Windows 10: Lumia 830, Lumia 735 or 650

[Hyrokumata]

Hey everyone. This is my first post here, and I would like to see some opinions from users with the devices mentioned on the title: Lumia 735, Lumia 830 and Lumia 650.
I am currently owner of a Lumia 530, running Windows 10 (with some tricks...), but battery is just small (~1400mAh) and the device is 2 years old, so battery life is becoming bad. Also, Lumia 530 has a Snapdragon 200 and 512MB, so I feel that when I really need to multitask and get things done, this is just not possible. Browsing on Edge is a pain due the lack of memory. Same for others apps, that just crash or make my phone shutdown/reboot. I know, Windows 10 has its issues, but I believe all this bad experience is also due the lack of RAM. (Windows 10 it self consumes around 350 on this device, so yeah...). Moreover, with Lumia phones at low prices and running out of stock, I think it's a good time to buy one, despite the fact I am aware that Microsoft could just leave the platform...

As a Lumia 530 user, any of the three mentioned devices will provide me a better (a much better, I hope) experience. I just can't decide which one, and I hope to get some help from you

What am I looking for?
- Well, I use my phone to entertain my self, I listen to a lot of music, watch many docs and do light browsing, messaging and calling. Not heavy tasks nor gaming, but I am looking for enough performance that allows me multi tasking without resuming's everywhere and apps crashing all the time... Battery life is also very important for me.
- Camera doesn't really matter as I only take photos of my annotations from college to share with friends;
- Screen is not something I care either. Pixels density, colors... On paper the three devices are similar, bu they have different screen technologies and that could be a game changer because of battery life. A dark theme, should help a lot saving power on such devices. That's the only thing I actually worry about screen at this moment.
- As I said, I am looking for a responsive phone, so performance is a bit important for me. I have seen reviews of Lumia 830 and 735 and they are seem capable phones, and run very well... with WP 8.1. I couldn't find how these devices perform when running W10m and how do they compare to Lumia 650. Despite the Lumia 650 has a S212, it doesn't look as bad as I was expecting. It performs more or less the same as Lumia 640... But is it better than L830 or L735 sporting a old S400? I am assuming L830 and L735 perform similarly as they were released at same time, probably have same kind of storage speeds, RAM speeds, etc.
Weight - I also know that Lumia 650 is much lighter than 830 and 735. It's even lighter than my Lumia 530, which is amazing. However that is not something that concerns me.

So, I covered some topics that were used as arguments when comparing L830 with L650, for example, just to give you an idea I am simple guy, and very few details really matter to me

There are some features differences that I am aware. Lumia 735 doesn't have Glance (shame... Glance makes a lot of sense on OLED displays, in my opinion), doesn't feature double tap to wake. However, I am not sure if those features are really important for me. I never used them before... so, even if I purchase the L735 I won't feel something is missing. However, they are interesting features in my opinion. Still about features, is there anything else I am missing?

I saw on a review that actions buttons on Lumia 830 (that aren't on-screen) are not very responsive, what do you think about that when compared to on-screen navigation bar?

I have already saw some opinions around WindowsCentral and on some other places, but they are old threads and for me is important understand how those devices run with Anniversary Update for example, or Redstone 2 builds.

Hope you can share your experience, especially if you already played with both devices. Thanks for reading and oh... sorry if my English is not that good

 

[mkdas]

In my opinion 650 is better of the three. It has a really nice design. Though the processor is snapdragon 212 and by naming conversion it should not be a powerhouse, it is still better than the snapdragon 400 found than the other two. I am currently rocking a 640 and I can definitly say that 650 will be a improvement and you will like it.

 

[slivy58]

Since I own both the 650 gets the hands-down nod over the 830. It's more on the physical aspect of things rather than performance since IMO both handle themselves similarly for everyday tasks when running W10M, at least according to my unscientific tests. The 650 also has a forward facing speaker which might be a bonus to you. The OLED display trumps the 830's considerably making it hard to believe it only has a resolution of 720x1280, 830 is IPS w/same res. but poorer viewing angles.

The 830 feels like a tank although being slightly smaller in length and width but substantially thicker. Mine does exhibit the unresponsive "back" button issue with a scroll up or down resolving, doesn't happen all the time yet more than I'd like.

So whatever you choose will be a considerable bump-up from the 530 with my money on the 650, it's the newest of the bunch and native to W10M.

 

[Hyrokumata]

In my opinion 650 is better of the three. It has a really nice design. Though the processor is snapdragon 212 and by naming conversion it should not be a powerhouse, it is still better than the snapdragon 400 found than the other two. I am currently rocking a 640 and I can definitly say that 650 will be a improvement and you will like it.

Thanks for sharing your opinion. Is just a bit confusing that a low-end chip like 212 and a mid-range 400 are similar in performance. I compared both chips on Snapdragon, and they have similar features. As the 212 has more recent technology, at the end it might be better than 400, as you say. Maybe I will opt by the 650. Unfortunately, it's only available in white, but I think I can deal with that. Again, thanks

 

[Hyrokumata]

Since I own both the 650 gets the hands-down nod over the 830. It's more on the physical aspect of things rather than performance since IMO both handle themselves similarly for everyday tasks when running W10M, at least according to my unscientific tests. The 650 also has a forward facing speaker which might be a bonus to you. The OLED display trumps the 830's considerably making it hard to believe it only has a resolution of 720x1280, 830 is IPS w/same res. but poorer viewing angles.

The 830 feels like a tank although being slightly smaller in length and width but substantially thicker. Mine does exhibit the unresponsive "back" button issue with a scroll up or down resolving, doesn't happen all the time yet more than I'd like.

So whatever you choose will be a considerable bump-up from the 530 with my money on the 650, it's the newest of the bunch and native to W10M.

I was hoping that someone with two of the three devices could share it's experience, so thanks a lot If the Lumia 650 and 830 running Windows 10 perform almost the same, and the screen is much better as you say, than I think I will go with the 650. I was just going to buy the 830 or 735 if they performed better, because both were released on 2014, so they are quite old and not native Windows 10 phones, as you mentioned.
Just one more question, if you don't mind. What do you think about battery life? The Lumia 830 has a 2200mAh, but it has LCD panel and has a S400, that maybe consumes more than the 212, or at least, the 212 might be more power efficient. On the other hand, we have the Lumia 650 with a smaller battery, 2000mAh, but the OLED screen with a dark theme should help here. If you could tell me for how long the battery of both devices last for you, that would be great

 

[slivy58]

I was hoping that someone with two of the three devices could share it's experience, so thanks a lot If the Lumia 650 and 830 running Windows 10 perform almost the same, and the screen is much better as you say, than I think I will go with the 650. I was just going to buy the 830 or 735 if they performed better, because both were released on 2014, so they are quite old and not native Windows 10 phones, as you mentioned.
Just one more question, if you don't mind. What do you think about battery life? The Lumia 830 has a 2200mAh, but it has LCD panel and has a S400, that maybe consumes more than the 212, or at least, the 212 might be more power efficient. On the other hand, we have the Lumia 650 with a smaller battery, 2000mAh, but the OLED screen with a dark theme should help here. If you could tell me for how long the battery of both devices last for you, that would be great

You're welcome... Would say the 830s battery is better but not by a whole heck of a lot. Can't give you exact figures but my 650 get me thorough the whole day (15-16 hours), and by the end we can have anywhere from 50-60% charge left. No I am not a power-user per se with emails and texting being my heavy hitters - then a phone call or two, some light web browsing along with a half dozen photos. Ditto on the 830, pretty much same scenario. Obviously your mileage will vary according to your usage but that's my typical day-to-day outcome.

FYI... The 830 does have wireless charging whilst 650 does not. Better rear camera 10 MP (w/OIS) vs 8 (w/o OIS) with 830 doing 1080p vs 720p, but front facing camera is better on 650 (5 MP vs 0.9). Charging port on 830 is at top with 650 on bottom, both using microUSB. 650 has the on-screen nav buttons which can be hidden, I like that feature. I know some of these things weren't much of a concern to you but thought we'd point them out anyway.

At the end of the day the 650 is still the clear winner for me, soooo much nicer to use overall so a few concession here and there are worth it to me. Suspecting the 830 or 735 are getting tougher to come by and going to guess they may fetch a premium for new, not sure about used... A brief search we did yesterday garnered a big fat "0" for the 735 but I'm sure they exist. IMO opinion the 650s price is going to be hard to beat especially if it can be had for a discount.

 

[Hyrokumata]

You're welcome... Would say the 830s battery is better but not by a whole heck of a lot. Can't give you exact figures but my 650 get me thorough the whole day (15-16 hours), and by the end we can have anywhere from 50-60% charge left. No I am not a power-user per se with emails and texting being my heavy hitters - then a phone call or two, some light web browsing along with a half dozen photos. Ditto on the 830, pretty much same scenario. Obviously your mileage will vary according to your usage but that's my typical day-to-day outcome.

FYI... The 830 does have wireless charging whilst 650 does not. Better rear camera 10 MP (w/OIS) vs 8 (w/o OIS) with 830 doing 1080p vs 720p, but front facing camera is better on 650 (5 MP vs 0.9). Charging port on 830 is at top with 650 on bottom, both using microUSB. 650 has the on-screen nav buttons which can be hidden, I like that feature. I know some of these things weren't much of a concern to you but thought we'd point them out anyway.

At the end of the day the 650 is still the clear winner for me, soooo much nicer to use overall so a few concession here and there are worth it to me. Suspecting the 830 or 735 are getting tougher to come by and going to guess they may fetch a premium for new, not sure about used... A brief search we did yesterday garnered a big fat "0" for the 735 but I'm sure they exist. IMO opinion the 650s price is going to be hard to beat especially if it can be had for a discount.

Ok, so they have more or less the same battery life. As I said, am I not power-user, so according to your information, I probably won't have to charge the phone twice a day like I do at this moment, so that is good for me.

That's true, the 830 have some goodies that 650 is missing, which makes my decision a bit harder because the three phones are very close in price. The Lumia 735 is at 99€, Lumia 650 is at 119€ (only in white) and finally 830 at 129€. Despite the fact that any of the three phones satisfy my needs, I guess I will made a decision based on features. For example, the Lumia 735 doesn't have Glance Screen, as far as I know. I actually turn the screen on many times to check if I have any notification (my phone is in silence most of day because of my classes) and to check what time is it. Plus, Lumia 735 has less 8GB internal storage which is always good for some extra apps, so I think plus 20€ the Lumia 650 worth's it as it's a more recent phone. Comparing Lumia 830 and 650, I think the differences are design, weight and as you mentioned the Lumia 830 has Qi and better rear camera. However, Qi is something I won't use, and photos is not something I care that much. Plus, I have been searching and actually found many complains about screen flickering on 830 when running Windows 10, and that is a con.
Conclusion: I think I will buy the Lumia 650. However, is only available in white, which I don't find that much appealing... But, I think I can live with that. I can always buy a battery case, but on front I can't do anything, right?

Thanks for your time

 

[Ariel Takom]

Own the 830 for a year and currently using a Lumia 950.

830 takes better pictures and has wireless charging, but taking into account your said preference, the camera might not matter and personally, the wireless charging is a niche feature which might be useful to some, but it certainly wasn't for me. FYI, based on what I've read around this site, most people agree that the 650's camera can still produce beautiful pictures despite it's lower MP.

Battery-life on the 830 isn't all that amazing for me. Heavy user here: checking my social media (IG, FB, Twitter, Reddit) for 3~5 hours a day, as well as receiving e-mails from 2 accounts (an average of 5-10 mails per day) set to sync as items arrive, and occasionally listening to music for maybe 0.5~1 hour, my battery would last me from 7.30AM unplugged at 100% to about 3.00 ~ 5.00PM depending on how heavy I use the phone. So, yeah, I charge my phone twice a day. Once overnight, and topping it off in the afternoon/evening. Never used the 650 but as you said, the SD212 may consume less power than the SD400, and thus might last longer than the 830.

About the screen, I've fiddled with a 650 on display at a store, and comparing it to my 830 that I was using at that time, the 650's screen is better IMO.

About the buttons, the 830 has a capacitive button whilst the 650 has the on-screen/software buttons. Using the 950, I've learnt to appreciate the latter as it's just more convenient for me to use, hiding it and all, which gives me more screen estate. One downside that I could think about this is that if you somehow broke the phone's screen to the point that the phone has difficulties detecting touch inputs, then the software button might no longer work and to repair it, you'd have to replace the whole screen as well. I cracked the screen on my 830, and still everything runs fine, so yeah. But bear in mind that though I'm stating that it's theoretically easier to repair the 830, the phone has been discontinued, and finding a vendor that is willing to repair the phone, or even finding a spare part for the phone, would be way way harder than for the 650.

Sorry I couldn't provide much more info to compare between the two, but for my 2 cents, get the 650. It's just newer, and thus would be supported until the day W10M dies.

 

[Hyrokumata]

For some reason, my reply is not showing here, so I am going to write it again...

According with your experience, both devices have similar battery life, so again I don't see why should I buy 830. I mean, the 830 looks a very good phone despite it's age, but if Lumia 650 offers same performance and ~ same battery life, I think it's safer to buy the Lumia 650 (119€). It's also cheaper than the 830 (129€) by 10€.

You are right, and it's good to point those differences in case someone else is also deciding between 830 or 650. The 830 has some goodies like Qi, can record with higher quality, better rear camera, etc but none of those "extras" matter for me. So, personally, it's deciding whenever I want to buy a old phone that is no longer manufactured, which has some cons because find phone parts for repair is harder, and Microsoft could stop supporting it anytime, OR buy the Lumia 650 that offers everything that I need and it's more recent so Microsoft will support it for some time (or not...). So, I think definitely the 650 is a winner here.
Just an extra, that I mentioned before and it's something that is not affecting every Lumia 830, but it's a fact there is a lot of feedback and reports on forums like Microsoft Answers after upgrading the 830 to Windows 10 the screen flickers. Anyone considering the Lumia 830 keep that in mind.

About Lumia 735, unfortunately nobody using that device came here sharing their experience However, after some searching, I could conclude that Lumia 735 and Lumia 830 are similar in performance, and the 830 seems to offer better battery life (noticeable), something that surprises me because they both are packed with a 2200mAh and the 735 has an OLED screen... but in real life, the 830 apparently wins. They were released at the same time, and are very similar, but overall the 830 is better than 735 : better camera, 16GB internal storage against 8GB from the 735. Both have Wireless charging. Now, the Lumia 735 lacks Glance Scree, I think is important to highlight that. So, everything you find on Lumia 735 you will find on Lumia 830, and probably even better as the 830 aimed to feel like a flagship device. The only thing L735 has and 830 is the OLED panel (correct me if I am missing something else)

So, for my personal usage, the Lumia 735, 830 and 650 are good, and in my case I will buy 650 just because it's more recent. Again, thanks a lot for your help Elky64.

 

[Hyrokumata]

Own the 830 for a year and currently using a Lumia 950.

830 takes better pictures and has wireless charging, but taking into account your said preference, the camera might not matter and personally, the wireless charging is a niche feature which might be useful to some, but it certainly wasn't for me. FYI, based on what I've read around this site, most people agree that the 650's camera can still produce beautiful pictures despite it's lower MP.

Battery-life on the 830 isn't all that amazing for me. Heavy user here: checking my social media (IG, FB, Twitter, Reddit) for 3~5 hours a day, as well as receiving e-mails from 2 accounts (an average of 5-10 mails per day) set to sync as items arrive, and occasionally listening to music for maybe 0.5~1 hour, my battery would last me from 7.30AM unplugged at 100% to about 3.00 ~ 5.00PM depending on how heavy I use the phone. So, yeah, I charge my phone twice a day. Once overnight, and topping it off in the afternoon/evening. Never used the 650 but as you said, the SD212 may consume less power than the SD400, and thus might last longer than the 830.

About the screen, I've fiddled with a 650 on display at a store, and comparing it to my 830 that I was using at that time, the 650's screen is better IMO.

About the buttons, the 830 has a capacitive button whilst the 650 has the on-screen/software buttons. Using the 950, I've learnt to appreciate the latter as it's just more convenient for me to use, hiding it and all, which gives me more screen estate. One downside that I could think about this is that if you somehow broke the phone's screen to the point that the phone has difficulties detecting touch inputs, then the software button might no longer work and to repair it, you'd have to replace the whole screen as well. I cracked the screen on my 830, and still everything runs fine, so yeah. But bear in mind that though I'm stating that it's theoretically easier to repair the 830, the phone has been discontinued, and finding a vendor that is willing to repair the phone, or even finding a spare part for the phone, would be way way harder than for the 650.

Sorry I couldn't provide much more info to compare between the two, but for my 2 cents, get the 650. It's just newer, and thus would be supported until the day W10M dies.

First of all, thanks for your time
About what you said about battery life, that is good. Something like 12 hours under heavy use, is excellent. I mean, as I am not a power-user that can easily mean about 18 or maybe 24 hours. Probably more, I don't know. 18 hours would be sufficient for me.

Thanks for mention that. You are right, finding parts for the 830 must be hard these days. On the other hand, it makes a lot of sense that breaking the screen of a Lumia 650 could mean a unresponsive touch and un-usable device, therefore I would have to replace the whole screen, never thought about that. Anyway, the Lumia 650 costs 119€, replacing an OLED screen would be extremely expensive right? Probably if that happened I would buy a new phone... I don't know, sometimes people tell me how much they spent replacing a LCD screen and is expensive, so I am just guessing that for OLED screens it's even worse.

That's right, going to buy 650 mostly because it's newer. Thanks

 

[slivy58]

According with your experience, both devices have similar battery life, so again I don't see why should I buy 830. I mean, the 830 looks a very good phone despite it's age, but if Lumia 650 offers same performance and ~ same battery life, I think it's safer to buy the Lumia 650 (119€). It's also cheaper than the 830 (129€) by 10€.

Oh I agree 100% that the 650 is the one to buy especially if you can get it cheaper.

Just an extra, that I mentioned before and it's something that is not affecting every Lumia 830, but it's a fact there is a lot of feedback and reports on forums like Microsoft Answers after upgrading the 830 to Windows 10 the screen flickers. Anyone considering the Lumia 830 keep that in mind.

Sorry have to laugh at this one... Saw it first on my 830 after upgrading to 10 then got the 650, it too has same/similar traits. Bought the 950 and wouldn't you know it, it's infected as well :eck: None of them are bad in a way that it causes problems using the phone but more of an annoyance type of thing, if you know what I mean. Obviously it's an OS issue rather than hardware since my 830 was fine running W8.1... Firmware maybe???

 

[Hyrokumata]

Oh I agree 100% that the 650 is the one to buy especially if you can get it cheaper.



Sorry have to laugh at this one... Saw it first on my 830 after upgrading to 10 then got the 650, it too has same/similar traits. Bought the 950 and wouldn't you know it, it's infected as well :eck: None of them are bad in a way that it causes problems using the phone but more of an annoyance type of thing, if you know what I mean. Obviously it's an OS issue rather than hardware since my 830 was fine running W8.1... Firmware maybe???

Really?? The problem I read about the 830 was flickering systematically, and would intensify on Windows 8 apps... Yes, a OS problem, because as reported when rolling back to WP8.1 everything was normal. They described the screen would shutdown for a second, then light up, then after a while shutdown a again. Something like this, as far as I saw around some forums: https://forums.windowscentral.com/e...%3A%2F%2Fvimeo.com%2F149497070&token=-x5UxVTJ. You also got this on Lumia 950 and 650? I never got anything like that on my Lumia 530

 

[slivy58]

Really?? The problem I read about the 830 was flickering systematically, and would intensify on Windows 8 apps... Yes, a OS problem, because as reported when rolling back to WP8.1 everything was normal. They described the screen would shutdown for a second, then light up, then after a while shutdown a again. Something like this, as far as I saw around some forums: https://forums.windowscentral.com/e...%3A%2F%2Fvimeo.com%2F149497070&token=c0VqfWVI. You also got this on Lumia 950 and 650? I never got anything like that on my Lumia 530

Oh OK maybe I'm on the wrong path here cuz never seen that one before. What I get is basically a white bar that appears at the top of the screen, on occasion, when opening/closing apps, gives a "flash effect" when it does happen which leads me to believe it's a transitional thing. If I get around to it I'll post a short video as it is easily emulated.

As well, my 650 the glance screen flickers every 50 sec or so and saw this on the first 650 we had too. No signs of it on my 830/950, yet.