phone.
For teen or first smartphone, this would be great. No contract, therefore disposable. Expandable memory is a plus. Might not be able to play MW4 on it, but would be very capable, IMHO.
feels too light for me..hope backplates arrive the soonest!
Will it run Temple Run though? I want a 720 but I'd love to be able to play TP.
You have my app pinned to your start screen! It feels like I'm seeing myself on TV. *jumps for joy*
On topic: crazy excited for the 720!
im actualy quite sad that the 720 has a better battery then the 820
Yeah the 820 battery is terrible! But we have other things going for our phone....not many but some!
i'm actually thinking about selling my 820 to my sister and get me a S4 because of that massive 2600 mAh battery.
It looks thicker than it actually is to me.
All Nokia phones have that prblems. They are not photogenic.:)
My girl is so pissed Tmobile didnt pick this up lol i just sent her that video and now she is REALLY pissed haha, that is one sexy device.
She says the 810(tmobile) just looks too traditional (black, squared slab)
I agree 100%. 810 is nice but it's quite boring by comparison. T-Mo (and all US carriers) should seriously consider this phone, imo.
Based on http://www.wpcentral.com/nokia-lumia-720-teases-us-passes-through-fcc I doubt any US carrier but AT&T will be getting this phone.
Where js the 820 or 820 variant in the picture? :)
Wow! Finally my love is here! Was waiting for you for such a long time... Now you are here; that too in that hot yellow outfit! :D
Speak of which, http://openwalls.com/image?id=9083.
Really nice phone...I love the matte finish, I don't know why Nokia didn't do that with the 920 from the start. Anyway, I'm looking forward to hearing what changes are coming to HTC & Samsung once those WP8 devices are revealed by Sprint in the coming weeks.
Thanks for the intro.
Would be great to see a "family shot" with all of them on, to get an idea of the tile size.
This phone has everything going for it, except 1 GB ram. Is ram that expensive? They could have cut down on the NFC and/or wireless charging and included that additional ram. Would have been a killer phone then. It may still sell very well since the WP8 OS is butter smooth even on 512 ram :) Some apps and games are the issue.
But AFAIK, there are like maybe 5 apps/games that fall into that category...I personally think this is more of a mental barrier for people than a real one. Put it another way: it doesn't bother me any...
It's enough to bother people like myself. As new games are being released with 1gb needed. Maybe they patch them later but, if it's worth it to you to wait or might not even get the chance to play it because they cant' make it run on less. We have seen a few games come out, then patched LATER. How does one know this will not keep happening like this ? Also does this make devs strip a game down so it can run on a 512mb phone ? So do the 1gb users suffer because of this ?
it also comes down to 8gb in this phone, it's not a lot of space if you like games, this will fill up very quickly.
512mb/8gb is a big downer on this phone.
hey dan, even microsoft have an app (NOT a game) that requires 1 GB ram so the future doesn't look that bright www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/face-swap/0f55f905-77d3-4e09-8f2a-d...
That app hasn't been updated since August of 2012--pre Windows Phone 8. So either one of two things: (1) MSR has abandoned it or (2) a proper WP8 version will come out and work on 512MB devices.
Either way, that's but a single example out of 130K apps, hardly a "OMG the sky is falling" moment.
www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/vneslight/3d8e51b8-1884-4aa7-bb2c-2...
Thanks, I love VNESLight Pro. Just installed it on my new Lumia 720. Point?
i don't own a 512 ram device (gonna buy a red 720) so when i see the 'not available for all phones' line under the resolution requirements on the app store website i thought that meant 512 mb ram devices.....but if it's not for that why is it written on vnes's app website ??
Does the 720 have HAAC mics on board?
Yes, High Dynamic mics are on board.
Ah thanks, good to know.
Looks like a really nice phone but, with 512mb and only 8gb, it's lower end. I have 16gb in my 8x and I can't install any more apps, so the limits with this is pretty huge if you like your apps.
Wish MS would allow apps to be installed to MicroSD cards, then that problem would resolve itself.
I like the look of it, hoping this is a sign what will come with the 928 (hint:MicroSD)
They should at least allow the maps to be downloaded on the micro sd card, if apps are not viable. I have not downloaded maps due to space it takes up.
How much of "other" memory does your phone have?
My 8x normally gets large but, that "Shrink Storage" app really works. at one point I was almost 6gb other and it dropped it down to 2.54gb...
If Microsoft allowed SD storage, it would prob have to make a hidden/encrypted partition because it would allow people to "crack" games if all the files where in there (there is already a hack for7.8 unlocked phones to "crack" games after they are installed). take a 64gb and give 20gb to apps, still 44gb for media and music would be epic...
Microsoft does allows sd storage to my knowledge
Yes, MicroSD for media, podcasts, pictures, etc but, officially you can NOT install any Apps/games to the SD card. The major limit with this phone is you only have 8gb for apps/games, if you like games and the newer ones, that might just allow for 3-4 games before your out of space. That is possibly a major flaw with this unit and the design of WP8 with SD cards. Of course, this depends on the user.
$350 on eBay??
One word epic!
magical...
Rad! Is GDR2 on there?
So nice that .7 of extra pixels for the camera. Everything needs to be the same shape! Otherwise sounds like a perfect phone for TMobile.
What about Here Drive without the + ?
If I have to pay for the + maybe the 620 or 820 is the better deal.
Would have wanted to pick this up as well, but am not going to as I"m planning to use the phone as a navigation device abroad. Now considering the 620. Too bad Nokia :(
What is the difference betwenn + and non + version?
I heard there is a limit of one offline map download or something but I am not familiar with details
HERE Drive just allows offline navigation based on a region or country. HERE Drive+, on the other hand, allows global offline navigation. GSM Arena did hint that non-Nokia phones will have to pay to upgrade the former to the latter. Not too sure about the 720 and 520's case, though.
You can still download as many offline maps as possible and still use HERE Maps for the walk navigation regardless of where you are.
You can get a Lumia 820 for the same price on eBay...
And if you're willing to go used, you can get a 920 for $50 cheaper.
True, but there is a significant difference in size and weight between the 720 and 920. It can be a deciding factor. Plus: expandable storage (32GB vs 72GB is a big deal for some).
I mean, this phone is even a hair lighter than the HTC 8X...it's really nimble.
I just wish Microsoft allowed apps or at lease games to be added to the SD card. 8 gigs for apps, games and software is not enough. I have 25 gigs left on my SD and nothing but music and pictures to put one it.
or map to sd card? Though games would be sweet!
The design alone makes a statement for the L720..
I want a CDMA unlocked Lumia option!
Good luck with that, when LTE is the norm (Verizon does a full LTE network and kills the 3g), then you might see that support, as LTE needs a SIM card...
but, a Unlocked CDMA version for Sprint or Verizon, dont see that ever happening...and if it did, would one of those carriers actually activate it for you ?
Verizon would love to
Take a CDMA based Sprint phone (hint: It will work 100% on Verizon's 3g network) like the Arrive and CALL Verizon....They wont activate it even if it is fully unlocked. Maybe sometine in the future but, now, I would not buy a phone based on that, even if you work at Verizon, as stories can change with Verizon depending on who you talk to and what day you call
I am completely jealous Dan!!!!! I have the 920 but I think the 720 is actually the phone for me. And its yellow!!!! GD it!!!! I'm excited for you, enjoy!
Off/On-topic. I've always wanted a Dakar Yellow M3. If I ever get one, my phone will have to be yellow to match, because that is too damn awesome looking.
LOL--
The yellow looks a little washed out on the M3. The yellow lumia, would be a much darker shade than the car.
IMO - Not really much into cars... But I've always wanted to get a red GTI - A red lumia would match it perfectly. xD
They should release a 1gb version with a similar spec. Else looks like it will be 820 for me.
I think that's what the 928 is gonna be. Except bigger. I personally would perfer a 4.3 or even a 4.
I agree. I want a high end or at least a mid-high end win8 phone with a 4" screen. There's a demand for it but phone makers don't seem to be willing to make one.
make a 620 with 4" or 4.3". Put in stage 2 pureview like in 920, make it splash proof then i'm sold. I'm buying 920 mostly because of its camera, but the size really brings me down. I thought the 720 is good compromise, i don't play games that much so i'm fine with 512MB RAM. But then i found out that the size is just slightly smaller than 920
Nokia should pay attention to this market segment, not everybody like the big screen phones
N
Also I hope the next flagship Lumia has a matte Yellow finish like this.
I was about to give the exact same comment.. I was really tempted to buy a non-black 920, but didn't quite like the shiny finish. Hope the next phone comes in matte - and ideally also in grey.. (Please!)
the grey Lumia 920 is matte
If this had 1GB RAM it would be a killer deal. As of right now it doesn't make sense shelling out the extra cash for this over Lumia 620; in my opinion.
You should have a debate with Nokia's product managers:
"One important factor we had too look into with both the Lumia 720 and 520 was avoiding the low memory and app restrictions (basically avoiding another Lumia 610 scenario). We actually had early prototypes running on 1Gb of ram and other running on 512Mb; the users testing them out couldn’t tell which was which."
The low memory app restriction scenario for WP7 was 256MB and for WP8 it's 512MB. You never know what awesome new app will come and will be incompatible with 512MB phones for no reason what so ever, like TuneIn and Temple Run
Tunein works perfectly on my Lumia 620
Uhhm thats called a bad app with poor memory management then. Has nothing to do with the phone.
Lumia 720 owner here.. 512mb will cut you out not only games :( i discovered some days ago even microsoft research's faceswap doesn't work :(
what the hell :(
How can that be, those came out for wp7.
i'm asking myself the same thing :\
2 screenshot as proof:
http://i48.tinypic.com/2hzmkaa.png
http://i50.tinypic.com/15cd34p.png
Because Windows Phone 8 is a memory hog. It have larger footprint than Windows Phone 7, would be my reasoning.
Personalyl I would get Lumia 720 because of the screen. There's a big difference between 620 and 720 screen imo.
If it had 1GB of ram, this wouldn't be budget phone anymore. The whole point of 512mb is to make it cheap as possible.
First, 5, 6, 7, 8 ,9.... 700s should be midrange devices as they fall smack in the middle.
Second, have you seen the BOM's for smart phones? iSupply lists the iPhone 5's 1 gig of RAM at $10.45. That makes it about 5% of the total cost of the iPhone ($199). Not to ignore the fact that 512 RAM costs something in that range of $0.01 and $10.45, is someone going to freak out by this slight change? Charge us the difference...instead of starting at $429, start it at $439.49.
As I posted earlier today on a different thread, Nokia should bump the 500, 600, 700 series down a notch and have a new 700 series with lower-end specs (read similar to the current 620/720) but with the same amount of RAM as the higher end. I feel they have a gap they are losing here. Looking on Expansys, they have phones essentially every $100 or so from the $200s up to the $600s, except nothing in the $400 range. Now, given how few people actually care to look at BOMs when they are picking out a phone, why not take the current 720 componets and dump a 1 gig chip in and charge around $450 for it unlocked at launch? Not only do you have a more complete offering, but people in the midrange won't all of a sudden find shock when their device doesn't work with every app. While I realize a midrange device has sacrifices, it actually kind of bothered me a bit when I tried downloading a couple apps on my 710 and got errors because I lacked a gyroscope or something. Midrange is that point where you are enough money so you expect to have access to everything in the app store, but perhaps not every luxury as the highend.
It's midrage... give me the same features as the highend, but slower or less capable. Start removing features after this midrange point. The exceptions here would be features with significant costs associated with them- perhaps a fingerprint scanner, crazy camera, etc. Sales tax is often more than the 5% associated (at least on the iPhone 5) with 1 gig of RAM.
199 dollar Iphone costs 600 + dollars and above. So ask Apple to add 2 GB ram and see if they will give it to you for 620 dollars +.
You dont know anything. If you want buy it or else dont.. Go and buy your Galaxy with 4 GB Ram for current rate + 20 dollars. All you can do is complain.
It is all the features that these guys sell it and it is not about actual cost. You are mad.
This is business. Which is why you can rant here why some people are managing billion dollars business. Price discrimination is an important element making a product worth what it worth. Non of these phones will get 1Gb until the next 8 series gets 2Gb and above. You said you did research, then you should realized that 800 is a budget 900, 700 is a budget 800. And 600 you pay more for a premium SW package while 500 is all you need from a 600 but without the premium SW. Clear and well structured.
@Hiume:
That's not remotely accurate. There are certain features on 700, 600, and 500 that don't necessarily follow that. One would consider a larger screen to be a higher end feature- 500 is larger than 600. Technically, the 700 series has the best aperture for low light pictures out of any of the phones (including the 920). There was just an article today on how the 700 lacks the Here+ while the 620 has it. I think many would argue battery life would be considered a higher end aspect of a phone and the 700 is getting touted there. The 700, 600, and 500 all share the same dual core 1.0 ghz CPU...doesn't seem like much differentiation going on there. I'm sure there are others, but I haven't spend nearly enough time looking at the spec sheets for these phones. 800 has an AMOLED screen while 920 and 720 both are IPS.
Part of Nokia's issue right now with these phones is that they are all so similar and yet different, but not necessarily in the most logical of ways. I completely agree with you- it should follow that every phone is a slightly cheaper, less feature-packed than the model level above it. The issue is that it isn't happening that way.
@rmichael75:
If you read what I wrote, you'd recognize that I proposed taking a 720, adding potentially $10 of hardware to it, yet charging $100 more for it. Perhaps you should read things before suggesting someone doesn't know what they are talking about. Apple is doing this as a product differentiation as it positions itself as a luxury good. Are you going to tell me I can follow that same triple the BOM and get the sales price formula for everything? No. For a high end device, a company can get away with higher mark ups. What's stopping Google or Amazon from charging significantly more for their 7" tablets? Nothing. They aren't trying to position them as high end goods.
As I just stated above, there are 5 product lines (5-9). If I go and buy a car that's barebone (aka 500 series), I would expect few, if any extras, luxuries, etc. If I buy a midrage package for said car (700), I would expect many of the same things included in the completely upgraded editon (900) with perhaps no leather seats (built in wireless charging), but I'd at least expect to have USB, bluetooth, line in, etc. and an average sound system, power locks/windows/etc. That's what I'm suggesting Nokia does- the middle phone shouldn't have compromises with app compatibility- speed of apps, sure. Lower quality camera, speakers, display, shorter battery life, lower quality/resolution screen, sure. I'm not asking for the world here. I'm asking for a midrange product to behave like one. I should have EVERY feature that the 520 and 620 have, but I don't- no Here+.
And since you missed it the first time, from my original post:
"Now, given how few people actually care to look at BOMs when they are picking out a phone, why not take the current 720 componets and dump a 1 gig chip in and charge around $450 for it unlocked at launch?"
All I'm saying is that I'm a pretty big Windows Phone/smartphone user and I could care less about 512MB of memory. I'm using this phone over my 920 and the only thing that bothers me is the lack of LTE, but not the RAM--so there's like 5 apps/games that I can't play, that pales to what WP7 users are facing with new apps/games these days.
That "5" will steadily rise in the future. Our issue isn't that we're getting fleeced for our dollars (not really) but rather that they're putting out superior phones (720, is arguably better than the 820) but crippling them with inferior hardware in order to "set them apart" with an insanely good design and internals (best camera), but with really crappy 512mb ram that ISN'T FUTUREPROOF. How long will it be before apps come out that can't run on this beautiful masterpiece with really crappy 2009-era RAM? 3 months, 6 months or maybe just under a year? Even mid-tier Android flagships can last longer than that. Nokia has always, always sucked at hardware internals (their flagship phones consistently had the lowest ram among all phone-makers) but excelled at design and build quality. It doesn't make sense that you put out a phone that is nearly as good as the 920 but cripple it intentionally to prevent the inferior 820 from being cannibalized when you could have bumped the 720 to 820 status (by swapping them around, way back on the drawing board and planning stages) and given its memory a boost.
While I agree with you, isn't every phone crippled in some way? There's always something missing that makes one phone better/worse for someone. You want more RAM, someone else will want a bigger screen, someone else will want a better camera. Why doesn't the 720 have all of these and just charge a minimal amount over the current price. Well then it'd be a different phone. Everything is released with particular specs to hit a particular market; there's rarely one phone that meets ALL our needs and hits the right price point. At least Nokia aren't Apple and just have one device that's meant to somehow meet what everyone wants. Until phones get like computers and we can get them custom built we'll have to accept some compromises.
If anything the 720 is too good for the price range it's in. They have given it too many good features and so people want just that bit more than would make getting a more expensive phone unneccesary.
Completely agree, very well said
I guess it depends on what you're looking for. While I wish it had 1GB, there aren't any other 4.3" WP8 devices out there (which for me is the optimal screen size). This also sports a bigger camera and a massive battery in a thinner form factor.
The Lumia 820 has a 4.3 screen.
Ah, so it does. Excuse my brainfart.
I agree. It seems a big jump from £129 to £299 (O2 UK PAYG prices)
That is O2's fault, they are selling a phone on payg at the same price as unlocked, which no-one ever does. I'm just going to wait until it comes to Carphone Warehouse, by August I won't be expecting more than £170 for it (if it ever goes below £130 I'll definitly buy it). Another example of O2 overpricing is the 520 is £119.99 on their site, O2 locked, and at Carphone Warehouse it is £99.95 O2 but unlocked.
+1
Although it isn't 1GB RAM installed in L720, the features and the price offered to buy L720, it's a bang deal for a mid-high range phone.
I think 720 is going to do very well.. It might be the one carrying the banner. I preordered one too.
Yeah, I think this is the flagship for mid-range Nokia smartphones, and the alternative killer phone after the 920s ;)
Kind of agree. I won my wife a Lumia 920 but she is having a hard time adjusting to the size. I might get her a 620.
Haha admit it, you want to get her the 620 so you can have the 920.
Thats what she said!! Oh wait she really did. lol :)
Agree, i find the size of 920 to be too big and cumbersome. And i wonder why the front lower area is not symmetrical to the upper area. Such a waste of space, the 920 could be smaller.the screen is only 4.5", the size of the phone is almost the same as the 5" galaxy 4.
i don't like big screen, but i think nokia can make 920 smaller in terms of phone dimension
That's why I got rid of my 920 for an Android until I can buya 720
About the bottom area was not symmetrical. I wondered the same thing unbtil I realized that when you hold the 920 on it side, that extra space lets your hand hold ot without touching the three buttons. Once I realized that why, it made complete sense.
Nokia wouldn't make that.. if 720 got a 1 GB RAM, it will be a killer for 920..
they won't be that silly to make a carnibal product for their flagship..
the one that would do that in this world is only samsung.
Steve Jobs answered the cannibal question perfectly, would you rather cannibalize your own product or have another company do it for you? This should be a no-brainer.