Nokia has just announced the Lumia 625, a budget Windows Phone with the largest display the company has ever put in a smartphone. It's a 4.7-inch WVGA (480 x 800) panel with 201ppi, however, which makes it one of the least dense displays we've seen in recent memory — only Samsung's Galaxy Mega 5.8 does worse. Compounding the screen misery are limited viewing angles and poor contrast, though Nokia does include one of its flagship features with the "super-sensitive touch" technology that allows you to use the touchscreen with gloves on.

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Display aside, the Lumia 625 has a 1.2GHz Snapdragon S4 processor, 512MB of RAM, 8GB of MicroSD-expandable storage, LTE connectivity, a 5-megapixel main camera, a VGA front-facing camera, and a 2,000mAh battery. The inclusion of LTE is a big deal for Nokia, as this is its cheapest 4G handset, priced at £200 / €220 before taxes and subsidies. Evidently, the display quality was the big tradeoff the company had to make in order to make the economics work.

The Lumia 625 will be available in black, white, or slightly translucent shades of orange, green, and yellow, and you'll be able to swap those rear cases around if you ever get tired of a particular color. There's actually a layer of white under the colored shells, lending a bright, almost glowing appearance to the 625, a phone which Nokia claims was "designed to still feel human, tactile and comfortable."

Unmistakable Lumia design, but atrocious screen quality

Having handled the Lumia 625 this morning, I can testify to Nokia's success in recreating its signature palm-friendly ergonomics. This handset really does feel natural and pleasant to hold and use, and the colorways are indeed sophisticated, bright and cheerful. The resemblance to the rest of Nokia's Lumia family is undeniable, though it really is a shame that the company had to sacrifice so much with the display in order to fit within its buget.

The phone will launch in Q3 across Europe, Africa, Latin America, and parts of Asia (including China and India), and we've been able to confirm a September release date for the UK. Nokia hasn't confirmed its plans for a North American release yet.

Aaron Souppouris contributed to this report