Windows phone may not be the top mindset of everyone in purchasing a phone, but we were given a chance by Nokia to try out the new Lumia 730 dual sim. My recent trip to Hong Kong was the perfect opportunity to try out the phone, and we were not dissapointed to use it as our travel companion phone.
Before we proceed here is the brief specifications of the Lumia 730 Dual Sim
- 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor
- Adreno 305
- 1GB of RAM
- 4.7-inch AMOLED ClearBlack HD display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3, 720 x 1280 resolution
- 8GB of storage, expandable via microSD up to 128GB
- 6.7-megapixel rear camera with Carl Zeiss optics, AF and LED flash
- 5-megapixel front camera with 24mm focal length
- WiFi, Bluetooth, NFC, GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS
- Dual-SIM
- 3G
- Windows Phone 8.1
- 2200 mAh
- 134.7 x 68.5 x 8.9 mm
- SRP: Php 11,990.00
The phone gives you more of a vertical based shape which promotes portrait selfies. The color options available besides the usual black and white are the glossy orange and the matte neon apple green color. Similar to previous Lumia phones, the curved glass and sides gives it a premium touch and ergonomic grip. We personally liked the matte finish over the glossy finish as it really contributes on the overall grip, so we suggest you get either the black or green color. Removing the back over is kinda awkward, as its similar to the Asha phones where you have to remove the casing from the front. We suggest to take it easy as you might have a chance to break the cover if you go though in removing the cover. Upon opening will reveal the dual sim card slots (Micro Sim) and MicroSD card slot. The 2200mAh battery which we will tackle later on the performance.
Surprisingly with the new quad-core snapdragon 400 processor, all applications runs smoother as expected. Not that Windows phone OS is slow, but we noticed faster loading speeds as compared to the Lumia 1020 in some applications. So its no question already if the Lumia 730 can handle the everyday usage of a multimedia or social media junkie.
Noticeably this is also the last phone prior to Microsoft taking over the Lumia range, so we can still call this Nokia / Microsoft Lumia 730 Dual Sim. Moving forward, they focused on our selfies with its 5mp front wide focal camera and paired with its dedicated Lumia Selfie app. The rear camera is a 6.7mp (weird megapixel count) camera with Carl Zeiss optics, amazingly for a mid-range phone we loved the focus and color production.
Here are several camera shots we made with the front facing camera
Microsoft bundles a software which they call Lumia Selfie, this lets you modify your selfies on the spot and even edit your appearance like making you more skinny or even whiter. It’s a great touch which instead of using the filters and tolls in instagram to upload photos. Although we did noticed a small lag (1 second) while taking photos with the app, but we believe the reason is for editing purposes so no worries about it.
While using the rear facing camera, we are quite impressed with the focus and color accuracy of the camera. Especially for a mid-range phone, this is a great advantage compared to usual phones in the market that has a higher megapixel but low quality photo output. But enough talk, here are the photos for your reference 🙂
What’s great with the camera application is the the speed and simplicity of taking photos. As you can see here, we were able to quickly change focus without loosing color and detail. Plus the camera applicatioxn detects moving objects and transforms your photo into “Living Images”, this means that it will capture up to 5 frames in one shot so you can select the best photo later on. What’s even more cool is that when viewing the photos, you’ll see a quick animation of what happened. Perfect for sports and family photos where if someone suddenly moves.
We primarily used the Lumia 730 for mobile data, tethering, viber and taking photos. To make it short, it was out lifeline to social media as the group was connected to it for data. Surprisingly for whole day tethering it lasted us more than 12 hours non-stop, that’s with Viber, facebook, instagram and taking photos on the side. Then in our regular tests, it ran to around 15 hours of regular usage before getting a low battery warning. Quite impressive considering the 1.2ghz quad-core processor powering the device.
Overall for a mid-rage device, the Microsoft Lumia 730 Dual-Sim gives you features that are actually beneficial for you. Focused on refining the windows experience with the latest Windows 8.1 phone OS and better camera optics, you’ll definitely forget you’re holding a Php11,990 phone. We just wished that accessories will be available for Lumia phones, which is the most pet peeve of Filipinos when purchasing a phone. (Wink wink Nokia / Microsoft)
