Lumia 830 , exceeding expectation !

Well I've been using the Nokia Lumia 830 smartphone running Windows Phone 8.1 'Denim' for almost two weeks, thanks to my good friend Richard Yates being kind enough to lend it to me whilst he was on holiday, and to be frank, the handset has exceded expectations in all aspects compared to what I expected. I thought the strapline 'Affordable Flagship' was just that, a Strapline, but what Nokia/Microsoft have done here is actually something quite special !!

For starters, the Lumia 830 is bloody gorgeous to look at, certainly vying for the title as most beautiful handset of 2014, of course, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as the saying goes and is certainly a subjective thing, but the 830 is at the very least in the top three or four and the ones that out class it are far more expensive maybe the HTCM8, iPhone6 & Lumia 930 ? Whatever the case I hope I caught some of the essence of the handset in the photos I've taken so you judge :)

This isn't a review as such, it's just my thoughts, and the Lumia 830 isn't perfect, but it is extremely good and far better in use than the sum of its parts. If you've read any reviews of Windows Phones you'll know that the OS is pretty light and buzzes along quite well even on a relatively low amount of ram and an average processor and as the 830 has a quad core Snapdragon 400 processor and a gig of ram it flies, I haven't had a stutter on anything with the 830, it's performance in all aspects has been exemplary the whole time I've used it and the screen and camera particularly have exceeded my expectations, the only way you can knock the 830 is to directly compare it to a more expensive phone, my Lumia 1520 opens apps a little quicker and the screen quality, when side by side is slightly better, but nobody would ever notice an issue using the Lumia 830 on it's own, well basically because there isn't one and in general use matches or beats my Lumia 1020 for speed !!

Full Lumia 830 Specs can be seen HERE

If I have to be critical, I'm not keen on the back cover of the phone, not so much in looks , but because of the fact it feels really flimsy, almost Samsungesque when removed, even with the wireless charging coil built in, but once it is replaced on the handset it isn't noticeable and feels a real part of the phone, in fact the flimsy back covers two of my favorite features of the phone, the camera module, which apart from performing really well actually looks really cool, in my opinion and the other thing is the sim port, rather silly , but I love it :) The 830 uses a stupid nano sim and I've used several phones that do the same, but the port on the 830 handles the stupid fiddly little thing better than any handset I've used and it's so simple, no sliding trays or removable holders or tools, just a spring loaded slot, you put the sim in half way and then the battery pushes it home and holds it in place, to remove it, removing the battery half ejects the sim card and you just take it out, simple genius design !! ( Oh! and the removable battery and micro sd card support are pretty nice too :)

Now using the 830 is very similar to other WP8 handsets, but it feels so much smaller than many due to it's slim profile, in fact it feels similar to the 735 size wise and yet the screen is bigger, and speaking of the screen, everything looks superb on it, colours and clarity are superb and it's fit and finish are very reminiscent of the Nokia N9 (I'm actually about as impressed with the 830 as much as I was when I first held the N9, and that's saying a lot!) and the feel in the hand is great, very much like the Lumia 930 but for a good few quid less.

I don't see any point going on and on about the 830, look at the pictures if you want to see what it looks like, read the specs if you want to know sizes and speeds and get down to a phone shop and try one to see if you agree with me or not. It looks like the 830 will be the last Windows Phone Lumia handset to bear the Nokia name and if that's the case it is a fine swansong, superb build and design quality accompanied with excellent performance and UX , well done to all concerned .

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed may ramblings and pics and if you get the chance to play with a Lumia 830 do it, it's great to use and would serve anyone as a good all round smartphone.

Stephen Quin

19/11/2014