Nokia Lumia 830 First Look: A New Camera Smartphone On the Block

Rating:

3.5/5

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PROS

• Great Camera
• Neatly Designed Camera UI
• Superb Build
• Wireless charging

CONS

• Limited app support
• Dated processor
• Steep pricing

The Lumia 1020 was released in mid-2013 as Nokia's response to Apple iPhone 5S. But, despite the company's best efforts, the Lumia 1020 has had poor sales. For whatever reason - perhaps a steep price, the Nokia Lumia 1020 has failed to generated craze, despite being hailed by many as the best camera smartphone to buy.

If you think that Nokia would never dare again to produce an impeccable camera smartphone, then you might be wrong. After months of rumors, Nokia finally revealed its Lumia 830 - a mid-end Windows Phone 8.1 running smartphone having a 10MP rear-facing camera with built-in Optical Image Stabilization (OIS). And now, Nokia has announced that it would start selling the Lumia 830 in India, starting October 8, at a price of Rs. 28,799.

Nokia, an arm of Microsoft Devices, is clearly positioning the Lumia 830 in the "premium mid-end category". The Windows Phone 8.1-powered smartphone packs a 10-megapixel PureView branded sensor that only captures natural photographs but it's the thinnest OIS enabled camera phone we've seen ever.

Plus, the Nokia Lumia 830 will cost you Rs. 28,799 - half the price of a Lumia 1020 - when it goes on sale next week.

We recently got an opportunity to test the Nokia Lumia 830. This is our first impression on the basis of quick testing. Stay tuned to GizBot for more updates!

Nokia Lumia 830: Form Factor, Design, Display and Operating System (OS)

The Lumia 830 feels solid in the hand. It measures just 8.7mm thick and weighs at 150grams. The build quality, as expected, is fantastic. There aren't many phones in the same class that looks as good as the Lumia 830. The rounded metal edges and square shape body rests nicely in the palm.

Meanwhile, the back cover is removable, which sounds too good to ears. Overall the phone is made out plastic, which is acceptable, given its mid-end nature.

The port and button layout is fairly simple. Both the 3.5mm headphone jack and a microUSB 2.0 port are placed on top of the phone.

On the right-hand side, there is the volume rocker, alongside with the power button, and a dedicated camera shutter key. At the bottom below the screen is your physical touch sensitive navigation keys.

The Lumia 830, which is a phablet device, offers rich and vibrant 5-inch 720p HD screen. It has 296 pixels per inch (ppi) pixel density and is toughened up with Corning Gorilla Glass 3. The contrast ratio and vibrant colors really impress us, though, viewing angles aren't that impressive.

The display doesn't necessarily match up to the ranks of the Samsung Galaxy S5, but even so the Lumia 830's screen is impressive.

The Nokia Lumia 830 is running Windows Phone 8.1, the latest update to the Windows Phone mobile OS. It, of course, brings few notable improvements that not necessarily mean that the OS further needs no major improvements. Microsoft's live tile UI remains unchanged, though, there's a third column added.

Recommended: Nokia Lumia 830 With 5-inch Display Launched in India for Rs 28,799

It's great to see the incoming of ‘Action Center' that can be accessed by swiping from top of the screen. The new keyboard now supports gesture typing, so you can type it much faster with less possible mistakes.

Like all Windows Phone smartphone, there's an array of native apps (both by Microsoft and Nokia) pre-loaded on the device, such as the OneDrive, MixRadio, Here Maps, Lumia Selfie, MS Office, Skype and more.

We personally liked the Nokia Storyteller app, which works similar to the HTC's Zeo feature. Nokia Beamer is yet another interesting app that lets you "beam" your smartphone to any other tablet or laptop.