Nokia unveils budget Lumia 620 Windows Phone 8 handset

Colourful handset offers latest Microsoft mobile OS on the cheap

Nokia has unveiled the Lumia 620 smartphone today, its cheapest Windows Phone 8 handset yet.

The Nokia Lumia 620 was shown off at the LeWeb conference in Paris on Wednesday morning, with Nokia emphasising its design virtues. It uses a new dual-shot colour technique, which makes it the most colourful Nokia Lumia phone yet.

"Dual-shot adds a second layer of coloured, transparent or translucent polycarbonate on top of a base layer to produce secondary colour blends and depth effects," Nokia explained. This means, for example, that adding yellow and cyan cases to the handset will make a lime green colour.

The handset will be available in seven different colours at launch: lime green, cyan, orange, magenta, yellow, black and white.

Marko Ahtisaari, executive vice president of design at Nokia, told conference-goers: "The Nokia Lumia 620 takes our pure colour story and give it a burst of playfulness.

"We like to say about the 620 'it's the most fun for your money.'"

The compact handset also features a 3.8in 480x800 Clearblack screen, a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and Microsoft's Windows Phone 8 mobile operating system. There is also 8GB of internal storage, a 5MP rear-facing camera, 0.3MP front-facing camera and a 1,300mAh battery.

"With its innovative design, the latest Windows Phone 8 software and signature experiences from Nokia, like Nokia lenses, Nokia Maps and Nokia Music, the Nokia Lumia 620 is a highly competitive smartphone at this price point," said Jo Harlow, executive vice president of Nokia Smart Devices.

The Nokia Lumia 620 will arrive in Europe early next year, priced at around £150 before taxes and subsidies.