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Nokia Lumia 1520 barges into UK, here's the best deals

Nokia's beefy new bruiser of a phone is on sale in the UK today, with a variety of online retailers ready and waiting to take your cash.

Nick Hide Managing copy editor
Nick manages CNET's advice copy desk from Springfield, Virginia. He's worked at CNET since 2005.
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Nick Hide
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Nokia's beefy new bruiser of a phone, the Lumia 1520, is on sale in the UK today, bringing its capacious charms to your specially extended pocket for £550 SIM-free.

The 6-inch Windows Phablet is available this very day from online retailers such as Unlocked Mobiles and Clove, both offering the 1520 for £550. Unlocked tells me preorders went out in the post yesterday, so it should be hitting your doormat today.

You can also bag the mighty mobile from high-street stores such as Phones 4U, which is flogging it for free on a decent £38 per month two-year contract with Vodafone. That deal bags you unlimited texts and calls, and unlimited 4G data for the first three months, and 2GB thereafter.

If you don't think that's enough mobile bytes, Carphone will take £52 per month out of your wallet for an 8GB contract on O2.

Is it worth it?

It's not a cheap mobile, but if you're after a big-screen Windows Phone, you don't have much choice. It certainly won't disappoint, however. Its Full HD 6-inch screen is something to behold, and there's plenty of power behind it too, with a magnificent Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor.

While Windows Phone is definitely gaining traction, it's still most app developers' third choice and hot new apps tend to take a while to reach its Marketplace. When they get there, they're usually more expensive than on Android or iOS too.

Other phablet choices include the similarly powerful Samsung Galaxy Note 3, and the even larger Sony Xperia Z Ultra, which has the bonus of being waterproof, so you can take it in the bath. They're just as expensive though -- a far cheaper alternative is the £180 Asus Fonepad, which is basically a 7-inch Android tablet with the ability to make phone calls. It's pretty silly, if I'm honest.

Are you considering the voluptuous delights of a gigantic mobile? Which one has caught your fancy? Do you think any of them are worth splashing half a grand on? Check out Andy's video review of the 1520 below, and give me your outsize thoughts in the comments, or on our titanic Facebook page.

Watch this: Nokia Lumia 1520