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The Nokia Lumia 625 is a bit of a mixed bag. In some ways it's a definite improvement over the Nokia Lumia 620 - thanks to better battery life and 4G support. But in other ways it's actually possibly worse. The screen for example, while bigger, is a lot less sharp and the price tag is a little higher.
We liked
The Nokia Lumia 625 has quite good battery life and 4G support. Those are probably the two biggest things going for it. It also has a good music player and handles contacts and social network integration superbly - but then so do all Windows Phone 8 handsets.
It's a fairly snappy performer despite having quite low specs and the inclusion of a microSD card slot is appreciated, but it's kind of necessary given that there's only 8GB of built in storage.
We disliked
We've been debating whether the screen size is a good or a bad thing, but given the low resolution we're inclined to say that for most people a smaller screen would be preferable. The fact that the large screen adds weight, bulk and presumably price to the phone isn't ideal either.
The camera isn't great and the dial pad could use some work, but really the screen coupled with the price tag are the main issues.
Final verdict
We're not really sure who the Nokia Lumia 625 is aimed at. For most people the negative qualities of the screen would probably outweigh the positives, which given that you could snap up a Nokia Lumia 820 or a Moto G (2014) for similar money makes it a bit of a hard sell.
If you really want a big screened Windows Phone 8 handset on a budget then it's worth considering but the resolution lets it down. Its 4G credentials could also be a selling point but the Lumia 820 supports 4G too and shouldn't set you back much more and since the Lumia 625's launch various other affordable 4G phones have arrived.
If neither of those things is a concern then you'd be better off saving your money and getting a Nokia Lumia 620, which worse battery life and lack of 4G aside is probably a better phone.
The Lumia 625 isn't bad, but it's not great either and with the Lumia range as crowded as it is there's not really a place for it.
