Microsoft Lumia 535 Review
posted by Paul.K
/ Jan 27, 2015, 9:06 AM
Introduction
The first Microsoft-branded Lumia – the Lumia 535, announced a couple of months ago, is a low-end handset, targeted at the budget-oriented folk who still look for a device that offers the connectivity options of a modern smartphone, but having corners cut in all the right places, in order to make for a viable compromise. Costing $169.99 in the US, the Lumia 535 brings all the bells and whistles of Windows Phone 8.1 – Cortana included – powered by the humble Snapdragon 200, but still paired with a good 1 GB of RAM.
So, does this handset really deliver usability, or is it just another entry-level device that frustrates users, rather than empower them? Let's check it out!
In the box:
- User manual
- Wall charger
- Headset
Design
No-nonsense
As we said, corners had to be cut, and this is evident once one lays their eyes on the Lumia 535 for the very first time – the handset looks rather dull – a black front with a quite darkened Microsoft logo above the display and a frontal cam nested right next to it – if you try to pick up the handset in a low-light environment, you'd be hard-pressed to tell which way is up.
The back panel of the device wraps around its sides and can come in a few vivid colors, signature for the Lumias, though – our review unit is matte black, which just adds to the device's dry looks. Its plastic does not feel as cheap to the touch as one would expect, but does tend to attract a lot of fingerprint smudges. We also winced at the protruding camera – a gradual lump at the back of the 0.35" (8.8 mm) thick handset houses a 5 MP snapper, with its LED flash situated to the left of it.
As far as buttons go – we found them to be pleasant to the touch – both the power button and volume rockers are placed on the right side, clicky when pressed, and just a very tiny bit shallower than we would like.
Size-wise – the handset sports a 5" display, but does not feel bulky to handle. In terms of contemporary handset size – the Lumia 535 falls in the "normal" category – it keeps the user mindful of which pocket they tuck it in, yet is not larger-than-comfortable.
Microsoft Lumia 535
Dimensions
5.52 x 2.85 x 0.35 inches
140.2 x 72.4 x 8.8 mm
Weight
5.15 oz (146 g)
Motorola Moto G (2014)
Dimensions
5.57 x 2.78 x 0.43 inches
141.5 x 70.7 x 11 mm
Weight
5.26 oz (149 g)
Microsoft Lumia 535
Dimensions
5.52 x 2.85 x 0.35 inches
140.2 x 72.4 x 8.8 mm
Weight
5.15 oz (146 g)
Motorola Moto G (2014)
Dimensions
5.57 x 2.78 x 0.43 inches
141.5 x 70.7 x 11 mm
Weight
5.26 oz (149 g)
To see the phones in real size or compare them with other models, visit our Visual Phone Size Comparison page
Display
The entry-level 535 looks to deliver an industry-standard experience in terms of display size – its 5" screen delivers a more comfortable usage experience than the 4" one that adorned the Lumia 530. Its pixel density, however, is, as can be expected, on the low side – a 540 x 960 resolution makes for a 220 PPI ratio, which often means that the user will need to zoom in to read text on webpages.
We were pleasantly surprised by its color temperature – measuring at 7069 K – just slightly higher than the reference value of 6,500 K – the display does not look too cold and its color reproduction is pleasant and rather accurate.
As far as brightness goes – the lowest the display can go is 61 nits, which doesn't make for pleasant usage in the dark. The highest level it can go to is 433 nits, which, combined with a strongly reflective glass on the panel, doesn't make it easily readable under the sun as well.
28 Comments
1. hunted
Posts: 403; Member since: Sep 21, 2011
PA, Is your office in Eastern Europe/Russia?
posted on Jan 27, 2015, 9:23 AM 0
2. Sovat_fc
Posts: 224; Member since: Aug 30, 2014
Cute little boy! iPhone for rich people, Android for poor people & WP for people with brains! XD
posted on Jan 27, 2015, 9:28 AM 3
15. corporateJP
Posts: 2458; Member since: Nov 28, 2009
Apparently, by your math, only 2.7% of smartphone users have brains.
XD
I'll keep my Moto G, thanks...
posted on Jan 27, 2015, 12:05 PM 6
6. AfterShock
Posts: 4146; Member since: Nov 02, 2012
Budget oriented, MS nailed it again.
Seems like it'll be A-Kin to similar results before it.
posted on Jan 27, 2015, 9:58 AM 1
9. JnCrls unregistered
Is not fair the comparison with Moto G (2014), Desire 510 or Lumia 730. The Microsoft Lumia 535 is more in the category of Moto E (same processor) or the unreleased Desire 320.
posted on Jan 27, 2015, 10:49 AM 1
13. sgodsell
Posts: 6594; Member since: Mar 16, 2013
The Moto G 2014 has an 8mp camera, dual stereo front facing speakers, and a 1280x720 display. This lumia 535 has a 5mp camera, single rear speaker, 960x540 display. The Moto G has a Snapdragon 400 CPU with a faster GPU, where as the lumia has a lower speced snapdragon 200 CPU with a slower GPU.
posted on Jan 27, 2015, 11:37 AM 0
10. elitewolverine
Posts: 5192; Member since: Oct 28, 2013
people go to websites for youtube? its horribly coded imo. I wonder how tubecasts works on the 535.
posted on Jan 27, 2015, 11:21 AM 0
11. kotan24
Posts: 287; Member since: Oct 29, 2012
Another meh! From Microsoft what a waste of resources, shame!
posted on Jan 27, 2015, 11:24 AM 0
12. elitewolverine
Posts: 5192; Member since: Oct 28, 2013
How so? 10.5million phones, to get them into the hands of users. Remember androids flagships account for like 10-20% of the platform with 60-70% being crap throw phones for awhile. With the rest being medium.
I missed the target deal that had the Blu HD for 45 bucks, so if this ever hits 50, my kids will have a 5in gaming device for the car.
posted on Jan 27, 2015, 11:29 AM 0
14. sgodsell
Posts: 6594; Member since: Mar 16, 2013
Flagship Androids account for 20%, midrange another 20%, and low end 60%. With the last quarter that means around 57 million Android devices for high end, and another 59 million Android devices for mid range. The remainder 160 million were low end Android devices. At least get the facts correct.
posted on Jan 27, 2015, 11:46 AM 2
16. AfterShock
Posts: 4146; Member since: Nov 02, 2012
Id guess one or two Android quarters at a high point is equal to wp sales for last three years.
8(
posted on Jan 27, 2015, 12:09 PM 0
17. elitewolverine
Posts: 5192; Member since: Oct 28, 2013
meh i said 60% were crap and 10-20....i gave a range. I was to lazy to look up the 'exact' results.
In the end my range was 'correct'.
posted on Jan 27, 2015, 1:23 PM 0
19. 7thspaceman
Posts: 1596; Member since: Feb 14, 2011
this is good budget smart phone to replace the Old Nokia lumia 520 smart phone because it has a front and rear camera,Cortina, 1 gig of ram so it can run all the apps in it's smart phone store and is MS Universal Apps ready. do not judge it by expensive flagship smart phone specs. it will get the job done. Microsoft is replacing all Nokia Lumia branded smart phones with it's OWN brand smart phones. Microsoft is starting at the Low end and will soon begin replacing the Nokia lumia 920, 925, 928, 930/Icon, 1020, 1520 and other Nokia lumia products. I look for a Replacement of the Nokia Lumia plastic bodied 2520 Tablet that will use an Intel Atom CPU and run full Windows 8.1 / Windows 10. Microsoft needs a cheap "Surface Design Tablet that sells between 300 and 400 USA dollars because their Regular surface line of tablets are too expensive for low income and some moderatly income People to buy
posted on Jan 27, 2015, 3:45 PM 0
20. 7thspaceman
Posts: 1596; Member since: Feb 14, 2011
Microsoft Please sell a full Windows 8.1 / windows 10 ready tablet that sells for between 300 and 400 USA dollars so that low income Folks can buy a for REAL Windows Tablet with the non altered Microsoft software experience that Your OEM partners will not give People
because they load their Own extra software on a Windows tablet that some times screws the full Microsoft windows experience up big Time. GET IT DONE MICROSOFT ASAP !
posted on Jan 27, 2015, 3:55 PM 0
23. askarian
Posts: 7; Member since: Oct 13, 2013
Not sure what MS is up to. Flooding the market with low end phones like Samsung (so many galaxy phones). I was interested in trying a Lumia but ended up getting confused where to start from. Solid phones though.
posted on Jan 28, 2015, 7:33 AM 0
27. 7thspaceman
Posts: 1596; Member since: Feb 14, 2011
wow folks what has Motorola got against making at least one Windows smart phone. The OS is free for them to use with no need to pay Royalty fees to Microsoft like they have to pay
Microsoft for using Android. a MOTO G with windows 10 could be a cool smart phone
posted on Feb 24, 2015, 4:58 PM 0
28. 7thspaceman
Posts: 1596; Member since: Feb 14, 2011
wow folks what has Motorola got against making at least one Windows smart phone. The OS is free for them to use with no need to pay Royalty fees to Microsoft like they have to pay
Microsoft for using Android. a MOTO G with windows 10 could be a cool smart phone
posted on Feb 24, 2015, 4:59 PM 0
- Display 5.0" 540 x 960 pixels
- Camera 5 MP / 5 MP front
- Processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 200, Quad-core, 1200 MHz
- Memory
- Storage 8 GB + microSDXC
- Battery 1905 mAh(13h 3G talk time)
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