Nokia Lumia 625: a 4.7-inch budget Windows Phone with LTE
When Nokia unveiled the Lumia 625 in mid-2013, the Finnish giant was betting that bigger screens and 4G connectivity didn't have to cost a fortune. The handset slotted into a crowded entry-level market in Australia, where shoppers at JB Hi-Fi and Harvey Norman were already weighing a stack of Android alternatives. With its 4.7-inch display, Lumia Amber build of Windows Phone 8 and aggressive price tag, the Lumia 625 aimed squarely at buyers who wanted a sizeable touchscreen without the flagship price.
The phone arrived at a moment when Australian carriers were rapidly expanding their 4G networks across Sydney, Melbourne and regional centres. Telstra had switched on its first LTE sites only a couple of years earlier, and budget phones with that capability were still rare. For anyone who wanted fast downloads on the bus to work or in a cafe on Brunswick Street, the Lumia 625 offered an unusual combination: a screen closer in size to Samsung's Galaxy Mega than to a typical budget Nokia, wrapped in the colourful polycarbonate shell the brand had made famous.
Display and design that punches above its price
The 4.7-inch IPS LCD was the headline feature of the Lumia 625, and it remains the main reason the phone caught the eye of bargain hunters. With a resolution of 800 by 480 pixels, the panel delivered around 201 pixels per inch, which is modest by modern standards but perfectly serviceable for browsing Optus Self Care, scrolling through news feeds or watching catch-up TV on the ABC iview app. Colours leaned a touch cool out of the box, although Nokia's colour profile settings let users warm things up if they preferred a more natural look.
The body used the same swap-shell concept Nokia had championed on earlier Lumias. Buyers could swap between black, white, red, yellow and a vivid green, which gave the phone a playful personality that often appealed to younger shoppers hunting for a back-to-school handset. At 159 grams and 9.2mm thick, the Lumia 625 felt reassuringly solid without slipping into the bulky bracket of a phablet. The curved back sat comfortably in the hand during long tram rides down Bourke Street, and the matte finish resisted fingerprints better than the glossy alternatives on sale at the time.
Performance and Windows Phone 8
Under the bonnet, the Lumia 625 ran on a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dual-core chip clocked at 1.2GHz, paired with 512MB of RAM. That memory figure was the most common sticking point in reviews, because some heavier Windows Phone games refused to install on devices with less than 1GB. Casual titles like Wordament and Fruit Ninja ran smoothly, as did the core Microsoft suite, but anyone hoping to play Asphalt or modern 3D shooters would have to look elsewhere. For everyday messaging, Outlook email and HERE Maps navigation, the performance was perfectly adequate.
Windows Phone 8 itself felt responsive, with its live tiles giving the home screen a sense of motion that stood out among rows of static Android icons. The People Hub aggregated social feeds from Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn in one place, which suited Australians who liked keeping tabs on friends across multiple networks. OneDrive integration came baked in, so photos snapped at a weekend festival could be synced to the cloud before the Monday commute. Out of the box, the Lumia 625 came with Nokia's Amber firmware update, which added a few niceties such as the Glance screen lock and refined camera algorithms.
Camera capabilities for everyday moments
Photography was never going to rival a Lumia 1020, but the 5-megapixel rear sensor on the Lumia 625 punched out decent shots in good light. The f/2.4 aperture and LED flash helped indoors, and the dedicated shutter button on the side made it easier to capture quick snaps at the cricket. Nokia's Smart Shoot mode stitched together multiple exposures to remove unwanted photobombers from group photos, which was handy at family barbecues where kids and pets rarely stayed still.
Video topped out at 1080p at 30 frames per second, a respectable figure for a phone at this price point. Clips looked clean enough for uploading to YouTube or sharing over WhatsApp, although low-light footage quickly picked up grain. The front-facing VGA camera was strictly for Skype calls and the occasional selfie, and Australians who relied on higher-quality front cameras for vlogging would need to step up to a more expensive model. Still, for the typical buyer on a tight budget, the camera package was a fair compromise.
Connectivity, battery life and storage
4G LTE was the standout feature for Australian buyers in 2013. The Lumia 625 supported the 1800MHz band that Telstra and Optus had widely deployed, meaning subscribers could pull download speeds well above what 3G HSPA+ delivered. Streaming Spotify over a coffee in Surry Hills or uploading a podcast on the train between Parramatta and the CBD felt noticeably snappier than on older budget Nokias. The phone also handled Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 with Low Energy, and GPS with GLONASS support for more reliable positioning in built-up areas.
Battery life came courtesy of a removable 2000mAh cell, which Nokia rated at around 15 hours of talk time on 3G. In practice, most users eked out a full day of mixed use, with some careful owners stretching it to a day and a half by dimming the screen and disabling background tasks. The removable back cover also meant a spare battery could be swapped in on long road trips out to the Red Centre, a real plus for grey nomads and tradies alike.
Internal storage stood at 8GB, but the microSD slot accepted cards up to 64GB, which was enough room for a sizeable offline music collection for the drive. It also meant plenty of space for offline HERE Maps of remote routes, which was useful for anyone planning a Big Lap around the country without burning through their mobile data.
How it compared in the Australian market
In the middle of 2013, the Lumia 625 sat in a curious spot between the Lumia 620 and the larger, more expensive Lumia 720. At launch, Australian retailers such as JB Hi-Fi and Harvey Norman listed the handset for around AUD $399 outright, while contract offers through Telstra and Vodafone placed it in the mid-tier prepaid bracket. That pricing undercut the Samsung Galaxy S4 mini and the HTC One Mini, both of which demanded a noticeable premium despite offering more horsepower.
Against other Windows Phone options, the Lumia 625 was the most affordable way to enjoy a screen approaching five inches. The HTC Windows Phone 8S was smaller and similarly priced, but it lacked LTE, making the Nokia a smarter buy for anyone chasing faster data. Android rivals in the same price band, such as the Sony Xperia M or the LG Optimus F5, brought more RAM and richer app ecosystems, yet they could not match the smooth, predictable feel of Windows Phone 8 on this particular hardware. For readers curious about how manufacturers handled the 2013-to-2015 upgrade cycle, the Apple iPhone 6s: The 2015 Upgrade With 3D Touch and Live Photos review captures the broader shift toward bigger, faster handsets quite well.
A side-by-side look at the Lumia 625 and its rivals
Below is a quick comparison that puts the Lumia 625 next to a few phones it competed with on Australian shelves during the same window. The numbers are taken from manufacturer specs and Australian launch listings, so they reflect what shoppers saw on the shelf rather than benchmark runs.
| Specification | Nokia Lumia 625 | Samsung Galaxy S4 mini | HTC One Mini | Sony Xperia M |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Display | 4.7-inch IPS LCD, 800x480 | 4.3-inch Super AMOLED, 960x540 | 4.3-inch Super LCD2, 720x1280 | 4.0-inch TFT, 480x854 |
| Processor | Snapdragon S4 dual-core 1.2GHz | Snapdragon 400 dual-core 1.7GHz | Snapdragon 400 dual-core 1.4GHz | Snapdragon S4 dual-core 1.0GHz |
| RAM | 512MB | 1.5GB | 1GB | 1GB |
| Rear camera | 5MP, f/2.4, LED flash | 8MP, LED flash | 4MP UltraPixel, LED flash | 5MP, LED flash |
| 4G LTE | Yes (1800MHz) | Yes | Yes | No (HSPA+ only) |
| Battery | 2000mAh removable | 1900mAh removable | 1800mAh non-removable | 1750mAh removable |
| Internal storage | 8GB + microSD | 8GB/16GB + microSD | 16GB, no microSD | 4GB + microSD |
| OS at launch | Windows Phone 8 | Android 4.2 Jelly Bean | Android 4.2 Jelly Bean | Android 4.1 Jelly Bean |
| Approx. AUD price (launch) | $399 | $599 | $599 | $349 |
Looking at the table, the Lumia 625 traded raw specifications for a larger screen and an honest price, which was a reasonable bargain for the right user. Its main weaknesses were the 512MB of RAM, which ruled out several Windows Phone games, and the relatively low screen resolution. Its strengths, by contrast, were the LTE radio, the comfortable polycarbonate shell and the expandable storage, all of which mattered more to many Australian buyers than benchmark scores.
Owners who still fire up a Lumia 625 these days typically keep it as a backup handset, a dedicated music player or a simple travel phone for trips through regional Queensland. Replacement batteries, charging cables and shell covers remain easy to find through online marketplaces and Australian repair shops, which is part of the reason the model has aged gracefully. The microSD slot, removable back and lightweight build all work in its favour compared with the sealed glass slabs that dominate flagship shelves today.
For anyone hunting for a budget phone today or simply curious about how phones from this era stack up against more recent releases, the latest smartphone coverage archive covers everything from this Lumia to the smartphones that followed it over the next decade. The Lumia 625 may be a decade old, but it remains a useful reminder that big screens and fast data did not always require a four-figure outlay, and it still earns its place as a quirky companion handset for Aussie buyers who appreciate a bit of nostalgia alongside their daily driver.