Nokia Lumia 720 & 520 Q&A With Product Managers

While we were in Barcelona we had a chance to sit down with the product managers for the new Lumias, so here’s a quick rundown of some facts/questions about the latest additions to the Lumia family.

• 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 Lumia 720 brings the Lowlight capabilities of the 920 to an affordable price range, with a first ever f/19 lens aperture in a smartphone (with a 6.7Mp sensor). We can personally attest to that- If you haven’t seen it already check out the Lumia 720 video capabilities down below.
• The Lumia 720 comes with NFC built in; however the Lumia 520 does not.
• Regarding the exclusion of FM radio in the latest WP8 devices, we realize that it’s important especially in emerging markets; and we’re “pushing for it”
• Currently the Lumia 720 and 520 come with HERE DRIVE; and not “DRIVE +”- meaning that they will come with regional turn by turn navigation only. You can still download the offline maps and plan routes etc. but turn by turn navigation will only work for the region the device comes from.
• The Lumia 520 does NOT support Here City Lens due to the lack of a gyroscope.
• The Lumia 520 has “Hardened Glass” while the Lumia 720 uses “Corning gorilla glass”
• Currently the whole Lumia WP8 range is made of polycarbonate; except for the Lumia 620 which uses plastic for dual shot.
• The Lumia 720 has a gorgeous 4.3″ laminated display that gives 180 degree viewing angles (it really does!!)
• The Lumia 720’s screen is curved, while the 520’s is flat.
• The L 520 does NOT have a flash (the only WP8 Lumia without one)
• The main advantages of the Lumia 820 over the 720 is in the presence of LTE and the larger processor in the 820; although the 720 will still give the optimal WP8 performance, some differences might be visible when running heavier programs (apparently the most taxing application on WP8 would be the camera features/apps such as City lens, Smartshoot etc.)
• What you can clearly see with the full lineup now is that the Lumia 920’s features (consider it the father of the family) has been broken down along different price ranges. With the Lumia 820 we get the fast processing power, the 720 is “social” and has a great camera. etc.
• The new Lumias will be available in Yellow, Cyan, Red, Black, White
• Q: Why isn’t there any green??? (in the original leak there was a green color)
  A: Green is certainly beautiful and we’re looking into it, (the Lumia 620 comes in green due to the dual shot material).
• The 520’s display is the only one that DOES NOT have Nokia’s Clear Black Display technology, which is why it might seem a bit “grey”.

Lumia 720’s camera performance:

Low Light vs. the 920 and Z10:

Low Light vs. the HTC One:

Rear facing camera:

Front Facing camera:

Tags: featured

Category: Lumia, Nokia, Windows Phone