Nokia Lumia 525 or HTC Desire 700: Which is better?

With a plethora of smartphones in the market to choose from, you are spoilt for choice.

We pick a few for you to see what's inside.

Smart family: Nokia Lumia 520 versus 525

Nokia Lumia’s 520’s successor, the 525, is a modest upgrade. The best selling Windows phone seems like a second life for the Finnish company’s mobile phone business (now taken over by US software giant Microsoft) in India, where Samsung has snatched leadership from it.

The Windows bet might not bring back the crown but is keeping it in the game.

As they say, like father, like son. The 525 is hardly different from the 520. Both run on a 1GHz dual-core processor. 

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Nokia has kept the display unchanged in the 525 at four inches with a resolution of 480x800 pixels and 235 pixels an inch. 

The 525 is of the same size and weight as its predecessor.

One change is that the matte finish back panel has been replaced with a plasticky one in sprightly red, yellow, etc, colours. Looks a bit tacky but catches the eye. 

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The other heartening change in the 525 is its higher RAM of 1GB even as Nokia has used the same Snapdragon processor.

The 520 was disappointing with its 512MB RAM. A higher RAM means playing games on the 525 is no hassle now. 

The 525 has been launched at around the price at which 520 was. And, like the latter, 525 also packs in a great 5MP rear camera with the Smart feature that lets you choose the best shot from a series of shots in just one ...

However, again like the 520, 525 is without flash and a front camera. An upgrade could have come with these maybe at a little more cost.

For the time being, you can take solace in the fact that the 525, like 520, can record high-definition videos. 

The 525 has the same 8GB internal memory, of which you get to use around 5GB, and free cloud storage of 7GB as 520.

It is expandable up to 64GB with a microSD card. The 1,430 mAh battery is common to both the editions of the smartphone though Nokia claims 525 gives more juice. 

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SPECS – Lumia 525

• Price: Rs 11,499
• Dimension: 119.9x64x9.9 mm, 124 g
• Display: WVGA 800x480 pixels, 235 pixels an inch
• OS: Windows Phone
• RAM: 1GB
• Processor: 1GHz dual-core
• Battery: 1430 mAh 
• Memory: 8GB (around 5GB for use) with 7GB on cloud
  
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Smart solution for your dual-sim desire

HTC has produced a whole raft of smartphones over the years. It was one of the first to introduce Windows and Android to mobile phones.

But the ruthless competitors seem to have hit HTC's market. Though, it did a great job to revive it’s reputation with the HTC One.

The flagship brought in the looks of the iPhone and the power of Android. Now, targeting the lucrative Asian market, HTC is back with the mid-range HTC Desire 700.

Let's take a look at what all this device has to offer...

Design and build

The device has a 5-inch display, which seems to have become a trend in the current smartphone market. The bottom of the screen is filled with the usual Soft Touch Buttons we find in the HTC Devices.

At the top, you will find the 2.1MP front camera. To the bottom we have the microphone and the USB Port. The power button and the 3.5mm Jack are on the top. To the right , we have the volume rocker and on the Rear end of the device we have the 8MP Camera with LED Flash.

The edges of the phone are soft and resemble the HTC mini's soft plastic ones than the One's chamfered metal edges.The placement of the power key is slightly irritating for a device this large. We'd have preferred the key to be placed at the right or left edge. At 149 gram, the Desire 700 dual sim is not very bulky to carry.

However, it is taller, broader and thicker than the HTC One. Desire 700 dual sim comes with a removable back (something we miss in most of the smartphones these days), also made of soft plastic sporting a matte finish. 

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Display

The front of the Desire 700 is dominated by its 5-inch qHD display that offers a resolution of 540x960 pixels. Unfortunately, the screen leaves a lot to be desired.

The bigger size of the display reduces the pixel density to just about 220ppi (pixels per inch), resulting in images and text appearing less sharp, and at times pixillated, compared to 720p and full-HD displays.

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Boom sound

Desire 700 dual sim features what HTC calls BoomSound, which is essentially the dual frontal stereo speakers with built-in amplifier, just like the HTC One.

The phone also featured green coloured accents integrated with the front speaker grills, and the camera lens at the back.

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Camera and battery

The 8-megapixel rear shooter is not bad, but I do not see anything great to write home about it.

It delivers average pictures in poor light conditions. The battery on the device is 2100mAh and the device is Dual-SIM.

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Performance

HTC Desire 700 dual sim is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor and 1GB RAM.

It runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean with HTC Sense 5, the company's custom UI layer running on top.

Just like the HTC One, it supports Blink Feed offering a feed of news and social network updates on the user's home screen. We did not experience any lags while navigating through the interface or launching apps.

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Verdict

A lot of my friends often express the problem they have carrying several phones, and almost all the dual-sim devices available in the market are not premium products equipped with all that a smartphone user looks for.

But HTC seems to have come up with a solution for them. At Rs 33,050, the device is a an option worth considering if you are interested in smart, sleek, stylish product, which enables to you to use two sim cards at the same time. 

Price: Rs 33,050

• 1.2 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 processor.
• 1 GB RAM
• 5 inches, 960 x 540 pixels display.
• Inbuilt 8 GB of memory and expandable up to 64 GB
• 8 MP rear camera with LED Flash
• 2.1 MP front facing camera.
• Wifi, Bluetooth, Micro USB Connectivity.
• Android 4.1.2
• 2100 mAh removable battery