Nokia Lumia 720 Reviews Roundup: Critics Are Pleased With The Mid-Range Windows Phone 8 Handset

By Michael Oleaga / m.oleaga@latinospost.com (staff@latinospost.com) | First Posted: Apr 19, 2013 08:40 AM EDT

Tags Nokia, Nokia Lumia 720, Windows Phone 8

The latest of the Nokia devices is the Lumia 720, which is slowly creeping to various countries in Asia and Europe.

As a reminder, the Lumia 720's features include a 4.3-inch screen with 800x400 pixels, a rear-facing camera capable of stills at 6.1 megapixels with 2,848x2,144 pixels, and a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera. In terms of memory, the internal storage of the Windows Phone 8 smartphone is 8GB with 512MB of RAM. The device has a battery capacity of 2,000mAh providing up to 520 hours of standby time and 13 hours and 20 minutes for talk time under a 3G network.

And what are critics saying about the new Windows Phone 8 smartphone?

"The Lumia 720 is a perfect match for a single hand, thanks to its 4.3-inch display and slim 9mm frame. Nokia hasn't opted for a giant display, nor has the company made this handset any bigger or heavier than it needs to be," wrote Tom Warren of The Verge, noting he was impressed with the latest Nokia smartphone and is a design "I've been waiting for."

He later added, "If you really need high performance and a great camera then the Lumia 920 is an obvious choice, but the 720 offers everything else that Nokia's flagship provides with a few drawbacks."

In regards to the smartphone's battery life, SlashGear's Chris Davies reviewed, "The Lumia 720′s battery may be non-removable, but at 2,000 mAh it's oversized for a 4.3-inch phone. That pays obvious dividends for runtimes: Nokia quotes up to 13.4hrs of talk time or up to 520hrs of standby (both on 3G), or alternatively 79hrs of music playback (locally-stored, not streaming)."

"The Lumia 720 doesn't have the high end features we've come to expect from the more expensive Lumias but it does have a decent spec sheet for something that's bound to be available on next-to-nothing contracts," wrote TechRadar's Dan Grabham.

The design once again gets credited by GSMArena.

"The Lumia 720 is probably the most sensible WP8 package the Finns have designed so far," wrote the GSMArena team. They later added, "The Lumia 720 may as well have struck the perfect balance - affordable price for features that will make mid-range Android phones green with envy. It does miss out on a few things, though. Its chipset is fairly capable, but 512MB of RAM can result in the occasional app incompatibility. You don't get 1080p video capture or LTE like on the Lumia 820, either."

The CNET from across the pond gave the Lumia 720 three out of five stars.

CNET UK's verdict stated, "The Nokia Lumia 720 is good looking and easy to slide into your jeans. The bundled Nokia apps are great as well, but it doesn't really offer enough over the Lumia 620, which costs half as much. The 720 certainly looks better, but the 620 is much better value."

Over down under, Australia's Gizmodo's thoughts go inline with CNET UK.

Luke Hopewell wrote, "If you want a cheap Lumia that does the job a Windows Phone 8 smartphone should, then you can't go wrong with the Lumia 720. If you looked at the Lumia 620 and thought you wanted something slimmer with a better camera, then the Lumia 720 is for you. Other than those two differences and a price tag $100 higher than the 620, the Lumia 720 might as well be the same phone."