Lumia 535, the first Windows Phone handset from Microsoft that ditched Nokia branding, goes a long way, improving on the shortcomings of Lumia 530, to say the least. 

……….Thumb Up: 5-inch, 960 x 540 screen; Snapdragon 200 processor; 5MP cameras front and rear; 8GB of storage; dual (microSD-Sim slots.

Thumb Down: The Microsoft Lumia 535 is found wanting in 4G LTE connectivity; its under-powered processor results in a sluggish interface. Also, the touchscreen can be unresponsive, while the screen is neither sharp nor particularly vivid…………….

Although, from the design, size, and other key features, the nice looking with replaceable covers – available in matte plastic options- orange, black, grey, green, white and cyan, doesn’t appear as a cheap phone.

Microsoft aggressively targeting the entry-level and the budget smartphone segments is particularly showing intents; to ensure the brand becomes a household name in the Nigeria’s smartphone market, just like the rested Nokia.

Definitely, Nigerian phone lovers with penchant liking for colour, unfettered look, will not be disappointed because Lumia 535 is already here and finding itself in the waiting hands of students and young people; notwithstanding, it serves every class.

We believe most cheap phones mustn’t have smaller, 4-inch or so screens, and the 5-inch Lumia 535 shows Microsoft thinks outside the box. Thus, such design aligns Lumia 535 with the much more expensive rivals. Here is our review:

Build & Design

Actually, Microsoft cannot claim to have totally ‘scratched off’ ‘Nokia Lumia’ designs with the launch of the ‘first’ Micosoft branded Lumia 535.

On close examination and though no visibility of Nokia branding, the Lumia 535 doesn’t appear to be very different from other Nokia Lumia budget phones such as Lumia 530 and 630 and all the other predecessors and the only thing that stands out is the Microsoft logo at the front and back.

The Lumia 535 looks similar to Lumia 530, complete with rounded corners and a changeable coloured back cover that wraps around the phone. The major difference is the larger size which is majorly due to the inclusion of a bigger display

Meanwhile, Microsoft is not excusable on how the case and battery sometimes ‘pop out’ when dropped; the appliances dislodge more often than not.

Nonetheless, the ‘Gorilla Glass’, as a shield, ensures the screen remains fairly sturdy and scratch-free. But Microsoft shouldn’t see that as enough protection following the manner the case and battery dislodge.

As a consolation, the 8GB of built-in storage should prove ample for lighter users. If that’s not enough then there’s a microSD card slot, too. We understand, “You don’t get 4G at this price, but you do get Bluetooth 4.0 and – unlike some cheaper phones – it has an ambient light sensor as well”.

Well, the right edge of the phone features the power and volume rocker keys, in the same colour as that of the shell and offer good tactile feedback. The top edge sports the 3.5mm headset jack while the bottom features the micro-USB port.

Display

One thing comes to mind: Nigeria youths are known for their penchant interest in watching nollywood movies and other entertainment contents. Then, Lumia 535’s 5-inch screen is on the large side and will definitely meet your fancy. 

You have interests in watching YouTube, Irokotv, IbakaTv; and Microsoft was timely with the launch, because Nigerians are on the verge of digital switchover when many will begin to appreciate such contents.

In other words, browsing through your phone will be easy too.

It has a 960×540-pixel IPS LCD resolution; high-resolution photos, too, lack the crisp clarity you’ll see on screens with more pixels though. The truth remains that the 960×540-pixel resolution does result in turning it on slightly improves under sun readability.

The Windows Phone interface is perfectly clear, however, and basic apps like email and calendar, along with commonly used apps such as Twitter, Facebook and Spotify, are all easily readable.

The viewing angles are fair, nevertheless, it ought to have been improved on; they look particularly ‘washed-out’ when you view them next to more vivid displays such as the one on the slightly pricier Lumia 735.

Software

Microsoft Lumia 535, of course, comes with Windows Phone 8.1. The latest software update, codenamed Denim is therein with some Nokia-exclusive features. Importantly, Windows Phone 8 is easy on the eye, made up lots of large, bright tiles that show live information. Interestingly, one can resize these tiles and reorder them to suit your preferences, set different backgrounds and group tiles together into folders, thanks to the Denim software update.

Similarly, Windows Phone 8.1 ironed out inconsistencies and achieves feature parity with competing smartphone platforms like Android and iOS. It pretty much covers the basics and would satisfy most casual users.

Another recent feature is the notification panel that you pull down from the top of the screen, like in Android. It shows incoming notfications from your messaging apps or emails, as well as giving quick access to critical settings such as Wi-Fi and screen brightness; while update 1 brings features like Live Folders, Cortana support (alpha) for India, SMS merge and forwarding, consumer VPN and Internet Explorer improvements.

Lumia 535 promises easy usage. For instance, you can now select individual text messages to either delete them out of a messaging thread, or copy and past them into a new message to forward them.

More so, Lumia 353 is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, backed up by 1GB of RAM. Thus, it has the capacity to run most everyday tasks, including streaming movies in Netflix, but more demanding games are not handled well.

Camera

Lumia 535 posits 5-megapixel cameras both on the back and the front; measuring 1/4 inch sensor, f/2.4 aperture and 28mm focal length, with auto-focus and LED flash.

It comes with pre-loaded Bing vision, Creative Studio, Lumia Camera, Lumia Selfie camera apps.

And the inclusion of the LED flash helps the phone take pictures in the dark and front camera facilitates selfies and Skype chats.

The quality of still images shot in abundant light was great, depicting accuracy in colour reproduction and good contrast.

The video quality as captured with the phone was basically average.

Performance

Coming from ‘brilliant’ Microsoft, Lumia 535 is powered by a 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 quad-core processor and 1GB RAM. It comes with 8GB internal storage and supports microSD card slots of up to 128GB for expansion.

While it is appreciable the fact the phone comes with 1GB RAM given that a number of games and apps are not optimized for 512MB devices.

On Playing Games: This could be one of the reasons that playing casual games like Temple Run and Angry Birds there is no practically any issue, but not same as playing graphics-heavy games like Asphalt 8, the frame drops.

With Windows Phone OS at work, we did not observe lag or falter while launching and switching between apps, though the apps and also did not encounter any issues while browsing the web, clicking pictures and playing videos and music.

Battery

Powered by a 1905mAh battery, Microsoft Lumia 535, with its low-power processor and low-res screen not demanding much juice, the battery shouldn’t be too heavily taxed. Indeed, Microsoft reckons you can get up to 13 hours of talktime over 3G, which isn’t too bad.

It will last you more than a full work day, basically 16 hours, even if you put the screen brightness at the highest level and use 3G data all the time. You’ll be able to make about 2-3 hours of phone calls, play some casual games and browse the web in this time period. You’ll be able to get about one and a half day backup with moderate use.

In terms of connectivity, the dual-sim handset offers 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 and A-GPS.

Verdict

With plenty to offer for its cheap price, the Microsoft’s first self-branded Windows Phone handset tries to fill in the gaps.

However, there are areas where the company has made compromises. For instance, the display is not that great; the processor is also not comparable to the Lumia 630 and touch sensitivity was also problematic at times.

Essentially, Microsoft just erased ‘Nokia’ as the brand, but the inside and out features depict Nokia Lumia.

We found the positive side to include; built in battery saver; built in office, Skype one drive storage (30GB); Here maps; Xbox games; Windows10 update coming on Oct 2015; 5.0 screen; Cortana and 1GB RAM.

Also, virtually all apps available in google play are available in windows store just few apps and major apps performance speed is so good apps like What’s app; blackberry messenger; Facebook messenger; We chat and Hike messenger

But I didn’t find it funny that you need to remove battery each time to switch Sims and No compass. 

Therefore, as one who desires to enjoy light gaming or video streaming on the move, a higher-end phone with 4G LTE would go for such phone as Lumia 635, nevertheless, Lumia 535 proves a good option if you need a cheap dual-SIM phone.