Some days ago, Microsoft announced the Lumia 535, an “affordable [s]martphone with a 5MP [f]ront [c]amera”.

Operating System

The Lumia 535 is shipped with the latest Release of Windows Phone 8.1 Update in combination with Lumia Denim. Although it’s a low-end device, it will get the update to Windows 10, so you’ll recieve phone updates for the next years. In my opinion, this is a clear advantage compared to low-end android devices, where you might stuck at an old and eventually unsecure Android version.

Processor

As the smaller Lumia 530, the Lumia 535 uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 processor with four cores with a clock rate of 1.2 GHz. In my opinion, it’s a pity that they don’t use the Snapdragon 400 even in the lowest-end devices like the Lumia 530 and the Lumia 535, because the use of the Snapdragon 200 leads to several limitations, e.g. in video recording and playback.

Display

With a size of five inches and a qHD resolution (960x540, Quarter HD), the pixel density of the IPS display seems to be quite low at a first glance. But at the moment, I use a Nokia Lumia 625 with an even lower pixel density of 198.5 ppi, so the display of the Lumia 535 might be even an improvement. To protect the display from scratches, it features Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3. Unfortunately, the display doesn’t support the “Glove mode”, a feature I learned to love with my Lumia 625 and my Lumia 820. It remains to be seen if brightness, viewing angles and colors are good enough to withstand against competing android devices with slightly higher price tags.

Memory

Good news: in contrast to the Lumia 530 and the Lumia 630, the Lumia 535 features 1GB RAM! You’ll not only be able to download almost every app from the store, but you will also enjoy multitasking or browsing with several tabs much more than on a device with only 512 MB RAM.

There are 8GB of internal storage, which isn’t much, but you’re able to expand it using a microSD/microSDHC/microSDXC card by up to 128GB, which should be enough for many apps, all map data and some photos, music and videos. In addition, you’ll get 15GB free OneDrive storage. Did you know that you get unlimited OneDrive storage if you’re an Office 365 customer? :)

Sensors

If you missed an ambient light sensor and a proximity sensor on the Lumia 530, you’ll like the Lumia 535: it features both of them.

Battery

For a 5 inch device, the battery seems to be quite small with only 1905 mAh. Microsoft states the following values for battery time:

  • Maximum standby time: 23 days

  • Maximum talk time (2G): 11 h

  • Maximum talk time (3G): 13 h

  • Maximum music playback time: 78 h

  • Maximum Wi-Fi network browsing time: 8.5 h

  • Maximum video playback time: 6.5 h

If you want your phone to last several days without charging, you’ll be happy to hear that the battery is user replaceable, a feature my Lumia 625 unfortunately doesn’t have.

Connectivity

  • There are two versions of the Lumia 535 available, Single and Dual SIM

  • The phone uses a microSIM slot

  • Like any other Lumia device, the Lumia 535 doesn’t support USB 3.0

  • The device supports Bluetooth 4.0

  • It supports WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, the new 802.11 ac standard is not supported

  • There is no LTE version of the Lumia 535

Camera

You shouldn’t expect too much from the Lumia 535 when it comes to camera quality, even if you keep the price tag in mind:

With its small image sensor (1/4”), an aperture of f/2.4 and the lack of image stabilization, pictures in low light won’t be very good. In comparison to the Lumia 530, there is one crucial improvement: the 5MP main camera supports autofocus! With a focal range of 28mm (full frame equivalent), the lens offers a rather wide angle. Unfortunately, there is only a single LED flash, so you might rather use it as a torchlight than to enlighten your images.

Following the “selfie” trend, the front-facing camera is the same as in the Lumia 730 and Lumia 735, which means that you’ll get a 5MP camera with a focal length of 24mm and an aperture of f/2.4.

Due to restrictions of the SoC and Windows Phone, you’ll only be able to shoot videos in FWVGA (848x480), which is even lower than the screen resolution of the device! I think it’s a real shame, because

  • my low-end Lumia 625 supports Full HD video resolution

  • Qualcomm states that 720p HD Video playback and capture with H.264 (AVC) is possible with the Snapdragon 200

What do you think about the Lumia 535? Will you buy it for christmas or are you disappointed due to the lack of a real Windows Phone flagship device?

Please feel free to comment below.