I was hoping to get this as an upgrade to my 925, but it offers nothing excellent. The camera and display are underwhelming. This is still an incredibly good-looking phone though, but nothing exceptional besides that. The cutbacks Microsoft is making on Lumias are pretty obvious... They're kind of ruining the solid hardware reputation of Nokia.
what cutbacks? Why were you hoping to upgrade from 925 to an 830?? you should be looking at 930 or 1520 for proper upgrade not downgrade to 8xx series and then complain about cutbacks.
He has a pretty good point, if this phone wants to be a premium phone alternative it needs to have at least something of the major components that would actually be considered premium. It has nothing. Premium phones are 1920x1080 or better, they have 2GB of ram or more, they have snapdragon 800+ chipsets. This phone doesn't have any of that so the reality is it just isn't a premium phone its an average midrange phone.
Average midrange phones do not have what Lumia 830 has. OIS and Qi are not widely presented Not every flagman has HAAC mics Metal body is nowhere to be seen under 400$ mark.
Those are very valid points. HAAC mics are a great feature I wish every phone had. I mean, most of the high-end flagships today(iPhone 6 and Nexus 6 in particular) only captures mono sound. It's kind of funny when companies boast their 4K recording capabilities without any decent sound recording to back it up. Not even stereo(Samsung, Sony and HTC does stereo so it's not all lost)
I am not seeing it... It is not a high end model. It's a low end model. Why would the 830 be "premium", it's a low end phone? What he should be looking for is the (assumed) upcoming model replacement for the 925, which is a higher end model - not the 830.
Let me put it another way since the car thing didn't seem to work... It's like saying the 2014 Moto G isnt as nice as the 2013 Moto X. - different model families... Get it?
I thought it was clear...? They eliminated Glance on almost all the current lineup to save on display cost. They also removed the camera buttons on all phones below the 830. In a day where cheaper phones have 1080p displays, they still offer a badly calibrated 720p panel, and a camera with a sensor size that is almost an insult to the name of PureView. This doesn't even touch the upper range, despite being marketed as an 'affordable flagship'...
In addition: I am aware that the design of the 830 probably hadn't started at the time of the acquisition. But I can't believe the same Nokia who put glance and camera buttons on even the 620 two years ago wouldn't do it in the x30 refreshes. Especially considering that those were unique, signature capabilities that competing manufacturers don't offer. MS must have had some input in this phone. I'm sure they would have cared about cost cutting on the company they were just on the brink of acquiring. No?
Yeah, I dont think he is grasping the Tiered model#'s and the concept of price points. He seems to be assuming newer is always higher end, even on a lower end model.
Now if the 925 replacement came out and was lesser than the 925 he would have a great point. But the 830 is NOT the 925 replacement model.
Keep in mind that Microsoft/Nokia hasn't released anything intended to be more than a midrange or low-end phone since the Icon/930. It may look like they are cutting back to those of us interested in flagship devices - but it isn't really the case. :)
Well... they are using the same low-end SoC on 4 of their product lines which is disappointing (5xx, 6xx, 7xx, 8xx). And for a smart phone some CPU performance is a must otherwise the experience is really frustrating. More so than not having some niche features like glance. I'm not talking about intensive 3D games, but it should allow the user to comfortably run applications without feeling the performance hit. I was expecting the 830, maybe even the 730, to have the 600 series SoC. MS/Nokia have skipped the mid-range and went from low-end to high-end. Although the premium build and other features don't really compensate for the distinct lack of snappiness in applications.
It's like building a premium sedan with a 1l engine.
I imagine they're trying to save money. Considering g how small sales are, they need to buy fewer parts in larger quantity to have any hope of a profit, which, from looking at Microsoft's financials shows isn't likely happening.
They are also concentrating on lower priced models in order to attempt to get sales in China, where they've fallen to 0.6%, and India, where sales are down as well. Samsung seems to be working on the same strategy, from their last announcement.
They need to stop thinking about making money and start thinking about releasing an attractive product and actually getting people to buy their stuff. Nickel and diming right now is not going to work.
Their sales are two-three times larger then HTC and larger then Moto for many quarters (if you think moto g's and e's are selling in BIG quantities you a wrong)
Doesn't sound like you've really used one. :/ Don't get me wrong, I do game and I wouldn't buy one as a result. But you specifically said "I'm not talking about intensive 3D games". So, taking those out of the equation... even with the "slow" CPU, it does everything you're talking about just fine. They really run great, and the OS has superb SD card support - which negates the only major drawback I could hurl at this phone, the lack of storage.
But again, since I do game occasionally on my phone, I would want a flagship. The Icon and M8 are both very nice models. However even those are going to need replacement in the not-so-distant future, and I hope Verizon stops being a Big Red Baby and works hand in hand with MS on future phone releases and updates alike.
Actually I did get the chance to test drive one of these (I do some hardware compliance so I get to test drive most relevant devices on the market, at least to get a rough idea about them). The OS itself is more than snappy on this CPU. But try to use it as any normal person would use a smartphone and it starts to choke. Loading applications or switching between application takes a long time. It's just not the experience I was expecting. Don't get me wrong, the device doesn't become unusable. It's just that at this price point at given the 8xx series position in MS's product lineup I have some higher expectations when using the phone.
MS was careful to create an OS that runs great on low-end hardware but this isn't the case for software makers. And your smartphone is defined by the applications it runs and how it runs them. Bottom line, it's a nice phone but given the competition it's too expensive for its worth.
EDIT: My other thoughts: I agree completely with the review. I love the design of the 830 and there are so many things to like about it, but it is hamstrung by not having either (if not both) a snapdragon 6xx class SoC or a cheaper price.
None of the phones that are announced or released originated under Microsoft. Not even the ones with the Microsoft branding.
It takes a long time (well over a year) to take a phone from design to release. Microsoft has owned Nokia's device business unit for about half a year now.
Yep, if recent 535 announcement is anything to go by, better phones should be coming soon. Nokia was crazy to expect that brand alone will carry their lowend Lumias with those prices. Outdated SoC I can handle, but asking more than your average chink manufacturer for a 5MP camera without flash or autofocus and lowres display is madness.
Thanks for the detailed review Brett, i agree with you that the SD400 SOC is the single factor which has undermined this phone and Microsoft should have gone with SD800 but you know the product pipelines have long duration and we can't expect Microsoft input until 2015.
Also, hope you do a review of Lumia 730, its one of the most exciting mid-end phone with dual sim capabilities and Paul Thurrot has reviewed that 730 is better than 830, 50% price difference notwithstanding :)
I'd love to see a review as well. I think they could have done fine with a SD610 though. Just not those A7's again. Microsoft is shipping the same SoC in a $400 phone as they are in a $40 phone. >.<
I suspect a SD801 would be too expensive. If only they had a hypothetical in between option, a SD600 if you will. That would make the more expensive budget offerings more palatable.
Totally agree, with SD800 I would not hesitate to pick this device up. The issue is that this was supposed to be launched along side new flagship and phablet devices that had the SD800 (or 801/805?) which had all of these features, better specs, plus 'hey cortana' and 3D Touch support. Sadly the 3D touch was not ready, so both devices were scrapped and we get the 830 by itself which is an OK device... but would make more sense in a larger product lineup.
The 830 could not easily be recommended with a price adjustment. Canada has it right, the Blue Deathstar does not. American carriers don't do WP any favors by mispricing or poorly supporting available models. Verizon did a bad job with Icon, though it doesn't seem like it's that great of a phone. The 1520 is the best thing you can get, IMO, provided you can deal with the size.
Verizon is the worst offender. Not so much with pricing (well, on-contract pricing anyway), but with sales and support. If you walk into a Verizon Wireless store and ask about a Windows Phone chances are very high they are going to fight you tooth and nail, even if you just want to look at and play with a particular model. If you already know you want a certain model of WP, just order it online and save yourself the headache.
Then there's situation with Verizon and WP updates. When every other major carrier worldwide has pushed 8.1 and Cyan to their Lumia devices (the ones they planned on updating in the first place anyway) and VZW still has zero ETA? Not cool.
Moto G should not be compared with Lumia 830 as there are a lot of other factors in a phone apart from the SOC, you can compare Moto G with Lumia 630 or Lumia 730.
Infact Moto G ($250) can be compared with another Android giant Xiaomi Redmi 1S ($89), Xiaomi is selling 100k Redmi phones every week in India apart from few thousand sales in Indonesia and Millions in China and HongKong.
Not to mention they should be selling them like the Moto G... From their own website (Microsoft Store) unlocked with GSM/LTE bands for the major carriers.
like others here I have a 2 year old Lumia 920 and am looking for an upgrade, but there are limited options available. When I was essentially running a business out of my cell phone I was looking to upgrade to the 1520 (or better yet the long rumored 1525 what seems to have gone up in smoke), but now that I am a student and have a laptop a normal sized phone sounds much more appealing. I was looking really hard at the Icon/930, but the lack of Glance and SD card support are in fact deal-breakers. I use glance all of the time on my 920 (especially now that weather shows up on Glance... best simple feature ever!), and if I had SD support then I could fit my whole music collection, as well as more pics and vids of the kiddos to show off to friends and family. Plus the fact that it is only available on VZW, and I am not going there and will stick with ATT/T-Mo for service. So then that leaves the 830. Playing with it in person, it is a great little device, and if you sell off the useless bundled fitbit for ~$80+ then the price is more than reasonable. It is a step down from the Lumia 920... but only a minor step down, and some things (like SD support, much lighter weight and slimmer design, significantly better camera, bigger display/less bezel, etc.). But at the end of the day it is not a flagship. The processor is slower than the 920 for most of my uses (may be different if you play more games), the screen quality/resolution is lower, the build quality is not as good... it is exactly as advertised: an "affordable flagship" with all of the features, but at lower spec. The other issue is that it is not going to get the 'next gen' features like "Hey Cortana", or the 3D touch tech that MS is working on.
For myself at least, the only issue that my 920 has is that the GPS has lost it's mind and it refuses to narrow my position down closer than a 2 mile radius which makes navigation useless... but everything else on the device works fine and is in great shape. Unless there is some sort of crazy Black Friday deal, I think I am going to stick with the 920 until next summer when the next gen devices hit with Windows 10. It would be nice to have GPS again from time to time, but I would rather muddle through with GPS-less maps which still work and buy one high-end device later rather than a midrange device now and a high-end device in 6 months.
Since Windows Phone like most Android devices normally gets updates from the carriers...which is to say, they don't get updates- I'm wondering if we should all be running Windows Phone in developer mode is it gets timely updates. I have my 928 set like that and it's gotten probably 4 updates since 8.1, BUT it hasn't gotten any updates to the Nokia specific software yet.
Still...I assume that means I'm getting security issues fixed.
(For that matter, I have no idea why my Nexus 7 tablet always takes months to get OS updates...)
The reason your N7 takes so long to get updates is because that much time actually passes between Android version updates. Google has placed most of their functionality into Google Apps and the "Google Play Services" app, a move both intended to strengthen their ecosystem and fight device fragmentation.
The OS itself only gets updated for major changes to low-level OS components, or when a new mainline version of Android is released.
No, what I mean is that after an Android update is supposedly released, and other Nexus devices are getting updates, my Nexus 7 takes MONTHS to get them. It was supposedly updated in November, for example, and STILL hasn't been updated.
I believe that your 2G/3G web browsing battery life is missing the iPhone 6. Since many people don't live in an area where LTE is constantly available, it is suspect to omit this information.
My guess is that the battery life for an iPhone 6 2G / 3G browsing session is bad to very bad, and you have left them off the charts to obfuscate this.
I didn't compare the iPhone 6 in any chart since it's not in the same price range. As for 2G/3G for the iPhone 6 in particular, I did not review that device but my suspicious is that it was due to the time crunch for that phone, since battery life testing takes the longest for any of our benchmarks.
Looks like a good phone that is priced way above its price range. You can buy a HTC Desire 820 of expansys or Newegg now for around $360-380 about the same price you can find a Lumia 830.
I would bet that the Nokia would have a better camera but if you're just looking at numbers the HTC has the 13mp rear camera vs the 10mp Nokia. Has a 8mp front camera vs the .9mp Nokia.
Snapdragon 615 vs the Snapdragon 400. 2GB LPDDR3 vs the 1GB LPDDR2 Nokia. Depending on what floats your boat 5.5" display vs 5" Nokia. Both are 1280x720 16GB storage and microSD support. I think it would be hard on salesmen to pitch coupled with the poorly supported Windows Phone app store.
The phone would have been so much more compelling if this came out last year or even more 1st half of the year before the newer Qualcomm chips started showing up in mid-range devices.
You can pretty much chalk up almost every windows phone to this same statement, would have been good if it was 6 months to a year earlier. They seriously cannot expect to do anything with their last place priority for phone development.
It's silly to mention megapixels when comparing cameras. By eye, a camera would have to be 4*8= 32 mp to be obviously better than an 8mp camera. What matters is more is sensor size/light intake/signal to noise/etc which has nothing to do with mp. (hint, 1080p is less than 2 megapixels...)
I don't think Qualcomm sells the Snapdragon 600 in large quantities anymore, probably because the final price ended up too close to the Snapdragon 800/801, since it required an external baseband processor. My guess is the FireTV is the last "new" device getting those chips, as it doesn't need the extra baseband processor.
I understand that getting the S610 could be too early for this Lumia 830. Though it's harder to understand why they didn't use the S410, since there are already lots of devices on the market using it and it's quite a bit faster than the old S400.
This makes me think that the Lumia division is still suffering from the same "inertial" problems as the old Nokia. This model would've made total sense during last year when the Moto G was reigning over the mid-end market.
I thought that the 830 was too early for S610 as well, but it's already available/shipping in several HTC Phones (their desire line or something?) and presumably some other OEMs as well.
S600 is older then first gen WP8 phones( 920 and 820). Imagine Nexus 4 battery life tests instead of actual L830 numbers and you will understand why it has S400.
I recently swapped my original Moto X for a Lumia 830. The X was my third Android phone and this is my 1st Windows Phone. I am pleased with the 830 and feel it gives me a longer time between charges than my X did. Having a replaceable battery is a nice perq as well.
One "issue" I have stuggled with is a way to import my google favorites from google Map. I exported the favorites into a KML file and was able to import them into www.bing.com/maps but regrettably, the web Bing Maps do not sync with Windows Phone Maps or Windows 8.1 Maps. I googled it and learned that Phone Maps syncs with Windows 8.1 Maps - and it does BUT there is no apparent way to import a KML file (or any file) into the Windows MAPS or Phone MAPS program. Please do not tell my I have to manually enter each of the entries!
What's up with that Microsoft? This IS a required feature!!!
is there a way to move my location library from the Google ecosystem into the Microsoft one? I will keep looking - but I do not see a way to import KML or any file into here.com
Well, I called it months ago that this phone is in many ways inferior to its predecessor. Would have been nice to include the benchmarks for the 820 but I already have a good idea on how that would compare.
@Microsoft, sign me up for the next phone with a <5" OLED display that is run by something else than those measly entry level Cortex A7s, no problem if it's "just" a dual-core...
Been waiting for a new flagship model with Glance support from Microsoft. It has not arrived yet so I am sticking with my 920. Actually I have been thinking about going back to Android. Moved from Apple to HTC (Android) and from Android to Windows Phone. Was pretty happy as an Android user. After being without my WP for less than a week and using a S4.. I am staying on WP for sure :-)
I'm in pretty much the same boat. Waiting for an upper end SOC, Qi charging, Glance, and Hey Cortana, and a good camera. How hard is it to just check all the boxes.
P.S. they need to figure out cross carrier WiFi calling and then just sell it unlocked through the Microsoft store supporting ATT and T-Mobile.
As the owner of a Lumia 920 I am very interested in this phone. I know it's not a flagship, but I love the design and I prefer the 5" screen even though it is only 720p. If I could find this phone for $300 off contract I would buy it instantly, so I'll keep an eye out for it. There are a few things that would be an upgrade for me:
1. 5" vs 4.5" screen 2. Sensor Core 3. Thinner and lighter design 4. Newer SoC
Last year I bought an iPhone 5s on my contract renewal, but even though I like iOS 8, I find myself going back to my 920 most of the time. I just love the amount of information WP 8.1 provides me at a glance. Live tiles, glance screen, and wireless charging are absolutely brilliant and always miss them when I am on a phone that doesn't have them.
So I'll stick with my 920 for now and will either jump on an 830 if the price is right, or I'll wait for the next true flagship to appear in 2015.
I know Anandtech is known for its extensive benchmarking, but I think the performance section should include also a subjective assessment of the performance during "normal" use. Just looking at the numbers someone could understand that the device lags badly or even that the user experience must be quite frustrating. None of the reviews on other sites said so, on the contrary, they praised the general fluidity of the system except in a few high end games or very specific CPU/GPU intensive apps.
Hi. I wanted to address this comment because it's important.
I did mention this in the performance section: "Microsoft has done a great job with the UI and animations of Windows Phone to make them fast and without the jitter of some platforms, even on low end hardware. But that does not help in-app performance, nor the app loading times."
Windows Phone has been fluid since practically day 1. They really nailed that part. But it is all of the other areas where the performance is a let down. You just see a lot more "Resuming..." screens on a device like the 830 than a much more powerful system like the 930. Opening apps can take far longer.
Performance is important even if the UI is smooth. There seems to be a common misconception that due to the OS being well designed for a smooth UI, the performance is not as important but really that's never the case.
I can give the Lumia 630 a pass by having Snapdragon 400 - that phone is now selling outright for under $100 in some places. I get it. But a device like the Lumia 830 has that same SoC yet costs 3-4 times more money than the Lumia 630. It needs to have something better. I mentioned Snapdragon 600 because the quad-core Krait is quite a bit more powerful even if it likely isn't the perfect choice due to no integrated baseband, but the OnePlus One comes with Snapdragon 801 for $299. For the price range the 830 came in at, it needs to be quicker.
So yes, it's fluid when using the OS, but once you get past the OS and launch an app, it's not as good as it needs to be for this price range.
Yes. S800 is the only candidate and it is to pricey for the segment whrere 830 is going to play. And S800 with 2200mah battery... Don't think it would be a good deal?
$400? Even at *mere* $200 that must be some really strong crack Nokia is smoking in a market filled with non-contract $180 Moto Gs and $150 Redmi Notes.
It's great to see that WinPhone finally is getting the attention it deserves on this site! Keep up the good work.
As for the device, it's one of those "this one had potential". I am disappointed by the lack of a true holiday flagship to replace my 920(which still works fine, btw) and it's kind of worrysome that there won't be one coming out anythime soon. The 830 has a lot of features that I want(slim design, better audio capture, SD-card support) but the SOC just doesn't cut it for me. If it was a notch faster, I would have jumped and used it as a stop-gap phone for the next couple of years.
(The 930 is not interessting to me because ot the mediocre battery life and the low internal storage)
I'd have small suggestion: Game "Total Defense" could be used as general gauge how well 3D games will work on WP8.x and W8.x devices. Although it doesn't have FPS meter, it is very visible if game doesn't run fast enough including touch input. (+ main menu itself can provide hint how it will work)
The 10MP Pureview camera isn't the smallest pureview camera. The Lumia 920's 8.7MP camera was the first Nokia Pureview windows phone camera and honestly I have been impressed by that camera many times. So people commenting about how this 10MP doesn't deserve the name I feel doesn't know what they are talking about, as that 8.7MP one has taken numerous nice shots in multiple shooting conditions for me.
They (Nokia/Microsoft) don't seem prepared to move to 610 yet, although the 800 would of course be a better chip with integrated baseband. Just anything better than 400 at this price range is needed.
They should have shipped it with a downclocked S800. When the 820 was released alongside the 920, the hardware was pretty much the same, aside from the lower res screen and the lack of OIS on the camera.
And I had that 820. 1650mah + top hardware is not really a good choise. Yes, it could run games and tests but with violent battery discharge rates at 40%-50% per hour. S800 + 2200mah would be the same sad story.
I think L830 is perfectly balanced for non-gamers, basically for every grown up user.
I guess I can agree with that. Still, I wish it was a step up from the 630 and 730.
I tried one yesterday at my local store and it feels really good in the hand. They've done great job with the body and I'm excited to see where they go from here. Hopefully the 940 will build on that template.
curious in alot (most) of the graphs iphones are at the top of the stack but at the same time alot of the phones that are in some graphs say lumia 930 are omitted. seems to me like iphones are getting propped up once again to look like the best shiz on the market. if you are going to run graphs keep the stacks fair and truthful and use the same phones in all of them or your just cheating the public and helping the apple marketing department which by the they dont need the help.
I've been tempted to try a lumia for a while now but Nokia (now MS) just keep on releasing disappointing phones.
I'm not interested in the low end and the majority of their high end phones are very old now with recognised flaws mentioned in every review.
I find it amazing how many long term lumia owners are willing to side grade (down) to a phone like this from almost equivalent hardware and then be locked in for another year or two. Talk about being taken for a ride.
The off contact price us just too much as well. The only lumia that makes sense is the 735 which can be found for as little as £150 in the UK and is very similar spec wise to this. It may also be a middlle end phone but atleast it's priced right. The biggest turns off for me about this phone are the slow processor, and the metal band styling with square edges... It may not dig into the hands as much as the 930 but it's not that comfortable to hold either (tried it this weekend).
Good review though. I'm looking forward to the 735 one.
These devices will have very limited importance until we start seeing blockbuster releases of gadgets and useful services that aren't just iOS/Android compatible.
I hope Anandtech does a review of the 735 too! I like it much more then the 830 here. It strange that the reviewer used last year's models on the iPhone 5S and 5C along with Moto X 2014 this year's model and HTC M8 for comparison sake. Only one graph on iPhone 6 if I recall!
I have a Nokia 520 having had iphones and a Nexus device in the past. My only gripe with the 520 is the loading times and crashes of apps like Skype and Viber I use often. I would be REALLY interested to know the performance on loading apps (open for the first time or resuming) of the 830. This metric alone if it could match an Iphone 5 would make me buy it. I am sure many Windows phone users are interested in this, because it is the only problem with the user experience in this great platform.
Well said everyone but I love windows phone as they don't hang say not like androids . Androids as u know wen it gets old after a long run they become slow unlike windows they don't atall . So the only thing they lack ryt now is that say 830 even I'm not happy with its price and all for a flirty ship the core is way too low snapdragon 400 n that for 27k.. he'll no!! N the front camera , pppfftt wanna hang myself.. well as for 1 GB m ok.. but front camera and the core that they should come up with something .. n ofcourse the ppi way too low it sudve atleast reach 314 or something.. windows r good phones with smooth UI except they lack some apps which the android has .
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kspirit - Tuesday, November 25, 2014 - link
I was hoping to get this as an upgrade to my 925, but it offers nothing excellent. The camera and display are underwhelming. This is still an incredibly good-looking phone though, but nothing exceptional besides that. The cutbacks Microsoft is making on Lumias are pretty obvious... They're kind of ruining the solid hardware reputation of Nokia.BMNify - Tuesday, November 25, 2014 - link
what cutbacks? Why were you hoping to upgrade from 925 to an 830?? you should be looking at 930 or 1520 for proper upgrade not downgrade to 8xx series and then complain about cutbacks.retrospooty - Tuesday, November 25, 2014 - link
LOL... It's like saying the 2014 Civic isn't as feature rich as the 2013 Accord. Of course not.PubFiction - Tuesday, November 25, 2014 - link
He has a pretty good point, if this phone wants to be a premium phone alternative it needs to have at least something of the major components that would actually be considered premium. It has nothing. Premium phones are 1920x1080 or better, they have 2GB of ram or more, they have snapdragon 800+ chipsets. This phone doesn't have any of that so the reality is it just isn't a premium phone its an average midrange phone.kspirit - Wednesday, November 26, 2014 - link
THIS! Thank you.cheshirster - Friday, November 28, 2014 - link
Average midrange phones do not have what Lumia 830 has.OIS and Qi are not widely presented
Not every flagman has HAAC mics
Metal body is nowhere to be seen under 400$ mark.
Laxaa - Sunday, November 30, 2014 - link
Those are very valid points. HAAC mics are a great feature I wish every phone had. I mean, most of the high-end flagships today(iPhone 6 and Nexus 6 in particular) only captures mono sound. It's kind of funny when companies boast their 4K recording capabilities without any decent sound recording to back it up. Not even stereo(Samsung, Sony and HTC does stereo so it's not all lost)garretelder - Thursday, December 4, 2014 - link
Not one of the top phones (see http://www.topreport.org/phones/ instead) in my opinion.retrospooty - Monday, December 1, 2014 - link
I am not seeing it... It is not a high end model. It's a low end model. Why would the 830 be "premium", it's a low end phone? What he should be looking for is the (assumed) upcoming model replacement for the 925, which is a higher end model - not the 830.Let me put it another way since the car thing didn't seem to work... It's like saying the 2014 Moto G isnt as nice as the 2013 Moto X. - different model families... Get it?
kspirit - Wednesday, November 26, 2014 - link
I thought it was clear...?They eliminated Glance on almost all the current lineup to save on display cost.
They also removed the camera buttons on all phones below the 830.
In a day where cheaper phones have 1080p displays, they still offer a badly calibrated 720p panel, and a camera with a sensor size that is almost an insult to the name of PureView. This doesn't even touch the upper range, despite being marketed as an 'affordable flagship'...
kspirit - Wednesday, November 26, 2014 - link
In addition: I am aware that the design of the 830 probably hadn't started at the time of the acquisition. But I can't believe the same Nokia who put glance and camera buttons on even the 620 two years ago wouldn't do it in the x30 refreshes. Especially considering that those were unique, signature capabilities that competing manufacturers don't offer. MS must have had some input in this phone. I'm sure they would have cared about cost cutting on the company they were just on the brink of acquiring. No?cheshirster - Friday, November 28, 2014 - link
Glance and camera button obviously presented on L830 :)You should be really high on something to blame it for having features that 730 and 630 are missing.
retrospooty - Monday, December 1, 2014 - link
Yeah, I dont think he is grasping the Tiered model#'s and the concept of price points. He seems to be assuming newer is always higher end, even on a lower end model.Now if the 925 replacement came out and was lesser than the 925 he would have a great point. But the 830 is NOT the 925 replacement model.
Sabresiberian - Tuesday, November 25, 2014 - link
Keep in mind that Microsoft/Nokia hasn't released anything intended to be more than a midrange or low-end phone since the Icon/930. It may look like they are cutting back to those of us interested in flagship devices - but it isn't really the case. :)close - Tuesday, November 25, 2014 - link
Well... they are using the same low-end SoC on 4 of their product lines which is disappointing (5xx, 6xx, 7xx, 8xx). And for a smart phone some CPU performance is a must otherwise the experience is really frustrating. More so than not having some niche features like glance. I'm not talking about intensive 3D games, but it should allow the user to comfortably run applications without feeling the performance hit. I was expecting the 830, maybe even the 730, to have the 600 series SoC. MS/Nokia have skipped the mid-range and went from low-end to high-end. Although the premium build and other features don't really compensate for the distinct lack of snappiness in applications.It's like building a premium sedan with a 1l engine.
melgross - Tuesday, November 25, 2014 - link
I imagine they're trying to save money. Considering g how small sales are, they need to buy fewer parts in larger quantity to have any hope of a profit, which, from looking at Microsoft's financials shows isn't likely happening.They are also concentrating on lower priced models in order to attempt to get sales in China, where they've fallen to 0.6%, and India, where sales are down as well. Samsung seems to be working on the same strategy, from their last announcement.
PubFiction - Tuesday, November 25, 2014 - link
They need to stop thinking about making money and start thinking about releasing an attractive product and actually getting people to buy their stuff. Nickel and diming right now is not going to work.cheshirster - Friday, November 28, 2014 - link
Their sales are two-three times larger then HTC and larger then Moto for many quarters (if you think moto g's and e's are selling in BIG quantities you a wrong)Alexvrb - Tuesday, November 25, 2014 - link
Doesn't sound like you've really used one. :/ Don't get me wrong, I do game and I wouldn't buy one as a result. But you specifically said "I'm not talking about intensive 3D games". So, taking those out of the equation... even with the "slow" CPU, it does everything you're talking about just fine. They really run great, and the OS has superb SD card support - which negates the only major drawback I could hurl at this phone, the lack of storage.But again, since I do game occasionally on my phone, I would want a flagship. The Icon and M8 are both very nice models. However even those are going to need replacement in the not-so-distant future, and I hope Verizon stops being a Big Red Baby and works hand in hand with MS on future phone releases and updates alike.
close - Wednesday, November 26, 2014 - link
Actually I did get the chance to test drive one of these (I do some hardware compliance so I get to test drive most relevant devices on the market, at least to get a rough idea about them). The OS itself is more than snappy on this CPU. But try to use it as any normal person would use a smartphone and it starts to choke. Loading applications or switching between application takes a long time. It's just not the experience I was expecting. Don't get me wrong, the device doesn't become unusable. It's just that at this price point at given the 8xx series position in MS's product lineup I have some higher expectations when using the phone.MS was careful to create an OS that runs great on low-end hardware but this isn't the case for software makers. And your smartphone is defined by the applications it runs and how it runs them.
Bottom line, it's a nice phone but given the competition it's too expensive for its worth.
cheshirster - Friday, November 28, 2014 - link
There is no available S600 soc now. It is not MS|Nokia's fault.Harry_Wild - Saturday, December 6, 2014 - link
There is the 610 and 615 SoC! http://www.postslush.com/2014/02/610-snapdragon-an...Drumsticks - Tuesday, November 25, 2014 - link
Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the Lumia 830 the last phone designed and launched under Nokia, hence the 'Nokia' name?Drumsticks - Tuesday, November 25, 2014 - link
EDIT: My other thoughts: I agree completely with the review. I love the design of the 830 and there are so many things to like about it, but it is hamstrung by not having either (if not both) a snapdragon 6xx class SoC or a cheaper price.OddTSi - Tuesday, November 25, 2014 - link
None of the phones that are announced or released originated under Microsoft. Not even the ones with the Microsoft branding.It takes a long time (well over a year) to take a phone from design to release. Microsoft has owned Nokia's device business unit for about half a year now.
Michael Bay - Saturday, November 29, 2014 - link
Yep, if recent 535 announcement is anything to go by, better phones should be coming soon.Nokia was crazy to expect that brand alone will carry their lowend Lumias with those prices. Outdated SoC I can handle, but asking more than your average chink manufacturer for a 5MP camera without flash or autofocus and lowres display is madness.
Klug4Pres - Saturday, November 29, 2014 - link
You cannot use the word chink these days.BMNify - Tuesday, November 25, 2014 - link
Thanks for the detailed review Brett, i agree with you that the SD400 SOC is the single factor which has undermined this phone and Microsoft should have gone with SD800 but you know the product pipelines have long duration and we can't expect Microsoft input until 2015.Also, hope you do a review of Lumia 730, its one of the most exciting mid-end phone with dual sim capabilities and Paul Thurrot has reviewed that 730 is better than 830, 50% price difference notwithstanding :)
Drumsticks - Tuesday, November 25, 2014 - link
I'd love to see a review as well. I think they could have done fine with a SD610 though. Just not those A7's again. Microsoft is shipping the same SoC in a $400 phone as they are in a $40 phone. >.<invinciblegod - Tuesday, November 25, 2014 - link
I suspect a SD801 would be too expensive. If only they had a hypothetical in between option, a SD600 if you will. That would make the more expensive budget offerings more palatable.CaedenV - Tuesday, November 25, 2014 - link
Totally agree, with SD800 I would not hesitate to pick this device up. The issue is that this was supposed to be launched along side new flagship and phablet devices that had the SD800 (or 801/805?) which had all of these features, better specs, plus 'hey cortana' and 3D Touch support. Sadly the 3D touch was not ready, so both devices were scrapped and we get the 830 by itself which is an OK device... but would make more sense in a larger product lineup.MonkeyPaw - Tuesday, November 25, 2014 - link
The 830 could not easily be recommended with a price adjustment. Canada has it right, the Blue Deathstar does not. American carriers don't do WP any favors by mispricing or poorly supporting available models. Verizon did a bad job with Icon, though it doesn't seem like it's that great of a phone. The 1520 is the best thing you can get, IMO, provided you can deal with the size.MonkeyPaw - Tuesday, November 25, 2014 - link
Edit:"The 830 could easily be recommended with a price adjustment."
Price is too high. Mark it down and it would be a good phone.
Alexvrb - Tuesday, November 25, 2014 - link
Verizon is the worst offender. Not so much with pricing (well, on-contract pricing anyway), but with sales and support. If you walk into a Verizon Wireless store and ask about a Windows Phone chances are very high they are going to fight you tooth and nail, even if you just want to look at and play with a particular model. If you already know you want a certain model of WP, just order it online and save yourself the headache.Then there's situation with Verizon and WP updates. When every other major carrier worldwide has pushed 8.1 and Cyan to their Lumia devices (the ones they planned on updating in the first place anyway) and VZW still has zero ETA? Not cool.
Brett Howse - Tuesday, November 25, 2014 - link
Just got word that the Lumia 735 will be shipped soon, so keep an eye out for that.BMNify - Wednesday, November 26, 2014 - link
Awesome, waiting for your Lumia 735 review.djds20 - Tuesday, November 25, 2014 - link
Comparing this to the Moto G (2014) should be $250.BMNify - Tuesday, November 25, 2014 - link
Moto G should not be compared with Lumia 830 as there are a lot of other factors in a phone apart from the SOC, you can compare Moto G with Lumia 630 or Lumia 730.Infact Moto G ($250) can be compared with another Android giant Xiaomi Redmi 1S ($89), Xiaomi is selling 100k Redmi phones every week in India apart from few thousand sales in Indonesia and Millions in China and HongKong.
Flunk - Tuesday, November 25, 2014 - link
Yes, this actually sounds a lot like a competitor to the Moto G as basically the only two mid-range phones worth buying.Gunbuster - Tuesday, November 25, 2014 - link
Not to mention they should be selling them like the Moto G... From their own website (Microsoft Store) unlocked with GSM/LTE bands for the major carriers.cheshirster - Friday, November 28, 2014 - link
Moto G can barely fight with 630. Definetly not with 735 and 830.CaedenV - Tuesday, November 25, 2014 - link
like others here I have a 2 year old Lumia 920 and am looking for an upgrade, but there are limited options available. When I was essentially running a business out of my cell phone I was looking to upgrade to the 1520 (or better yet the long rumored 1525 what seems to have gone up in smoke), but now that I am a student and have a laptop a normal sized phone sounds much more appealing.I was looking really hard at the Icon/930, but the lack of Glance and SD card support are in fact deal-breakers. I use glance all of the time on my 920 (especially now that weather shows up on Glance... best simple feature ever!), and if I had SD support then I could fit my whole music collection, as well as more pics and vids of the kiddos to show off to friends and family. Plus the fact that it is only available on VZW, and I am not going there and will stick with ATT/T-Mo for service.
So then that leaves the 830. Playing with it in person, it is a great little device, and if you sell off the useless bundled fitbit for ~$80+ then the price is more than reasonable. It is a step down from the Lumia 920... but only a minor step down, and some things (like SD support, much lighter weight and slimmer design, significantly better camera, bigger display/less bezel, etc.).
But at the end of the day it is not a flagship. The processor is slower than the 920 for most of my uses (may be different if you play more games), the screen quality/resolution is lower, the build quality is not as good... it is exactly as advertised: an "affordable flagship" with all of the features, but at lower spec. The other issue is that it is not going to get the 'next gen' features like "Hey Cortana", or the 3D touch tech that MS is working on.
For myself at least, the only issue that my 920 has is that the GPS has lost it's mind and it refuses to narrow my position down closer than a 2 mile radius which makes navigation useless... but everything else on the device works fine and is in great shape. Unless there is some sort of crazy Black Friday deal, I think I am going to stick with the 920 until next summer when the next gen devices hit with Windows 10. It would be nice to have GPS again from time to time, but I would rather muddle through with GPS-less maps which still work and buy one high-end device later rather than a midrange device now and a high-end device in 6 months.
Wolfpup - Tuesday, November 25, 2014 - link
Since Windows Phone like most Android devices normally gets updates from the carriers...which is to say, they don't get updates- I'm wondering if we should all be running Windows Phone in developer mode is it gets timely updates. I have my 928 set like that and it's gotten probably 4 updates since 8.1, BUT it hasn't gotten any updates to the Nokia specific software yet.Still...I assume that means I'm getting security issues fixed.
(For that matter, I have no idea why my Nexus 7 tablet always takes months to get OS updates...)
synaesthetic - Tuesday, November 25, 2014 - link
The reason your N7 takes so long to get updates is because that much time actually passes between Android version updates. Google has placed most of their functionality into Google Apps and the "Google Play Services" app, a move both intended to strengthen their ecosystem and fight device fragmentation.The OS itself only gets updated for major changes to low-level OS components, or when a new mainline version of Android is released.
Wolfpup - Wednesday, January 28, 2015 - link
No, what I mean is that after an Android update is supposedly released, and other Nexus devices are getting updates, my Nexus 7 takes MONTHS to get them. It was supposedly updated in November, for example, and STILL hasn't been updated.Busterjonez - Tuesday, November 25, 2014 - link
I believe that your 2G/3G web browsing battery life is missing the iPhone 6. Since many people don't live in an area where LTE is constantly available, it is suspect to omit this information.My guess is that the battery life for an iPhone 6 2G / 3G browsing session is bad to very bad, and you have left them off the charts to obfuscate this.
Brett Howse - Tuesday, November 25, 2014 - link
I didn't compare the iPhone 6 in any chart since it's not in the same price range. As for 2G/3G for the iPhone 6 in particular, I did not review that device but my suspicious is that it was due to the time crunch for that phone, since battery life testing takes the longest for any of our benchmarks.Busterjonez - Tuesday, November 25, 2014 - link
Fair point about the 6, I hadn't noticed it's absence on the other tests.Why include an iPhone 5s / 5c in the WiFi battery test, but not in the 2G / 3G battery test?
Brett Howse - Tuesday, November 25, 2014 - link
The iPhones are not in bench for the 2G/3G battery life is the only reason they were not included. They were only tested as LTE:http://anandtech.com/bench/PhoneTablet14/989
The iPhone 5 was the last one tested for 2G/3G and it isn't sold anymore so I did not include it in my charts.
TheFlyingSquirrel - Tuesday, November 25, 2014 - link
Looks like a good phone that is priced way above its price range. You can buy a HTC Desire 820 of expansys or Newegg now for around $360-380 about the same price you can find a Lumia 830.I would bet that the Nokia would have a better camera but if you're just looking at numbers the HTC has the 13mp rear camera vs the 10mp Nokia. Has a 8mp front camera vs the .9mp Nokia.
Snapdragon 615 vs the Snapdragon 400. 2GB LPDDR3 vs the 1GB LPDDR2 Nokia. Depending on what floats your boat 5.5" display vs 5" Nokia. Both are 1280x720 16GB storage and microSD support. I think it would be hard on salesmen to pitch coupled with the poorly supported Windows Phone app store.
TheFlyingSquirrel - Tuesday, November 25, 2014 - link
The phone would have been so much more compelling if this came out last year or even more 1st half of the year before the newer Qualcomm chips started showing up in mid-range devices.PubFiction - Tuesday, November 25, 2014 - link
You can pretty much chalk up almost every windows phone to this same statement, would have been good if it was 6 months to a year earlier. They seriously cannot expect to do anything with their last place priority for phone development.tralalalalalala40 - Tuesday, November 25, 2014 - link
It's silly to mention megapixels when comparing cameras. By eye, a camera would have to be 4*8= 32 mp to be obviously better than an 8mp camera. What matters is more is sensor size/light intake/signal to noise/etc which has nothing to do with mp. (hint, 1080p is less than 2 megapixels...)ToTTenTranz - Tuesday, November 25, 2014 - link
I don't think Qualcomm sells the Snapdragon 600 in large quantities anymore, probably because the final price ended up too close to the Snapdragon 800/801, since it required an external baseband processor. My guess is the FireTV is the last "new" device getting those chips, as it doesn't need the extra baseband processor.I understand that getting the S610 could be too early for this Lumia 830. Though it's harder to understand why they didn't use the S410, since there are already lots of devices on the market using it and it's quite a bit faster than the old S400.
This makes me think that the Lumia division is still suffering from the same "inertial" problems as the old Nokia. This model would've made total sense during last year when the Moto G was reigning over the mid-end market.
Drumsticks - Tuesday, November 25, 2014 - link
I thought that the 830 was too early for S610 as well, but it's already available/shipping in several HTC Phones (their desire line or something?) and presumably some other OEMs as well.cheshirster - Friday, November 28, 2014 - link
What is the point in S410? It is not faster.S600 is older then first gen WP8 phones( 920 and 820). Imagine Nexus 4 battery life tests instead of actual L830 numbers and you will understand why it has S400.
simard57 - Tuesday, November 25, 2014 - link
I recently swapped my original Moto X for a Lumia 830. The X was my third Android phone and this is my 1st Windows Phone. I am pleased with the 830 and feel it gives me a longer time between charges than my X did. Having a replaceable battery is a nice perq as well.One "issue" I have stuggled with is a way to import my google favorites from google Map. I exported the favorites into a KML file and was able to import them into www.bing.com/maps but regrettably, the web Bing Maps do not sync with Windows Phone Maps or Windows 8.1 Maps. I googled it and learned that Phone Maps syncs with Windows 8.1 Maps - and it does BUT there is no apparent way to import a KML file (or any file) into the Windows MAPS or Phone MAPS program. Please do not tell my I have to manually enter each of the entries!
What's up with that Microsoft? This IS a required feature!!!
cheshirster - Friday, November 28, 2014 - link
Phone maps sync with here.com. Maybe this would help.simard57 - Monday, December 1, 2014 - link
is there a way to move my location library from the Google ecosystem into the Microsoft one?I will keep looking - but I do not see a way to import KML or any file into here.com
simard57 - Monday, December 1, 2014 - link
also - does here.com sync with windows 8.1 maps?sure feels like the maps situation in the Microsoft ecosystem is bit fragmented.
Daniel Egger - Tuesday, November 25, 2014 - link
Well, I called it months ago that this phone is in many ways inferior to its predecessor. Would have been nice to include the benchmarks for the 820 but I already have a good idea on how that would compare.@Microsoft, sign me up for the next phone with a <5" OLED display that is run by something else than those measly entry level Cortex A7s, no problem if it's "just" a dual-core...
BedfordTim - Tuesday, November 25, 2014 - link
Add me to the list too. Changing to a smaller phone was a revelation and I don't want to go back to carting a tablet around all the time.LittleB69 - Tuesday, November 25, 2014 - link
Been waiting for a new flagship model with Glance support from Microsoft. It has not arrived yet so I am sticking with my 920. Actually I have been thinking about going back to Android. Moved from Apple to HTC (Android) and from Android to Windows Phone. Was pretty happy as an Android user. After being without my WP for less than a week and using a S4.. I am staying on WP for sure :-)Gunbuster - Tuesday, November 25, 2014 - link
I'm in pretty much the same boat. Waiting for an upper end SOC, Qi charging, Glance, and Hey Cortana, and a good camera. How hard is it to just check all the boxes.P.S. they need to figure out cross carrier WiFi calling and then just sell it unlocked through the Microsoft store supporting ATT and T-Mobile.
tolgerias - Tuesday, November 25, 2014 - link
As the owner of a Lumia 920 I am very interested in this phone. I know it's not a flagship, but I love the design and I prefer the 5" screen even though it is only 720p. If I could find this phone for $300 off contract I would buy it instantly, so I'll keep an eye out for it. There are a few things that would be an upgrade for me:1. 5" vs 4.5" screen
2. Sensor Core
3. Thinner and lighter design
4. Newer SoC
Last year I bought an iPhone 5s on my contract renewal, but even though I like iOS 8, I find myself going back to my 920 most of the time. I just love the amount of information WP 8.1 provides me at a glance. Live tiles, glance screen, and wireless charging are absolutely brilliant and always miss them when I am on a phone that doesn't have them.
So I'll stick with my 920 for now and will either jump on an 830 if the price is right, or I'll wait for the next true flagship to appear in 2015.
MarcSP - Tuesday, November 25, 2014 - link
I know Anandtech is known for its extensive benchmarking, but I think the performance section should include also a subjective assessment of the performance during "normal" use. Just looking at the numbers someone could understand that the device lags badly or even that the user experience must be quite frustrating. None of the reviews on other sites said so, on the contrary, they praised the general fluidity of the system except in a few high end games or very specific CPU/GPU intensive apps.cheshirster - Friday, November 28, 2014 - link
+830Brett Howse - Friday, November 28, 2014 - link
Hi. I wanted to address this comment because it's important.I did mention this in the performance section: "Microsoft has done a great job with the UI and animations of Windows Phone to make them fast and without the jitter of some platforms, even on low end hardware. But that does not help in-app performance, nor the app loading times."
Windows Phone has been fluid since practically day 1. They really nailed that part. But it is all of the other areas where the performance is a let down. You just see a lot more "Resuming..." screens on a device like the 830 than a much more powerful system like the 930. Opening apps can take far longer.
Performance is important even if the UI is smooth. There seems to be a common misconception that due to the OS being well designed for a smooth UI, the performance is not as important but really that's never the case.
I can give the Lumia 630 a pass by having Snapdragon 400 - that phone is now selling outright for under $100 in some places. I get it. But a device like the Lumia 830 has that same SoC yet costs 3-4 times more money than the Lumia 630. It needs to have something better. I mentioned Snapdragon 600 because the quad-core Krait is quite a bit more powerful even if it likely isn't the perfect choice due to no integrated baseband, but the OnePlus One comes with Snapdragon 801 for $299. For the price range the 830 came in at, it needs to be quicker.
So yes, it's fluid when using the OS, but once you get past the OS and launch an app, it's not as good as it needs to be for this price range.
cheshirster - Friday, November 28, 2014 - link
Please don't bring Cyanogen phones in compartion.830 is obviously not for extreme spec and adrenaline seekers.
Do you have any tests on hands to post FAR longer times?
There were no such evidences between last gen 520 and 920.
S600 is not just "is'n perfect", it is largely outdated power-hungry SoC with no Sensor Core support (which you completely missed in the review).
Basically even you can not provide the name of hypothetical "better soc for 830" so I don't understand where all those complains are coming from.
Brett Howse - Friday, November 28, 2014 - link
Snapdragon 800. There you go.cheshirster - Saturday, November 29, 2014 - link
Yes. S800 is the only candidate and it is to pricey for the segment whrere 830 is going to play.And S800 with 2200mah battery... Don't think it would be a good deal?
cheshirster - Saturday, November 29, 2014 - link
Why no cyanogen? O P O comment section pretty covers it.http://www.anandtech.com/comments/8242/the-oneplus...
StrangerGuy - Tuesday, November 25, 2014 - link
$400? Even at *mere* $200 that must be some really strong crack Nokia is smoking in a market filled with non-contract $180 Moto Gs and $150 Redmi Notes.cheshirster - Friday, November 28, 2014 - link
Keep calm and bing galaxy A3 prices.tuxRoller - Tuesday, November 25, 2014 - link
Is that Nexus 9 article still happening, or was the preview really the review?Laxaa - Wednesday, November 26, 2014 - link
It's great to see that WinPhone finally is getting the attention it deserves on this site! Keep up the good work.As for the device, it's one of those "this one had potential". I am disappointed by the lack of a true holiday flagship to replace my 920(which still works fine, btw) and it's kind of worrysome that there won't be one coming out anythime soon. The 830 has a lot of features that I want(slim design, better audio capture, SD-card support) but the SOC just doesn't cut it for me. If it was a notch faster, I would have jumped and used it as a stop-gap phone for the next couple of years.
(The 930 is not interessting to me because ot the mediocre battery life and the low internal storage)
Klimax - Wednesday, November 26, 2014 - link
Good review and quite matches my experience.I'd have small suggestion: Game "Total Defense" could be used as general gauge how well 3D games will work on WP8.x and W8.x devices. Although it doesn't have FPS meter, it is very visible if game doesn't run fast enough including touch input. (+ main menu itself can provide hint how it will work)
Myrandex - Thursday, November 27, 2014 - link
The 10MP Pureview camera isn't the smallest pureview camera. The Lumia 920's 8.7MP camera was the first Nokia Pureview windows phone camera and honestly I have been impressed by that camera many times. So people commenting about how this 10MP doesn't deserve the name I feel doesn't know what they are talking about, as that 8.7MP one has taken numerous nice shots in multiple shooting conditions for me.kspirit - Friday, November 28, 2014 - link
I believe they were talking about the sensor size, which is far more important. Not the raw MP count.Laxaa - Friday, November 28, 2014 - link
They were. The 920 sensor is also larger than the 830 sensor(1/3.2" vs 1/3.4")cheshirster - Friday, November 28, 2014 - link
"Lumia 830 that it did not jump up to at least the Snapdragon 600"Do you really understand what Snap 600 is?
It is good they don't use it here.
cheshirster - Friday, November 28, 2014 - link
"Snapdragon 600 for sure seems like it would have been a perfect fit "again, NO
Brett Howse - Friday, November 28, 2014 - link
They (Nokia/Microsoft) don't seem prepared to move to 610 yet, although the 800 would of course be a better chip with integrated baseband. Just anything better than 400 at this price range is needed.cheshirster - Friday, November 28, 2014 - link
What "anything" exactly?Laxaa - Saturday, November 29, 2014 - link
They should have shipped it with a downclocked S800. When the 820 was released alongside the 920, the hardware was pretty much the same, aside from the lower res screen and the lack of OIS on the camera.cheshirster - Saturday, November 29, 2014 - link
And I had that 820.1650mah + top hardware is not really a good choise.
Yes, it could run games and tests but with violent battery discharge rates at 40%-50% per hour.
S800 + 2200mah would be the same sad story.
I think L830 is perfectly balanced for non-gamers, basically for every grown up user.
Laxaa - Sunday, November 30, 2014 - link
I guess I can agree with that. Still, I wish it was a step up from the 630 and 730.I tried one yesterday at my local store and it feels really good in the hand. They've done great job with the body and I'm excited to see where they go from here. Hopefully the 940 will build on that template.
cheshirster - Friday, November 28, 2014 - link
Galaxy A3 is the phone that beats price records for S400 hardware.L830, that is priced right on most markets.
jasont78 - Saturday, November 29, 2014 - link
curious in alot (most) of the graphs iphones are at the top of the stack but at the same time alot of the phones that are in some graphs say lumia 930 are omitted. seems to me like iphones are getting propped up once again to look like the best shiz on the market. if you are going to run graphs keep the stacks fair and truthful and use the same phones in all of them or your just cheating the public and helping the apple marketing department which by the they dont need the help.Brett Howse - Saturday, November 29, 2014 - link
The only graphs that don't have the 930 are the Basemark X 1.1 graphs since the benchmark would not run on the 930.sandman74 - Monday, December 1, 2014 - link
I've been tempted to try a lumia for a while now but Nokia (now MS) just keep on releasing disappointing phones.I'm not interested in the low end and the majority of their high end phones are very old now with recognised flaws mentioned in every review.
I find it amazing how many long term lumia owners are willing to side grade (down) to a phone like this from almost equivalent hardware and then be locked in for another year or two.
Talk about being taken for a ride.
The off contact price us just too much as well.
The only lumia that makes sense is the 735 which can be found for as little as £150 in the UK and is very similar spec wise to this. It may also be a middlle end phone but atleast it's priced right.
The biggest turns off for me about this phone are the slow processor, and the metal band styling with square edges... It may not dig into the hands as much as the 930 but it's not that comfortable to hold either (tried it this weekend).
Good review though. I'm looking forward to the 735 one.
tralalalalalala40 - Monday, December 1, 2014 - link
These devices will have very limited importance until we start seeing blockbuster releases of gadgets and useful services that aren't just iOS/Android compatible.Harry_Wild - Saturday, December 6, 2014 - link
I hope Anandtech does a review of the 735 too! I like it much more then the 830 here. It strange that the reviewer used last year's models on the iPhone 5S and 5C along with Moto X 2014 this year's model and HTC M8 for comparison sake. Only one graph on iPhone 6 if I recall!cheshirster - Sunday, December 7, 2014 - link
http://www.windowscentral.com/lumia-camera-update-...New camera app on video
Seems faster.
nickolas - Thursday, December 11, 2014 - link
I have a Nokia 520 having had iphones and a Nexus device in the past. My only gripe with the 520 is the loading times and crashes of apps like Skype and Viber I use often. I would be REALLY interested to know the performance on loading apps (open for the first time or resuming) of the 830. This metric alone if it could match an Iphone 5 would make me buy it.I am sure many Windows phone users are interested in this, because it is the only problem with the user experience in this great platform.
lalcha - Saturday, December 27, 2014 - link
Well said everyone but I love windows phone as they don't hang say not like androids . Androids as u know wen it gets old after a long run they become slow unlike windows they don't atall . So the only thing they lack ryt now is that say 830 even I'm not happy with its price and all for a flirty ship the core is way too low snapdragon 400 n that for 27k.. he'll no!! N the front camera , pppfftt wanna hang myself.. well as for 1 GB m ok.. but front camera and the core that they should come up with something .. n ofcourse the ppi way too low it sudve atleast reach 314 or something.. windows r good phones with smooth UI except they lack some apps which the android has .lalcha - Saturday, December 27, 2014 - link
Still better phone than iPhone 4. Ppfftt !!Darsh - Sunday, February 28, 2016 - link
How does the front camera perform?