(Credit: Aloysius Low/CNET)

The Nokia Lumia 525 is small and compact. (Credit: Aloysius Low/CNET)

You may be surprised, but the budget-friendly Nokia Lumia 520, is actually one of the best-selling handsets for the Windows Phone 8 platform. Leaked just a few days ago, the Lumia 525, the successor to the the 520, is now official. It will be available in Singapore on December 14 for S$249, the same date as its larger, more expensive cousin, the Lumia 1520.

Design

The Lumia 525 shares the same design aesthetic as other Lumia handsets. If you liked how the Lumia 1020 looks, well the 525 is a smaller version, with the same bright yellow rear. Unlike the 1020 though, the 525's rear cover and 1,430mAh battery are replaceable. If you don't like yellow, there's a choice of four other cover colors you can swap to: blue, red, white and black.

You can swap out the battery if you run out of power. (Credit: Aloysius Low/CNET)

The volume rocker, power and camera buttons are located on the left side, while the micro-USB jack is located at the bottom. It packs a 5-megapixel camera, but take note that the budget handset lacks a flash.

(Credit: Aloysius Low/CNET) (Credit: Aloysius Low/CNET)

Sporting a 4-inch IPS display with a resolution of 800x480-pixels, I wasn't too impressed with the screen, especially when it was placed next to the Lumia 1520. The display appeared sunken in, and not as vibrant. That said, you can use the display with your nails or when wearing gloves.

I wasn't too impressed with the display. (Credit: Aloysius Low/CNET)It doesn't look as good next to the Lumia 1520. (Credit: Aloysius Low/CNET)

Features

While the Lumia 525 has the same specs as the Lumia 520, Nokia has upgraded it with twice the RAM. It now has 1GB, which should help with multi-tasking. The smartphone comes with 8GB of onboard storage, and has a microSD card slot for expandability.

The Lumia 525 is powered by a 1GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, and will launch Nokia Lumia Black update package, which includes the latest version of the Windows Phone 8 OS.

Other free apps include Here Maps, Here Drive, and Here Transit -- Nokia says Transit now works for public transportation in Singapore, though real time bus timings are still being worked on.

Don't expect the stellar imaging prowess of the higher-end Lumia handsets, but the 5-megapixel camera of the 525 should be able to do well in bright daylight. As mentioned earlier, there's no flash, so if you need to light up your subject, you're out of luck.

The 5-megapixel camera doesn't come with a flash. (Credit: Aloysius Low/CNET)

Outlook

Priced at a really affordable S$249, the Lumia 525 should sell as well as the 520. I'm not too convinced if this is the best way to experience the Windows Phone platform, however, but it looks like I'm likely to be wrong about this given how well the 520 has been doing. Besides Singapore, the Lumia 525 will be available in Asia Pacific, Africa as well as the Middle East.