Nokia's 6-inch Lumia 1520 to hit the UK next week

Nokia’s latest Windows phablet, the Lumia 1520, is slated to hit the UK next week for around £550 (Rs 55,600 approx) SIM-free. That is the price being quoted by online retailer Unlocked Mobiles. The retailer has also said that the handset will be available on that market from December 6. It is worth noting that this is the first time that an unlocked deal for the 6-inch handset has surfaced in that market. Other retailers are also expected to start stocking the Lumia 1520 in the coming week, and it is hoped that the hefty price tag comes down a notch.

The phablet, along with a host of other products, was launched at the Nokia World event held last month. Last week, the official Nokia blog had said that sales for the same has kicked off in France, and other markets like Hong Kong, Italy, Russia and the United States would be seeing the 1520 this week. There is still no word on when the handset will be hitting the Indian market, and the official India website is currently letting users sign up to learn when the phablet is slated to hit stores. Last month, reports had claimed that Nokia was planning to launch the new phablet in India "soon", but did not give a fixed date of arrival for the same.

Nokia's Lumia 1520 hitting initial markets one by one

A quick look at the specs sheet reveals that the 1520 comes with a 6-inch 1080p full HD ClearBlack display, and is the first Nokia smartphone to come with “Assertive Display” technology. The handset sports three columns for Live tiles on the start screen, and packs in a 20-megapixel PureView camera with optical image stabilisation, enhanced sensor technology, oversampling and outstanding zoom capabilities. After connecting to the Windows Phone Store, users can also add the Nokia Camera app as well as the new Nokia Storyteller beta app.

The Finnish manufacturer has also integrated four directional stereo microphones, another first for the company. The 1520 comes with 32GB of internal memory, which can be expanded by another 32GB via a microSD card slot. The card slot itself is featured on the side of the device, ensuring that you no longer need to open up the rear panel to put in additional memory. The phablet comes with the usual sensor suspects like an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a proximity sensor as well as a compass. Other features include support for GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS and NFC. Rounding up the package is a non-removable 3400mAh battery. You can check out our specifications review to know more about the Lumia 1520.