Nokia Lumia 735 reviewCheap and cheerful - say cheese
"In order to compete at the lower end of the market, Microsoft has
given the Lumia 735 a super powerful 5MP selfie camera. Unfortunately,
the rest of this Lumia seems to have been a little overlooked."
The
Nokia Lumia 735 is a phone unashamedly targeting selfie fans, the
latest 'love it or hate it' craze. Nokia is by no means the only
manufacturer to have noticed this trend, the HTC Desire Eye shows just how big this market has become. Pitching
up free in the UK from £13pm (about US$21, AU$24) on 24 month contracts
or available on PAYG from £160 (about US$259, AU$294) and £180 (about
US$291, AU$331) SIM-free, the Lumia 735 certainly doesn't break the
bank. It also means that it fights against the likes of the Sony Xperia Z1 Compact, HTC Desire 610 and Samsung's Galaxy S4 Mini, as well as the go to budget handset, the Moto G 4G. This is certainly one of the fiercest ends of the market, so what has Nokia packed in to give the Lumia 735 the edge? The
most obvious feature has to be the forward facing camera, measuring in
at 5MP, more than twice the size of nigh on all front facing sensors.
Coupled with a 4G connection to share those images, and it seems Nokia
knows its market.
The Nokia Lumia 735 faces strong competition in the budget end of the smartphone marketOn
paper the Lumia 735 certainly seems rather impressive. Nokia has fitted
a quad-core Snapdragon 400 SoC (system on chip) clocked at 1.2GHz
backed up by 1GB RAM and an Adreno 305 GPU. There is
also 8GB of storage, backed up by 15GB of Microsoft's One Drive cloud
storage and up to 128GB via a microSD card. All of this is accessed via
the 4.7-inch HD screen, with the 720 x 1280 resolution giving a density
of 312ppi.
Bright colours are a staple of the Nokia Lumia rangeAs
with every Lumia handset, the Nokia Lumia 735 comes in a range of
colours. My review handset is a rather bright green, with an equally
bright orange available, as well white or black. Unsurprisingly, this
brightly coloured handset is made out of plastic rather than metal, but
it doesn't detract from the feel of Lumia 735 at all. It
does seem to pick up dirt easily though, 20 minutes in my bag on a walk
left dark smudges that needed to be wiped off with a damp cloth. That
meant removing the back plate, which is a little difficult, although I
didn't ever feel like I was in danger of snapping it. The
curved 134.7 x 68.5 x 8.9mm frame reminds me of a much slimmer iPod
Mini and sits very comfortably in the hand. The volume rocker and
power/lock key on the right are the only buttons to hit and it is easy
enough to do so.
The Nokia Lumia 735 is comfortable to hold in the hand, with only a few buttons to hitIn
terms of ports the Lumia 735 has both the standard 3.5mm headphone port
and microUSB port, situated in the middle of the top and bottom
respectively. The nanoSIM and microSD slots are both located behind the back plate, accessed by removing the 2220mAh battery.
There is a headphone port at one end, and the microUSB port at the otherI'm
a big fan of the smaller screen as I have yet to buy into the phablet
phenomenon, and it certainly fits the bill for the younger teen market
that the Lumia 735 is going to be aimed at.
Nokia Lumia 735 Unboxing & Review (VIDEO)
Key features, performance and battery life
The 5MP front facing camera is certainly one of the main
features of the Nokia Lumia 735. It is impossible to ignore, especially
with Microsoft itself claiming that it is "the first smartphone designed
specifically for selfies and Skype video calls". I
can't comment on the specifics of that quote, but it is clear that
Microsoft is making a big deal of the front sensor and I can see why. I've
never had any problems with the forward facing camera's on many phones,
the typical 2MP forward sensor has always seemed enough for me. That
said, Nokia has done a lot of work to convince me that 2MP just isn't
enough. Unfortunately I can see there being a bit of a
problem for Microsoft and the Lumia 735 if they are aiming for the
ultimate selfie phone, namely the lack of Snapchat in the app store.
Thankfully, this is something that I can see being rectified at some
point in the future. Until then, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are all
available.
The Windows Phone store is a little bare. It's even missing Snapchat, a favourite with selfie takers The
inclusion of Skype also has to be considered a key feature, thanks to
that camera and Microsoft including three months of free Skype to mobile
and landline numbers. It seems a little odd to be including a built in
app as a key feature, especially as it is available on countless other
handsets such as the Android Moto G or the iPhone 5C. Despite this, I have to say that I am a big fan of the way that Skype has been integrated into Microsoft's Windows Phone 8.1 OS.
I've been using Skype across all mobile platforms for a while and this
is by far my favourite version, and that camera is certainly a massive
bonus. My one qualm with it was that it took a few
seconds to load up when tapping the notification, something that I am
not used to. That brief loading period was also noticeable on other
apps, but mostly on Skype. The final feature that I think is key to the Lumia 735 is the Windows Phone 8.1 OS.
Windows Phone will feel familiar if you already use Windows 8.1 on your computerComing from daily use of an Android
phone, the Lumia 735 could have been a step into the unknown, but it
felt familiar thanks to my use of Windows 8.1 on my desktop, and the
very intuitive live tile UX. One thing that I was really
looking forward to was the background to the live tiles, as Windows
Phone 8.1 allows you to set a background image that appears as a collage
made up of the tiles, however this is hampered by the amount of apps
that come in block colours. For those that haven't ever
used the live tiling system before, it is a little like Android's widget
system, providing information at a glance without having to load up the
app itself. I've been a fan of this system for a while, and I certainly
recommend you check it out.
Performance
Throughout
my time with the Nokia Lumia 735, I have to say that I was always left a
little disappointed with the lack of internal grunt. This was a little
suprising given that older versions of Windows Phone were optimised to
run on lower powered dual-core CPU's, and the Lumia 735 comes with a
quad-core CPU. This lack of power was particularly
noticeable when loading up Skype, especially from the notifications bar
(affectionately known as the Action Centre on Windows). This is probably
because Windows pushes Skype to the background to save battery, and
needs to manually reload it every time.
The lack of power is noticeable when opening apps like SkypeGeneral
day-to-day use with the Lumia 735 was pretty easy, although power users
will definitely notice the lack of processing power. But at this price
range the Lumia 735 matches up with its rivals, the Moto G 4G and HTC Desire 610, hertz for hertz. Unfortunately for the Lumia 735, the Sony Xperia Z1 Compact is also available for a very similar price tag and that comes with a lot more power.
The higher end screen could be the reason the Lumia 735 doesn't perform as well as the 635Running the benchmarking app WP Bench gave an average of 220.24 putting it behind the lower powered Lumia 530 and equally powered Lumia 635. This could be down to the higher end screen of the 735 putting a greater demand on the CPU.
Battery life
When
it comes to using smartphones, one of the key things is battery life.
Coping with the aforementioned screen seems to have put a bit of a
dampener on the GPU, but thankfully the same can't be said for the
2220mAh battery. I am pleased to say that the Lumia 735
performed exceptionally well. During light usage, sending the odd Skype
and Facebook message with around 10 minutes of gaming during a lunch
break, I was able to eke out almost 2 days usage.
The battery is removable and replaceableThat
dropped down to one days use when really pushing it, snapping a few
photos and heavy Skype texting in the evening. But given that I have
nightly access to a charger, this was never a problem. The reviewsense battery test showed up some equally impressive results. With
the screen up to its maximum brightness and Skype and Facebook all
logged in, the battery test video showed a drainage of only 15%. It
is interesting to note that there is not a lot of manual control over
the brightness only a high, medium and low setting, alongside the auto
brightness.
The Essentials and camera
When it comes to using the Lumia 735 everyday there are
certain things that it must do well. The big one for me has to be the
keyboard, as I find that I am forever sending texts, and with the Lumia
735 I found myself typing on Skype a lot more than I would usually be. One
thing I couldn't find myself getting use to with the Windows keyboard
was its positioning on the screen. The added buttons often positioned
below the keyboard (such as the send button on Skype) meant that the
keyboard sat a lot higher on the screen. The keyboard
also seemed larger than most, and meant that less of the screen was
visible at the time which was a little frustrating. Generally though,
the larger keyboard meant that I was accurate in my typing. This was
rather thankful given the poor auto correct.
The Skype integration works really wellWeb
browsing is also extremely important on the modern smartphone. As with
all Windows handsets this is all handled via Internet Explorer. Under
normal circumstances I would sigh. IE has hardly built itself the best
reputation over the years, but things have changed. I
can't say that I am a big fan of the URL bar's placement at the bottom,
but general internet browsing was smooth over a 3G network, as well as
over Wi-Fi, and it comes with all the features that you would expect
from a standard mobile browser; tabbed browsing, full page views, the
ability to disable pictures and even Do Not Track. When
it comes to viewing media on the Lumia 735, you are left pretty well
catered for. The external speaker is loud enough to annoy your friends
with. It also doesn't suffer from any loss of quality at the highest
volume, but if I'm extremely critical, I found that bass was a little
lacking. If you plan to store a lot of media I would
suggest buying a decent microSD card though, as of the 8GB internal
storage only just over 2GB is actually available. This means that your
app consumption will also be restricted.
Internet browsing is done with Internet Explorer but it's not as bad as you thinkAll
of these are smartphone functions, but does the Nokia Lumia 735 still
work as a simple phone? The short answer to that is yes. At
no point during my time with the Lumia 735 did I find that I was
lacking in signal, except in areas that I know to be signal black spots.
I also found that phone calls came through clear, something that is
expected of all modern smartphones but has been found a little lacking
on some cheaper handsets. Making those phones calls is
also easy, although not as much as I would have first hoped. If you have
the contact in your address book it's not too bad, but if you have to
manually type in the number it's a little more complicated. Push
the phone button and you're faced with a speed dial list, and able to
swipe left and right to see the call history. The dialler is hidden
under a small button at the bottom, rather than being front and centre,
and is something that I managed to overlook for the first few seconds. It's
only a small problem, and one that I could easily overlook for most of
the time, especially as I find that 99% of my contact interaction
through my phone is text based, but if you're in a hurry and need to
make an emergency call, those few seconds could be vital.
Camera
When
it comes to the cameras on the Nokia Lumia 735, it is clear that the
majority of the emphasis has been placed on the forward facing camera,
after all it's not every day that you find a handset with a 5MP front
sensor. Nokia hasn't left the rear lens lacking though,
as it comes packed with a 6.7MP sensor and Carl Zeiss lens, as well as a
single LED flash.
Selfie lovers can make use of the Lumia Selfie appIn
terms of software, the Lumia 735 comes with all the standard Windows
phone options, including the ability to download different lenses to add
effects to your images. This is something that I have previously
encountered with the Sony Xperia Z1 Compact coming with a similar ability. Searching
through and selecting lenses will take you to a dedicated page of the
Windows Store so you can have a look through the lens before
downloading. Despite this, the camera app does feel a
little bare. Yes you can pop a framing grid on screen or set a timer,
even the white balance can be toggled, but added extras such as scene
and ISO modes are missing.
Selfie
lovers have been given their own app though, inventively called the
Lumia Selfie app. At first I was a little confused as it doesn't
automatically save your photo like an ordinary camera app, but does mean
that you can perfect your pose before saving and editing. You're
then brought into a basic photo editor, with the ability to apply
different filters to your perfectly framed visage. I can see the appeal,
especially to those looking to share the photos via Instagram, but it
is not something that I found myself using a lot.
Camera samples
The image has come out clear in the focus area to the right of centre, with the foreground and background out of focusClick here for the full res image
Colour
reproduction is good, with a lot of detail appearing to be captured.
Zoom in and the image appears grainy, and there is no detail captured in
the bright white skyClick here for the full res image
This
is easily the best quality selfie (please excuse the expression) I have
taken in while, with the added pixels making a real differenceClick here for the full res image
Verdict
Nokia has fitted its latest handset with a killer feature that will no doubt appeal to many; a 5MP forward facing camera. Couple this with a price tag that starts low and you've got a handset that will really appeal to the youth market.
We liked
I
can't start this without sounding a little vain, but I am a really big
fan of that front facing camera. No doubt there are many out there that
will argue that you don't need more than 2MP for a front facing camera,
but it makes Skype calling much clearer and is great for taking photos
to upload to social media. I just wish Snapchat was available. The
design is also appealing. With a minimalist rounded design, Nokia has
created a handset that is comfortable in the hand with the lack of
buttons and the clear, central ports giving the Lumia 735 a clean feel.
The bold colours also make it stand out, and immediately draw the eye. Finally,
I have to give a massive nod to the battery life. I managed to get 2
days of light to medium usage out of it, although heavier usage will
reduce this down to only one day. Running the standard reviewsense test at
full brightness gave a drop of a mere 15%, much better than the 33%
drop with the Moto G.
We disliked
For a quad-core
phone, I was disappointed with the way the Lumia 735 handled the
Windows Phone software. There was a noticeable delay when loading up
Skype from the Action centre, or while loading up apps that will require
the processor to do some heavier lifting. The Windows
Phone OS was also a little frustrating. It has come a long way since the
launch of Windows on mobile handsets with Windows Phone 7, with the
Action Centre being a great addition, but I still don't think that it
has the right tools yet to compete with Android or iOS. Finally,
I found that the keyboard was a little annoying. While generally
accurate, I still don't think that it is anywhere near as good as ones
that I have used on even the cheapest Android handsets. The placement on
the screen is also annoying as, despite the reasonable screen size, it
was a little bit of a stretch for my thumbs.
Final verdict
There
is no doubt that the Nokia Lumia 735 will sell to those like me who
have wholeheartedly joined the selfie bandwagon, with its 5MP camera
able to take the clearest and highest quality snaps. No promises that it
will make you look better though. The bright colours
will also help it stand out against the competition, and will catch the
eyes of the younger audience that the Lumia 735 is clearly aimed at. That said, if you're after an all round device then I would have to recommend that you look elsewhere, with the Sony Xperia Z1 Compact and Moto G proving to be that little bit better at this price range.
