Nokia Lumia 730 & 735 User Reviews

[Muessig]

If you get hands on to one, share it here!

If you have seen anyone else do it online and want opinions from the community - share it here!

 

[gamesticker]

Lumia 730: 2 weeks detailed user review

Friends. I kept waiting for WPCentral's review of Lumia 730, and then I decided to write one of my own. I'm using my Lumia 730 for about 2 weeks now and I want to post a 'user' review for it. This review is not going to compare it with the zillion other devices out there. Instead, I'll focus on how it is like to use Lumia 730 on a day to day basis, as a user.

My Background

I work for a mobile app/games studio so I use a lot of devices. I frequently use various mid and high end devices as my daily driver for weeks, though this is my first time with any Lumia or WP device. I have a soft corner for mid-rangers as I believe that great mobile experience should not cost an arm and a leg. Hence I purchased Lumia 730 as my personal phone as it hits all the right notes, atleast on paper. Read ahead to see how it performs in practice.

Design and Build Quality

Positives:
I was dazzled from the moment I opened the box, 730 looks stunning. Thanks to it's rounded (side) edges, 730 is very comfortable to hold in one hand. It feels very light for it's size. Even though it's not a unibody, it feels very steady while holding. I can't help but praise it's design because I've not seen a more beautiful mid-ranger. It feels much much better in person than it looks in pics.

Minor Annoyances:

• As top/bottom corners are cut flat, they sometimes dig into your palms when you hold it one handed.
• The inner body creaks/move slightly when connecting headphone or power jack, giving away the unibody feel.

Negatives:
None.

Display and Touch

Positives:

• Brightness and contrast are very good. I can easily use the phone in sunlight.
• Display surface does not pick up fingerprints and smudges as fast as other phones.
• Although people worry about over saturated colors on AMOLED, I've found the screen to be well balanced. Just set the color tone to 'natural'.
• Touch is very responsive, even with sensitivity set to 'normal'.

Minor Annoyances:

• Despite of it's 720p resolution, surprisingly the display still looks grainy. It's not very evident and the effect is minimal, but it's there. Text looks slightly jaggy, images look slightly grainy. On a 720p TFT 5inch screen, you really have to look very closely to see the pixels on a TFT, though they are more visible on 730's AMOLED. But as I said, effect is minimal.
• Double tap to wake hardly works in 1 try. It usually takes 2-3 attempts, sometimes it doesn't turn on at all. But it might be a software issue as well.

Negatives:

• If you have minimal brightness and black background, you can see a purple ghost trail as you move/scroll stuff on screen. It's like the pixels are taking time to change color. It gives a very ugly effect, but only visible at lowest brightness.

Speaker, Sound and Calls

Positives:

• Speaker is very loud.
• Call quality is top notch. I get very clear conversations and very good signal.
• Earpiece has good volume, I never had to use full volume.
• Main mic and noise cancellation mic works very well, my callers could easily hear me in crowded places.

Minor Annoyances:

• Speaker distorts on highest volumes, but it can be corrected by just reducing the volume.

Negatives:

• Audio out quality is mediocre. My mid-range Philips SHL3300 sounds very good on my MacBook Pro and iPad, but they sound just flat on 730. 730 has sound clarity, but lacks the beats, even with equalizers turned on. Also checked on desktop speakers, 730 gives less beats than my Mac and iPad. Quality might be better on in-ear earphones due to low impedance, but I haven't tried in-ear.

Performance
As performance is eventually a function of hardware + software, I'll discuss this in my software review.

Camera and Software
As I'm not an avid camera user, this section does not cover quality. Please refer other camera reviews and pics/videos for 730.

Positives:

• Both cams produce good enough pics for Facebook, I've already got many likes for 730's pics

Minor Annoyances:

• Nokia Camera takes good 2-3 seconds to start. Though the other camera app opens immediately.
• Can't say if it's software or hardware, but both the cams click a different picture than what you see in viewfinder mode. It's like you open the camera and see a lighter scene, you click and the final picture turns out to be a bit richer/darker. The final picture is definite better, but I'd rather like to be the pre-click view and post-click image to be the same.
• Selfie app takes good 3-5 seconds to process photo after snapping.
• Selfie app applies last used filter by default, I hope it would present the original photo by default.

Negatives:
None.

Connectivity and Sensors

Positives:

• Brightness sensor and software calibration is the best I've seen on any mid-ranger. You can set it on 'auto' and simply forget about it.

Minor Annoyances:

• When I first opened the Maps, it asked me to rotate my phone in 8 shape to calibrate the compass. However, it does not matter how many times I tried, I used the other maps app, restarted my phone, tried to make the 8 shape at a different location, nothing worked. I thought the sensor is damaged. Then I waved my phone randonly and bam, it worked.
• 730 never auto-connects to my Wifi while my Android, Mac and iPad connects fine. Might be a software or router issue.

Negatives:
None.

Battery
Battery is just ok, at least for my workload. I don't do gaming, streaming, video, music or browsing on 730. Instead, I have 6 personal and work push mail accounts added, with frequent FB, FB Messenger, SMS, Skype and WhatsApp usage with brightness set to low. The battery keeps up for 10 hours, but I believe it could've been better. Though it might take a few power cycles to show it's full potential.

------------

That's it guys. I've tried to present a fair picture of how it is like to use Lumia 730 as your primary phone. I hope you'll find this review useful. Overall, I'm more than happy hardware wise. How does the software play along, I'm going to discuss it in another review. Thanks for your time reading this

Original Post: http://forums.windowscentral.com/no...8-lumia-730-2-weeks-detailed-user-review.html

 

[Matjaz Erj]

Re: Lumia 730: 2 weeks detailed user review

Double tap to wake hardly works in 1 try. It usually takes 2-3 attempts, sometimes it doesn't turn on at all. But it might be a software issue as well.

No is not software problems, is yours.
Try this: Slow and no hard two times tap, and work in 99% .

 

[pesti87]

I'd like to know if anyone found out where to buy a spare battery for Lumia 730/735?

 

[manu3787]

Got mine (L730) few days back. I have been a Android fan boy since the time of Nexus one. It is still the best platform to date, but I've had enough customization and tweaking and tons of options and great apps and games. Wanted a more reliable device from a tried and tested company. the ability to keep going on without crashes and crappy software. Microsoft office built to the core and good hardware to last a few years. And best of all I was sold for the amazing camera that this device had. Am very happy to own this thing. Battery is great, build is sturdy (The green back does feel bit slippery), screen works in bright day light, can hear my music loud and clear, superb camera and finally a great selection of apps and games to get the most of it.
How ever I am disappointed that Microsoft mentions that the replaceable back covers brings you wireless charging functionality, but it doesn't.

 

[KeepSmile]

Re: Lumia 730: 2 weeks detailed user review

No is not software problems, is yours.
Try this: Slow and no hard two times tap, and work in 99% .

Hi Matjaz Erj. Almost people who used this phone in Viet Nam have same problem. The success double tap rate is 80% (I referred some forum). Mean that if you try to unlook your phone in 10 times, You will be sucess to unlook about 8 times.

 

[Matjaz Erj]

For others I'don't now. Now with Nilkin screen protector is better, if I try ten times I get ten times unlock. Realy, try only small push and longer.

 

[xpressoz]

Re: Lumia 730: 2 weeks detailed user review

Negatives:

If you have minimal brightness and black background, you can see a purple ghost trail as you move/scroll stuff on screen. It's like the pixels are taking time to change color. It gives a very ugly effect, but only visible at lowest brightness.

This thing is very annoing, it apears when using auto and even on high brightness some times, especialy on grey elements on black backgrund. For someone hwo migrate from an IPS panel, even 520, this ghosting wont be pleasent to see.

 

[Nishant Sirohi]

 

[SujitSK]

Re: Lumia 730: 2 weeks detailed user review

Thanks friend; matches a good part of my own experiences too; hindsight; maybe the 830 would have been better?

 

[Cramarc]

The 730 works fine for me, the camera is good, doesnt lag. I've had no problems the last 7 months. But Im annoyed I have to hard reset my phone eventually because of the growing system memory. Its a decent phone, it has everything i need. (not talking to you windows phone store)

 

[libra89]

I somehow wrote a review for all of the other devices I have tried, but not this one. Anyway, here goes.

I liked my 735 a lot. I was satisfied with both cameras easily. I loved the size of it and how it is in the hand. Call quality was good. Since I like the white theme, my battery life suffered. By that, I mean that it was cut in half for me. The AMOLED screen is really nice, but in the end, it's not for me. I found myself concerned about burn in, but I am naturally a worrier so you can take this with a grain of salt. In my short time with it, I really enjoyed it. I felt like the sound quality was great too.

I would have kept it, and I really wanted to, but unfortunately in my area, the bands that the unlocked one supports is fine at home, but horrible at work. My work building already isn't great, so I kept losing service, which is unacceptable (and this doesn't happen with my regular phone). This set of lines is the reason why I didn't keep it and my personal review. Considering how hard it is to find now, along with the cost that I chose to pay, it's too much to keep a pretty paperweight. I'm also not one of those people who do the weekend phone thing so in the end, it had to go.

 

[digitalmisfit85]

Windows 10 works fine. I use the phone for business and I love the stuff MS is doing. Today got update on Facebook new app. You will love it.

 

[mc_razza]

My grey Nokia Lumia 735 finally arrived earlier today.

First quick impressions: it's so light! It feels reassuringly good in the hand too. And don't you just love the Nokia logo?

This is my first AMOLED phone so I was immediately struck by the deep blacks and the bright and punchy colours. The size and resolution is just perfect at 720p and 4.7-inches too. Some may knock the display for employing a pentile subpixel matrix, but it's not a big deal to me. It's an impressive display for its price point.

This phone is the warmest Lumia I've used since the 720. That might probably be on account of the bright display.

I'm already familiar with the excellent 6.7MP rear camera which is the same one used in the 720 (and 2520 too). I have yet to test out the FFC though. I'm not a big selfie taker, but the 5MP camera is nonetheless welcome.

Performance-wise it's identical to other Snapdragon 400 MSM8926 devices I've used, namely the 640, 640 XL and 635. Basically, it's solid.

All-in-all I'm in love with it. I've been wanting this phone for literally years and now I finally own one. Yes! It's an excellent device and undoubtedly will serve me very well.

-------------------------------

One problem: I just cannot update the OS to the latest WP8.1 build. I keep getting the 8018830f error code. Phone space isn't a problem. I have performed soft resets; changed region, time, date and language settings; switched the phone off and on again; cleared caches; attempted to backup and so on but none of that has worked. Help? Anyone have any more suggestions before I update via WDRT?

 

[wgrs]

Don't bother with WP8, upgrade to W10M.

 

[greedo_greedy]

-------------------------------

One problem: I just cannot update the OS to the latest WP8.1 build. I keep getting the 8018830f error code. Phone space isn't a problem. I have performed soft resets; changed region, time, date and language settings; switched the phone off and on again; cleared caches; attempted to backup and so on but none of that has worked. Help? Anyone have any more suggestions before I update via WDRT?

I think you'll have to reinstall the OS with WDRT.

I have a Lumia 735 too and have been using it for almost a year methinks.

It's solid and one of the best Lumia's in terms of looks.

It's not quite the phone I wish it was but it's definitely serviceable.

 

[mc_razza]

I think you'll have to reinstall the OS with WDRT.

Done.

I have a Lumia 735 too and have been using it for almost a year methinks.

It's solid and one of the best Lumia's in terms of looks.

It's not quite the phone I wish it was but it's definitely serviceable.

It's the right phone for me. If it wasn't a backup phone I'd happily use it as my DD. But yeah, it's a great little phone. I love it.

 

[Dickson leon]

I updated my Nokia 730 mobile to windows 10 two days back and it was working fine, now i got another update (10.0.14393.953) which eventually requires 623.65mb size. I have no other apps than default Microsoft apps in my phone memory with total size of 1.13GB (but I checked in Apps size it was only 592MB(all apps combined) where it shows 1.13Gb in overall size in storage) and system memory has suddenly increased to 5.39GB which happened today morning(at first it was around 4.5GB only). Now I can't able to update to above version due to storage space issue.
Is there any solution for this?
Thanks for the reply in advance.

 

[greedo_greedy]

^ Sounds like you will need to do a hard reset.

Go to Settings>System>About>Reset this Phone

This should clear out whatever remaining system files from WP8.1 and you will start from scracth

 

[mc_razza]

I've had the 735 for a couple of months now and one thing I appreciate above all else is the AMOLED screen, especially when using it at night. Anything dark is pure black, or more correctly, the pixels where the black is is switched off. It's so much easier on the eyes in a pitch black room, unlike my 640 and its LCD screen, which is surprisingly bright even on completely black backgrounds, like the Glance screen. Both display technologies have their own pros and cons, and this is one of them. Basically, I really, really, REALLY like it!