Who would have thought that a budget of less than $200 can get you as far as owning a Windows Phone 8 complete with dual-core processor, and other specs made better by Nokia?

At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Nokia geared up for the release of two phones, the Nokia Lumia 720 and 520 handsets.

Let's look at the design and specs of the 520, which according to Digital Trends, is a reminiscent of the 920 and 820 series, with its sensitive touch screen and curved glass display.

As a whole, the Lumia 520 has a great deal going for it, featuring a 4-inch IPS display that boasts of a 2D hardened glass, sensitive touch screen, a 512MB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage capacity, ability for storage expansion up to 64GB with a microSD card.

According to TrustedReviews, it also features a dual-core 1GHz processor, packing a good deal of power given its price. As it runs on the Windows Phone 8 OS, you can expect a similar performance.

Additional apps such as the maps and GPS navigation apps are also present in the Lumia 520.

Connectivity issues may pose as a hindrance for those who do not want to be limited to select networks, as the Lumia 520 doesn't feature LTE. Still

As far as camera goes, it only has a 5-megapixel and lacks a flash function and a front-facing camera, a far cry from the market leading smartphones, but understandable and acceptable given that it's cheap. TrustedReviews also reports that despite the camera specs, users can enjoy autofocus,

But Digital Trends adds that users can still have fun with their cameras, as the phone features tools like PhotoBeamer, which lets you share your photo to another device's screen, Cinemagraph, which lets you created animated gifs basically, and Smart Shot, for taking several shots at one time to find that perfect one.

For those who want to put a punch of color in their smartphones, you no longer need a fancy case with the Lumia 520. According to EndGadget, the handset will come in five colors: black, white, red, cyan, and yellow. Of course, covers will still be available for those who want to change colors every now and then.

Of the two recently released Nokia phones at the MWC, the Lumia 520 is the only one that will hit US stores, as well as China, Europe, and Asia, at the price of $183. On a whole, the Lumia 520 is a pretty good smartphone, one which will let you enjoy communication and even a few social and entertainment apps. If you're just feeling your way through smartphones or if you want to test an initial smartphone experience, the Lumia 520 is a great jumping point.