Nokia Lumia 730

Introduction

The battle in the midrange has never been so intense and manufacturers have to work harder than ever to climb to prominence. Microsoft is surely feeling the heat from Android with makers, big and small, churning out solid and affordable phones that get the job done and sometimes even exceed expectations - for the price.

Nokia Lumia 735 official photos

The Nokia Lumia 735 will definitely try and do just that. It's taking charge of Microsoft's updated Windows Phone midrange with the latest Lumia Denim firmware, an HD screen, LTE and a selfie-centric wide-angle front cam. The Lumia 720 is one of the company's top sellers and it's now been upgraded two-fold by the Lumia 730 and Lumia 735. They share the 4.7" ClearBlack AMOLED screen, the Snapdragon 400 chipset and the imaging department, combining a wide-aperture primary camera with a high-res, Skype-optimized selfie cam.

The Lumia 730 is a dual-SIM package while the Lumia 735 has LTE. That's the only difference between the two - nothing on the outside to set them apart but they'll obviously be offered on very different markets. There is another small difference too, as the Lumia 735 back cover is already wireless charging enabled out of the box, while you would have to get an extra wireless charging back cover to enable this feature on the Lumia 730 Dual SIM.

Key Features

4.7" 720p (316 ppi) 16M-color ClearBlack AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with Gorilla Glass 3
Microsoft Windows Phone 8.1 with latest Denim update
Quad-core 1.2GHz Cortex-A7 CPU, Adreno 305 GPU; Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 chipset, 1GB of RAM
6.7MP camera with 1080p video recording @ 30fps, 1/3.4'' sensor size
5MP front-facing camera, wide-angle 24mm lens, 1080p video recording
8GB of built-in storage, microSD card slot up to 128GB, 15GB free OneDrive storage
LTE Cat. 4 (up to 150 Mbps) support, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, GPS/GLONASS, Bluetooth v4.0
NFC
Standard 3.5mm audio jack
Accelerometer and proximity sensor
Active noise cancellation with a dedicated mic
2,200mAh Li-Ion battery, wireless charging

Main Disadvantages

Chipset is rather dated now
No Glance screen functionality
A hardware camera shutter key would've been nice
You have to choose between LTE or Dual SIM, you can't have both
Lumia 730 Dual SIM doesn't have wireless charging support without an extra back cover

A Snapdragon 400 chipset (with LTE support) with a quad-core CPU and 1GB of RAM used to be the default choice in the midrange, although we are now seeing most OEMs move to 410. The Lumia 735 hops on the selfie bandwagon with a 6.7MP camera at the back and a 5MP wide-angle front-facer, both making good use of the Selfie app, courtesy of the latest firmware. The Lumia 735 is the first phone to launch with the Lumia Denim update to Windows Phone 8.1.

Specs aside, the Lumia 735 is simply beautiful - another piece of top-notch hardware with consciously understated finish, as if to emphasize the extra solid build. The fit in the hand is terrific, too.

The Nokia Lumia 735 live photos

We're going to talk more about the build and finish of the Lumia 735 in the following chapter, so let's get cracking.

view

The Lumia 730/735 is a sleek looking fella, strongly reminiscent of the Lumia 800, which in turn was identical to the iconic Nokia N9. Another way to describe it is a smaller version of the Lumia 1520. In any case, the phone looks the part - with a streamlined body and clean, understated design.

The Lumia 735 is thinner than its predecessors. The phone measures 134.7 x 68.5 x 8.7mm. This is the same thickness as a Lumia 1520 - the slimmest the Lumia lineup has ever offered.

Yet, the Lumia 730/735 could've been more compact, the space below the display in particular is not used for anything. More on that in a bit.

Design and handling

When we said the Lumia 735 looked like the Nokia N9 we meant it. The very shape and the smooth finish create a convincing impression of a polycarbonate unibody - which isn't the case. It looks like it but it's not - yet the build quality is all there, plus you get a user-replaceable battery.

The Lumia 730/735 is carrying the heritage of the lineup with pride. No risks are being taken - the design is well familiar but relevant enough. Granted, it's not a phone that stands out from the crowd but one that looks solid, dependable and by no means cheap. Sounds about right for a midranger.

The sides of the phones are rounded and they blend into the back seamlessly making for a nice feel in hand. The bottom and top sides are flat.

The entire inner body pops out of the polycarbonate shell, which encloses the screen. To open the cover and get access to the card compartments and the battery, you need to push the top of the frame right above the display and then repeat on the bottom side.

Handling the Lumia 730/735 is a nice experience

There are other color variations available including green, orange and white. Since it's a single piece, it completely changes the overall look of the phone, which is nice.

With a weight of 130 grams, the phone feels pleasantly light in the hand. Don't think however, that this takes away from its sturdiness. The phone gives out the impression it can endure a lot of bumps and drops. And since the entire plastic cover can be replaced, damaging the body of the phone isn't too much trouble, as long as you keep the screen safe from damage. A Gorilla Glass 3 protective layer on top of the display will perhaps give you extra peace of mind.

Windows Phone 8.1 enables the use of virtual on-screen keys for navigation and the Lumia 730/735 takes advantage of them ditching the traditional capacitive keys below the display. One downside of reusing a design is Nokia didn't get rid of the resulting blank space below the screen. It currently serves no purpose than housing the main microphone (which we're sure could've been located elsewhere on the bottom).

The front of the Lumia 730/735

On top of the 4.7" ClearBlack AMOLED display, there's the earpiece and the selfie-centric 5MP front cam in the top right corner. The Nokia logo, which will be gone very soon, is below the earpiece. A chance to enjoy it one last time.

The top houses the 5MP selfie camera

The basic button layout remains the same as on Lumia smartphones of old. On the right side, there's the Power/Lock button placed in the center and above it is the volume rocker. The left side is bare.

The sides of the Lumia 730/735

On the top, there's a 3.5mm headphone jack in the middle and that's just it. The bottom houses only the microUSB port.

The top and bottom are almost bare

The back of the Lumia 730/735 is also quite uncluttered. There's a 6.7MP camera lens complete with a LED flash. There's also a second microphone for noise cancellation next to the LED flash.

At the bottom right sits the round-shaped loudspeaker grille.

The 6.7MP camera joined by the LED flash are on the back

The device is powered by a 2200mAh Li-Ion battery. Next to the battery compartment are the nano-SIM and microSD card slots. The battery is removable as well, so you can carry a spare with you if you need.

Overall, we like the feel and handling of the Lumia 730/735. We are rarely disappointed by a Nokia-built smartphone and this one makes no exception. It's not a premium device but benefits from an excellent choice of materials and the build is impeccable.

The Lumia 730/735 is one of the thinnest phones in the lineup and it's also reasonably light. It's also tough and fits great in hand. Had Nokia also made it a bit more compact it would be a proper engineer masterpiece.

fails to impress

The Nokia Lumia 735 comes with a 6.7MP sensor with Carl Zeiss lens. Similar to plenty of Nokia sensors in the past though you can't use the full resolution of the sensor - you get 16:9 photos in 3072 x 1728 (5.3MP) and 4:3 photos in 2848 x 2144 (6.1MP).

Nokia has created a proprietary app for all Lumia smartphones called Nokia Camera, which is soon to be renamed to Lumia Camera due to Microsoft's completed acquisition.

The (Lumia) camera interface is very familiar - it offers white balance, focus, ISO, shutter speed up to 4s and exposure settings. Expanding the top settings menu puts the camera in Pro mode, which lets you adjust such things as ISO, exposure, shutter speed, white balance, and more, via a nifty slider interface that pops up on the right side of the frame. Your adjustments show up real-time so you can easily set up the exact shot parameters that you're looking for.

Nokia Camera UI

The samples on the Lumia 735 are somewhat noisy but have plenty of detail and look pretty decent overall. However, the dynamic range is subpar and white balance is a bit off. Out of the several dozen samples we shot, only a third came out with semi-decent white balance.

At least when the white balance is right, the colors come out pretty great - nicely saturated without going overboard.

Nokia Lumia 735 16:9 camera samples

Happily, you can get more camera functionality via Lenses. Our Lumia 735 came only with Bing Vision, Vine and Twitter modes, but you can also download numerous other free and paid lenses which enhance the camera functionality. Highlights include Lumia Cinemagraph, Panorama, and Refocus lenses, but there's a whole bunch more that can be downloaded directly from the lenses interface.

Nokia Lumia 735 panorama shot

With the Lumia Denim update, Nokia has preloaded a couple of more camera-centric apps, chief among which is the Lumia Selfie app. It focuses on taking selfies with the 5MP front-facing camera and is pretty good at what it does in terms of user interface.

However, we feel that the average user can be a bit overwhelmed with all the camera choices they're presented with - particularly those that will settle for a modest 6MP shooter.

Lastly, here's a macro shot taken with the Lumia 730/735.

Nokia Lumia 735 macro shot

Photo quality comparison

We've added the Nokia Lumia 735 to our dedicated photo compare tool, where you can compare its 6MP shooter to some of its main rivals.

Nokia Lumia 735 in our photo quality comparison tool

FullHD video recording

The Nokia Lumia 735 camcorder can record video at 1080p@30fps, with a solid 17.5Mbps bitrate and an unwavering 30fps. Sadly, videos are recorded in a single channel AAC mode with a 192Kbps bitrate and 48KHz.

The camcorder interface is pretty much the same as the still camera. It offers only white balance and manual focus settings, and also allows you to choose the audio bass filter (off, 100 Hz or 200 Hz). Opting for 200 Hz (Strong) will capture much better sound in concerts or clubs.

Camcorder UI • Settings

In video recording, the Lumia 735 performs similarly to its still photography shooting chops. White balance is off and the dynamic range could be better. The level of detail is decent, though.

Final words

Microsoft is doing well to shake things up in the Lumia lineup. A couple of devices shown at IFA in September have hit the shelves and, the software boost courtesy of Lumia Denim aside, the lineup is being updated in the right place. The upgrades are even slightly overdue perhaps - busy adding a tablet and a couple of phablets to the lineup, along with dual-SIM support and cheap screen real estate, Nokia and Microsoft somehow overlooked the midrange.

The Lumia 720 went nearly two years without an upgrade and it was by no means a phone that deserves such treatment. OK, this maybe just our opinion but we liked the 720 and the Lumia 735 we've just finished reviewing is showing due respect as well.

LTE and HD screen resolution look nice on the list of upgrades but the good news don't end there. It's an AMOLED screen now with the ClearBlack technology for great contrast and outdoor legibility. The 5MP wide-angle front cam is perfect for selfies and the 1080p videos are welcome as well.

The phone handles great and still looks good, although honestly it's not going to wow onlookers. Well familiar and deliberately understated, it's a design we've seen minor variations of on many Lumia handsets. Fair enough. This is one of the last Lumia phones to carry a Nokia brand and Redmond may be saving the fresh hardware for the ones that have the Microsoft logo. Just a thought.

Anyway, the polycarbonate shell is pleasant to the touch and gives the phone a solid, near premium feel. It's not a unibody but the customizability and, especially, a user-replaceable battery are always a point in favor.

We were quite impressed by the phone's 4.7" 720p ClearBlack AMOLED display. It's not only got vibrant colors and excellent contrast, but great viewing angles too. The resolution is spot on for a midrange device and the size hits the right balance between manageability and screen real estate.

Nokia Lumia 730/735 key test findings

Build quality is great and the phone has excellent handling. The polycarbonate shell is a bit hard to pop open but the flipside is the handset feels rock solid
The display is bright, contrast is excellent, sunlight legibility is very good.
Battery life is solid
It has a rich connectivity package including LTE (735 only), NFC and an FM radio.
Speakers aren't very loud
Audio quality is solid
Decent camera quality, some nice software perks, high-res selfies
The video recording quality is very good
Plays various video files except MKV videos, even AC3 audio is an option
Snappy and powerful Windows Phone 8.1 with the Lumia Denim firmware

The AMOLED display will work in your favor when it comes to battery life too. The 2,220mAh battery will last you a good couple of days on a single charge and that's something few of the Lumia 735's competitors can match. Wireless charging is a nice little bonus.

Power efficiency is helped by the Snapdragon 400 chipset too, which is par for the course in this price bracket. With LTE and 1080p videos on the spec sheet, the S400 just cannot be held against the Lumia 735. The phone never felt sluggish.

Lumia Denim adds a few bells and whistles to the camera department, including the Lumia Selfie app to complement the high-res wide-angle front-facer. The main 6.7MP rear camera of the Lumia 735 shoots very decent photos and the stills won't disappoint either. The excellent 5MP front cam is optimized for Skype video chat too.

Now, the competition. It's by no means a coincidence that we start with a phone that launched at about the same time as the Lumia 735's predecessor, the Lumia 720. That's some 18 months ago but the Sony Xperia SP is undoubtedly a near perfect match with a 4.6" 720p screen.

Sony Xperia SP

By the way, the Sony Xperia SP was an extra-solid upper midranger that we liked immensely but instead of seeing more of its kind, the market got somehow skewed towards big but low-res screens and dual-SIM support. Speaking of, the Lumia 730 is the exact same package as the 735, only swapping the LTE radio for an extra SIM slot.

Nokia Lumia 730 Dual SIM

There're some of the Android minis too, of course. The HTC One mini 2 has a 4.5" 720p screen and is powered by a Snapdragon 400. It even boasts a 5MP selfie cam as well. Another HD 4.5-incher, the Samsung Galaxy S5 mini has more processing power courtesy of Exynos with the same 4 Cortex-A7 cores clocked at 1.4GHz. The water-resistant Samsung has an AMOLED screen.

HTC One mini 2 • Samsung Galaxy S5 mini

The Motorola Moto G 4G is spot-on too if you're weighing up your alternatives. The phone sells like hotcakes and for a good reason. Although prices vary across markets, you're likely to get the Moto at least a little cheaper than the Lumia 735. It has the same Snapdragon 400 chipset, LTE connectivity and microSD card support. It has a tad smaller screen at 4.5" of the same 720p resolution, which is a bit sharper, but the Lumia 735's AMOLED screen has the better contrast and outdoor legibility.

Motorola Moto G

Of course, there're even cheaper, S400-powered droids, which will offer LTE if you're willing to sacrifice some screen resolution. The HTC Desire 510 looks quite alright and sports the newer Snapdragon 410 chipset. The Sony Xperia M2 has a solid 8MP camera but a cannot match the high-res selfies of the Lumia 735.

HTC Desire 510 • Sony Xperia M2

Anyway, now that we mentioned it yet again, the high-res front camera is by no means the Nokia Lumia 735's biggest asset. Microsoft calls it a "smartphone made for selfies" but there's more to it than that. An extra solid AMOLED screen of HD resolution, LTE, wireless charging, free global offline voice-guided navigation, Office apps, nice stills and videos, plus value-added imaging apps. A lot more actually. More than enough to not only retire a Lumia 720 but perhaps give rival droids a warning.