The Lumia 830 colour range
Microsoft’s Lumia 830 has been billed as an ‘affordable flagship’, launching globally this month with a price coming in at around €330 before taxes and subsidies.
The device, which was announced today at consumer tech show IFA 2014 in Berlin, is the thinnest and lightest Lumia yet at 8.5mm thick and weighing 150g.
It sticks with the brand’s trademark brightly coloured polycarbonate casing – this time available in all the colours of the Irish flag, as well as black – but has added a metal frame around the 5-inch ClearBlack display with Curved Gorilla 3.0 glass.
At the rear is a 10MP PureView camera with Zeiss Optics and an optical image stabilisation system that was slimmed down in order to pack it in there.
The Lumia 830 also features integrated wireless charging, a 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor and 16GB storage. Being extra generous, the micro-SD slot offers storage expansion of up to 128GB, plus Microsoft is giving 15GB free OneDrive storage with this device.
Rich Capture with the Lumia Camera update
Software updates for Lumia
Other Microsoft goodies include a pre-loaded Office app and, of course, the latest Windows Phone 8.1 operating system. The Lumia 830 will also ship with the Lumia Denim software update, which will roll out as an over-the-air update to all Lumia devices currently on Windows Phone 8.
Welcome features coming with this software include the ability to customise snooze time within the Alarm app, while ‘Hey Cortana’ will be added to users’ vernacular to provide hands-free access to Microsoft’s digital assistant.
There’s also a Lumia Camera update for select devices to avail of in the fourth quarter, which will allow for fast start-up and capture-to-capture speeds, plus 4K video recording at 24fps and 8.3MP per frame.
The Lumia 735 smartphone
Selfie-snapping Lumia 730 and 735
Also revealed today were the 3G Lumia 730 Dual SIM and 4G Lumia 735. Both these smartphones feature an improved front-facing camera, optimised for Skype and selfies.
The rear camera on both the 730 and 735 is a 6.7MP shooter, while the selfie-taker is almost equivalent at 5MP. It’s also a wide-angle lens with a focal length of 24mm to capture more in a single frame.
To make the most of this feature, a Lumia Selfie app will be preloaded on these devices and they’ll also come with three months’ free Skype Unlimited World subscription in selected markets.
For those Skype calls, two microphones and Lumia voice processing will help to eliminate background noise from the audio.
Both the Lumia 730 Dual SIM and Lumia 735 come with 8GB storage and the same micro-SD and OneDrive expansion options provided with the 830. The OLED display measures 4.7 inches and the whole kit and caboodle is powered by a 1.2GHz Snapdragon quad-core processor.
