Lumia 635 User Reviews

[mjrshred]

Re: 635 Review from a 1020 owner

So I just recieved my 635 At&t go phone from Amazon for $92 to replace my 1020. The reason I am replacing it is because the headphone jack has broke, the mic broke, and the camera stopped focusing. To be fair I was sent the 1020 was a refurb that was sent as a insurance replacement for my 920 that got smashed.

This is a great phone for $92. Side by side, i don't see much of a difference between the two screens. I really need to look closely to see the differences. Certain aspects are obviously less quality then the 1020 but all in all, as a daily driver, this phone is great. No front facing camera but then again, I don't take selfies. The ONLY thing i would add to this hone is a flash. I will miss that when I need a quick flashlight.

I really thought i was going to be dissapointed with this phone but i am pleasently surprised. Especially being 1/4-1/6 the price of higher end phones. I am even might prefer this to the 1020 because its but easier to hold.

So I kind of wanted to post a follow up after 10 days of owning the phone. The honeymoon period wears off and I can tell you about some of the things with a little more experience. This thing is great. I still can't believe a $92 At&t go phone is this good. This does what you need a phone to do. I can talk, text, e-mail, web browse, facebook, etc and have no issues. I initially thought that the 512mb of ram would be a issue but it isn't. It's just as fluid as the 1020 when switching apps. The ONLY thing I would add to this phone is a flash because I sometimes need a flashlight quick. So if you're like me and just need a phone that gets the job done and you can forget about it, this is a great choice. I manage a sawmill and so my phones take a lot abuse. A screen protector and a cheap case, it's good to go. If I ever destroy this thing, I can go get another and pop in my sim and SD card in. Even if you need a back-up for your higher end phone, this is it. I haven't been let down. This is probably the best bang-for-the-buck phone I've purchased and I've been using windows phone since the Samsung focus.

Edit: I would also like to address what everyone says are a lack of apps on the widows phone... What the heck are you missing? It has all of the social media apps, Pandora, texting, video, onedrive, and office! Everything I need to do to make it through my day can easily be done with this phone and using these apps. Between this phone and my kindle HDX I haven't had to sit down at a PC other than to use Excel at work. Anyone who uses excel enough knows it's a pain if you're not on a PC. What are you people doing that you need more apps!? Stop taking pictures of yourself and keep your eye's on the road for Gods Sake!

 

[Terry Bernstein]

I hadn'r missed, or even seen any use for, the front facing camera; but now with a child away at uni I realise that Skype does rather need it. And the lack of a light/flash for the actual camera could be a bit of a general drawback.

 

[Terry Bernstein]

Re: 635 Review from a 1020 owner

I'd agree about the unimportance of limited range of apps, except for browsers. No Firefox. And Opera, so far, doesn't seem to be emerging from Beta with a stable product.

 

[Sonu K]

Re: 635 Review from a 1020 owner

I'd agree about the unimportance of limited range of apps, except for browsers. No Firefox. And Opera, so far, doesn't seem to be emerging from Beta with a stable product.

You must try UC Browser. Its really good.

 

[DontHate707]

After about a month in a half I'm pleased but as a phone nerd I'm not fully satisfied.

PROS
- Battery life is great
- Smooth performance overall
- Great price
- 8.1 installed
- Expandable memory
- Easy to hold
- Step counter for running and walking


CONS
- No front camera
- Back cameras okay
- Back cover can be shakey had to return one because the power button broke
- Headphone jack sometimes needs to be inserted twice to work
- Screen doesn't have auto brightness
- Can get laggy when streaming or downloading my guess do to low ram

 

[Stephen Pedersen]

My Review of a Lumia 635

I'm on the T Mobile and had a Lumia 925.
Unfortunately, after only a few months the second microphone and the GPS stopped working, so I opted for a new phone. The Lumia 635 was for sale on the T Mobile website for a total price of$140 plus a thirty dollar gift certificate that goes towards your bill. So I ordered the black version from t mobile and a few days later it arrived. They sent me the white one.

Then they tell me that t mobile only carries the white one. Okay good to know, especially after I told the representative I wanted the black one twice, once before and then I confirmed it with her before I agreed to the price. I can buy the black sheep in Amazon though for a small price, no big deal. This is not a problem I have with the phone but T Mobile. So I opened the package, put the phone's battery,SD card and SIM card in and booted it up.
Note I had a Lumia 521 before I had a Lumia 925.

This was a pleasant upgrade from that phone.
The screen is much bigger.
The screen is much better in quality too.
However, compared to the Lumia 925, the backs aren't pitch black like on the amoled 925 display. Also, I liked how the 925's screen peptides a bit.
The Lumia 635 is flat like the Lumia 521.

Hardware wise that's the only thing I truly miss about the 925 is the display.
One I started the phone up I noticed that the start buttons were software buttons.
Nonetheless they vibrated when touching them, so this didn't change my experience with them at all. Also, they're is no hardware camera button, but neither did this bother me, for the software button is on screen just an inch away from where the hardware one would be.

The operating system is fluid and fast. I'm not noticing any lag. And the screen has a high enough resolution as to not make a noticeable difference compared to the 925.
The memory is being used and I'm not having problems with that, at least yet. I had doubled tracks when using an SD card on my 521 though, so I am a bit weary about using it again.
Hopefully this issue has been resolved.

I'll respond to this thread if I continue to have this problem.

Over all the phone looks and feels like it was built smartly, it has a good quality Greek to it, not an expensive gel to it however, it was only $110 after the gift certificate after all.

I recommend this phone, but still hope T Mobile get a flagship phone soon. I miss the 925's display so much. And the 16 gigs was nice to have.

 

[onysi]

Re: My Review of a Lumia 635

its pretty much like a 920 in terms of size. this is a decent phone for tmo. im sure flagship will arrive in spring.

 

[johnar]

Here is my story: Im from Colombia, and normally got 2nd hand iphones (not doing well with getting lots of money), for some time i had some android devices but never get to like that mobile OS, so like 2 weeks ago I give to wife my iphone 4S and went to movistar to buy something for me, at 1st they told me I could get an iPhone 5S and pay it in 12 payments without additional charges if I wanted, but was kind of worried of paying all that money for a phone with my current economic position.

So my options were reduced to a motorola g and this lumia jewell, as stated before i never liked android so much and this beauty was even cheaper decided to give it a try.

I have to say guys im really impressed by the feeling of quality of this phone, im so much happy of giving wp and this device a try, i found all the apps im used to install on ios and i can use it without the fear of going out of battery fast. Also one of the things i love of ios is the music sync, and i have this with the windows phone app for windows 7.

One of the strong points is battery life, with my iPhone 4s i had to charge the phone like 2 times on a day, now i can use my lumia 635 for like 2 working days without worrying of going out of battery in a normal usage. Im not in gaming just some web browsing, social networking and 3 mail accounts that are really important for me.

Some screenshots of battery life, is in spanish but is not hard to guess there says 1 day and 4 hours of usage and you can see i only have restricted IE of bugging in background.



Nothing much else to say, i feel this phone was a really good deal, only thing i really miss is flash light, but appart from that i love this phone in every aspect. :smile:

 

[BreakingRed]

Re: My Review of a Lumia 635

Im considering getting a 635 from tmobile while I wait hopefully for a new flagship.

 

[ajb1965]

Re: My Review of a Lumia 635

A little late to the party, but with 635's being offered at killer prices for black Friday I figure others may still be interested in getting this phone. My first WP experience was the Icon, and I thought that was the best thing since sliced bread. Tired of VZW after 13 years I switched to T-Mobile and did the Android thing again but hated it. I was a little hesitant about the 635 because of the feature/spec disparity between it and the Icon, but I was desperate to get away from the droid.

I have had mine for a week now and must say I am pleasantly surprised. Everything about the phone is much better than I was expecting. For a phone that costs 2-3 times less than the high end models, you would be amazed at what you get. The display is nice and clear, the phone has no noticable lag, build quality is good, and apps run smooth. The camera is fine for every day photos. It's not going to give you the same quality as the higher end phones, but the images are fine for most casual shots. With the SD slot storage isn't an issue, and saving apps to the card is a big plus.

I am a basic phone user, primarily corporate email and a few social media apps, not much else. All things considered, I am very happy with it overall.

 

[Rotary635]

I have owned this phone for two days and am ready to write a mini review.

I have been a heavy android user for the past two years. I have always wanted to try the new windows phone OS with the tiles and cool Nokia Lumias.

I was never convinced about changing over because of the windows store app selection and because I was so conformed to the Android system.

I decided to give the OS a try with 8.1 on aN AT&T 635 Go Phone for $69.

I am so happy I did! This OS is amazing. It's so simple yet intuitive.

I love the start screen tile customization and the notification center is very simple.

I actually owned a windows phone in the Samsung Blackjack 2 and that was ages ago lol

A few things I'd like to touch on

- the specs are low but great for the price. 1GB ram could be better. But wow snapdragon 400 flies!

- the size and form factor is so simple and nice to hold. This has a matte black finish and it is smooth to the touch

- I didn't realize how much I didn't mind not having a front camera! I hardly ever used them on my androids except for face timing with my wife.

- the camera takes very usable shots in good lighting . Definitely great for the price. However I do miss having a flash. Not for pictures but rather as a torch.

- the screen is fantastic. This little guy gets super bright and very dim when needed! Resolution is no problem. Response feels almost on par of HTC and Apple.

I was afraid of APP selection but that hasn't been a big problem. I have all my necessary apps for banking and communication so its actually not that bad.

I do have to find a way to get music again though. Glad I have access to a SD port!

The battery life is insane for 1850mah. I would be a wall hugger connected to a charger if this were an android device . I get off the charger at 4am and come home with %60. That's medium usage of music email surfing texting. On medium brightness.

Overall I am very happy with my cheap Lumia. I foresee a very nice 830 in my future. The last of the Nokia line. -

from a super android ******

 

[Ten Four]

Just got mine from the Microsoft Store $39.95 deal--super good price and arrived in less than three days with free shipping. AT&T Go Phone packaging is super annoying. Plugged it in, launched my Microsoft account, and almost everything synced properly and quickly. Had to manually install a few things, and manually tweak my home screen to get it back the way I had it, but overall very impressed with the automatic configuration. Seems much smoother and faster than my Lumia 520 with the same apps. Less lagging. I thought I would miss the auto-brightness adjust from the 520, but I really don't (yet). The bright setting seems easier to read in daylight settings. The dim is just about perfect when in bed at night with the lights off. Medium is good for normal use around my house. So far I don't miss the camera button, which was always very hard to press using my Fosmon case on the 520 so I used the on-screen button anyway. Using Fhotolens app right now (worth trying) and it is quick and easy to focus and take shots. Seems to have better low-light sensitivity than the 520, but I have not tested this carefully. So far seems to be a worthy upgrade to the 520, particularly since I paid about $60 less! My one quibble is that I have not yet been able to get mms working properly on H2O. I got the correct APN settings from H2O, and seem now to be able to receive images, but still can't send. Maybe it takes some time for my new phone's IP address to be accepted or something?

 

[etad putta]

Ten Four, mine showed up yesterday, have to agree with your packaging comment. What a battle trying to get it out of that plastic!! I was bleeding like a stuck pig by time i was done. Looked like the beginning of a slasher movie. My phone review? i like it.

 

[ejb222]

Anyone comment on the tethering speeds for tmobile?

 

[faith3935]

I personally love the device as its fluid with an occasional "resuming" every now and then. It's a great device if you want a cheap and reliable smartphone as no other device can compete with it besides the Moto G but Android sucks compared to Windows Phone 8.1. If you buy a glass screen protector it makes the device much more enjoyable to use as the Nokia Lumia 635s screen gets smudges and fingerprints more than any phone that I ever owned.

 

[alexuio]

I started with blackberry (had 4), had an iphone 3G (hated depending on iTunes) and then had several Android phones low, middle and high end devices and thought that is was the best OS even if I had to reset my device from time to time... Then I went a little curious abour Windows Phone and received an offer from my carrier to renew my contract for 2 years and get twice the voice plan and free Facebook and Whatsapp and as a "bonus" a freshly arrived in Ecuador Lumia 635 so I said it weather that or a Huawei Y530 so let's try it (if I didn't like it I go back to my Xperia Z1...) so here I am almost a month later with the best smartphone experience I had so far with a solid OS and not a single problem with both hardware or software.

The phone does lacks some censors, flash and front facing camera but according the real needs I have for a smartphone the 635 does the job very well and the phone looks and feels very good. The OS also lacks some apps but you will like using it anyhow. Looking forward for Windows 10.

 

[alexuio]

What are your likes and dislikes of the Lumia 635?

Week 3: Just lost a pixel. Should I ask for a new one? (will have to wait up to 4 days for replacement)

 

[rhapdog]

Week 3: Just lost a pixel. Should I ask for a new one? (will have to wait up to 4 days for replacement)

Yes, by all means ask for a new pixel. Those buggers are tiny, though, and difficult to install. I'd probably just send the whole phone in. Yeah, I know, I'm in one of my "funny" moods today. Sorry.

If I had a bad pixel show up after 3 weeks, I'd get it replaced under warranty. However, if I had to wait 4 days to have a phone, I'd likely lose my mind. It would probably be worth it to me to purchase a new 635 as a replacement, backup the old, restore to the new, then turn in the old for replacement under warranty. Then when the replacement arrives, keep it around as a backup. That's just me, though.

 

[anon(5348756)]

I've spent the past 3 weeks with the 635 so I'll share a few of my impressions so far.

CONTEXT
I'm coming from a 920. Last August it fell and half the screen was cracked, usable but annoying. I held out as long as I could, expecting some sort of new mid-high device by March. Once it became clear that wasn't going to happen until fall 2015, and once the Tmo version of the 635 went down to $68 on Amazon towards the end of December, I got one for cheap to hold me out until W10 phones.

SPEED
This has been my most delightful surprise with the 635. The 920 was no slouch, but after the 8.1 upgrade it was never the same. In fact, the fuller my phone got, the slower it became. I'm using the Dev Preview so I'm updated at the latest build, yet even with 1GB RAM the 920 constantly showed me a "resuming" screen. In theory, that barely ever happens with 1GB devices, but that was not my case. Now, the 635 behaves practically equal to my 920, even snappier sometimes. I know this is not supposed to be the case, but that's been my experience (I even full resetted and re-flashed the 920 a couple times with Nokia software recovery tool, to no improvement at all). I was prepared to be using a slower phone for the next few months, but I've been pleasantly surprised with the 635. The "resuming" screens are there, but it feels just like my old 920, which is not a bad thing to say about the 635. Maybe the fact that I have a 32GB SD card in the 635 affects speed too, for good (my "main" internal memory is mostly free) and bad (most apps are in the SD card, thus I'd guess they load a tad slower from there). As for connectivity, LTE speeds are excellent and I see absolutely no difference from my 920's connection speed. If anything, having WIFI calling has improved my connection.

SCREEN
Say what you will, but I don't notice the 480p screen resolution most of the time. Of course, I'm not blind - sometimes I do notice the pixel grid, mainly in the start screen, if I'm really looking for it. Otherwise, I think my brain blends the borders and I don't really see it. Does the 768p screen of the 920 look smoother? Well, duh, of course it does, but it's not such a huge difference. The 635 screen works fine, it's perfectly legible, even if not as accurate as an actual HD display. It's serviceable and not annoying, let's leave it at that. However, the color reproduction is outstanding. I expected a less vibrant display than my 920, yet comparing them side to side, many times I prefer the colors from the 635. They're, I don't know, deeper somehow, probably because while the screen is cheaper it's also 2 years newer than the 920's and IPS modules have gotten better. All in all, a less defined, less smooth (it's no 60fps anymore) screen than the 920, yet for the most part I'm happier with the 635's. Also, about the auto-brightness - yes, it's nice to have it, but I don't really change it much in the 635. I set it a medium and it's fine all day, if I'm out in the street, slide down that action center and tap it to High, boom. Which I do like once a day anyway. At night, reading in bed, I tap it to low, done. But honestly, you'll leave it a medium (you can actually customize what strength low/medium/high have) and forget about it most of the day. Considering my 920 sometimes went crazy with brightness changes that couldn't figure out what to settle on, I'm not really missing the auto brightness thing.

BUILD QUALITY
It's a featherweight. Of course I'm coming from the brick that the 920 was, and I actually liked its weight, but the 635 is like pure air. It's comfy to hold, the matte white cover is grippy and even the speakers are well built. I had read that these speakers are bad, but you know what? I think it sounds just as fine as the 920. Then again, I don't ever listen to music from my phone - I consider that practice to be idiotic... just some good speakers for music, not a teeny tiny phone speaker if you want quality. When I listen to music, I pair a decent Bluetooth speaker and I get good quality. The only use I have for the speakers is a) phone conversations (which sound perfectly fine) and b) podcasts, which sound loud and clear. Of course, playing voice is much less demanding than music bass, but the 635 outputs sound louder yet similarly clear to what I got from my 920.

CAMERA
Well this was obvious and I knew what I was getting into. I miss the 920's excellent camera, specially in low light. This is a sacrifice I was willing to make for a while, and even though the 920's camera is SO good, the 635's is serviceable if all you'll do is upload to FB and smear filters in Instagram. I usually process most pictures with Photoshp express on the phone anyway, which really hides many of the flaws of the 635 camera (except low light noise, there's nothing you can do to fix that mess), but obviously the 920 wins all the time. Here are 3 comparison shots, 920 is always first, 635 follows:

In good light:


After photoshop express editing the 635's picture:

In medium light:


After photoshop express editing the 635's picture:

In low light:


After photoshop express editing the 635's picture: (little to salvage due to noise)


So there you go, hopefully this is helpful for whoever is thinking about getting a 635. Honestly this phone would be perfect for, say, my mother - who will probably inherit this 635 by the end of 2015 when I get a new W10 device. If you're holding out for W10 devices the 635 is a cheap alternative that will get you going pretty much fine, just with a more humble camera. If you want this for your regular run-of-the-mill parent who doesn't do anything too special in their phones, the 635 is an excellent choice for them.

 

[rhapdog]

I've had my 635 for a couple of weeks now, I suppose it's time to review it. I had a $250 budget for my mobile solution, but that doesn't mean I'm going to spend it all on a phone. I like accessories to make my work easier.

I absolutely love this phone. Especially at the price. I caught it on the $49.95 sale at Radio Shack, and used a $10 coupon to get it for $39.95. You can't beat that with a stick. Well, I suppose you could beat it with a selfie stick, but why would you?

Still, I can't claim the $39.95 was my only expense in ownership. First, there was sales tax. This brought the total to $42.75.

The slippery case combined with my wide hands with short fingers made it very difficult for me to hold onto. One-handed operation was impossible for me because as soon as I moved my thumb to touch the screen, the phone would slide out of my hand. Solution was a good case. Always the searcher for the best deals, I found the case I really liked for $19.95 online. Then I kept searching until I found a seller on Amazon that had it for $3.75, and I used a coupon code to get free shipping. The case has been awesome, and I can use it with one hand now. The holster with belt clip was a nice touch, as was the built-in kick stand for the case to allow it to stand up on my night stand while plugged in for the night, and running "Night Stand Clock". Running total now at $46.50.

The next expense came in because of another downfall of this phone, which, for such a budget phone I'm not going to complain about. The screen doesn't seem to have an oleophobic coating as most smartphones do, so fingerprint smudges are really bad on this. I purchased a good quality Tempered Glass Screen Protector, and now I not only have added protection to the Gorilla Glass 3, I also don't leave fingerprints as I work with it. It eventually gets a few smudges, but they wipe away easily with my lint-free cloth. $4.99 with free shipping for the Tempered Glass Screen Protector. Running total is now at $51.49.

Now, my budget is for an entire mobile solution... not just a phone. It's time to round things out with more stuff that I need.

• Plantronics Voyager Legend Bluetooth Headset: $99.95
• Plantronics Voyager Legend Portable Charging Carry Case (Recharges headset battery when I don't have access to electricity): $29.95
• 11,500mAh Battery Pack Smart Phone Charger: $5.99 on a clearance deal. Got to charge the phone while I'm away from Civilization. Several times.
• 5 port, 10 amp USB Smart Charger, to charge all my devices on my charging stand at home, and also makes it easier to travel as I need to only find one free electrical outlet at the hotel. $18.99 on clearance. Charges my phone faster than the charger that the phone came with.
• Tripod mount to hook my 635 up to my tripod for taking the family portraits using the phones timer, or a voice camera app. As long as I've got good lighting, the photos turn out quite nice for such a budget phone. $2.50 delivered to my door.

Final tally: $208.87. I've still got $41.13 left over that I can still spend. If I could find the 635 on sale again like that, I could get a 2nd one as a backup phone and still stay in budget just by using change found in the couch cushions to make up for the rest.

I've been extremely happy with this phone. Considering I picked up a "backup" 520 for Christmas, and sold that plus my old 520, I made enough to add to my budget for more toys. Well, actually, it has helped me pay for some apps that I was wanting to purchase. Got to show the developers some love, because I love this platform.

I think I'll just hold off for a while, and start saving up and building my budget until I can afford the 1070 when it comes out in 5 years. Maybe by then it will have the SnapDragon 1250 processor running 8 cores at 2.8GHz and a 120MP camera, 8GB RAM, and 512GB Storage with a microSD card slot that can take microSD cards up to 2TB. (Hey, in five years, maybe they can hold that much.) Also, it will need to have Bluetooth keyboard functionality and HDMI output to hook up to a large monitor and allow me to have a big monitor (touch screen, of course) plus a keyboard, to do MS Office properly without having to purchase a new laptop. Oh, yeah, and Windows 12 or above.

Yes, I think this phone can last me that long. In July/August, I upgraded to a 520 from my last phone, which I bought in March of 2006, and it ran Windows Mobile 5, had 8MB of RAM, 64MB of storage, much of which was the OS. Could take up to a 2GB miniSD. Camera was 640x480, and took 320x240 video, and it was grainy as all get out even in direct sunlight. Yeah, I had a dedicated digital camera, which died.

Yes, I posted this review to let people know... when you set a budget, make sure you include all the extra "stuff" you're going to want or need to keep you happy. Spend $500 on a phone and your budget was $500, then you're going to be whining for free apps.

I had a budget of $50 for a phone, so I waited until I could save up and grow the budget, because I knew I was going to want a high end Bluetooth and other stuff. It was sheer luck I got some of the stuff on clearance prices like I did, like the $80 battery charger for $5.99, etc. Gotta love a business that decides not to carry a product, and wants to clear it out fast. I bought a dozen car plug chargers at the same place on the same day for $0.25 each. They plug into the cigarette lighter and give you a USB plug with up to 2.1A power for your smartphone or tablet. They made great stocking stuffers this past Christmas.