Quick Look: Microsoft Lumia 535

Microsoft’s first Lumia smartphone is here in Malaysia. The Lumia 535, priced at RM429, is Microsoft’s first smartphone launched after the acquisition of Nokia’s Devices division. The brand may be different, but does that mean the soul of a Lumia device has gone too? We take a quick look at the Microsoft Lumia 535 to find out.

In one word: no. Nokia’s legacy in making great smartphones remains true despite the difference in branding. The Nokia Microsoft Lumia 535 looks just like someone scraped off the Nokia branding and replaced it with Microsofts log in the front and back of the device. Of course, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

The Lumia 535 inherits the same cheerful colourways from previous Lumia devices, and its build quality is just what you’d expect from a Nokia device. The Lumia 535 even takes a leaf out of its old Nokia handbook by reintroducing the Cyan colourway as one of six colours available on the new smartphone – the other colours available are Black, White, Grey, Lime Green and Orange.

Running on the new Lumia Denim update, the new Lumia 535 is powered by a modest Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 1.2GHz quad-core processor with 1GB of RAM, but as with all Windows Phones, the experience is essentially the same, with virtually no lag navigating about the device. At this price range, too, the 5-inch 960 x 540 display is nothing to shout about, as is the 8GB internal storage – though the microSD card slot supports up to 128GB cards.

What’s also interesting is the introduction of dual 5MP front and rear cameras, where the front camera seems to be the better of the two – it’s the same 5MP sensor with wide angle lens used in the front camera of the Lumia 730/735.

Otherwise, the Lumia 535 does not make a big fuss about being the first Microsoft Lumia device – from our first impressions, it is an affordable Windows Phone that goes about its job dutifully. Those fun and cheerful colours should also be a plus point for the younger crowd seeking a sense of individuality, and that RM429 doesn’t quite hurt the wallet, too.