The Nokia Lumia 630 has been launched as the new budget Windows Phone 8.1 smartphone from Nokia and replaces the Lumia 525, but is it a worthy upgrade?
Nokia recently updated its Lumia line-up as Microsoft announced the latest Windows Phone 8.1 update at the BUILD conference just two days back. We even got a chance to play with one of the smartphones, the Lumia 630, at a Microsoft event in India.
Fast SOC coupled with only 512MB RAM. Not cool!
While we were happy with the design and looks, on paper the smartphone is a disappointment. Yes it does offer a Snapdragon 400 SoC, but it is coupled with 512MB of RAM only. Back when the Lumia 520 was launched, consumers complained that the smartphone didn’t support some apps due to the 512MB of RAM. To rectify the issue, Nokia had updated the smartphone with 1 gig of RAM and re-launched it as the Lumia 525 at a similar price point which made much more sense. But it seems that Nokia is repeating its mistake by giving Lumia 630 the same treatment as the 520.
.jpg)
Bigger screen with lower pixel density, no change to the imaging system. Not cool!
Moreover, the Lumia 630 follows the same camera strategy as on the Lumia 520/525. The rear camera doesn’t have a flash and there is no front camera. Another disappointment is the display, yes it is a larger 4.5 inch display, but it comes with a resolution of 480×854 pixels only which reduces the pixel density even further. There isn’t much to say about the price as Nokia hasn’t revealed it for the Indian market, but judging by the US price ($159) we are expecting that the smartphone will be priced somewhere around Rs.10,000.
We agree on the fact that the new update is great and brings in a lot of interesting features, but frankly it doesn’t seem enough to cover up the shortcomings on the hardware. In short, Nokia has yet again left us with a new smartphone that impresses us for a short time, and leaves us wanting for more.
Here are the specs of the Lumia 630:
- Display: 4.5 inches ClearBlack IPS LCD with 854×480 resolution (218ppi)
- Storage: 8GB, expandable via microSD card
- Camera: 5MP rear with autofocus
- SoC: Snapdragon 400
- CPU: 1.2GHz dual-core
- RAM: 512MB
- GPU: Adreno 305
- Operating system: Windows Phone 8.1
- Battery: 1830mAh
- Connectivity: 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Dual SIM, microUSB
Read out first impressions of the Lumia 630 over here.