The Lumia 535: Microsoft’s first phone reviewed

Is a low-end flagship a thing? It should be.

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[UserIDAlreadyInUse]

...the hell? $170USD unlocked? Hell, for those specs and that price, I don't care how much crapware isn't available on the Microsoft app store; if it becomes available here, it'd be hard to justify going with a different phone, especially as there isn't much that I can see myself using that isn't now abailable for WP8.

 

[Rainbird]

Won't somebody think of the people that don't want giant phones?!

 

[dbmarketing]

Interesting device. I just purchased the ATIV SE on Verizon (finding an Icon is impossible) and like it a lot. I now it doesn't have 8.1 and probably never will thanks to Samsung and Verizon, but at the same time - it's a good little device and I own it outright.

My wife loves it enough that she wants to get the Windows Phone platform too. So I hope Verizon and Microsoft start pushing these devices (with 8.1 and a clear upgrade path thank you very much) before her phone comes due.

 

[emag]

Unless you've got a fetish for WP, the Moto G is still a much better device at a comparable price: significantly faster, HD resolution display, superior rear-facing camera (but worse FFC), larger ecosystem.

 

[Eddy Current]

UserIDAlreadyInUse[/url]":5i1c73ns]...the hell? $170USD unlocked? Hell, for those specs and that price, I don't care how much crapware isn't available on the Microsoft app store; if it becomes available here, it'd be hard to justify going with a different phone, especially as there isn't much that I can see myself using that isn't now abailable for WP8.

I'd spend $179 and get the Moto G.

 

[Bertie Wooster]

As an indication, I looked up the price in the Netherlands: the cheapest price (taxes and shipping included) is 119 euro for the single sim black or white models (MRSP is apparently 125 euro), so about 150 USD, taxes and shipping included.

 

[Quiet Desperation]

Rainbird[/url]":26cppq7n]Won't somebody think of the people that don't want giant phones?!

It'll only get worse before it gets better. Even pay phones are trying to make a comeback with the concept.

"Hey, kids, you like giant phones, right?"

Samsung is rumored to have a smartphone in the works with a "two man lift" sticker on the back.

 

[SilverSee]

With the exception of the 530, I love these new Lumias. I just bought a 635 from the Microsoft Store for my mother-in-law at Microsoft's insane Black Friday price of $39. For an off contract smartphone with a decent ClearBlack display, LTE, and SD storage expansion... it's just a crazy good deal. She won't play games, so 512Mb is a non-issue for her.

I also bought an 830 for myself, with the full knowledge that it has a midrange SOC, so I acquired it on AT&T's Next 12 plan. While on paper it seems expensive for a handset with this processor, it otherwise ticks all the features I have wanted in a Lumia but could never previously get in a single "flagship" device: high-end metal design and build quality, 5" HD ClearBlack display, LTE 4G, SD storage expansion, built-in Qi wireless charging, quad-core CPU, Glance, cool operation with good battery life, a great PureView camera with Zeiss optics, very nice audio quality. In fact, design wise, I think this phone--particularly in AT&T's attractive gunmetal color--could actually carry Microsoft's Surface brand and seem right at home.

Hoping we can also get the 535 and the excellent 735 here in the US...

 

[Xiee]

I kind of like this new Lumia. I hope it comes in plain black because that neon green is just painful on the eyes.

 

[xelitus]

Switched from Android to WP (Icon) and haven't looked back. Best phone I've ever owned hands down.

That said, before 8.1 shipped the WP platform was iffy at best. Now it's a contender and I like seeing MS seed the market with all of these lower cost devices to drive adoption. Clever little strategery there...

 

[windnwar]

One would hope if it comes to the US it will include LTE as most of the market is headed that way. I have a 635 on T-Mobile, was the only choice besides the M8 which I switched from Verizon. I miss my 928, but for a cheap phone its not bad, mainly lacking in the camera area and the lower res screen. Still does 99% of what I need it to do. With LTE this would be a better phone than the 635.

B&H currently sells a South America version of the 735 that apparently works on T-Mobile and I have considered one of those, but I'm in no rush at the moment.

 

[ChickenHawk]

...Except its not their first phone. They had the POS that the Danger aquisition netted them... what was it called again? Oh that's right, the Kin.

Edit: I agree with the downvoters, the phone was so bad even the briefest mention of the one-week-wonder deserves a downvote.

 

[xelitus]

eMagius[/url]":3dstwi70]Unless you've got a fetish for WP, the Moto G is still a much better device at a comparable price: significantly faster, HD resolution display, superior rear-facing camera (but worse FFC), larger ecosystem.

I used to agree but the ecosystem argument is sort of becoming a non-issue as time goes on.

Sure, Android (and iOS) have more apps, but I'll take a superior Office experience and the few solid third party apps I need (Uber) on WP8.x over the tons of cruft filling the Play store.

 

[DyDx]

LJ[/url]":1ajyblnp]I like the colorful phones. Mind you, i wouldn't want to own a colorful phone myself, but I like the idea of other people having them. Is that weird?

Also, it's awesome to see so much competition on price in the market. Phones were previously immune to price. Now that people are looking at and buying off-contract phones, companies are competing for those dollars too. Love it love it love it.

Eddy Current[/url]":1ajyblnp]

UserIDAlreadyInUse[/url]":1ajyblnp]...the hell? $170USD unlocked? Hell, for those specs and that price, I don't care how much crapware isn't available on the Microsoft app store; if it becomes available here, it'd be hard to justify going with a different phone, especially as there isn't much that I can see myself using that isn't now abailable for WP8.

I'd spend $179 and get the Moto G.

Spoiler

The only thing significantly better about the moto G v2 is that it runs android 5.0.1. Otherwise, it's a solid competition between the phones.

Scratch that, i was wrong about it. The Moto G v2 has better hardware all around

- screen
- A7 proc
- adreno 305
- 4G radio

And it runs android 5.0.1 which is a better phone OS than WP 8.1.

Well, the Moto G doesn't have LTE (the 1st gen Moto G eventually got an LTE model, but that hasn't happened yet with the 2014 Moto G, AFAIK), but yes it is overall better than the 535 at almost the same price. Inevitable price drops to the 535 will make it more competitive.

 

[keltor]

My wife is still pissed about the whole danger thing. She's happy to see Sharp Phones come back to the States though.

I know that for some people WP app situation is still fine, but personally I'd still be missing some of the apps I use most.

 

[Hinton]

Rainbird[/url]":r01dklq1]Won't somebody think of the people that don't want giant phones?!

There's the Lumia 525.

 

[solomonrex]

A low end flagship? That was practically invented by the Nexus phones and tablets. Pity where they ended up.

 

[LJ]

DyDx[/url]":2avajt6u]

LJ[/url]":2avajt6u]I like the colorful phones. Mind you, i wouldn't want to own a colorful phone myself, but I like the idea of other people having them. Is that weird?

Also, it's awesome to see so much competition on price in the market. Phones were previously immune to price. Now that people are looking at and buying off-contract phones, companies are competing for those dollars too. Love it love it love it.

Eddy Current[/url]":2avajt6u]

UserIDAlreadyInUse[/url]":2avajt6u]...the hell? $170USD unlocked? Hell, for those specs and that price, I don't care how much crapware isn't available on the Microsoft app store; if it becomes available here, it'd be hard to justify going with a different phone, especially as there isn't much that I can see myself using that isn't now abailable for WP8.

I'd spend $179 and get the Moto G.

Spoiler

The only thing significantly better about the moto G v2 is that it runs android 5.0.1. Otherwise, it's a solid competition between the phones.

Scratch that, i was wrong about it. The Moto G v2 has better hardware all around

- screen
- A7 proc
- adreno 305
- 4G radio

And it runs android 5.0.1 which is a better phone OS than WP 8.1.

Well, the Moto G doesn't have LTE (the 1st gen Moto G eventually got an LTE model, but that hasn't happened yet with the 2014 Moto G, AFAIK), but yes it is overall better than the 535 at almost the same price. Inevitable price drops to the 535 will make it more competitive.

You're right - I was looking at the moto G 4G.

Interestingly, the 2013 moto G actually has better specs than the Lumia 535 and that phone is $25 bucks if you activate with cricket (fully unlocked, though)

 

[LJ]

Marcos2247[/url]":2v1eo1e4]

xelitus[/url]":2v1eo1e4]

eMagius[/url]":2v1eo1e4]Unless you've got a fetish for WP, the Moto G is still a much better device at a comparable price: significantly faster, HD resolution display, superior rear-facing camera (but worse FFC), larger ecosystem.

I used to agree but the ecosystem argument is sort of becoming a non-issue as time goes on.

Sure, Android (and iOS) have more apps, but I'll take a superior Office experience and the few solid third party apps I need (Uber) on WP8.x over the tons of cruft filling the Play store.

It's not just cruft. That is WP-fanboy-FUD.

For quality apps, I find that 95% are on iOS, 50% are on Android too and maybe 5% show up on Windows Phone.

Sure, if all you care about is Evernote, Whatsapp, Dropbox and the other big players, Windows Phone can hang. But if you're a bit more into tricking out your phone/tablet workflow, it falls behind quickly.

That depends on how you define qualtiy apps.

Most of the apps I use regularly are google apps. Sure, many of them are also available on iOS, but maps, for example, is better on android (and that's a biggie for a lot of people).

The android app store has tons of great apps. And there are apps like pocketcasts that were android-first.

A few years ago it was definitely the case that iOS had the best apps. At this point, i'd say "maybe" but it's not so clear.

 

[Marcos2247]

solomonrex[/url]":2z9uoc64]A low end flagship? That was practically invented by the Nexus phones and tablets. Pity where they ended up.

They ended up wanting to make a profit as some point.

It might be fun for consumers when big players ruin a market by cross-financing their loss-sellers, but then don't bitch about the world being run by a handful of mega corporations in 30 years.

 

[Chemical Tribe]

xelitus[/url]":9ub5jnrj]

eMagius[/url]":9ub5jnrj]Unless you've got a fetish for WP, the Moto G is still a much better device at a comparable price: significantly faster, HD resolution display, superior rear-facing camera (but worse FFC), larger ecosystem.

I used to agree but the ecosystem argument is sort of becoming a non-issue as time goes on.

Sure, Android (and iOS) have more apps, but I'll take a superior Office experience and the few solid third party apps I need (Uber) on WP8.x over the tons of cruft filling the Play store.

I don't recall the version of office on WP anything worth writing home about. That and I'll take good apps plus cruft vs. just the cruft of the WP store.

Oh, and btw, Nokia's here maps are on the play store. One less reason to need WP.

 

[Rold Gold]

Lack of a camera button is kind of depressing. That's one of the features I really like about my older 820. I find it odd that MS/Nokia would start to remove this.

 

[jdale]

Seems like a pretty cluttered line-up and the model numbering is very arbitrary. I would expect 535 is a minor step up from 530 and lower than the 635, but the 535 has the largest screen of all. Weird.

Personally, I think Microsoft needs to get on the ball with the OS. It's passable, but the privacy controls are -- well, there aren't any. It's take-it-or-leave-it. The email app is large print only and doesn't even fully support Microsoft Exchange's own functionality. Lots of potential here, but if I was Microsoft I would be ruthlessly exploiting the weaknesses in the competition, e.g. the answer to Android should be privacy. The answer to iOS should be freedom. Instead, the answer to Android is data collection, and the answer to iOS's walled garden is, well, a walled garden. Fail.

 

[kvndoom]

What are the 3G frequencies? Does it support 3G on 1900MHz band? If its only on 850, it would suck for T-Mobile customers. That's a huge consideration for me, cause I wouldn't mind using one of these for a non-work phone and just SIM swapping when I'm off work.

 

[LJ]

sprockkets[/url]":3hxp2qdr]

xelitus[/url]":3hxp2qdr]

eMagius[/url]":3hxp2qdr]Unless you've got a fetish for WP, the Moto G is still a much better device at a comparable price: significantly faster, HD resolution display, superior rear-facing camera (but worse FFC), larger ecosystem.

I used to agree but the ecosystem argument is sort of becoming a non-issue as time goes on.

Sure, Android (and iOS) have more apps, but I'll take a superior Office experience and the few solid third party apps I need (Uber) on WP8.x over the tons of cruft filling the Play store.

I don't recall the version of office on WP anything worth writing home about. That and I'll take good apps plus cruft vs. just the cruft of the WP store.

Oh, and btw, Nokia's here maps are on the play store. One less reason to need WP.

He may not have used office on android/ios lately. It would be natural to assume it was better on windows phone if you hadn't. But it would still be incorrect.

 

[Marcos2247]

LJ[/url]":1yg5ovis]That depends on how you define qualtiy apps. (...) A few years ago it was definitely the case that iOS had the best apps. At this point, i'd say "maybe" but it's not so clear.

I define "quality apps" as the opposite of "cruft", i.e. the notion that iOS/Android only have more fart apps.

Android can for the most part deliver a good app for everything, but you definitely have more selection on iOS.

 

[LJ]

Marcos2247[/url]":2rfme346]

LJ[/url]":2rfme346]That depends on how you define qualtiy apps. (...) A few years ago it was definitely the case that iOS had the best apps. At this point, i'd say "maybe" but it's not so clear.

[edit] I voted you up, fyi. I have no idea why someone would vote you down for simply stating facts and being totally fair. I feel sorry for whoever is just angry with what you're saying.

I define "quality apps" as the opposite of "cruft", i.e. the notion that iOS/Android only have more fart apps.

Android can for the most part deliver a good app for everything, but you definitely have more selection on iOS.

That's probably true. My experience with the iOS store is mostly limited to helping friends and family find apps (and it's solid of course - though I mostly prefer the android interface).

That said, it seems like there is a solid app for just about everything on android these days. The sketchiest app i use is 'myfitnesspal' which is sketchy wherever you use it. And I only use it because it's what my friends use and what has been configured for recipes, etc. And, frankly, it's not *that* sketch -- it just doesn't have the quality of a 'pocketcasts' or a 'songza'.

One interesting note about apps though: a lot of web apps have come up where you run chrome in app mode. I have to say, it works remarkably well, and it helps devs not have to worry about writing multiple apps for different ecosystems.

[edit] For those who haven't used this, it basically seems like running any other app almost. It launches the same, the normal chrome aspects are gone (ie: no url bar, you can't make another tab or go off that URL). It's quite a neat idea. The NYT 7 minute workout app is done that way.

 

[DrPizza]

Eddy Current[/url]":rfpvsgbd]

UserIDAlreadyInUse[/url]":rfpvsgbd]...the hell? $170USD unlocked? Hell, for those specs and that price, I don't care how much crapware isn't available on the Microsoft app store; if it becomes available here, it'd be hard to justify going with a different phone, especially as there isn't much that I can see myself using that isn't now abailable for WP8.

I'd spend $179 and get the Moto G.

It all depends on the price, though. The Expansys import price is, I think, an upper bound; Expansys is pretty expensive, and imports always cost more.

Judging by the pricing in Thailand and the Netherlands, I think the 535 could land with a price more in line of the Moto E, not G.

 

[LJ]

The comment voting in windows phone threads is always weird.

Users will say factual, relevant things without saying a mean thing about another platform and get downvoted. Which is weird, because it's a comment that contributes to the overall thread and not slagging down on anyone or saying anything inaccurate.

 

[MyPasswordIs12345678]

I spent $0 and got the 1-year-old Lumia 1020 on an upgrade from Best Buy. It has about the same power and specs as the Lumia 530 but it also comes with a nice 41 MP camera. Even the 2-year-old 920 is fast enough for what you'd use a phone for today. I haven't found an app that runs slowly on this phone. Sure a quad-core CPU is "faster" but this speed doesn't translate into faster browsing or content consumption.

 

[lamarcheb]

Lumia 925 user here. Their line-up is confusing to me. I would have rather they perform incremental improvements on the 820 and 920. I have nowhere to go but the 830 at this point.

edit: "... 820 (not 830) and 920..."

 

[Hinton]

Marcos2247[/url]":3040y327]

LJ[/url]":3040y327]The comment voting in windows phone threads is always weird.

Users will say factual, relevant things without saying a mean thing about another platform and get downvoted. Which is weird, because it's a comment that contributes to the overall thread and not slagging down on anyone or saying anything inaccurate.

Agreed.

Windows Phone users are also the most likely to write "Dear Penthouse"-comments about how great their experience is. Everywhere on the web. I find that ... suspicious.

Having used all mobile platforms (including Firefox OS) I find the difference in day-to-day use marginal at best. It all comes down to hardware and app selection for me.

It's not Windows Phone users downvoting those comments.

 

[Hinton]

lamarcheb[/url]":fnrb8t9c]Lumia 925 user here. Their line-up is confusing to me. I would have rather they perform incremental improvements on the 830 and 920. I have nowhere to go but the 830 at this point.

There's the Lumia 930.

Just because you can't get it in USA, doesn't mean it doesn't exist, but rather that they made a poor deal with Verizon (the Icon).