Three months ago, at Microsoft"s BUILD conference in San Francisco, Nokia announced its first Windows Phone 8.1 handsets. The entry-level Lumia 630 went on sale in various markets in May (joined more recently by its near-identical 4G-ready sibling, the Lumia 635), but the wait for the new Lumia 930 flagship has been much longer.
The Lumia 930 is gradually beginning its global rollout though, and today, the company announced that the device will go on sale in the UK on 17 July, and should be available free on 24-month contracts costing around £33. Microsoft is not yet ready to announce off-contract pricing; this will come down to retailers and carriers, who will make their own announcements over the next couple of weeks.
As we previously reported, every Lumia 930 sold will include a free DT-601 "puck-style" Wireless Charging Pad. However, there will also be a further promotion available to those that pre-order the handset in the UK in the first two weeks, who will receive a portable wireless charger (in addition to the DT-601), along with an MD-12 Wireless Speaker, and a £20 app voucher for the Windows Phone Store.
The Lumia 930 features a 5-inch Full HD (1920x1080px) OLED screen, protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3, as well as a quad-core 2.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor and 2GB of RAM. 32GB of onboard storage is included, but there"s no microSD slot to expand that further. It also includes a 2420mAh non-removable battery, and integrated Qi wireless charging, allowing you to take advantage of the free wireless charger.
It"s neither the lightest, nor the thinnest, handset in its class though, weighing in at 167g in a body that"s 9.8mm thick. However, it does cram in Nokia"s PureView camera technology, with a 20-megapixel backside-illuminated sensor, ZEISS optics and dual-LED flash.
Four colour options will be available - black, white, orange or green - although availability may vary depending on retailer or carrier. O2, for example, lists only the black and green versions on its site. Phones 4u will exclusively get the white version, but every major outlet will take at least black plus one bright colour.
Be sure to stick with Neowin in the days and weeks ahead as we test the Lumia 930 ahead of our full review.