Nokia announces the Lumia 620, its third and most affordable Windows Phone 8 device yet

Nokia has announced its third Windows Phone 8 device, the Lumia 620. Priced below the Lumia 920 and Lumia 820, it's scheduled for release next year.

Reasonably priced phones aren’t always as exciting as expensive super-phones, but in the case of Nokia’s new Lumia 620, it’s equally as important as those at the top of the range. Why? Because it makes Windows Phone 8 more affordable. Announced this morning, the Lumia 620 is Nokia’s third Windows Phone handset, coming after the Lumia 820 (and its variations) and the Lumia 920, both released last month.

Nokia hasn’t strayed too far from its now tried-and-tested design language seen on previous Lumia phones, so we have a subtly rounded shell, a central camera lens on the back and a removable rear panel that comes in seven particularly bright colors. It looks great and again, the colors really standout, with even the yellow and lime green schemes looking acceptable. The press blurb says a special manufacturing process gives the colors even more brightness and a little texture too.

But, as we’ve already mentioned, this an affordable entry into Nokia’s Windows Phone 8 range, so let’s see what the specification is like. The screen measures 3.8-inches and has a resolution of 480 x 800, while it’s powered by a 1GHz, dual-core Snapdragon S4 Plus processor and 512MB of RAM. There’s 8GB of internal storage memory, along with 7GB of SkyDrive space included, plus there’s a microSD card slot which can add another 64GB of space — a welcome addition.

Coming to America?

On the rear of the phone is a 5-megapixel autofocus camera with an LED flash, and there is a front video-call lens too. Nokia has added its own Burst mode named Smart Shoot to the phone, along with a feature named Cinemagraph, where you can animate still photos. This software is joined by Nokia Music, Nokia City Lens and Nokia Drive. Other features include a 1300mAh battery, NFC support, 720p video recording, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 3.0.

Nokia’s press release says the Lumia 620 will be released initially in Asia, before quickly making its way to Europe and the Middle East. Although no U.S. release has been mentioned, the Lumia 620 is desperately needed, particularly because HTC has decided not to release the 8S and the Samsung Ativ Odyssey still hasn’t been announced.

Verizon has already said it’s considering adding a free Windows Phone 8 device to its range soon, and because it already stocks the Lumia 822 for $100, a variant of the Lumia 620 for $0 on a two-year contract is a possibility. Nokia has given the Lumia 620 an estimated SIM-free price of $249 and a release date of January 2013.