Battling It Out in the Crowded Mid-Range

In the mainstream marketplace segment there are 2 central questions that demand to be considered: is the phone whatsoever good, and is the price competitive?

The starting time question is piece of cake. The Nokia Lumia 735 is a fairly decent phone that does well in many areas. The Lumia 735 is well designed, the materials used make the handset feel nifty in the hand and look nice also. It doesn't venture far from the standard Lumia design, and as far every bit I'chiliad concerned that'south a good matter because not every mid-range device is tough, undecayed and also reasonably stylish. Ideally this handset would be a trivial slimmer and more than compact, simply it is what information technology is.

Performance from the Snapdragon 400 SoC is as expected. Android currently trumps Windows Phone for fast app loading and multi-tasking on similar hardware, simply the Lumia 735 holds its own in general app functioning and optimization across the board. LTE is also quite welcome (if yous get the 735 and not the 730), and I found bombardment life to be acceptable.

The 4.seven-inch 720p AMOLED is a perfectly fine brandish for a mid-range handset, bringing proficient color reproduction and crisp enough text for everyday usage. It's one of the easiest AMOLEDs to see outdoors, thanks to Nokia's improved sunlight readability mode.

And let'south not forget this is supposedly Nokia'due south selfie telephone. While the v megapixel front facing camera is very adept in strong lighting, every bit is the rear camera, it's only equally underwhelming as any other selfie photographic camera in poor lighting. For this device to truly evangelize as the selfie smartphone, it needs to take bang-up selfies in all mutual conditions, and in that respect it doesn't reach the mark.

Aside from the selfie photographic camera, the rear photographic camera is adequately decent. It's somewhat lacking in terms of sharpness and resolution, but it makes upwards for this by delivering photos with great color quality.

Windows Phone is still tricky to rate, considering information technology does some things very well and other things very poorly. For those who are upgrading from a previous Windows Phone, you'll love how Nokia includes almost every feature from their flagships. If y'all're coming from some other platform, the app selection is still weak compared to the competition, however the core features of the operating arrangement are very solid, peculiarly if yous take access to Cortana in your location.

So while the Lumia 735 is generally a good mid-range handset from a hardware standpoint, I can't recommend information technology at its electric current price. For $300 (unlocked), the handset is too expensive to make it a clear winner in this marketplace segment. Bated from LTE back up, there is no clear advantage to getting the Lumia 735 over the impressive and affordable 2nd-generation Moto G, which comes with like hardware for just $180.

To put things in perspective on the higher end, you tin grab last year'due south LG flagship, the LG G2, for $35 more. Either of these devices present much better value, leaving the Lumia 735 as a good device at entirely the wrong cost -- unless y'all got to have a Windows Phone.

Pros: Bonny design uses cracking materials. Decent battery life and brandish for a mid-range handset. Both cameras tin deliver great results, and then long as the conditions are right.

Cons: Expensive in a world where the more affordable Moto G exists. For a 4.seven-inch device, it could be more than compact. Weak indoor performance from the earth-shaking selfie photographic camera.