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Microsoft showcased the Lumia 830
during the IFA trade show this year.
Marketed as an affordable flagship ,
it’s a euphemism to the fact that the
Microsoft has cut a few corners to
make it cheaper than the front
runner of the series: the Lumia 930.
While the phone looks similar to its
more expensive sibling, it features a
rather low-end processor, a camera
with a smaller sensor and a 720p
display instead of a 1080p full HD
one.
On the plus side, you get access to
the battery and can expand the
storage – features that are missing in
the Lumia 930. You also get all the
important features, including
Microsoft’s latest Windows Phone 8.1
operating system, the 10MP PureView
camera and it shares the same build
quality as the pricier Lumia 930.
We take a closer look at the mid-
range Lumia 830 to find out if
Microsoft has cut important corners
to keep a low price-tag.
Design and build: 7/10
The Lumia 830 sports a rectangular
slab design, with an aluminium rim
running along the sides. It has a
removable back so you can access
the removable battery, SIM and the
microSD card. The plastic back cover
is made of cheap plastic and is a
little difficult to remove and put back.
The 5-inch display has a layer of
Corning Gorilla Glass 3, which keeps
it slightly raised above the bezel.
You’ll find all the buttons, including
the volume rocker, power and
camera button, positioned on the
right edge. This can be quite fiddly as
it’s easy to press the shutter button
accidentally, which then takes you to
the camera app. Similarly, we would
have liked the power button to be
placed above the volume button.
The physical shutter button is a nice
addition, but can easily be pressed
accidentally
The phone is nearly three inches
wide, which makes quite difficult to
use one-handed if you have small
hands. It’s also 8.5mm thick and
weighs 150 grams, which might be
too weighty for some – we suggest
getting your hands on the phone
before you choose to part with your
cash.
The Lumia 830 is difficult to use one-
handed
You’ll see Nokia’s signature PureView
camera take a good portion of the
rear and Dolby Digital Plus stereo
speakers at the bottom. All the ports,
including the 3.5mm headphone jack
and a micro USB slot, are positioned
at the top. The on-screen buttons
include a back, home and search
button that are super sensitive to
touch. This lets you use the phone
even with gloves on.
Nokia’s characteristic PureView
camera and stereo speakers
All ports are neatly positioned on the
top
Despite the large size of the device,
we were happy to see it fit into most
pockets, though sitting down with the
phone in your trouser pocket might
not be the most comfortable feeling.
Overall, it feels like a sturdy device
and can easily take a few bumps and
knocks in its stride.
Features: 7/10
The Lumia 830 runs on a Snapdragon
400 SoC with a quad-core Cortex-A7
processor clocked at 1.2 GHz and an
Adreno 305 graphics processor. The
processor is backed by 1GB of RAM.
It comes with 16GB of storage space,
of which nearly 11GB is available for
use. The phone comes with several
pre-installed apps, but unlike iOS and
Android, you can delete them or
transfer all of them on to an external
SD card. The Lumia 830 supports
cards up to 128GB. So lack of storage
certainly won’t be one of your
worries with this phone. On the
camera front, you have a 10MP rear
camera and a 0.9MP front facing
camera.
Coming from Microsoft, the phone
packs a great bunch of useful apps
that are easy to get used to. For
example, Nokia Xpress provides a
light version of webpages to cut
down on data costs and helps you
open web pages quickly with slow
internet speeds. It does this by
reducing the quality of text, images
and graphics.
Then of course, you get the mobile
version of Microsoft Office, which can
be a real lifesaver when you need to
get work done on the move. In
addition, there are some great
camera features which we’ll be
explaining in detail further in the
review.
As the Lumia 830 runs Windows
Phone 8.1, it comes with the updated
on-screen keyboard called WordFlow.
The predictive-text keyboard is
fantastic to use and you can swipe to
quickly send emails and text
messages. The predictions get more
and more accurate as you use it and,
sometimes, it also displays relevant
emoji.
Software: 7/10
While Windows Phone 8.1 has
improved by leaps and bounds, the
lack of new apps in its app store still
exists. That said, Windows Phone 8.1
has a modern, intuitive UI and is
extremely slick in operation.
The phone’s display uses Nokia’s
characteristic ClearBlack Display,
which helps improve readability in
bright light and makes text and
images stand out against the black
background.
The phone uses Nokia’s characteristic
black contrast called ClearBlack
Display, which improves readability
The homescreen features a vertical
list of apps that appear in the form
of tiles. You can pin your favourite
apps to the homescreen, rearrange
them to bring commonly-used apps
to the top, group them into folders
and adjust the size of each tile.
The list gets longer as you add new
apps to the homescreen and you’ll
need to scroll up or down to access
them. This is different from Android
and iOS, where apps appear in a
horizontal grid. Android users will
find that there’s no app drawer,
instead, you’ll need to swipe left to
see the complete list of apps.
You get the usual dropdown
notification area or the Action
Center, Word Flow keyboard for
faster typing and Wi-Fi sense that
helps you share Wi-Fi access to your
home Wi-Fi to your friends, without
giving them your password.
Windows 8.1 features (left to right):
Data sense helps limit your data use,
the WordFlow keyboard and the
Action Center
It also comes with a voice-assistant
called Cortana, but it’s not available
for India yet. Other changes include
the ability to switch between apps by
long pressing the back button and
the ability to see the battery status.
READ MORE Nokia Lumia 830 review: Fantastic camera, but better Android options at Rs 28,799 Tech2 Mobile
during the IFA trade show this year.
Marketed as an affordable flagship ,
it’s a euphemism to the fact that the
Microsoft has cut a few corners to
make it cheaper than the front
runner of the series: the Lumia 930.
While the phone looks similar to its
more expensive sibling, it features a
rather low-end processor, a camera
with a smaller sensor and a 720p
display instead of a 1080p full HD
one.
On the plus side, you get access to
the battery and can expand the
storage – features that are missing in
the Lumia 930. You also get all the
important features, including
Microsoft’s latest Windows Phone 8.1
operating system, the 10MP PureView
camera and it shares the same build
quality as the pricier Lumia 930.
We take a closer look at the mid-
range Lumia 830 to find out if
Microsoft has cut important corners
to keep a low price-tag.
Design and build: 7/10
The Lumia 830 sports a rectangular
slab design, with an aluminium rim
running along the sides. It has a
removable back so you can access
the removable battery, SIM and the
microSD card. The plastic back cover
is made of cheap plastic and is a
little difficult to remove and put back.
The 5-inch display has a layer of
Corning Gorilla Glass 3, which keeps
it slightly raised above the bezel.
You’ll find all the buttons, including
the volume rocker, power and
camera button, positioned on the
right edge. This can be quite fiddly as
it’s easy to press the shutter button
accidentally, which then takes you to
the camera app. Similarly, we would
have liked the power button to be
placed above the volume button.
The physical shutter button is a nice
addition, but can easily be pressed
accidentally
The phone is nearly three inches
wide, which makes quite difficult to
use one-handed if you have small
hands. It’s also 8.5mm thick and
weighs 150 grams, which might be
too weighty for some – we suggest
getting your hands on the phone
before you choose to part with your
cash.
The Lumia 830 is difficult to use one-
handed
You’ll see Nokia’s signature PureView
camera take a good portion of the
rear and Dolby Digital Plus stereo
speakers at the bottom. All the ports,
including the 3.5mm headphone jack
and a micro USB slot, are positioned
at the top. The on-screen buttons
include a back, home and search
button that are super sensitive to
touch. This lets you use the phone
even with gloves on.
Nokia’s characteristic PureView
camera and stereo speakers
All ports are neatly positioned on the
top
Despite the large size of the device,
we were happy to see it fit into most
pockets, though sitting down with the
phone in your trouser pocket might
not be the most comfortable feeling.
Overall, it feels like a sturdy device
and can easily take a few bumps and
knocks in its stride.
Features: 7/10
The Lumia 830 runs on a Snapdragon
400 SoC with a quad-core Cortex-A7
processor clocked at 1.2 GHz and an
Adreno 305 graphics processor. The
processor is backed by 1GB of RAM.
It comes with 16GB of storage space,
of which nearly 11GB is available for
use. The phone comes with several
pre-installed apps, but unlike iOS and
Android, you can delete them or
transfer all of them on to an external
SD card. The Lumia 830 supports
cards up to 128GB. So lack of storage
certainly won’t be one of your
worries with this phone. On the
camera front, you have a 10MP rear
camera and a 0.9MP front facing
camera.
Coming from Microsoft, the phone
packs a great bunch of useful apps
that are easy to get used to. For
example, Nokia Xpress provides a
light version of webpages to cut
down on data costs and helps you
open web pages quickly with slow
internet speeds. It does this by
reducing the quality of text, images
and graphics.
Then of course, you get the mobile
version of Microsoft Office, which can
be a real lifesaver when you need to
get work done on the move. In
addition, there are some great
camera features which we’ll be
explaining in detail further in the
review.
As the Lumia 830 runs Windows
Phone 8.1, it comes with the updated
on-screen keyboard called WordFlow.
The predictive-text keyboard is
fantastic to use and you can swipe to
quickly send emails and text
messages. The predictions get more
and more accurate as you use it and,
sometimes, it also displays relevant
emoji.
Software: 7/10
While Windows Phone 8.1 has
improved by leaps and bounds, the
lack of new apps in its app store still
exists. That said, Windows Phone 8.1
has a modern, intuitive UI and is
extremely slick in operation.
The phone’s display uses Nokia’s
characteristic ClearBlack Display,
which helps improve readability in
bright light and makes text and
images stand out against the black
background.
The phone uses Nokia’s characteristic
black contrast called ClearBlack
Display, which improves readability
The homescreen features a vertical
list of apps that appear in the form
of tiles. You can pin your favourite
apps to the homescreen, rearrange
them to bring commonly-used apps
to the top, group them into folders
and adjust the size of each tile.
The list gets longer as you add new
apps to the homescreen and you’ll
need to scroll up or down to access
them. This is different from Android
and iOS, where apps appear in a
horizontal grid. Android users will
find that there’s no app drawer,
instead, you’ll need to swipe left to
see the complete list of apps.
You get the usual dropdown
notification area or the Action
Center, Word Flow keyboard for
faster typing and Wi-Fi sense that
helps you share Wi-Fi access to your
home Wi-Fi to your friends, without
giving them your password.
Windows 8.1 features (left to right):
Data sense helps limit your data use,
the WordFlow keyboard and the
Action Center
It also comes with a voice-assistant
called Cortana, but it’s not available
for India yet. Other changes include
the ability to switch between apps by
long pressing the back button and
the ability to see the battery status.
READ MORE Nokia Lumia 830 review: Fantastic camera, but better Android options at Rs 28,799 Tech2 Mobile
