Lumia 530 User Reviews
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I've used Lumia 530 for few days and this device is pretty good especially the battery life. Although it has only 1450mah, it seems double the battery life of Lumia 620(1300mah).
It is fast and has no lag but the screen is not that great. Animation and graphics also a bit disappointing due to the screen. Overall, it still a pretty good device considering its price.
It is fast and has no lag but the screen is not that great. Animation and graphics also a bit disappointing due to the screen. Overall, it still a pretty good device considering its price.
I've bought the Lumia 530 not as a phone but as an iPod replacement (and also a backup phone).
I actually have a Lumia 1520 running Windows Phone 8.1.1, best phone i've ever had so far (previous : Nexus 5; iPhone 4S; Galaxy S3; Lumia 610). So i was pretty curious to try this very budget phone (here in switzerland it costs 99 CHF so it must be around 100 $), with the release tommorow of the iPhone 6+ (more than 900.- the phone), the Lumia 530 and 630 put things in perspective.
Unboxing : The box is really really nice, i love this sleek and modern box design they introduce since the Lumia 630 ! The phone is here and an USB-AC adaptater.... A really cheap one, and it's in one piece. You can't separate the AC and the cable. But for 99.- it's ok and i think that we all allready have one or two cables like that if we need to connect it to a PC. No headphones, i personnally think it's a good thing. The ones in the Lumia 610/520/620 were absolutelly terrible! They will not be missed.
The phone : The build quality is just phenomenal, it's solid, well assembled and it feels good in the hand! The phone is pretty bulky but it has a really great shape. So kudos to Nokia ! It's not just a reputation
Screen : Ok... It's the only part of the phone were you know that it cost 99.-, the screen doesn't have the ClearBlack and the black tends to be more gray and in direct sunlight.... It's just unusable ! I have been pretty well used to really great screen, like the L1520 so for me it represent a huge step back but for people that don't have any previous smartphone or a old/entry level one, the screen is good enough, not good or bad, good enough.
Speed / OS : It's were the 530 really shines, it's a little speed demon! It's incredible, it's just a bit slower than my 1520 for oppening apps like Facebook, News (the everyday stuff). The all new Age Of Empires and Halo work really really great. The storage with the 4 go is pretty streched but microSD cards are so cheap and WP8.1 manage external storage so well (unlike Android), it's not a problem at all !
Final words : This phone is a revolution, for 99.- you have a complete software experience with all Microsoft softwares, Office, OneNote, OneDrive and all the entertainment with Xbox Music, games and more. For 99.- you also have a complete GPS, with offline maps ! It's the best bargain in the market, the Moto E seems also to be a really good entry level device but the Microsoft Ecosystem is just better for the low end hardware.
It's my first review and probably the last, i've felt bad for Nokia with all the 512mo backslash. It's a insanely great phone for the price, that's all
I actually have a Lumia 1520 running Windows Phone 8.1.1, best phone i've ever had so far (previous : Nexus 5; iPhone 4S; Galaxy S3; Lumia 610). So i was pretty curious to try this very budget phone (here in switzerland it costs 99 CHF so it must be around 100 $), with the release tommorow of the iPhone 6+ (more than 900.- the phone), the Lumia 530 and 630 put things in perspective.
Unboxing : The box is really really nice, i love this sleek and modern box design they introduce since the Lumia 630 ! The phone is here and an USB-AC adaptater.... A really cheap one, and it's in one piece. You can't separate the AC and the cable. But for 99.- it's ok and i think that we all allready have one or two cables like that if we need to connect it to a PC. No headphones, i personnally think it's a good thing. The ones in the Lumia 610/520/620 were absolutelly terrible! They will not be missed.
The phone : The build quality is just phenomenal, it's solid, well assembled and it feels good in the hand! The phone is pretty bulky but it has a really great shape. So kudos to Nokia ! It's not just a reputation
Screen : Ok... It's the only part of the phone were you know that it cost 99.-, the screen doesn't have the ClearBlack and the black tends to be more gray and in direct sunlight.... It's just unusable ! I have been pretty well used to really great screen, like the L1520 so for me it represent a huge step back but for people that don't have any previous smartphone or a old/entry level one, the screen is good enough, not good or bad, good enough.
Speed / OS : It's were the 530 really shines, it's a little speed demon! It's incredible, it's just a bit slower than my 1520 for oppening apps like Facebook, News (the everyday stuff). The all new Age Of Empires and Halo work really really great. The storage with the 4 go is pretty streched but microSD cards are so cheap and WP8.1 manage external storage so well (unlike Android), it's not a problem at all !
Final words : This phone is a revolution, for 99.- you have a complete software experience with all Microsoft softwares, Office, OneNote, OneDrive and all the entertainment with Xbox Music, games and more. For 99.- you also have a complete GPS, with offline maps ! It's the best bargain in the market, the Moto E seems also to be a really good entry level device but the Microsoft Ecosystem is just better for the low end hardware.
It's my first review and probably the last, i've felt bad for Nokia with all the 512mo backslash. It's a insanely great phone for the price, that's all
Got mine for ?39 in the UK on PAYG upgrade from Carphone Warehouse.
The Orange colour is absolutely nothing like it is in photos. It's neon, and similar to a high visibility jacket.
I intended to keep the phone as a cheap backup, replacing my Lumia 610, but there is no way I can live with the absolutely terrible screen. It's by far the worst screen that I have seen at WVGA or FWVGA resolution. It's reasonably pixel dense but it just looks awful. There is an extremely narrow viewing angle, and the screen goes completely grey when tilted in sunlight (it's barely visible in sunlight even when looking straight on). The colours are so washed and look nothing like they are supposed to, contrast is lacking so much (blacks are medium grey, not even dark grey), and there is a weird shimmery effect to the screen which looks like it's been coated in a thin layer of oil, it's incredibly noticeable on a mainly white background (like a webpage).
I can't believe how bad the screen is. It's worse than every previous Lumia. I must have used 25+ phones with WVGA screens of varying sizes, and this is by far the absolute worst. The screens on the WP7 Lumia 510 and 610 look almost premium in comparison... it is that bad.
The Orange colour is absolutely nothing like it is in photos. It's neon, and similar to a high visibility jacket.
I intended to keep the phone as a cheap backup, replacing my Lumia 610, but there is no way I can live with the absolutely terrible screen. It's by far the worst screen that I have seen at WVGA or FWVGA resolution. It's reasonably pixel dense but it just looks awful. There is an extremely narrow viewing angle, and the screen goes completely grey when tilted in sunlight (it's barely visible in sunlight even when looking straight on). The colours are so washed and look nothing like they are supposed to, contrast is lacking so much (blacks are medium grey, not even dark grey), and there is a weird shimmery effect to the screen which looks like it's been coated in a thin layer of oil, it's incredibly noticeable on a mainly white background (like a webpage).
I can't believe how bad the screen is. It's worse than every previous Lumia. I must have used 25+ phones with WVGA screens of varying sizes, and this is by far the absolute worst. The screens on the WP7 Lumia 510 and 610 look almost premium in comparison... it is that bad.
Got a Lumia 530 for $50.00 at Best Buy here in the USA. I recently archived my cd collection digitally and wanted to try the 530 as a mp3 player. So I ripped over 500 cds at 320 mp3 and got a 530 and a 128gb sdcard. It works great, sound is good and the updated (now 12x) Xbox music app works great so far. I also played with twitter, facebook and Internet Explorer using wifi. I am amazed how smooth it is with 512 memory. The display isn't the greatest but for a media player it works great. For those who want to use the 530 without cellular service here's a tip: Make sure you put the SIM card in even if unactivated. If you don't every time you start the phone you get a SIM error. The 520/530 series of phones are still the most functional of any smart budget phone out there. You can't beat $50.00 for a phone and the $30.00 month plan from T-mobile.
windows94
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- Oct 15, 2014
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I bought a 530 two days ago as a backup device for my 635. It was $49. I used it for a day and I couldn't stand it. The TN screen had the worst viewing angles I had ever seen and while it had the same resolution as the 520, the screen gave me a headache. The snapdragon 200 wasn't much of an upgrade from the 520's s4, and it kept freezing up. I returned it yesterday and bought a 521 for the same price and its much better. It was the absolutely awful screen that did it in for me. Maybe I got a bad one? The 520/521 has a better graphics processor (adreno 305 vs the 530's 302). And it seemed jumpy as I scrolled. I prefer the 520/521
karlgren
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- Apr 17, 2013
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Earlier this week I got my bright green Lumia 530 from the Microsoft Store. I also bought the original flip case in the same color. I must say that this is a great phone at a great price. All is working as it should, the build-quality is good and it looks nice. I do recomend to buy this phone! I have previously owned a Lumia 920 followed by a 925 and now I'm using the 1020 alongside the 530.
sameermehta2
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- Sep 1, 2013
- 131
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I am using the dual sim version for about 20 days no lags ,no crashes, fast performance but yes the screen is a bit of a downer,also I have no issues with the battery performance I see in some forums that people are complaining about battery life.I my opinion performance it overshadows the lumia 520.I saw some benchmark testing on some site I guess wpxbox and it is nearly as fast as 630 and faster in some cases as 630 stutters in some operations where the 530 is still smooth
Bobby Phoenix
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- Dec 20, 2014
- 34
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No complaints for me. As others have said about the screen, yes it's not the best, but to me the longer I use this phone the less the screen looks bad. You get used to it I guess. Performance wise it's a great phone. Super smooth, and fast at everything. I picked mine up for $30.00 at Best Buy. Can't beat that for a great performing smart phone.
Rizki Faisal
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- Aug 4, 2014
- 40
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The screen is the weak factor here. It's a downgrade from 520. But I can't complain more since they replace the processor worth twice faster than the 520.
I'm probably going to purchase this phone to compliment my 435, I think the form factor for this phone is a liiiiittle better, and I don't have much use for a front shooter so....
Cheeze Keyk
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- Sep 24, 2015
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libra89
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- Feb 6, 2015
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Cheeze Keyk
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I bought the 530 a couple of months ago as my first smartphone. I've never really liked smartphones or the idea of smartphones since I don't use social media at all, don't play games, and I don't like the bigger size and weight of the phones versus a small flip phone. I also feel that I'm already online way too much at home and look at being outside as a break from being online.
Day to day I use a simple flip phone with the tmobile network. I had the samsung t139 for a while and I recently upgraded to the LG 450, which I like. I prefer tmobile as a carrier because they have a $3 a month plan and I am not a heavy phone user at all so with it I think I spend $7 a month. If I need data for a trip or whatever then I can buy a day data pass for $5 or a week pass for $10. I would only very rarely need this. As far as I know this is the cheapest possible plan if you don't need data all the time and don't use the phone much.
Anyway so I bought the 530 for special events where I'll be away from home for a bit and may need mobile internet, maps or a simple camera. Overall, I like the 530. It's small compared to other smartphones which I like, and I really like how it feels in my hand and it seems to be pretty durable. The Win 8.1 OS is very fast. It zips along pretty smoothly. It really seems like it is in a rush.
I actually did not like Windows phone 8.1 mobile OS at first. It seemed complicated, a little bland in a way, with a lot of customization options. I didn't find it intuitive at all other than taping the phone symbol will take you to a dial pad after another tap. But after using it a bit it and customizing it I found it started to make sense and I now I like it. Another thing that helped that process was a short experience with an android phone (ZTE obsidian), which I thought I would really like but it had me running back to the 530 in no time due to it being slower and in some ways even more complicated and requiring a google account, antivirus etc.
The screen on the 530 is sorta sharp if you look at it straight on, but the colors are kinda muted and faded looking and it losses visual clarity quickly if you deviate from straight on. The screen is pretty reflective and in the sun I can't see the screen at all. A lot of people don't like the screen on the 530 if you read the reviews but in certain uses it's not that bad imo. But I don't have much exp with smartphones so I can't really compare with higher end displays.
The call quality on the 530 is the best I've ever heard on any phone. I just got the Lumia 635 yesterday and I think the 530 is a little better..but close. It's very clear and loud. The sound in general is nice.
The 530 phone did not come with Here drive + or Here maps installed at least on my device and only has the Maps app. I tried many ways of getting the Here stuff installed to the phone and nothing worked : not searching the store, not going directly to the website or any links or QR codes, and not via sysapp pusher. I just bought a Tmobile 635 and the Here stuff maps are on that phone preinstalled. Don't know why the 530 doesn't have it, or at least my 2 month old phone. I've heard that it has been pulled from the store.
I don't use much in the way of apps like FB or skype so I can't comment on how those function. I also don't need a front facing camera so the lack of it is no importance to me.
Cortana is pretty nice, the voice recognition is amazing. I sometimes am blown away at how well it understands me even when I try to make it difficult by speaking softly or unclearly. I like the people app too since you can go online and edit your contact info there and it sychs to the phone.
The rear 5MP camera is not that bad outdoors in good light. In low light pictures are soft and grainy or worse. The video is also not very good in low light.
As far as battery life goes I can only compare it to the 635 i just bought. The 635 seems to drain the battery slower doing comparable things with similar settings.
Overall, I think the 530 is a good phone, very affordable and I'm impressed with the technology. I'm considering dropping my LG 450 flip phone as a daily use phone for this phone since even though I won't even be using 20% of its capabilities, the call quality and having all the contact info available with extreme detail is tempting me.
As I mentioned, I also just got a tmobile 635, as I wanted to see what a better screen looks like (and it was very cheap) and it is also pretty nice, with a much better screen (angle wise and vibrancy) and a larger display which makes viewing webpages and using the keyboard a little easier. It also has the Here stuff pre-installed. Battery life also seems better. I may use this as a "travel" phone and go with the 530 as a daily use phone.
Thanks.
Day to day I use a simple flip phone with the tmobile network. I had the samsung t139 for a while and I recently upgraded to the LG 450, which I like. I prefer tmobile as a carrier because they have a $3 a month plan and I am not a heavy phone user at all so with it I think I spend $7 a month. If I need data for a trip or whatever then I can buy a day data pass for $5 or a week pass for $10. I would only very rarely need this. As far as I know this is the cheapest possible plan if you don't need data all the time and don't use the phone much.
Anyway so I bought the 530 for special events where I'll be away from home for a bit and may need mobile internet, maps or a simple camera. Overall, I like the 530. It's small compared to other smartphones which I like, and I really like how it feels in my hand and it seems to be pretty durable. The Win 8.1 OS is very fast. It zips along pretty smoothly. It really seems like it is in a rush.
I actually did not like Windows phone 8.1 mobile OS at first. It seemed complicated, a little bland in a way, with a lot of customization options. I didn't find it intuitive at all other than taping the phone symbol will take you to a dial pad after another tap. But after using it a bit it and customizing it I found it started to make sense and I now I like it. Another thing that helped that process was a short experience with an android phone (ZTE obsidian), which I thought I would really like but it had me running back to the 530 in no time due to it being slower and in some ways even more complicated and requiring a google account, antivirus etc.
The screen on the 530 is sorta sharp if you look at it straight on, but the colors are kinda muted and faded looking and it losses visual clarity quickly if you deviate from straight on. The screen is pretty reflective and in the sun I can't see the screen at all. A lot of people don't like the screen on the 530 if you read the reviews but in certain uses it's not that bad imo. But I don't have much exp with smartphones so I can't really compare with higher end displays.
The call quality on the 530 is the best I've ever heard on any phone. I just got the Lumia 635 yesterday and I think the 530 is a little better..but close. It's very clear and loud. The sound in general is nice.
The 530 phone did not come with Here drive + or Here maps installed at least on my device and only has the Maps app. I tried many ways of getting the Here stuff installed to the phone and nothing worked : not searching the store, not going directly to the website or any links or QR codes, and not via sysapp pusher. I just bought a Tmobile 635 and the Here stuff maps are on that phone preinstalled. Don't know why the 530 doesn't have it, or at least my 2 month old phone. I've heard that it has been pulled from the store.
I don't use much in the way of apps like FB or skype so I can't comment on how those function. I also don't need a front facing camera so the lack of it is no importance to me.
Cortana is pretty nice, the voice recognition is amazing. I sometimes am blown away at how well it understands me even when I try to make it difficult by speaking softly or unclearly. I like the people app too since you can go online and edit your contact info there and it sychs to the phone.
The rear 5MP camera is not that bad outdoors in good light. In low light pictures are soft and grainy or worse. The video is also not very good in low light.
As far as battery life goes I can only compare it to the 635 i just bought. The 635 seems to drain the battery slower doing comparable things with similar settings.
Overall, I think the 530 is a good phone, very affordable and I'm impressed with the technology. I'm considering dropping my LG 450 flip phone as a daily use phone for this phone since even though I won't even be using 20% of its capabilities, the call quality and having all the contact info available with extreme detail is tempting me.
As I mentioned, I also just got a tmobile 635, as I wanted to see what a better screen looks like (and it was very cheap) and it is also pretty nice, with a much better screen (angle wise and vibrancy) and a larger display which makes viewing webpages and using the keyboard a little easier. It also has the Here stuff pre-installed. Battery life also seems better. I may use this as a "travel" phone and go with the 530 as a daily use phone.
Thanks.
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