2015 is an interesting year for Microsoft. For the first time in years, the Redmond company seems to be establishing a vivid ecosystem, with results which look – so far – to be impressive. From the forthcoming release of Windows 10, to Microsoft’s acquisition of Nokia, Microsoft now has the opportunity to regain the confidence of its consumer base – and that pursuit of critical appeal is where the firm’s newest budget smartphone, the Lumia 535, comes into play.
The Lumia 535 is Microsoft’s first ‘official’ Lumia phone since the firm acquired Nokia – sporting Microsoft branding, the Lumia 535 is aimed at a budget audience who’re seeking a Windows phone experience. Microsoft’s intention here is most telling – rather than let their inaugural smartphone exist as a premium flagship, the company have developed a sub-R2000 smartphone for audiences everywhere.
The Lumia 535, simply put, sports a basic plastic design which neither inspires nor detracts from the overall use of the phone. Perhaps the best way to articulate the 535’s physical design language is to state that, quite simply, it’s a thin slab of plastic. The 535 has a 5.5″ form factor, which in use I found closely resembled the iPhone 5, despite having a slightly broader width. However, build quality – understandably at this price point – isn’t the name of the game and definitely won’t elicit any gasps of admiration from friends or family.
The 535 is encased in plastic, with Microsoft hoping that users will purchase additional rear shells in a variety of vibrant colours to personalise their phone. The black shell on the review unit I used quickly grew my ire as, much like a black hole, it attracts a plethora of dust and – most irritatingly – fingermarks. If ever you’ve wanted to determine how exactly you hold your smartphone, this is the device to analyse – as without a good clean every so often, the rear shell will latch on to fingerprints and dust until the end of time.
The outward design screams basic necessities, as the 535 comes unobtrusively equipped with a micro USB port, an on/off button, volume rockers on the sides, and the rear camera with large Microsoft logo beneath it steals the show on the back panel. To access the SD card and SIM slot, you’ll need to pull off the rear panel. Once done, it’s evident how much the 535’s camera actually protrudes from the rear shell. Luckily, unlike the iPhone 6, you’re in little danger of the protruding camera becoming caught in the pockets of your jeans. It does, however, mean the 535 will never sit flush with a flat surface.
While we’re on the topic Microsoft deserves genuine praise for equipping the 535 – as a budget model – which such a richly detailed 5 mega pixel camera. The Redmond firm’s Lumia camera app is excellent, and captures shots laden with detail, yet not over-crisp, and reproduces colours accurately. The camera app itself loads quickly, and the shutter fires quickly, allowing you the extra time to swiftly capture a moment multiple times.
Let’s move onward to software. Much like Apple users love to say, with a Windows phone you know what you’re getting across the board. Windows mobile runs as smoothly across the 535 as it performs on higher end Lumia models, such as the 1020. Transitions, apps, and the phone’s display are crisp and possess a definite ‘wow’ factor, even on such a budget model as this.
Unfortunately, however, the budget price point of the 535 brings with it some major drawbacks which hamper the phone from being a completely enjoyable experience. The 535 is underpowered, and suffers intermittent interface lag which becomes a greatly frustrating experience – dichotomous against how pleasing the overall aesthetic of Windows mobile is. To illustrate, let’s take a quick tour through the 535’s specifications.
The 535 comes armed with a small 8GB of internal memory (expandable to 128GB) with 1GB of RAM. In terms of the processor, the 535 sports a Qualcomm Snapdragon 200, which doesn’t offer nearly enough power to sufficiently render the 535’s interface in moments of crisis. You’re more than likely, while using the 535, to find yourself tapping away continuously at the display in the hopes that whatever app you’re in will react. The phones’ 5.5″ display has 220 pixels per square inch, and, unfortunately, isn’t convincingly bright. A phone you will want to use in broad daylight, this is not.
The 535 also sports a removable 1900mAH battery, which nearly clocks through a day. Using the 535, I found the battery quickly depleted through continuous use, and the fact that the Lumia requires an ever-active internet connection to make the most of Windows 8.1’s live tiles is a detrimental factor. What is concerning is that for a phone at this price point – at which consumers will likely purchase on prepaid or contract with a relatively low amount of data in South Africa – is how the 535 quickly evaporates mobile data to keep itself – and those live tiles – up-t0-date. I found myself continuously searching for WiFi networks whenever out to keep my data bill down.
There is, however, one aspect where the Lumia 535 and Windows 8.1 falls utterly short – the phone’s native and unchangeable keyboard. Auto-correct is slow, hitting the correct key nigh impossible, and with the interface lag the phone suffers, quickly becomes the most unappealing factor of the smartphone. I found myself wishing to give up and return to the joy of Swiftkey all too often.
Overall, the Lumia 535 is a great introduction to Windows phone at this price point, and is a brilliant budget companion to any Windows PC. Between the smartphone’s attractive price, great camera, and the glossy aesthetic of Windows 8.1 mobile, I forsee much appeal amongst South African consumers – especially youth. However, the 535 is beset by problems which greatly detracted from my enjoyment of using the phone.
Microsoft’s attempt to cater their new ecosystem to as many consumers – affordably – is admirable. However, the 535 leaves the impression that many subtle revisions are in order to truly render this a great contender against the legions of affordably priced Android smartphones which saturate the market.
Follow Bryan on Twitter: @bryansmith1138
