Microsoft Lumia 535 Review

Microsoft's first smartphone won't likely impress you if you're looking for your next high-end device. While the Lumia 535 waves goodbye to the Nokia brand, it doesn't replace it with any flair.

Sporting a quad-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 processor and a 5-inch 960x540-pixel display, the phone is decidedly aimed at the lower end of the market, although it is running the latest Windows Phone 8.1. The price of just €110 makes it pretty affordable even for developing countries -- that translates to roughly $135, £85 or AU$155, although expect final local prices to vary with taxes and subsidies.

The Microsoft Lumia 535 is set to debut in November in Russia, Ukraine, China, Indonesia and the Philippines, while those living in Australia, Vietnam, Thailand and unspecified countries in Africa will see this phone in December. January will see the Lumia 535 sold in Latin America as well, while Microsoft has promised it will come to the UK in the first quarter of 2015. There are no plans for a US launch.

Design

If you were worried that a Microsoft rebrand would lead to a new design for Lumia phones, fear not -- at least not yet. The Lumia 535, the sequel to the Lumia 530, sticks to the same proven formula as the current range of handsets. That's to say, it has a plastic back and clean lines with rounded corners. It resembles the older Lumia 530, though bigger and slimmer.

Pipo W2 Review

Pipo is not only about Android with their MediaTek and Rockchip tablets and at Hong Kong Fair, they are also showing the new W2 and W3 tablets running on Windows 8. Earlier this year, Pipo already launched the PiPO W1 tablet running on an Intel Atom Z3740D (Bay Trail-T) quad-core processor. The W3 can be seen as an upgrade to the W1, while the smaller W2 is a complete new model.

The W2 comes with an 8 inch screen with 1280 x 800 resolution, 2GB of RAM, 32GB of Flash storage and it is powered by Intel Bay Trail T-Z3740D quad-core processor. It also features a MicroSD slot, front and rear cameras, MicroUSB port, HDMI and audio jacks. It should be available in June this year, but the price is yet unknown. Pipo W3 is the upgraded W1 model and comes with Z3775D 2.5 Ghz processor and 10.1 inch screen with 1920 x 1200 resolution. The W3 will be available within a month from now.

Pipo chose to pack all the keys on the left top corner (as well as a 2-megapixel front facing camera); this means that you can power up the tablet, switch between desktop and Metro mode (there's a dedicated desktop/Metro button) and change the volume using your index finger only.

Other ports on that left side include a headphone socket, a mini USB port, a type-C mini HDMI port, a microSD card slot (recognises a 64GB SDXC card, so higher capacity ones should be compatible as well) and the power socket.

Nokia Lumia 1520 Series Review

With the launch of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and theHTC One Max, the smartphone war appears to have moved on from processor cores and camera megapixels and into the realm of screen inches and pixel density.

It's not what your phone does, it's how at how large a scale it does it, and how sharply.

This trend towards the pocket-filling may run counter to the whole concept of a "mobile" phone, but that's to misunderstand what customers these days want from their phones (or at least think they want).

People have the taste for HD films, uncompromized web browsing and expansive gaming on the go. They don't want mobile phones, they want mobile tablets.

Android has several "phablet" champions, including the ones mentioned above. Now here's the Nokia Lumia 1520 to provide the first large-screen Windows Phone 8 flagship.

Nokia Lumia 830 Review

Following September's launch, the Lumia 830 has now been given an on-sale date. The new phone will be available from October 3 from EE, Vodafone, Tesco, Amazon and Carphone Warehouse on contracts from £25 per month.

The 5in Lumia 830 is tagged Nokia's "first affordable flagship" and is kitted out with a quad-core Qualcomm SoC and the Lumia Denim update, which includes Cortana, Microsoft's much-heralded rival to iOS's Siri.

Nokia Lumia 830 review: design

The Lumia 830 sits just below the 930 in the Lumia range, and we were immediately struck by the physical resemblance of the two units.

It shares the 930's exposed aluminium edges and colourful matte-plastic back-panel. However, while the 930's back panel curved towards sheer edges, the 830 has a much softer design, with the edges curving all the way around to the 5in, 720 x 1,280 screen. This gives the 830 a less severe look than its stablemate and makes it a little more comfortable to hold in one hand.

There are also shades of the Nokia Lumia 1020's design. Like the 1020, the 830's 10-megapixel rear camera is surrounded by a black circular lens housing, which breaks up the back panel's expanse of colourful plastic. Whereas the 1020's lens housing popped out from the back panel, the 830's lies flat and doesn't add to the phone's overall bulk.

Overall we're pleased with how the 830 looks and feels, and actually prefer it to the 930, despite the fact that it's lower in the range.