Earlier this year, Nokia announced the Lumia 630, which it has recently been launching in markets around the world. It was positioned as the "new entry-level Windows Phone 8.1 device", and it"s a pretty good one too - although it"s not perfect, as we discovered in our recent review. Nonetheless, the 630 is certainly affordable, but an even cheaper Lumia has now arrived.
Microsoft today announced the Nokia Lumia 530, which slots in below the 630 in its range. It features a 4-inch LCD with FWVGA (854x480px) resolution, a quad-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 processor, 512MB of RAM and 4GB of onboard storage (along with a microSD slot, which accepts cards up to 128GB).
There"s a 5MP camera on the back too, although there"s no flash and no front-facing camera either. It includes a 1430mAh battery (Nokia"s BL-5J, which it also used in the earlier Lumia 520), which the company says is good for up to 22 days of standby time on the new device, along with up to 13.4 hours of talk time and 51 hours of music playback time.
Four colour options are available - bright green, bright orange, white and dark grey. Like many other devices in the Lumia range, the 530 features interchangeable shells, so the colours can be changed as desired.
The Lumia 530 is the most affordable Nokia Windows Phone ever, and the first to be launched at a sub-€100 EUR price point. When it goes on sale in August, the single-SIM model will be priced at just €85 EUR (around $115 USD / £67 GBP) before taxes and subsidies, while the dual-SIM variant will go on sale for "under €100" ($134 / £79). Exact local pricing may vary in each market.
The new device is the first to represent Microsoft"s push into the very lowest price points previously covered by its Asha devices, which, as the company recently announced, it plans to discontinue in the coming months.
images via Microsoft