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Nokia Lumia 530 Launches, Bringing Windows Phone 8.1 For Less Than £100
Microsoft has officially unveiled the Lumia 530, an affordable Windows Phone 8.1 handset
Microsoft has officially announced the successor model to its popular Lumia 520, a budget handset that was one of its best selling Windows Phone devices EVER. The new edition follows the Lumia lines naming convention and is known as the Lumia 530.
Interestingly, while the phone itself has Nokia’s logo on the front, Microsoft’s press release quite obviously skirts around the name, with the phone being referred to only as the Lumia 530, and all references to the company being “Microsoft Devices Group” – the word Nokia doesn’t get uttered.
The details herald the Lumia 530 as the “first Lumia to be introduced at a sub-100 Euros price point”. There are in fact two versions, a regular model and one of those fancy dual-SIM ones, precise prices aren’t given, but Microsoft does say that both models are “expected” to be priced at €85 (£67) before tax and subsidies and “on the highstreet for under €100” (£79). If the company’s comments at earlier launches are anything to go by, these are recommended prices but it’s really up to the networks and retailers.
Clearly the idea here is that like the Lumia 520 things will be kept nice and wallet-friendly.
The Lumia 530 sports a new design, which is sadly somewhat more generic and a bit less interesting than the Lumia 520’s interesting angular fascia and curvy back. The swappable back panels have remained, although your choices include dark grey, white, and, Microsoft’s current inexplicable obsession: radioactive green and orange.
Naturally this new release is using the very latest Windows Phone software – Windows Phone 8.1, to be precise, offering more customisation options, a drop-down notification and quick settings centre, and a more organised app drawer, amongst other things.
The display is a 4in LCD with an 854×480 pixel (FWVGA) resolution at 246 pixels-per-inch, while inside you get a Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 quad-core processor clocked at 1.2GHz, 512MB of RAM and 4GB of onboard storage space. The phone also comes with 15GB of OneDrive cloud storage and microSD support for cards up to 128GB.
The rear-facing main camera is a 5MP setup and there’s no front-facing secondary. Following on from the Lumia 520 it’s a dinky little device measuring 19.7 x 62.3 x 11.7mm and lightweight at 129g. It’s not a 4G capable phone, but you do get full 3G support as well as Wi-Fi, A-GPS and GLONASS, Bluetooth, microUSB, and a 3.5mm audio jack. It has FM radio support and a 1,430mAh battery cell.
The Lumia 530 will be available globally during August 2014.