Microsoft Lumia 535 To Hit Indian Shores on November 26: Will it be a Success?

| Updated: Saturday, November 22, 2014, 14:23 [IST]

Microsoft recently announced the first Lumia smartphone without ‘Nokia' branding - the Lumia 535. The good news for customers is that Microsoft is expected to launch this device in India on November 26.

Specific date of the launch was unveiled on late Friday evening, when the mainstream media had received the press invite. The official press invite read," Five days to the magic of triple 5".

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Microsoft Lumia 535 To Hit Indian Shores on November 26.

For obvious reasons, the invite doesn't mention much about the device itself, but reports suggest that Microsoft has itself confirmed the 26th November as the official launch date of the Lumia 535.

The Lumia 535, which is yet to go on sale in India, is expected to cost somewhere between Rs. 8,500 and Rs. 10,000. Although the company has remained tight-lipped about the retail price of the device.

Microsoft Lumia 535 - Highlighted Specifications

The Lumia 535 is much larger than the original Lumia 530. While the screen size is larger (5-inches), the resolution isn't quite stellar (960 x 540).

Under the hood is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 running at 1.2GHz, paired with 1GB of RAM, and 8GB of native storage and microSD card support (up to 128GB). Plus, there is 15GB of OneDrive cloud storage included with the device itself.

In the imaging department, there's a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera with an LED flash, and the makers have added a 5-megapixel front-facing camera with a wide angle lens- just like the Lumia 730.

The budget phone is running on Windows Phone 8.1, and the Lumia Selfie and Lumia Camera photo apps are installed. It will come in several bright colors. The handset will be sold in both 3G single-SIM and 3G dual-SIM configurations.

Microsoft Lumia 535 - An attempt to win over Google

Unfortunately, the phone won't be able to make a huge dent in the Indian smartphone market. There are a lot of players who have had launched some breathing hardware, running on Google's Android OS. Considering the specifications of the Lumia 535, it should be priced under Rs. 8,000 price mark.

Microsoft faces an uphill battle to get the attention of consumers, who have overwhelmingly settled on Android platform. At the same time, the Redmond-based tech giant should focus on quality apps, where its mobile OS still lacks considerably. For instance, there's no official Gmail or Google maps. There's no Instagram app either.

Again, Windows Phone needs to get more quality apps. Also, the company needs to sell the hardware at lower prices to beat Google's Android OS, something they could all agree on.

Stay tuned to GizBot for more updates!