Microsoft, the new owner of Nokia devices, calls its new Lumia 830 smartphone "our affordable flagship". What does that mean? Has Microsoft finally joined the "upper-class experience for small pockets" race that has begun with Motorola's second coming to India? Or is it marketing spiel for a mini version of its flagship? Let's find out.
Body and mind
The phone has got the looks certainly. The 830 we got for review had a slightly curved bright orange plastic back panel that was eye candy but also slippery. However, it's light and fits perfectly in the hand as well as the pocket. If you can ignore the poor grip, the 830 is easy to use with one hand - the Windows Phone's tile arrangement makes that even easier. (Disclosure: I'm no fan of Microsoft's smartphone operating system.)
The 830 has a thin bezel and all the keys are on the right edge. Sorry, lefties. The camera key on the bottom of the edge, a metal rim, is a bit difficult to use with one hand. Below the display are three capacitive buttons for search, home and back functions. The 3.5-millimetre headphone jack and the charger port are on the top.
Most Lumia devices have five-inch displays. Usability rather than size being the Lumia series' focus, you shouldn't be judging the phone by its size. Or go get the six- or 10-inch ones they're selling. The flagship Lumia 1020's display in contrast is only four and a half inches. Besides, the 830's is high-definition against the 1020's WXGA that is used in cheaper LCD TVs. The 830 has an LCD screen that produces more natural colours and lasts longer, while the 1020 uses an LED one that consumes less power, has better viewing angles and looks oversaturated because it allows for a larger range of colours. The Corning Gorilla glass is present in both though.
One of the reasons why the 830 has been labelled a "flagship" (of whatever sort) is because it boasts a 10-megapixel camera with a Carl Zeiss lens, Pure View technology and image-stabilisation. The camera is the best part of the 830. For the smartphone-photography aficionados, this is one of the best options in this price range. The pictures we clicked had a good amount of detailing with good contrast and the colours were well balanced. It can also record in high-definition. Though the pixel count might seem low compared with other phones such as Motorola's Moto X 2014, the quality a Carl Zeiss lens offers is not easily availble at this price. And the Lumia Selfie app will help you a lot in putting together an online portfolio even with the below-one-megapixel front camera. However, unlike the 830, the Moto X 2014 does come with a dual LED flash.
Again though the 830 falters on processing power on paper, we did not think the Snapdragon 400 series processor - in this price range rivals usually offer the 800 series or higher - marred the phone's performance in any way. Neither were there any lags switching between apps or functions nor did the camera shutter or focus functions disappoint. The phone does have about half the RAM the similarly priced Moto X 2014 and the flagship Lumia 1020 offer, so if you download a lot of apps and store a lot of stuff on the phone, the 830 should not be your choice even with its expandable memory. The memory on the phone is 16GB, of which about 14.5GB is free to use. That's pretty good.
The 830 comes with the Microsoft help, Cortana, but you will have to change the region and languauge settings to "English (United States)" for it to work. And yes, it still has to go a long way to compete with Google Now or Apple's Siri.
You get the latest Denim update to the Windows Phone operating system. However, Microsoft has promised Windows 10, expected to be out next year, would be the common operating system for all the devices. (Keep your eyes on this page for a review of the technical preview of the "prebeta version" of Windows 10 soon.)
The battery gives you slightly more juice than the 1020 and will see you through the day with moderate use. The in-ear headphones are middling but the sound on 830's speaker is loud and clean.
So what is it?
The Lumia 830 is not really a "more for much less" phone given its Rs 31,099 tag. But not even a mini 1020 for where they differ they do so vastly - for instance, the camera - and on some counts it's a matter of preference - for instance, the screen. The pricing puts it in the mid-range. And that's where it's going to face a tough time because of the yet low popularity of Windows Phone operating system and of the price war that the Chinese rivals have started. Should you buy it? Without any doubt.
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