Introduction
When Microsoft took over Nokia, my initial reaction was disappointment. My last Symbian device which I had at that time was the Nokia E72 which is a fantastic device with excellent battery life. I purchased the Nokia N9 which had limited availability and I was amazed with its intuitive UI just to know that there wont be much support for it.
To fill the gaps, I used Samsung Omnia series running on Windows Mobile 6.1 and 6.5 which gave me a new dimension of experience. It took me a while to accept Lumia, which I finally did, and my first Lumia device was the Lumia 920, which redefined the modern smartphone experience. And with the foundation set on a solid device like this, I became interested with Nokia again.
Each device launched had uncompromised user experience ,and sets a benchmark for each class. The Lumia 830 which was announced in late 2014 was one good example of how a midrange should be. And this,in my opinion was the original flagship killer.
The Lumia 830
So,what makes it a flagship killer? There are many devices these days that started out as “flagship killer” but they turn out disappointing , in most cases. Windows Phone 8.1 and subsequent Windows Phone 10, were built from ground up to ensure fluid interface which was the aim of Microsoft back then to compete with Apple I Phone. The animations were smooth and the transitions are calm so as to hide the delay of launching the app which was a brilliant move. It doesn’t stutter like Android back then in their race to have fast launching apps. The Windows platform became synonymous with well optimized software that no matter which hardware you use, you get to experience the best.
In order to cut cost, many flagship killers tend to have generic designs, with questionable built quality.
This is where Lumia shines. The Lumia 830 design isn’t a budget design, nor is its built quality. It is a skimped down version of the Lumia 930, a flagship device . But the experience with the Lumia 830 was really fun. It is slim at just 8.5mm and weighs next to nothing at 150g. The 5 inch HD display is protected with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 and backed with Clear Black display.
So where did they cut costs? Unlike the Lumia 930 , the Lumia 830 settled for a more modest processing power, the Qualcomm SD400 and 1GB RAM . This is basically half the processing capability of the Lumia 930, but with Windows being well optimized, the interactions are still fluid and responsive.
What I love about Lumia series is the continuity of experience and the Lumia 830 is a prime example for that. At half the megapixel count of the Lumia 930, the camera on the Lumia 830 was what made this device the flagship killer. This device was directly compared to Apple’s top offering back then during the launching event and it came out victorious. The 10MP Pureview camera with Zeiss branded optics and OIS ensured quality imaging experience which surprisingly was made to compete with flagships from the competition. This is what made Nokia, king of imaging!
The 2200mAh battery would last you for the greater part of the day and you can either charge with the traditional brick or with Qi wireless charger. The battery is also removable and you can pop in a spare battery if you need to.
Camera Samples
Catch my retro review along with more photo samples and video recording with the amazing rich audio capture here
Conclusion
Looking back at what the Lumia has achieved in their limited time, I have only praises for them. It was a time that Nokia was still leading innovations and dared to be different. If you have your Lumia devices with you, its time to power up and relive the good memories.
I hope you enjoyed this retro review and as usual do stay connected at https://twitter.com/theoriginal086 for updates on the go and to get together.
