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The Nokia Lumia 620 is a great little handset. While it can't compete with most other Windows Phone 8 handsets, such as its big brother the Nokia Lumia 820 or the HTC Windows Phone 8X, with a price tag of just £150 (around AU$225/US$235) it doesn't have to.
It has set its sights squarely at the low end of the market, and its only real Windows Phone 8 competition there is the HTC Windows Phone 8S - a handset that's pretty similar yet costs more.
We still have some reservations: it's a shame the battery isn't better, and both the screen and keyboard are a little cramped for our liking, while its changeable, colourful shell is no substitute for the stylish, premium look of the HTC Windows Phone 8S.
Plus if you look beyond Windows Phone 8 there are other low priced options to consider, such as the Samsung Galaxy Ace 2, though the specs on that can't quite match the Nokia Lumia 620.
We liked
The Nokia Lumia 620 is seriously cheap for what you get. Its specs are comparable with handsets that cost £200 (around AU$300/US$313) or more and yet it can be yours for just £150 (around AU$225/US$235).
Its performance is generally smooth and responsive, the screen isn't bad at all for such a budget phone, and like all Windows Phone handsets it handles contacts and messaging impressively well.
The bundled Nokia apps help it stand out from HTC's offerings, thanks to the thoroughly decent Nokia Drive sat nav service and Nokia Music, which has all the features you'd expect of a music player along with free radio mixes.
Thanks to the changeable back cover it's also quite a lot more physically customisable than most phones, and while it doesn't have much internal storage, with support for 64GB microSD cards, space never needs to be an issue.
We disliked
The battery is the single biggest problem with the Nokia Lumia 620. Most users will probably get through a day on a single charge, but if you plan to watch a lot of videos then you might want to carry a charger with you just in case.
The web browser is also a little slower than we'd like, and being essentially stuck with Internet Explorer is a pain - though that's an issue that all Windows Phone 8 handsets currently suffer from.
We also wish that the screen and keyboard were both just a little bit bigger, since right now they can feel a little cramped - particularly when you start hitting the wrong button on the keyboard.
Final verdict
There's not a whole lot that the Nokia Lumia 620 does wrong. As an all-round, jack of all trades budget handset it does a great job. We'd love it if the screen was slightly bigger or it had a little bit more RAM, but for the price we can't really complain.
The only real issue is the battery, and that's an issue to some extent with every Windows Phone 8 right now.
It might not have the style of the HTC Windows Phone 8S or the specs of the Nokia Lumia 820, but with a big enough microSD card it's got more storage than either of them, and it really is one of the best value phones - particularly at the low end of the market - that we've seen in a long time.
The Nokia Lumia 620 is a great budget handset. It's also brilliant value, and the only sub-£200 (around AU$300/US$313) Windows Phone 8 option right now.
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