Nokia Lumia 521 has raised many an eyebrow for being a Windows Phone 8 device with a low price tag. T-Mobile’s release date for the budget-friendly Lumia 521 is scheduled for May 22, 2013 on both online and offline retail stores. It is selling the phone for just about $150 without any contract requirement. What’s more, you have a Simple Choice Plan, which lets you pay only about $30 upfront and then $5 monthly payments for the next 24 months. Plan costs are additional.
Home Shop Network was the first to release the device on April 27th for an unsubsidized price of about $150, followed by Walmart and Microsoft Stores, which released the device on May 11th. While Microsoft Stores is selling the device for the same $150, Walmart has further reduced the price to about $130.
A $150 price tag isn’t much considering the features of Nokia Lumia 521, especially the Windows 8 OS. Other features include a 4-inch display having a resolution of 800 x 400 pixels, 512 MB RAM, and a 5 MP rear camera. The phone is powered by a 1 GHz dual-core processor. It offers 8 GB internal storage with a microSD card slot for expandable memory, and HSPA+ 21 Mbps connectivity.
The Windows Phone team has released a video showing company staff inquiring about smartphones that could be purchased for under $149. After hunting for an hour, they could find only older Android devices for the price, with none of them matching the hardware features of Nokia Lumia 521. That illustrates why Lumia 521 is raising eyebrows!
The price tag has taken some by surprise as Nokia initially announced a cost of about $180 without carrier subsidies. Well, T-Mobile’s $150 contract-free price tag and its installment plan are equally attractive and worthwhile.