Nokia announces Lumia 820, Windows Phone 8 budget smartphone

Earlier today Nokia officially announced their new flagship Windows Phone 8 smartphone in the Lumia 920, and now we have the other end of the spectrum covered. The Finnish phone-makers have just unveiled the Lumia 820 too. This will be their budget Windows Phone 8 smartphone complete with a 4.3-inch screen without compromising on performance.

What makes the Lumia 820 special is it features most of the same internals as its larger sibling, only comes with a smaller screen and more compact and manageable size. Phones just keep getting larger but not everyone wants something that big. That is where the 4.3-inch Lumia 820 comes in.

With the 820 you'll get the same 1.5 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor, 1GB of RAM, and 8 megapixel camera only this one doesn't feature their PureView technology. As an added bonus this budget flavor will still feature their newly announced wireless charging. Nokia will offer removable back covers for those wanting to cut the cord.

The Lumia 820 comes with an exchangeable shell design. Exchangeable shells not only make it possible to select from a range of colors, but also to add wireless charging. Now you can rock that bright yellow, or the classic cyan color options. Beneath the shell is micro-SD also for expanded storage. The only downside seems to be the 480 x 800 resolution display on board, but otherwise this looks like a great new Windows Phone 8 device from Nokia. We'll update as we learn more direct from Nokia live in NYC.

[via Nokia]