Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Mobile
  3. Reviews

Nokia Lumia 521 Review

K. T. Bradford
By
Nokia Lumia 521
MSRP $29.99
Score Details
“Cameras are usually a big deal in the Nokia Lumia line but this budget model doesn't get to share in that love.”
Pros
  • Comfortable, compact design
  • Speedy performance
  • Good call quality
Cons
  • Narrow viewing angles on display
  • Screen collects smudges and dirt easily
  • Mediocre battery life
  • Slower 4G speeds than most phones

One of the nice things about Nokia’s Lumia phones is that they’re often affordable – even the fancy flagship models. So when the company creates a budget phone it’s possible to get it for next to nothing. That’s the case with the Nokia Lumia 521 from T-Mobile. It costs just $30 down or $150 if you want to buy it outright. For this price you get a display on the smaller end and have to give up fancy camera specs (like a flash). For those who want a basic phone  at a low price these tradeoffs might be worth it. Still, there comes a point where the price/value balance tips into the negative. Is the Lumia 521 even worth the small amount of money you’ll pay to own it?

Look and feel

The Lumia 521 is one of the more compact phones in the Lumia line with a screen measuring only 4 inches and an overall footprint of 4.4 x 2.5 inches. This is good news for people tired of the giant smartphones that dominate the market right now. The 521 is great for one-handed use. We didn’t have to stretch our thumb much to reach across or up to the top of the device. The way the edges curve up also makes the Lumia comfortable to hold. Even though the back is plastic, the overall feel is not cheap.

The back does pop off with effort, allowing access to the battery, SIM, and microSD card slots. Good thing, too, since the phone only comes with 8GB of internal storage. As with all other Lumias, the 521 features a hardware shutter button for the camera alongside power and the volume rocker. Other than the Micro USB on the bottom there are no other ports.

Related

Edge-to-edge glass covers the 4-inch, 800 x 480 pixel display. This pane has no effective smudge/fingerprint resistance so the screen gets dirty quickly and touch sensitivity goes down sharply as a result. Keep a cleaning cloth handy at all times, you’ll need it. The display is bright and colorful enough when looking at it head on. Tip it just a few degrees and visibility goes down due to color and brightness distortion or, under bright overhead lights, glare.

Windows Phone, Nokia Services, and Apps

The “small” screen on the Lumia 521 doesn’t impact the operating system much. Tiny text is still reasonably crisp and Live Tiles still have plenty of space to deliver information. This Lumia is an okay introduction to Windows Phone 8, especially if this is to be your first smartphone. In general, we like that the Home screen features a grid of colorful, customizable tiles that offer a quick glance at pertinent information, and can be resized. It’s possible to build an information-rich screen with a little work. However, Windows Phone can be frustrating to use since the navigation doesn’t flow as easily as iOS and Android. People coming from one of those operating systems may find the transition hard.

We’ve put together a ton of WP8 tips and WP8 problems and bugs for those of you making the leap.

Nokia is deeply tied to Windows for mobile and it shows in the stable of apps available from the company for the Lumia line. The Nokia ‘Here’ location services offer maps, traffic, transit directions, and more. Nokia’s Music app is not only a store but also provides free streaming radio that can be cached for offline use. To support the camera, there are several “lenses” – apps that add functionality such as an animated GIF maker and a lens that picks the best shot of many.

T-Mobile’s included apps are less welcome. 411 & More, CallerTunes, and T-Mobile TV are superfluous and just clutter up the apps list.

Windows Phone still lags way behind Android and iOS in app selection. The growing store still lacks many popular apps and even with the Xbox branding on board the game selection is pretty weak.

Camera

Cameras are usually a big deal in the Nokia Lumia line but this budget model doesn’t get to share that love. The 5-megapixel shooter on the back takes average images for a smartphone but isn’t super quick to focus, even when using the two-step hardware shutter button. In good light pictures are decent, just don’t expect any fancy low-light performance especially since there’s no flash.

Lenses from Nokia and other app makers have the potential to improve resulting shots a little. Overall, don’t expect much from this camera.

Performance and Battery Life

Windows Phone 8 doesn’t require high-end specs to run well, so the 1-GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor and 512MB of RAM aren’t a drawback. We found the Lumia 521 quick and performance smooth when doing everything from playing games to reading the web.

Windows Phone 8 doesn’t require high-end specs to run well, so the 1-GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor and 512MB of RAM aren’t a drawback.

The 521 is not LTE-capable and runs on T-Mobile’s HSPA+ 21 4G network, which isn’t the fastest available. That lack of mobile data speed is very noticeable, especially when trying to stream music or download larger apps. For a basic smartphone this isn’t an absolute dealbreaker. Just be aware that the 521 is not for those who crave updates and streaming media.

Call quality is solid. Whether talking to people on cell phones or land lines their voices came through clearly with little to no static. Volume was an issue when we moved into areas with medium to high background noise. On the other end callers reported that our voice was loud enough but sometimes sounded echo-y.

The 1430mAh battery barely lasted 10 hours with medium usage and needed to be topped off in the middle of the day with heavy use. Keeping screen brightness low to save battery increases some of the problems we experienced with viewing angles. Hopping on Wi-Fi when available helped stretch battery life a lot.

Conclusion

The Nokia Lumia 521 is the kind of budget phone that really feels like one. It has some nice aspects – speedy performance, decent design, good call quality – but they’re overshadowed by the mediocre display and slow mobile data speeds. Plus, Windows Phone has it’s own overall problems including too few really great apps. For those customers who really want to stick with T-Mobile, this is your only Windows Phone choice. And at $30 down it’s not a truly terrible one. Though if you want a better balance between value and price while still sticking to a budget, the Lumia and HTC Windows Phone choices on AT&T and Verizon Wireless are more appealing and cost less (as in free on contract) or not that much more at the outset.

Highs:

  • Comfortable, compact design
  • Speedy performance
  • Good call quality

Lows:

  • Narrow viewing angles
  • Screen collects smudges and dirt easily
  • Mediocre battery life
  • Slower 4G speeds than most phones

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
K. T. Bradford
K. T. Bradford
Former Digital Trends Contributor
K. T Bradford is a lover of gadgets and all things geek. Prior to writing for Digital Trends she cut her teeth on tech…
Nokia’s new phone is so tough, you can almost pressure wash it
Nokia XR21 in green, in water.

The Nokia name has long been associated with tough phones, but HMD Global’s new Nokia XR21 goes a step beyond what we’re used to seeing. It has an IP68 water and dust resistance rating, which joins a MIL-STD-810H toughness rating, but it also adds IP69K to the list. This unusual rating, which we can’t recall seeing on another phone, means the phone can resist very high-pressure jets of water, dust, or steam coming at any angle.

How much pressure are we talking? The company says you can hit it with a 100-bar pressure stream of water at up to 80 degrees centigrade, and it’ll carry on working. To put that into context, most home pressure washers operate at around 100 bar, so you should be able to give it a very thorough cleaning under a tap without concern.

Read more
Best mobile hotspots for travel in 2022
Family using a mobile hot spot feat image.

If you're a certified road warrior or hardcore traveler, mobile hotspots are now essential gear. Whether you’re traveling to a remote place and need to stay up to date with your emails or visiting a city and wish to avoid public Wi-Fi, mobile hotspots are for you. While your new smartphone likely has a mobile hotspot built-in, standalone Wi-Fi hotspots are more flexible, especially for multiple devices and phones with network data caps. With a hotspot, you can connect your laptop, phone, tablet, or Wi-Fi-connected camera without component battery drain. We found some excellent hotspots for you to choose from.

The proliferation of 5G networks has increased the prevalence of 5G hotspots. If 4G LTE is not cutting it for your needs, have a look at our list of the best 5G hotspots.

Read more
The best waterproof phones for 2022

Whether you want to take cool pictures at the beach or play some music at the pool, you need a waterproof smartphone that can withstand splashes. Even if you go nowhere near water, having a waterproof smartphone can help protect your device against accidental splashes and sudden drops in the bathtub. Unfortunately, most phones aren't waterproof. They may be water-resistant, which means they can hold up against little splashes or spills, but they're ruined if you drop them in the pool. But all is not lost. Several manufacturers have launched fully waterproof smartphones in recent years, so you have a lot of options to pick from.

Here, we've done the hard work for you and rounded up the best waterproof smartphones you can buy. These phones have survived spills, rain, and dunks without showing any signs of damage. However, it’s important to note water resistance tests only apply to freshwater, and it’s never a good idea to deliberately submerge your phone.

Read more