Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Last year, Nokia released the Nokia 520 and it became the best-selling Windows Phone of all time. Not only was it a great deal in terms of pricing, but it was also a great phone. So what could they do for a follow-up to their best seller? They released the Nokia 635, which improves upon several aspects of the 520. That is what we have here in this review. First, let's discuss what a GoPhone is and what you can do with it. There are two ways you can use a GoPhone. A GoPhone can be used with its included SIM card or with your existing SIM card. If you want to use it with the included card, you'll need to follow the activation process with AT&T. The other option is to use an AT&T SIM card you already have. If you need a backup phone, or broke your phone, and already have an activated AT&T SIM card, you can pick up one of these and pop your SIM card in it. You do not need to do anything with the included SIM card if you use your existing SIM. In fact, there is a sticker on the back of this phone that basically says that existing AT&T users just need to pop in their SIM card. That is what I did. In my case, I chose to use my existing nano SIM card from my Lumia 1520 to test out this phone. I simply placed the nano SIM in a micro SIM adapter tray, since this phone uses a micro SIM card. With everything I state in this review, keep in my how affordable this phone is. This is a mid tier phone, at a rock bottom price (relative to the latest and greatest of today). The blister pack packaging (sealed plastic container) is very difficult to open. I cut it open with scissors and because the packaging is rounded plastic, cutting it with scissors was difficult. The package contains the phone, an 1830 maH removable battery, sim card, start guides, and the charger with integrated USB cable. The matte black plastic back of this phone is very difficult to pry off. I ended up using a credit card to help pry it open. Compared to last year's Lumia 520, this phone has a larger screen, feels better in the hand, and looks more modern. This phone also features LTE, which the 520 did not. Other changes from last year include the new Windows 8.1, the removal of the hardware camera button, and the switch to onscreen navigation buttons (like some Android phones). There is no camera flash on this phone and the 5 megapixel camera lens is a very very small bump on the back of the phone. The volume control and power button, while clicky, feel a little bit too recessed and take some getting used to. I was impressed to see the buttons had plastic on them for protection during shipping. The good thing about the recessed buttons is that if you pick up the phone by its sides, it is not easy to accidentally press a button. The beveled edges make it easy to grip, as does the matte black plastic. This phone is 802.11 b, g, and n compatible. It also has Bluetooth 4.0, which you can use to pair with a headset, earpeice, or your automobile. It works on AT&T's LTE network. It comes with 8GB of internal storage and the microSD card support goes all the way up to 128GB cards. Setup is easy, and includes creating or signing in with a Microsoft account. I chose to restore from a previous Windows Phone, which worked flawlessly. It detected my SD card and asked me if I wanted to store my media on it. After my restore, I had 3.88GB free on the internal storage. The 4.5 inch screen is not a super high resolution screen, but is good enough. It comes in a 217ppi. Because Windows Phone uses big text, the resolution is not a big deal. It is 854x480 and features Nokia's Clear Black technology. If you are familiar with the iPhone 5 or 5s, the body of this phone is similarly sized. It is approximately the same height, and just a little wider than the iPhone. It fits comfortably in the hand. In my opinion, Nokia should have increased the RAM to 1GB when they designed this phone. There is only 512mb of RAM in this phone, and the user experience of this phone usually doesn't suffer as a result of this low amount of RAM. Some higher-end games may have an issue, but Windows phone does a great job with low specs. The only time I ran into an issue, (since I am not a gamer) is when pinch-zooming on webpages with small text. This phone takes a second to re-render the text and during that second or two, it is noticeably blurry. For a budget-priced phone though, this is something that you can live with. The Windows Phone keyboard continues to be my favorite among phone keyboards. I mentioned the 5 megapixel camera on the back. There is no front-facing camera on this phone. The quality of the photos from the camera are ok. I would not expect quality photos at night though. This camera isn't anything like a 6 element lens of iPhones or the 41 megapixel Nokia 1020, but it does its job. It does offer the highly praised Nokia Camera application, like the Nokia 1020 and 1520. Speaking of the Nokia apps, they are always nice features and a great reason to buy a Nokia-made (Now owned by Microsoft) Windows Phone. These include Nokia Camera, Nokia Cinemagraph, Here Maps, and Nokia Creative Studio just to name a few of the more popular ones. Windows Phone 8.1 brings several new features to Windows Phone that iOS and Android have had for a while. Windows Phone 8.1 now features Cortana, the digital assistant and the Action Center, which is much like the notification dropdown of Android and iOS. This device also comes with the latest Lumia Cyan release. Overall, this is a excellent value. The size of the phone is perfect in my opinion. As a quad core, it is fast. Windows Phone has always felt fast regardless of the chip set. If you are looking for a Windows Phone, this is an excellent choice. In terms of specs, it is comparable to the Mote G with LTE and the HTC Desire 610. As an owner of the Nokia Lumia 1520, I have to admit that this phone is much nicer in daily use. It is not the powerhouse that the Lumia 1520 is, but this phone sure is a lot more comfortable to hold and provides almost the same experience. Plus, you can purchase a few different color backs and interchange them as you see fit. Enjoy your phone!