Nokia has unveiled a new Lumia smartphone designed for budget-conscious consumers. The Lumia 620 was just announced at the LeWeb 2012 conference in Paris, France and will sell for just $249 off contract - significantly cheaper than other Windows Phone 8 devices from the company.
The entry-level handset includes a 3.8-inch touchscreen operating at a resolution of 800 x 400 and uses Nokia's ClearBlack Display technology. Inside the handset is a dual-core 1GHz Snapdragon S4 Plus processor, 512MB of system RAM and 8GB of internal storage. Those requiring more storage can add up to 64GB of additional space via a microSD card slot or utilize the 7GB of free SkyDrive space that is supplied with each purchase.
Around back is a 5-megapixel rear camera with an LED flash in addition to a VGA-quality front-facing shooter presumably for video calls or self-portraits. The phone includes the same imaging features found on the more expensive Lumia 920 such as SmartShoot and CinemaGraph.
Connectivity options include 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0 and NFC, all powered by a 1,300mAh battery. The handset also features swappable outer shells in orange, magenta, lime green, cyan, yellow, white and black to give users the ability to keep things fresh in terms of aesthetics. After all, variety is the spice of life.
Bundled software includes navigation apps like Nokia Maps, Nokia Drive, Nokia Transport and Nokia City Lens.
The Lumia 620 is expected to be available sometime next month in Asia followed by Europe and the Middle East shortly after. No word yet on when or if the handset will find its way to the US.