Bright, sturdy shell with changeable covers, Microsoft extras, low price, decent battery
Sub-HD screen, slow processor, low-res camera, no 4G
For its latest budget smartphone Microsoft has aimed to keep the price as low as possible while still delivering a quality Windows Phone experience. But how low is too low?
Coming hot on the heels of the Microsoft Lumia 535, the Lumia 435 marks a new low for the brand in terms of price, but also in terms of specifications. Designed as a cheap and cheerful entry point to the Windows Phone experience, the Lumia 435 is a chunky affair at 134g and 12mm thick. It's decked out in the traditional Lumia choice of bright, retina-searing colours (our test model was a particularly vibrant shade of orange).
Screen & Chassis
Despite its bulk, the overall size of the phone is smaller than the Lumia 535, with the screen shrinking from 5 inches to 4 inches, which is just a little too small for effective smartphone use these days. Despite the diminutive screen acreage, Microsoft has also dropped the resolution well below HD level, from 960x540 to 800x480 pixels -- that's a meagre 233ppi. This is not a sharp screen, though in fairness, you'll only really feel the loss if you're downgrading from an HD display. If that's the case it'll look a little fuzzy by comparison, and lacking in detail. If you've been more used to a sub-HD feature phone screen however, then this one is at least bright and vibrant.
Software & Processor
Down in the engine room there's a dual-core processor clocked at 1.2GHz and backed by just 1GB RAM. That's not too poor a showing considering the price, but it's no bargain either, and the Lumia 435 is a long way from the 'quick-as-thought' performance of high-end handsets. Everything seems to take a while to get going, whether you're firing up the camera (a full five seconds) or readying Microsoft's personal voice assistant Cortana. As a result using the 435 is a very leisurely experience, and you'll need to adapt to its pace to avoid frustration.
Photography
The 2-megapixel camera on the back of the Lumia 435 is about as basic as they come these days, with no flash or autofocus and a limited number of tweaking options. Photo quality is reasonable considering, and to be honest we've seen worse. As long as you're only using it for very basic snaps the automatic settings will generally deliver. The VGA camera on the front is even more basic, though you can download the Lumia Selfie app to help buff up your self portraits.
There's a fairly generous 8GB of memory on board but you can add up to 128GB more via microSD card, plus you get 30GB of online storage via OneDrive. There's no 4G internet access, which is perhaps no surprise at this price, but it does have the next best thing in the form of 3.5G capability.
The Lumia 435 has several of the usual Microsoft extras on board, including Xbox Music and Mix Radio, as well as HERE Maps and HERE Drive and sat nav and Office apps including Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
Battery life proved decent and we easily managed a couple of days of steady use.
Conclusion
The Microsoft Lumia 435 is a basic, budget phone, and offers a cut-price introduction to the Windows Phone experience. You get Microsoft extras like Office apps, Mix Radio and HERE Drive +, but you're saddled with a slow processor and so-so camera. The screen may not be the sharpest but it's a little bit better than we might expect for the money. The trouble is, it doesn't cost much more to get something like the Motorola Moto E with significantly better screen, processor and camera.
Software: Windows Phone 8.1
Processor: Quad-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400
Memory slot: Yes
Display: 4in, 960x540 800x480 pixels
Connectivity: Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0
Ports: microUSB, 3.5mm headphone jack
Camera: 2 megapixel; 0.3 megapixel front-facing camera
Video playback: H.263, H.264/AVC, MPEG-4, VC-1, Windows video
Audio playback: MP3, WAV, eAAC+, WMA
Radio: Yes
Battery: 1560mAh
Size: 118x65x12mm
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
