Customer Ratings & Reviews

I've been hearing a lot of good things about these Windows phones lately so I decided to try my luck and see what all the fuss is about. The phone OS is pretty smooth and responsive. I can't believe the photos on this thing come out 1/2 as nice as they do, too bad there isn't any flash, but it's still great. You couldn't ask for a better screen it's large enough to read text through e-readers and web browsers and so crisp that you don't even need to strain your eyes. The default MP3 player could use some advanced equalizer features.

I started investigating new phones and plans when my AT&T 2-year contract was about to end. We had a family plan with AT&T and was thinking about upgrading to smart phones for my three teenage children. I don't want to spoil my kids with expensive high-tech toy that will be out-of-date in 6 months, but when my daughter was the only 2 kids in her biology class that did not have a smart phone as the teacher asked the class to do a online quiz, I gave in. After doing some research, I found that Nokia Lumia 521 for T-Mobile is the cheapest 4G smart phone out there. It's a windows phone as opposed to Android or iPhone; the operating system is different but it works just fine by me. It has a 4 inch screen and a 5.0 MP camera; decent and functional. The internal memory is only 4 GB but the phone has a memory card slot which allows you to expand it's storage capacity. Basically, the phone has most of the features you will find in a phone that may cost 5 times as much. I bought three of them 2 months ago, and they all work fine without any cliches. My only complaint is the battery life. I am a light web-surfer and app-user, and average about 5 calls and 10 texts a day; and I have to charge the phone every other day (or about every 48 hours).

I bought this phone for my wife and daughter who are definitely not tech types. Easy to figure out how to use. Speedy when going from function to function. Does the basics well such as phone, text, web surfing. However, not as many apps available as iphone and android. Pictures taken with phone are below average and there is no flash.

This phone was just the update I needed from my old phone, which was really old. I love the quick processor the phone has and how slim it is because I keep my phone in my pocket and my last phone was too bulky. Also, the expandable memory is a plus for storing music, videos, and pics. The battery life for this phone is about average to other phones I've had, it last about three days between charges. Overall, I'm very pleased with my purchase of this phone.

Great phone for the money, easy to use windows operating system, pair of to a computer and facebook no problem, has a great nav unit. The camera is great on it and takes good video as well. its small enough to fit nicely in your pocket and so far has been really durable.

This phone is great. I had an android budget smart phone and it wasn't nearly as fast as this one. The processor speed is great, the Windows Phone OS is pretty good and it has 4G. I'm impressed with the phone on many levels. I have some troubles syncing this phone with my mac. I had to hackintosh my mac to be compatible with the Windows Phone app in the Apple App Store.

This is the best entry level phone I found. Once I bought it, it was better than I hoped. It is a slender form factor, and easy to hold and use. The Windows operating system was easy to understand and use. Included apps like Local Scout are great. The one touch voice activation for dialing, texting and text input is superb. When I use it as a phone (no game playing or video streaming) I can easily get 4 days on a single battery charge. The camera opens with the push of a single button and takes great outdoor pictures.

Great phone for the price. The camera is amazing. I love having all of my music on my phone (I added additional memory, which I appreciated being able to do). I would recommend adding additional memory to improve the phone's functionality. I also like that the entire text conversation is shown. The only downside I can see is horrible battery life, I can only use it for 10 to 12 hours so it must be charged nightly and I worry about what will happen as the battery ages.

This Nokia 'phone is compact enough to fit in a pocket, and its pictures and sound are first-rate, but it is too hard, and too time-consuming, to hunt for the right route to what I want to do. Also, it turns itself off too quickly. I would like to call up the pictures I've taken, without having to spend so much time figuring out how to get to "Camera roll." The mini-manual is not terribly helpful. Best Buy personnel at Montgomery Mall are patient and solicitous when I return for help/.instructions, but this oughtn't to be necessary. Sorry I didn't go for a Samsung . . .

I will keep this short and sweet: Pros: It's Windows 8.1 phone, meaning that you can have Cortana on it (with mixed results). - The screen is nice and bright, even in the sunniest of days. - Mono speaker is loud, but a bit "tinny" if cranked up to MAX. - 8gb of internal memory fills up quick, but you can max out the storage with a 64gb micro SD card. -Plastic body design, handles drops and bumps fairly well. I have a 2 year old that loves using it as a toy. Cons: -Processor is rather weak, some games on the Microsoft store wont even load on the phone, let alone play properly. -Not enough RAM, having too many windows opened in the background slows it down. It will occasionally freeze when switching from one app to the next too fast. -The camera has no flash. Terrible night time and low-light pictures because of this. -The ZUNE software has a hard time recognizing and syncing the phone to your PC. The drivers for it are dang near impossible to find online.

Good phone for people limited on technolgy. I got this for my dad who is older and not very computer savy. So if your looking for a cheap basic phone this is it. For most people you better off with an andriod or iphone. The exception is people who are not that savy but want something netter then an old flip phone. This phone is perfect for that type of person it's cheap and durable and has large buttons for basic features. So you can get basic email facebook and even skype with a limited web broswer. Since the onscreen touch buttons are big making it easy for those who have a hard time seeing. So overall I have to give it 5 stars. But make sure you know it is a limited phone.

This phone was bought for use on the T-Mobile network. The 77 year old who uses it likes it, although it does get shorter battery life than the previous feature phone. It is only used for calls, texts, email and taking pictures all of which it does well. The price was the lowest we could find for a 4g phone.

I like this phone better than my old kyocera Hydro. I came from boost mobile and T-mobile has better service and data than boost. when you are reading reviews about the service like dropped calls and slow data its just their area. I'm from Phoenix and I get 4G. I have a picture to show you how fast the 4g is in Phoenix

Bought this for a friend who wanted to use a smart phone and was not willing to spend huge amount of money and also didnt wanted to go for a contract. This phone is ideal for such people. Has great sound, amazing camera and a very fast and responsive OS. The only thing i didnt like is the battery life. But thats the case with all smart phones !!!!

The phone is all the average user needs. This is the entry level into the Nokia Windows phone line but it is a steal at that price. It can be used for your TMobile monthly plan as well I just called TMobile and transferred my existing number to the new chip. It has Windows Phone 8 OS with the ability to install lots of apps to do what you need. Most the apps I use on the phone are free. The sound quality is crisp including speaker and volume is loud enough to fill a small room. Screen resolution and quality is great. Wifi pickup is strong and reliable. I don't have a data plan and just connect it to the wifi for data. I liked it so much I bought a second one to replace my wife's Iphone and she transitioned easily to the Windows OS. The only negative is the camera is not good unless it is bright or daylight. This is still the best phone for the money I have ever owned.

This phone was reasonable priced and made an easy choice for a replacement phone. Shattered the phone I purchased when I first entered into my contract with T-Mobile and needed a quick replacement since I couldn't afford the down payment to upgrade my phone to a newly released model. I enjoy this phone as much as I would any other phone. I've even dropped it a couple times without hurting the phone; only the back cover came off and easily snapped back together. This is my first Windows phone and I'm pleasantly surprised at how user-friendly it is.

I really like a device that allows me to replace the battery and upgrade memory, which this device allows. In case you have not read the specs, the flash memory is upgradable to 64GB (I put in a 32GB). The device is fast and the touch screen is sensitive. I have another Nokia with GPS that does not seem to work too well, but this GPS is great (so far) and maps are available for most parts of the world. . The camera woks great and comes with some cool apps, for example panorama and Nokia Smart Cam (which takes a number of quick shots that can be superimposed, edited, etc.). It also allows turn on directly to camera mode. So far though it either does not allow or I cannot find a way to lower picture quality just incase you don’t need a 5 mega pixel picture. One of the major pluses for me is that this device has an FM radio which I could not find a boast about anywhere in the specs (reads, has internet radio, which it does too). On the downside it does not come with ear-buds (necessary for FM reception as they work as an antenna), and although these are inexpensive and readily available, ironically the best fitting buds (phone plug-in side) that I tested are the standard buds that come the an Apple I-Touch, most of the rest did not make good contact or were too loose. Another minor downside, no flashlight but apps are available that turn the screen to white which is better than nothing. Another minor disappointment is it does not come with many games already loaded which is a surprise as most MS systems do. Although I have a T-Mobil account I have not tested the phone aspects as my other phone (Nokia bare bones, which I really like also) uses a standard SIM and this requires a micro-SIM, a commitment I’m not ready to make yet. Since the Wi-Fi works great the device still has plenty of utility and potential for me. Lastly the phone price (about $100) is remarkable for all its great capabilities. Buy one now!

I'm not someone who is looking to spend $500+ for a smart phone, so the Lumia 521 was a perfect fit for me. For only $100 this phone is far superior to my previous smartphone, Samsung Exhibit II. It only has 512mb of RAM, which is what my last phone had, but there is no lag speed whatsoever. My last phone was quite slow when booting up and exiting apps. With is this phone, I have experienced none of that. I enjoy the simplicity of the Windows 8 layout - it didn't take me long to adjust to it, at all. The bad: there is no front-facing camera or flash, however, the picture quality is quite good for the 5mp camera that is supplied. All in all, if you are looking for a decent smart phone, but not looking to spend a lot of money, this may be the phone for you.

Very attractive device with low price. Nice looking and not to heavy to carry. High quality in sound.

This phone is ideal for those who want a simple. functional smart phone. It is inexpensive ($70-90), is SO easy to learn, syncs seamlessly with my Windows desktop, and was set up and running in 10 minutes. There was no learning curve at all. Unlike other smart phones, the app buttons are huge and can be adjusted to suit you - you can have your home screen EXACTLY as you want it. I wish carriers would recommend these to beginners and retirees. This is an ideal phone for people who need something simple or are not tech savvy. Also, the camera takes movies and great pictures. I don't have to carry my camera everywhere anymore. I can't say enough how much I would recommend this phone. One thing - I would recommend getting a case. I dropped my first one on its corner and the screen cracked all the way across. The cost to repair it was twice that of the phone so I had to buy a new one.