Questions about the 530 and some other WPs.

[tomseys]

Hi. I am new to smartphones. My main phone is a simple LG 450 flip phone which works great. I decided to get a smartphone recently just to have one for trips so this way I have internet and maps and maybe a camera. I bought a T mobile Lumia 530. Generally I'm not a big smartphone fan since I don't use social media at all and I don't like the larger size and weight of a smartphone versus flip phone.

So anyway I have the 530 and I like a lot of things about it including its small size, the way it feels in my hand, its speedy and smooth Win 8.1 OS, its very good call quality (everyone I let try it is shocked how good it is), and even the speaker and headphone sound quality is not bad. The camera is not that bad if there is a lot of light, like under the sun, but not terrific otherwise. I haven't really tried out the video recorder in proper light but indoors it was not that good. The phone did not come with the HERE drive app and I cannot download it anywhere (was told it was pulled) so that is disappointing. I really like the people app and how I can add contact info online and it automatically synchs with my phone.

The screen of the 530 seems ok if I'm looking at it head on but its hard to view outside and I think it bothers my eyes a little bit sometimes. I'm not sure if that is because I'm not used to looking at a smartphone screen and trying to read small text etc or if it is something unique to the screen or if it is because I keep it on high brightness all the time or if it has nothing to do with the phone at all. According to reviews most don't like the screen because it is not an IPS clear black etc. And some really hate the screen. I don't have any exp with this so to me it's not terrible but like I said sometimes my eyes area little achy after looking at it for a while.

Anyway, I'm thinking about getting something a little better overall but not sure if that something is available. I've looked at the 635 and it has great reviews mostly and it seems to have a better screen but I've heard complaints about the sound quality of it and some say it has minor glitches sometimes. I've also read that the camera is not much better with one reviewer saying the 530 is better in low light. It's also a bigger phone which I would like to avoid.

I've also considered the 521 which is older but generally very well regarded. The size is right and it has the ips screen and auto brightness, auto focus on camera and button but is slower according to youtube tests. What has me concerned is I've read that when you update to windows 8.1 the phone gets slower, laggy and has issues. Personally, I won't be using any apps other than whats on the phone and I would add a 16 gb memory card to help it out. Any thoughts on this?

Then there is the 640 which seems to be a leap above the 530/635 and looks like a really good budget phone but also looks like a giant mammoth phone. For me, it completely fails the size I'm looking for.

There is also I think a 435 but i don't think the screen is much better and it has a 2mp rear camera, only slightly better than my LG 450 flip phone.

BTW, I tried out a zte obsidian android lollipop phone which is maybe a little smaller than the 640 and I found it too big. Also, the 530 was faster and i think better functioning compared to it. I also did not like that right away it was recommended to install an antivirus and the browsing of websites was full of ads. Seems a more complicated OS in ways. Also, don't use the google ecosystem and other than the search engine I do not like their offerings.

Ideally I would like something Windows phone in the size or only slightly bigger than the 530 that has a good screen, ok camera, call quality and sound.

Does that exist or does anyone have any other thoughts about the 530, 521, 635 etc?

Might it be better to wait for something to come along that meets this with Win 10 (and hopefully on Tmobile)?

Thanks.

 

[noersetiawan]

First, welcome to Windows Central.

Congratulations on your first smartphone.

I'll try to help you. Lumia series has this easy to recognize model number, 4xx to 15xx lower class to higher, x0x to x5x older generation to newer.

From your screen readability problem, you might want a ClearBlack screen that's available starting from 6xx series.

If the font is to small, you can change the font size from Settings app on any Lumia phone.

635 is a good choice, better camera with auto focus, only half an inch larger.

HERE application is currently experiencing problems in WP Store, it's not searchable, you can grab it from http://www.windowsphone.com/s?appid=4da9332c-80dc-464b-b47f-664b1ffe5400

All Lumia has that contact sync feature.

As for 521, I have the international version the 520, and based on my experience it's not true that it's significantly slower in WP8.1, my phone is already preinstalled with WP8.1, no issues at all, it's indeed a slower from Lumia 530, but just a little slower, and since you're not using any other apps aside from what's on the phone, there's no noticeable difference, let's see if I can get a link of performance comparison for you. I'm using 16 GB SD card. 520 has better screen color, but it's still not ClearBlack, also you get auto brightness, twice the internal memory size, and the camera button. Check this http://m.windowscentral.com/lumia-520-versus-lumia-530-benchmarks

640 is better but it's too big so it's out of the question.

435 although on same generation with 530, but it's from lower class, expect lesser quality. In exchange you get front facing camera.

If you're going for Android, then never ever get a low end phone, it's gonna be a lot slower than your flip phone.

As the years passed, phones are getting bigger, so you might want an older phone, aside from 1520 which is 6", all x2x Lumia is small with 4,5" screen or lower. And if you want a ClearBlack screen, don't choose 5xx or lower, so that leaves you with 620, 630, 635, 720, 820, 920, 925/928. All fit with your criteria.

Also have you consider iPhones? Old iPhones (5s and older) has small screen,

 

[Mach_E]

You can give Lumia 730/735 a try. Beautiful screen. Feels very light at 130 gm. Just slightly taller than 630 but a pleasure to hold and carry.
And like he mentioned above older iPhones have smaller screen.

 

[noersetiawan]

Not sure if you should wait, unless the trends changed, small phones are a rarity. Even the 550 with Windows 10, the new low end, is 4,7".

 

[tomseys]

Hi guys. Thank you for the responses so far.

Noersetiawan, when I go to the link you posted for the Here app, I get the message "the page you requested cannot be found".

I've found this to be the case with any direct link to the app. I also tried to get it through the browser on the phone and it states it is not available for the phone. I also tried a trick i read involving a QR code and that didn't work either. Seems like I cannot get it on the 530 unless there is some other way.

Does anyone know if the 635 comes with HERE pre-installed? Can the HERE stuff do offline turn by turn voice navigation for free?

The iphones some of which have a nice size are beyond my budget. I also think I prefer the windows phone os and ecosystem.

So I guess I should mention specifically that I would like to keep the price in the below $100 range.

The 635 is $42.00 at amazon with free one day delivery. I think I'm leaning toward this phone.
Does it smudge easy and look bad for it?

The ZTE oblivian really showed off the smudges and was another reason i did not like it.

Thanks again for all the helpful responses!

 

[libra89]

Not sure if you should wait, unless the trends changed, small phones are a rarity. Even the 550 with Windows 10, the new low end, is 4,7".

Yeah I was shocked to see that size, but it also makes me really glad. I think the 735 or the 550 (not available yet) are your choices. If you want to stick with T-mobile (as in locked to the network) though, I think a 635 is your best bet as said up thread.

Oh there is also Blu Win Jr LTE, but you'll have to set it up to work with T-mobile (in the same way you would for the other phones actually, come to think of it).

 

[tomseys]

I decided to get the 635. It's so cheap and seems to be generally better than the 530. Has good reviews too.
Just ordered it with free same day delivery. I wonder how they are going to pull that off.

Will the 635 be updated with windows 10?
Does anyone know if it has the HERE stuff preinstalled?

 

[noersetiawan]

I decided to get the 635. It's so cheap and seems to be generally better than the 530. Has good reviews too.
Just ordered it with free same day delivery. I wonder how they are going to pull that off.

Will the 635 be updated with windows 10?
Does anyone know if it has the HERE stuff preinstalled?

Good choice, and is definitely better. Yes it will be updated, and yes it has HERE suite preinstalled, but, your phone may or may not have it preinstalled, it varies between countries and mobile operator.

 

[noersetiawan]

I see. I also got a reply from HERE support that it is a known problem and they said working to fix it.. Please try to download SysApp Pusher from Store, open that app and try to get HERE suite from there, unfortunately it doesn't work for HERE Drive+, the other HERE apps can be accessed. Better than nothing.

 

[tomseys]

I tried the sys app pusher as one suggestion that i read when I was trying to get the here apps and it would not give me any Here apps when I tried it if I recall correctly.

My phone is a tmobile 530 and now a tmobile 635 that is on the way... usa phones.
I like tmobile because it has the $3 a month plan.

Thanks for the encouragement about the 635.

 

[tomseys]

Okay so I got the 635.. ordered it from Amazon for $42.99 and I got it 8 hours later, the same day, fastest delivery I ever got online. Delivered by "lasership" (look them up on yelp, yikes). They got it to me so I can't complain.

Anyway, the tmobile 635 definitely has Here drive + and Here maps and a lot of other things. I like the Here stuff. Seems like the phone comes with a lot more than the 530 including some tmobile stuff like tmobile tv. I'm uninstalling most of it. The 635 is running "cyan" like the 530. It looks like the tmobile version of the 635 does not have the latest update called "denim". At least that's what the microsoft site says.

Anyway I like the size of it.. it's easier to use the keyboard on it than the 530. The screen is pretty bright and looks fine. In the signal area it shows LTE instead of 4G. The phone is pretty fast, similar to the 530.
The sound quality on the headphones is good. Call quality seems good too. Haven't tested camera.
So far I like it lots... thanks for the recommendation!

Some Updates:

The camera on the 635 seems to be better overall than on the 530, though in good light the 530 is not bad. I think the call quality on the 635 is pretty similar to the 530. The Mix radio sounds better on the 635. Other than startup, they seem to be equally fast.The HERE drive app on the 635 works well.

The 635 has a much nicer screen. I wasn't very impressed at first but I'm starting to see that it is a lot better. It is better from all angles and is vibrant. The battery life on the 635 seems really good - much better than the 530.

The 635 is a great phone.

Thanks again for the friendly help.

 

[tomseys]

By the way, I gave the sys app pusher another try and it is now showing the whole suite of HERE available downloads so I finally was able to install HERE drive + and HERE maps to the 530. There are actually two HERE drive + listings in the sys app list... only one is downloadable.