Nokia has announced the successor to its most popular Windows Phone. The Lumia 525 will be released in December starting around $200.
Believe it or not, Nokia's most popular Lumia smartphone is actually its level-entry Lumia 520. The handset is offered contract-free from T-Mobile and AT&T and has been selling very well due to its low price tag and decent feature set. AdDuplex's latest figures show that the Lumia 520 accounts for 26.5% of Windows Phone devices sold worldwide.
Nokia is looking to keep that momentum going and has just announced the Lumia 525, the successor to the popular Lumia 520. The smartphone ships with a 4-inch 800 x 480 IPS (in plane switching) LCD display with super sensitive touch and a pixel density of 235 pixel per inch (ppi). It's powered by a 1GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor and 1GB of RAM to keep things running smoothly. It runs the latest version of Windows Phone 8 and ships with Nokia's Lumia Black update pre-installed.
Its camera capabilities include a 5-megapixel rear camera with auto focus and supports 720p video recording @30fps. The handset comes with 8GB of internal storage and also includes a microSD expansion slot that will support up to 64GB microSD cards. In terms of wireless connectivity you'll find a 3G GSM radio, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 and GPS. Nokia ships the Lumia 525 with a removable 1,420 mAh battery that it claims will provide up to 17 hours of talk time and 336 hours of standby time. Its dimensions are 119.9 mm x 64 mm x 9.9 mm and weighs 124 grams.
The Lumia 525 will allow users to change the look of the smartphone through the use or changeable back shells that will be offered in yellow, white, orange, and black.
Nokia has included many of its popular exclusive Windows Phone apps and services. The Nokia Smart Cam will let you create action sequences, add different types of effects, and more. You can edit images right on the smartphone with editing tools such as Glam Me, Creative Studio and Cinemagraph. You'll also find Nokia's excellent HERE apps, which include HERE Maps for mapping, HERE drive that provides turn-by-turn directions and HERE Transit that will help you find the best public transportation.
Nokia hasn't revealed a specific launch date, but the company's Singapore Facebook page shows a Dec. 14 launch date. The Lumia 525 is expected to retail for about $200 when it hits the U.S.
