It's raining Lumias!
Microsoft in its bid to capture the smartphone market is upping the ante. Just before it launched its first non-Nokia branded smartphone, the Lumia 535, it had launched Nokia Lumia 730.
Himanshu Juneja says there's more to Nokia Lumia 730 than just a 5 MP front-facing selfie camera. He takes you through the good and not-so-good features of Microsoft's selfie smartphone.
The Nokia Lumia 730 has been launched by Microsoft not too long ago, and it has positioned itself as a lucrative offer in its segment already.
The company had touted the Lumia 730 as a selfie phone, owing to its wide angle 5 megapixel front facing camera, and the feature surely has impressed.
Being feature rich and flaunting its unmistakably sturdy Nokia built, the device surely has enough firepower to unsettle its main rival, the Motorola Moto G.
How much does it weigh in? Let's take a closer look:
1. The Nokia Lumia 730 dual SIM comes with a 4.7-inch OLED screen with 1280 x 720 of resolution. This makes it a 720p display and having a pixel density of 316 ppi.
It is a high brightness display, which performs admirably well. The colours come out vibrant and rich looking, aptly supported by good viewing angles as well.
Coming with clearblack technology means readability under sunlight is a non issue.
2. The phone is powered by a Quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor, clocked at 1.2 Ghz. Accompanying the processor is 1GB RAM.
The device worked in a pretty smooth fashion, with all the transition and effects executing without any lag or stutter. The phone handles simultaneously a maximum of five apps easily, but executing another app means signs of lag will start to show up. Clear indication that Microsoft had designs to place the phone in mid segment from the start. Still not a bad performance indicator.
3. The phone has been built with the usual sturdiness which is now pretty much a Lumia series hallmark. The phone is pretty slippery and manages to just about hang on to the user's hand. Thankfully, the curve on the spine assists the grip on the phone.
The phone has been provided with a power button, placement of which could have been better, on the right side. The entire back panel is removable.
At only 130 grams, the slippery nature of the chassis and a slight concern with the scratch prone camera lens (more on it later), it will be a wise move to purchase a good case for the phone.
4. Lumia 730 comes with Microsoft Windows 8.1 operating system out of the box, and has been supplied the Denim update which carries all the goodies from Cyan and adds some of its own.
The consolidated notification area and live folders feature makes up for utility as well as eye candy. Separate volume controls gives added comfort of working.
Feature like tap to wake has been included as well, and thanks to this, users won't have to reach out for the oddly positioned power button all the time. There are many more additions to explore like customisation of the start up screen etc.
However, missing option to turn mobile data on/off was really a howler.
5. The phone comes with a 6.7 MP rear camera, carrying a Carl Zeiss lens. Rear camera has been provided LED flash as well. Combined with decent light conditions, the camera delivers pretty impressive results, and easily beats its main competitor, Motorola Moto G.
In fact the difference in camera along with dual SIM functionality is something which will boost Lumia 730's chances immensely in this segment.
The front facing camera itself is no slouch. Infact, Microsoft will be banking on the phone to capture selfie enthusiasts' attention. The front facing camera itself is a 5MP wide angle affair, which is bound to deliver impressive selfie photographs.
Microsoft did indulge in some unfair cost cutting practices here. Not only there is no dedicated camera button, the rear camera lens hasn't been made scratch resistant, and as a result it accumulated quite a few scratches in pretty short time.
Given the fact that the replacement for the same will be an expensive affair, it will be wise to invest in a good sturdy case for the phone. The slippery nature of the built material only bolsters the case further.
6. With just 8GB, the on board memory is a bit abysmal, but Microsoft did well to include the MicroSD card slot for expanding the overall storage. The phone supports cards up to 128GB. In addition to this, the phone also comes with 15GB of OneDrive cloud storage.
7. Bundled accessories will leave the users with a slight bitter taste as Microsoft chose not to include a data cable. The phone comes with manuals, a MicroUSB charger and Nokia's stereo headset (Model: WH-108).
8. The phone comes with a 2200 mAh battery, which is capable enough to deliver talk time worth 22 hours. Since the backpanel can be taken apart, the users can replace a spare battery and keep the phone chugging along.
There is also the battery saving feature included, enabling the user to stretch the battery life for those crucial few hours if required.
9. Microsoft has made sure to present the buyers with good colour options for the phone, as it comes with Orange, Black, White and Green. The back panel are replaceable of course, giving the users the option to customise the phone appearance depending upon their mood and attire.
10. The phone has been positioned just under Rs 15000 price bracket.
With this, Microsoft has clearly placed the Lumia 730 to compete with the hugely successful Motorola Moto G. With a better camera onboard, and dual SIM option functionality available, anybody who is comfortable with Microsoft Operating system, the 730 becomes an automatic choice.
