Nokia Lumia 720 review

The Nokia Lumia 720 is a great smartphone and though some may be put off that it's rocking Windows Phone 8 over Android, if you're in the market for a mid-range mobile this is certainly worth considering.

It's got a strong set of features, a decent design and sizeable screen giving you a simple, intuitive user experience.

We liked

Windows Phone 8 runs smoother than a greased up penguin on an ice rink and this makes the Lumia 720 a joy to use, allowing us to slide seamlessly between screens.

The camera on the rear of the 720 is a pretty decent offering allowing you to take some solid snaps - although make sure the lighting is good - and the ability to download extra lenses is a nice feature.

We were delighted to see a microSD slot on the Lumia 720 which makes this handset a real option for media consumption on the go, with the large screen also making movie watching a piece of cake.

We disliked

There's not a lot of grip to be hand when you're holding the Lumia 720 and we experienced many slips and drops during our testing period - luckily none were from a great height, but you might want to invest in a rubber skin.

While the screen may be generous for a mid-range handset, the quality is less impressive with sharpness suffering compared to the Lumia 620 and colours not popping like they do on the Galaxy S3 mini.

We also didn't get on with the keyboard on the Lumia 720 which seemed a little inaccurate and sluggish when it came to next word prediction.

Some won't be overly thrilled at the fact you can't get to the battery, but as the Lumia 720 will easily see out a whole day that shouldn't be a problem.

Verdict

We really like the Nokia Lumia 720, it's a great all round smartphone and while it doesn't do enough for us to love it, we would seriously recommend it.

It falls into a difficult place in the market with strong competition from the LG Optimus F5 and HTC One S, but both of those handsets are getting on a bit and the Lumia 720 has the vitality of youth in its favour.

If Samsung does launch a Galaxy S4 mini later this year the Lumia 720 may meet its match, but it's certainly got the grunt behind it to put up one hell of a challenge.