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Review: MS Lumia 535: cheap, but lacks stamina

By Andre Schild, ITWeb contributor.
Johannesburg, 23 Mar 2015

Lumia smartphones haven't seen branding deviations since Nokia was taken over by Microsoft in October 2013. With the entry-level Microsoft Lumia 535 smartphone, that's about to change. It is the first Lumia handset to carry the Microsoft name, and also the cheapest 5-inch smartphone with 8GB storage space. That sounds like a great deal in theory, but what is the reality?

Why go budget?

Higher priced smartphones generally offer better build quality, faster hardware, a better screen and longer battery life. So why purchase a cheap device instead?

The most obvious motivation would be financial. Budget smartphones are also a great choice for those who only need to call people, without the bells and whistles of high-end devices. Entry-level smartphones are also a wise choice when there's a high probability it could be lost on the job, or when there is a high risk of it getting stolen or damaged beyond repair. Finally, a budget smartphone is an ideal backup device.

Test method and product selection

We worked with the Lumia 535 device for a couple of days, using it for communication, browsing, music and all sorts of office documents, and putting it through two performance benchmarks. The battery life was determined using two torture-tests, while the screen quality was measured with professional equipment.

Test results were compared to those of five competitive, budget smartphones from major brands, with a maximum price tag of R2 700. All phones offer 8GB of storage space, run on Android or Windows Phone, and feature screen dimensions between 4.5- and 5-inch. Price and availability checks were performed during the end of March at Takealot, Kalahari and Orange.

In the comparison, we included only one budget phone per brand. When we came across multiple devices from the same manufacturer that matched our criteria, we chose the cheapest model to represent the brand's budget device in this review.

Look and feel: simple but functional

Apart from the Microsoft logo on the front and back, its design is rather boring. The removable back cover is made of thin plastic that feels cheapish, although the exterior feels solid and durable enough to survive rough handling. This plastic cover can be replaced with a more colourful option, slightly mitigating the bland exterior.

The buttons and connectors are placed at the most logical locations. Also, it has the right proportions to be comfortably used with only one hand. The back has a rough finish to prevent the device from easily slipping out of your hands. A tiny speaker at the back looks like a small hole in the plastic cover. Not that we expected anything else, but the sound it produces is far from great.

The camera lens on the rear side slightly protrudes, which prevents the handset from being comfortably used when flat on its back. But all in all, the device feels good in the hand.

It is available in black, white, orange, green, blue and grey, with a single-SIM and dual-SIM version. All models require the micro SIM and optional micro SD card to be installed behind the removable rear cover. Removing this cover might take a bit of practise in the beginning.

Hardware and benchmarks: light tasks only

The Lumia 535 relies on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 chip. This relatively cheap and low-end processor houses 4 Cortex A7-cores that each run at 1.2GHz. There's also a meagre 1GB of RAM and an Adreno 302 graphics processor that is infamous for its lack of decent 3D capabilities. Most notably, it can't handle 4G mobile networks. All the other smartphones we compared it to support 4G/LTE.

It is fitted with 8GB of space for storing the operating system (OS) and user files, which is not uncommon for budget phones. Once the Windows Phone OS has gobbled up its share, only 4GB remains. Microsoft anticipated this typical entry-level problem and equipped the device with a micro SD card reader so the storage space can be expanded with a maximum of 128GB. Keep in mind these 128GB micro SD cards cost as much as the device.

Based on these hardware specifications, it's clear Microsoft had to make some concessions in order to keep the price of the device as low as possible. To determine what this exactly meant for its raw performance, we ran two separate benchmarks.

It should be noted of all the similar-sized budget smartphones we compared the Lumia 535 with, it is the only device that doesn't run on Android. Microsoft Windows Phone doesn't require as much system resources as Android to run smoothly. It can do with less powerful hardware, but only to a certain degree.

We started off with a relatively new benchmark called AnTuTu. This popular test was initially developed for Android, but now supports other mobile operating systems like Apple's iOS and Windows Phone. The benchmark focuses on the CPU, RAM, GPU and I/O performance. Despite the fact that devices using Windows Phone don't hog resources like Android, the Lumia 535 seems considerably slower than the brand new 5-inch Acer Liquid Jade Z (R2 700), 4.5-inch Motorola Moto E 4G (2nd gen) (R1 780), 4.5-inch Huawei Ascend P7 Mini (R2 160), 4.5-inch Samsung Galaxy Core Prime (R1 970) and Sony's 4.8-inch Xperia M2 (R2 610).

We then ran it through the GFXBench benchmark, focusing on the handset's graphical capabilities. Although this test mainly determines the performance of the GPU, it is also a good indication of the CPU, RAM and I/O components. Again, it proved to be considerably slower than the rest of the budget smartphones.

The two benchmarks confirmed our initial suspicions, which were based on its specifications: the Lumia 535 is a relatively poor performer in direct comparison with the Android devices. In its defence, it is also the cheapest of all 5-inch, 8GB budget phones in this review.

In absolute terms, however, the device manages to deliver a pleasant and fluid user experience. This is the direct result of the Windows Phone OS handling available system resources more efficiently than Android.

Microsoft clearly equipped the Lumia 535 with just enough horsepower to make sure navigating through the menus, options and apps is silky smooth. Even the pre-installed and excellent Here navigation app runs comfortably enough to deliver a good user experience.

As a result, the Microsoft Lumia 535 packs enough performance for light business tasks like browsing, reading e-mail, keeping track of social networks and handling office documents. Anything else, especially apps that rely heavily on graphics, will prove too much.

Battery life: way too short

The smartphone is equipped with a relatively low capacity battery of 1 905mAh, which is the second concession Microsoft had to make to cut down on production costs. The other budget devices were fitted with batteries that offered a capacity ranging from 2 000mAh to 2 390mAh. Since the Lumia 535 features less powerful hardware, this could possibly compensate for the lower battery capacity, as it implies less energy consumption.

To determine how long it would last on a fully charged battery in real-life situations, we ran two torture-tests that aim to drain the battery as fast as possible. These tests create a worst-case scenario; the minimum time you can expect the device to function. The first test simulates continuous business use. The second continuously plays a 1 080p video until there is no energy left.

According to our test results, it can hold out for five hours and 25 minutes when continuously being used for business tasks, which is quite short when compared to the other, more expensive smartphones. They all lasted more than seven hours on a fully charged battery. Sony's Xperia M2 can maintain functionality for a bit more than eight hours.

Since a workday includes at least one break and some idle time, we expect the Lumia 535 to shut down 30 minutes before the end of a typical eight-hour workday. The Sony Xperia M2 should hold out for two more hours into overtime.

During non-stop playback of HD-video, the Lumia 535 will give in after only four hours and 30 minutes. All the other devices last double that time, with the Xperia M2 holding out for an impressive 10 hours and 40 minutes.

Screen: lacks contrast

The Lumia 535 features a 5-inch screen with a resolution of 960 x 520. This resolution is quite common in low-end budget smartphones. The Huawei Ascend P7 mini, Motorola Moto E 4G (second generation) and Sony's Xperia M2 use that same resolution. The Samsung Galaxy Core Prime can only show 800 x 480, while the Acer Liquid Jade Z offers the highest resolution of the bunch (1 280 x 720).

The pixel density of the Lumia is relatively low (220ppi). All the other smartphones offer higher density, with the exception of the Samsung Galaxy Core Prime (207ppi). Acer's Liquid Jade Z can show 294ppi, resulting in sharp images and text.

As a result of the Lumia 535's screen size, resolution and low pixel density, actual display quality is acceptable given its price, although individual pixels can be seen with the naked eye. Both text and images don't look as sharp as on (more expensive) modern-day smartphones.

We used our SpectraCal C6 colorimeter to measure the screen's brightness, contrast and colour reproduction. The Lumia can't display anything brighter than 385cd/m^2, which is in line with what the other phones could produce, with the exception of the slightly brighter screen of the Xperia M2 (403cd/m^2) and Galaxy Core Prime (410cd/m^2). As a result of the Lumia 535's brightness levels, it will be of limited use in direct sunlight. The screen also tends to show reflections from bright light sources.

The contrast levels (765:1) also leave a lot to be desired and are the lowest of the budget smartphones we used in this review. As a result, colours won't look as vivid and lively like on the Galaxy Core Prime (1063:1), Moto E 4G (1040:1) and Xperia M2 (960:1). Surprisingly for a budget phone, colour reproduction is quite accurate but also less important than brightness and contrast.

Camera: decent pictures, bad videos

In summary:

Pros: Low price tag, expandable storage space, smooth and fluid interface, acceptable picture quality, good feel in the hand
Cons: No 4G support, low performance, short battery life, low screen contrast, low resolution video capture
Dimensions: 140.2 x 72.4 x 8.8mm
Weight: 146g
Screen: 5-inch (960 x 540, 220 pixels per inch)
Connectivity: USB, 3G, WiFi, Bluetooth
Camera: 5MP rear (auto-focus, LED-flash), 5MP front (wide angle)
CPU: 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 (quad-core)
Storage: 8GB (expandable with max 128GB SD-Card)
Sensor: GPS, ambient light, accelerometer, proximity
OS: Windows Phone 8.1
Rating: 6/10
Price: R1 699
Availability: Now
Product page\: http://www.microsoft.com/en-za/mobile/phone/lumia535-dual-sim/

It features two cameras: the front-facing camera is marketed as a selfie camera and uses a 5MP wide-angle lens to capture as many smiling faces as possible. The one on the back also features a 5MP sensor, but adds auto-focus and an LED-flash. Compared to the cameras on board the other budget smartphones, those aren't bad specs. Only the Acer Liquid Jade Z (13MP/5MP) and Huawei Ascend Mini P7 (8MP/5MP) feature a better deal, but are also more expensive devices.

Both cameras are able to take pretty good pictures considering the smartphone's low price tag. The test pictures using the rear camera proved more than sufficient. Like most smartphones, even the more expensive ones, both cameras have trouble with light-deprived situations.

The biggest disappointment is the low 848 x 480 resolution and quality of video recording by both cameras. As a result, you don't want to use the Lumia 535 for important Skype sessions. Again, the Liquid Jade Z and Ascend Mini P7 do a better job at capturing video.

Verdict

The Lumia 535 is by far the least expensive 5-inch smartphone, with 8GB storage space and decent camera quality. Business users that are looking for a cheap device with those specs, but don't mind its relative low performance, short battery life and lack of 4G support, will find the Lumia 535 to be a good deal.

Anyone who can afford it should seriously consider the new Motorola second-generation Moto E 4G (R1 780) and Huawei Ascend P7 Mini (R2 160). They offer considerably better performance and longer battery life, as well as 4G/LTE support.

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