The entry-level Nokia Lumia 620 might be the new kid on the block, but it’s attracting a lot of attention and with great hardware and a tantalisingly low price tag, it’s no surprise that sales of this small Windows Phone 8 handset could well make a big impact on Nokia’s market share.
If you’ve already joined the Lumia 620 camp, or are considering switching, take a look at some tips and tricks which can help add even more functionality to this pint-sized powerhouse.
Tip 1: Quick launching the camera
The camera on the back of the Lumia 620 is a plucky little 5-megapixel snapper with a great pulse LED flash. You could choose to unlock your phone, swipe to your apps menu and open the camera from there, but simply holding down the shutter button on the lower right side of the phone until it vibrates pulls you straight into the camera app and ready to take a snap whilst cutting out the middle man.
Tip 2: Customise your lock screen
With Windows Phone 8, Microsoft added a lot of additional functionality to the lockscreen beyond changing the wallpaper image. Depending on the app you have installed, the lockscreen can be set to show things like images from your Facebook albums, real-time sports scores or Bing photography. To change your lockscreen, head to the Settings app, chose ‘lock screen’ and pick an option from the ‘Background’ drop-down menu. What’s more you can also choose which apps show detailed or minor information from the same settings screen.
Tip 3: Integrate Facebook Chat
The messaging app on your Lumia 620 isn’t just for text messages and one additional function lets you pull your Facebook Chat in so all your real time message are in one place. To set it up, make sure you’ve entered your Facebook details into the ‘email+accounts’ section of the Settings app. Once you’ve filled that in head back to the messaging app and flip the ‘use Facebook Chat’ option on in the settings menu. Then you’ll be able to set your status online and chat with your facebook buddies without ever opening Facebook.
Tip 4: Resize tiles
One of the great aspects of Windows Phone is its aesthetic, the clean tile design really helps the OS stand out from iOS and Android. To make the most of your homescreen, you can choose between two or three tile sizes (depending on the app). To resize a tile, press and hold until the icons start to ‘float’ and dim behind the icon you were holding your finger on. By tapping the diagonal arrow in the bottom right of the selected app you can toggle between small, medium and large tiles.
Tip 5: Filter your contacts
The connected nature of Windows Phone means that the People app can show more than just your standard phone contacts, it can also pull in email contacts from Hotmail, Outlook and Gmail or social network friends from sites like Facebook and Twitter. Sometimes all those contacts in one place can be a little confusing, so it’s nice to have the ability to filter out the unwanted entries without deleting them or logging out of any accounts. Simply go the the People app, open up settings, choose the ‘filter my contact list’ option and check or uncheck the tick boxes behind your linked accounts to filter out certain groups.
Tip 6: Create a group
Speaking of groups, sometimes you want to have quick access to a specific bunch of people; perhaps your immediate family, close friends or work colleagues. With Groups, you can perform simultaneous actions like emails or texts, view posts on social networks and even recently uploaded or tagged photos with your favourite people in. In the People app, swipe to the ‘together’ screen, hit the addition icon at the bottom of the screen and choose Group. Once you’ve named your new group hit the addition icon on the ‘edit group’ screen and choose your desired contacts.
Tip 7: Browse photos by person
If you’ve stored your Hotmail, Outlook, Live and/or Facebook details on your 620 then you might have noticed that the Pictures app shows your photo albums from the likes of Facebook and SkyDrive without you ever having manually added them. The same can be done with your contacts too. In the Pictures app, choose ‘people’, ‘choose contact’ and pick a name, your Lumia will then pull in any albums it can find based on their contact information and display them next alongside you forever more in the people section of the Pictures app.
Tip 8: Get exclusive Nokia apps
Owning a Nokia Lumia handset entitles a user to some unique apps exclusive to Nokia’s Windows Phone range. The Nokia Collection appears in the Windows Phone Store app and offers up a vast array of apps and games from Nokia Transit to Angry Birds Space. Some titles are free but some cost money, so check before you download.
Tip 9: Tap+send
Despite its entry-level status, the Nokia Lumia 620 features the rather premium feature of NFC. Dubbed ‘Tap+send’ this feature lets you tap your 620 to compatible tags and even other devices as a means of sharing or downloading content and even connecting to wireless accessories like speakers and headphones. To make sure you have Tap+send switched on simply look for it in the Settings app. Alternatively, switching it off should help extend battery life.
Tip 10: Changing cases
One of the great things about the Lumia 620 is that if you’re not happy with the colour you bought it in, the back cover simply snaps off and is replaceable with one of five alternative coloured shells. Colours include: cyan, magenta, green, white, black and blue. To change the cover on your Nokia Lumia 620, hold the lower portion of the body on the sides with on hand and push the against the rear camera to pop the shell off the phone’s back. It’s then simply a matter of snapping on a new case from the base first.
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