Fine build quality, decent screen, powerful processor, good selfie camera
Windows Marketplace still a bit lean compared to rivals
2014 could be the year of the selfie, as manufacturers increasingly catch on to the need for better quality cameras on the front of their devices. Nokia's contribution is the Lumia 735, a mid-range 4G Windows smartphone with a 5-megapixel camera on the front and some extra features to help you look good in the frame.
The Lumia 735, along with the soon-come, slightly larger 830, could be among the last Nokia-branded smartphones we see, as Microsoft further exerts its influence on the once-great Finnish firm.
Screen & chassis Style-wise, it matches other Lumias with its blocky plastic casing in a range of bright colours. Nothing wrong with that -- it feels hardwearing and able to withstand a few knocks and bumps, plus it's slim at just under 9mm and lightweight at 134g.
However, it's not water or dustproof as we've been seeing recently with models from Sony in particular.
The 4.7-inch OLED LCD screen offers an HD resolution of 1,280x720 pixels (316ppi) and it's nicely bright and sharp, with good contrast, even if it hasn't got the Full HD resolution of pricier models. Viewing angles are pretty good too.
Software & processor The 1.2GHz quad-core processor backed by 1GB RAM proved more than capable of handling whatever we chose to throw at it. It's running Windows Phone 8.1 with Live Tiles, which rotate your contacts pictures and alert you to messages and notifications.
Windows Phone doesn't seem to require the same amount of grunt as Android or iOS to perform at its best, so apps opened nippily and browsing menus is a pain-free experience.
The Cortana personal assistant come built-in, prompting you with news and updates to suit your preferences and allowing you to ask questions about the weather, travel, whatever and receive real-time answers. It learns from your behaviour and travels too and on this evidence it's not bad at all, answering most questions relevantly, though we'll need to see how it develops next to rivals like Google Now and Apple's Siri.
Photography
The 6.7-megapixel camera is a step down from the 10-megapixel PureView model you'll find on the Lumia 830 but it comes with autofocus and flash, plus a wide f1.9 aperture, as well as the usual range of additional software lenses to offer extra functionality. Picture quality is surprisingly good for the specs too, with plenty of detail and realistic colours.
But Microsoft is touting the 735 as a phone optimised for selfies, and sure enough there's a better than average 5-megapixel camera on the front (with f2.4 aperture) that uses a wide-angle lens to help you capture more of the background in your selfies -- useful for group calls, either when you're using your network or Skype.
There's 8GB of memory on board but you can add up to 128GB more via microSD card.
The 2,220mAh battery held up pretty well, easily delivering a good day and a half of steady use.
Conclusion The Nokia Lumia 735 is a solidly capable Windows smartphone with a good screen, fast processor and a surprisingly high quality camera. It's good to see there's a better than usual 5-megapixel snapper on the front for superior selfies too. This is likely to please keen Intagrammers and Facebookers, who want a capable phone that makes a statement and doesn't cost the Earth.
Software: Windows Phone 8.1
Processor: Quad-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400
Memory slot: OLED LCD, 1280x720 pixels
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
