Is the Microsoft Lumia 635 Worth it?

[Grabber5.0]

What phone isn't worth $45?

 

[Nubwy]

I am totally satisfied with my 635. Never been memory starved. Don't need a front facing camera. Battery life is fine. Price was right too.

Same here

 

[Queen Kong1]

Please do not buy the Lumia 635. I currently own a 635, and regret the purchase. Even at $40, it is not worth it.

The Lumia 635 has too little memory (just 512MB), a slow processor, a terrible screen (very low res, and one of the smallest on the market), a lousy and essentially useless) rear camera, no front camera at all, and mediocre battery life. It's only redeeming qualities are its expandable memory, removable battery, and the fact that it can (barely) run Windows 10 Technical Preview.

It's a good phone perhaps for small children to break things, or people who are terrified about their phone getting stolen, or people who constantly drop/shatter their phones and don't want to spend a fortune on replacements or insurance, or people who only want to use it as a portable music player, or people who are on the most restrictive of budgets, or people who want to toss a spare phone in a drawer to keep around in case of a dire need for a temporary replacement device. That's about it.

I truly don't understand the infatuation some people have with this phone. The Lumia 640, as middling as it appears to be, will be a vast improvement on the Lumia 635. Unless you are absolutely desperate for a phone right now, I would wait.

For the same price $40 out right unlocked i can get a Huawei Y550 1gig a ram , not sure what to do need a push in the right direction..why WP is better :/.

 

[walrusmonarch]

I wouldn't focus on the amount of RAM seeing as the Huawei runs android, hard to make a direct comparison with different OS. If it is anything like the Moto G, it will probably be fairly smooth and fast. I haven't really had too many issues with running out of memory on the 635. There are some resuming screens here and there, but not too bad. The Huawei seems to come with kitkat. No idea if it will ever get lollipop. Huawei's UI seems kind of meh compared to stock kitkat. All the other specs seem fairly comparable. The Huawei has a Snapdragon 410, so its got a 64-bit cpu, but that probably amounts to nothing on a low end entry level device...

Have you had any android phones before? It seems, between these two phones, its the OS that is going to be the deciding factor and not the hardware. On the plus side, it seems Y550 has already been rooted.

 

[etad putta]

For the same price $40 out right unlocked i can get a Huawei Y550 1gig a ram , not sure what to do need a push in the right direction..why WP is better :/.

FWIW.....http://www.cnet.com/products/huawei-ascend-y550/#!

 

[mjrtoo]

For 50 bucks it's a good deal. Much better than the 520.

 

[Queen Kong1]

I picked up 532 for $49.00 some crazy prices about ! wasn't 4.5 screen but fine and has glance and double tap, I hope it gets windows 10 ..... It

 

[Queen Kong1]

I wouldn't focus on the amount of RAM seeing as the Huawei runs android, hard to make a direct comparison with different OS. If it is anything like the Moto G, it will probably be fairly smooth and fast. I haven't really had too many issues with running out of memory on the 635. There are some resuming screens here and there, but not too bad. The Huawei seems to come with kitkat. No idea if it will ever get lollipop. Huawei's UI seems kind of meh compared to stock kitkat. All the other specs seem fairly comparable. The Huawei has a Snapdragon 410, so its got a 64-bit cpu, but that probably amounts to nothing on a low end entry level device...

Have you had any android phones before? It seems, between these two phones, its the OS that is going to be the deciding factor and not the hardware. On the plus side, it seems Y550 has already been rooted.

I think WP is like IOS , Android buggy! and nothing exciting! although Lollypop looks ok.maybe changes things. The Y550 didn't really excite me lol

 

[maclancer]

For 50 bucks it's a good deal. Much better than the 520.

I bought my $635 when the price was reduced temporarily to $29 dollars. That's what I called a real deal.

 

[walrusmonarch]

I think WP is like IOS , Android buggy! and nothing exciting! although Lollypop looks ok.maybe changes things. The Y550 didn't really excite me lol

Android was a buggy/laggy mess back in the days of Froyo and Gingerbread, but thankfully it has come a long way since then. It is rock solid now. Kitkat was a pleasure to use, and lollipop is even better. I find lollipop to be very pleasing to look at, and it is very functional, with lots of customization available and it is just generally a lot of fun to use. I really like the W8.1 UI though. I keep swapping back and forth between my the 635 and my Moto X 2014. If only the lumia had the hardware of the Moto X... oh well.

 

[manus31]

Lumia 635 has the same processor as all mid all decent mid range phones 640,730/735, 830. The ram issue isn't that big of a deal.especially if your not into gaming.Its definitely still a decent little phone

 

[Queen Kong1]

Wow that is a good deal $29.00..., Yeah im not a huge gamer so ram i can give or take, But i really like the glance screen feature now, so it's finding a 4.5 with it. Strange i thought they'd all have it.....and Quite hours... the 630 has a nice design thin...in the 4.5 but lacking some features. Im enjoying my 532 though i must admit it's smooth..I tried to add a custom ring tone and plugged the phone into the computer, when i went to internal ringtone folder i couldn't see any ringtones strange. I copied my ringtone into the folder and still cant see custom under ringtones any idea if someone knows??. Speaking of Androids my mum got the Core Prime Samsung ..for $170.00 not a bad phone!!! If i cant find a 4.5 i like I may jump to that decisions lol. ...I still say No Keyboard will work as well as inbuilt word flow it's amazing really and simple..... nice not having to use 3rd party keyboards!

 

[airyblue]

Its worth it I bought it for ?40 on EE UK and I think this is the best WP phone you can get. For additional ?9 I got unlock code so I can use it on any network and the only WP better is 930/1520. Better camera than 640/735/830, same chipset, screen is very good just the resolution is a low but colors and brightness are perfect, very fast I cant see very big difference between my 930/1520 (Its the version with 1GB Ram) and the battery is good.

 

[Ten Four]

One thing I love is the size of the 635--just about perfect size for me. Fits right in a dress shirt pocket or a breast pocket of a suit jacket with no problem. I need to be able to carry my phone inconspicuously too--walk through some iffy areas late at night to get to and from work. Just not into big phones.

 

[Jason Incognito]

The 635 is absolutely worth it - if you can get it upgraded to Denim... which you can do if you join the Windows Insider program, install and launch the Insider app, let it update to Denim... but then delete the Insider app before you get updated to the Windows 10 Mobile Technical Preview. The difference in speed, function, and fluidity that Denim makes on the 635, compared to Cyan, is astonishing.

 

[walrusmonarch]

The 635 is absolutely worth it - if you can get it upgraded to Denim... which you can do if you join the Windows Insider program, install and launch the Insider app, let it update to Denim... but then delete the Insider app before you get updated to the Windows 10 Mobile Technical Preview. The difference in speed, function, and fluidity that Denim makes on the 635, compared to Cyan, is astonishing.

Does that update the firmware or just the rom version?

 

[xandros9]

Does that update the firmware or just the rom version?

I'm not sure if there is a difference that makes a difference here.

Just worth noting that the Insider trick isn't foolproof. It didn't work on my ATT 635.

Even without Lumia Denim, its still working well enough.

 

[walrusmonarch]

I'm not sure if there is a difference that makes a difference here.

Just worth noting that the Insider trick isn't foolproof. It didn't work on my ATT 635.

Even without Lumia Denim, its still working well enough.

Yeah, the trick didn't work on my ATT gophone 635 either when I tried it a few weeks ago.

But, I finally managed to flash the unbranded US retail rom on to my 635. After that it updated to Denim!

OS: 8.10.14234.375
Firmware: 02040.00021.15053.36001

Then I tried the insider trick again and now I have 8.1 Update 2!

OS: 8.10.15116.125