The same Lumia design, build quality, color vibrance, familiar kit – its all there. What is missing is the logo, replaced by another one. While Microsoft has taken over operations, it has started out with a basic entry level smartphone that is released to a wide audience. The same reliable and affordably priced smartphone is yet again the focus of Microsoft, following in the footsteps of Nokia. Even the screen size is similar to the last release from Nokia, the Nokia Lumia 830 – both touch 5 inches, and have IPS LCD capacitive displays. The resolution has been taken up for the display though, going to qHD level which though not ideal on a 5 inch display, is not unheard of either.
The Lumia 535 seems to have selected the camera on the Lumia 520 for itself, adding an LED flash for benefit. There is a front facing selfie camera though for benefit, contrary to the Lumia 520, close to the Lumia 735 – the CPU is one of the cheapest from Qualcomm, though it has got a couple of additional cores still, Microsoft has been known to purr along smoothly with even the lowest of hardware requirements.
Microsoft has added in the dual-SIM card for further attraction. The classy design with great color options is still available, and the large screen, as well as good front facer and selfie camera all make up for quite a package coming in at an economy price. Even with a not too pixel-rich display, the screen property does come handy, be it for browsing, using social networks, messaging or email, or for Office related tasks.
Of course there are some negatives to consider, topping which is the video recorder, which standing at 480p is not something to even talk about, considering the competition is working on UHD recording. Still, the puzzling 480p recording is tried to be covered up by providing a wide-angle front facer, which can benefit both selfies and Skype calls, among others.
There is a long list of plus points, and some negatives, both associated to the Lumia 535, though at the end of the day, it does look like a promising startup phone for budget users. Lets see how the details come out to see what really the Microsoft Lumia 535 is made of.