I’ve been very strict about this point, almost always going for 4.5‘ screen Smartphones, which was good and also limiting! Those phones are known as mini, usually come with one gigabyte of RAM and don’t preform as well as they should, but now I realize that 5′ is the least you should go for, and the more screen real estate, the better! Just don’t go for above 7′ screens, you would look like you are talking into a food tray!
Smartphone Screen
2. Battery power
Who hates having more juice? The more the better, right? Well that’s exactly the case, with phones becoming faster and bigger, so does the need for bigger batteries to support all that high tech and some more, without having to sit by the charger all day, I would recommend to go for not less than 3000 mAh, and the more the better. Especially if you live somewhere with an electricity crisis.
This goes without saying for many modern day phones, but it’s good to check because this feature expands the capabilities of your phone with all sorts of peripherals, you can even connect a joystick and play games! If your battery is big enough you can turn it into a battery bank and help a friend in need. Some companies like Huawei likes to skim on this feature on the mid-range smartphones, so you might want to double check if OTG is a selling point for you.
USB OTG Logo
5. Accessories
Make sure the Smartphone has accessories in the market, even if it has the latest Gorilla glass technology, it will be scratched with time, and having a cover can take a bump or two and save you from a dreaded trip to the repair shop, will also improve resale value, a tip from a compulsive phone hopper!
Phone case
These are my top requirements in a Smartphone, there are some optional ones which I will list down below
WhatsApp is changing it’s payment policy to become totally free, before the first year was free and you had to pay 0.99 cents each year, but that is long history now!
In a recent blog post, the company addressed the current payment plan, they admitted the plan wasn’t going well, as many users didn’t have credit cards or debut cards (I for one don’t have one of those), and those people were wondering if they were going to lose service after the first year. This lead to the change we all witnessed, WhatsApp is free now!
You might be wondering, and it’s a very legitimate question, how is WhatsApp going to pay for it’s services?
It’s not going to be paid by ads, it’s paid by “testing tools” for communicating with organizations and companies, so in another way WhatsApp now is a beta and you are the tester!
It’s not bad, my concern is the privacy policy as it’s owned by Facebook, if you want a truly secure messenger, there is Telegram.
I think a head to head post is due between Telegram and WhatsApp.
Until then, how do you feel about WhatsApp becoming free?
I posted asking forthe fans to help me pick a phone, I received no helpful feedback so I decided to apply some thinking to it.
Requirements
I wanted an affordable phone, dual SIM. With a responsive display.
Camera and media aren’t important to me.
And the price wouldn’t be too far from what I was selling the elite for.
The battery life was also important to me as the power issue doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon.
The screen size of the elite was a problem to me as it was unable with one hand. I needed something between 4′ to 4.5′ max.
It needs to be Dual SIM, and mini is preferable.
The market (According to my budget).
Not to many options were available, mostly Samsung running outdated Android, and a couple of lower end HTC’s.
iPhones were out of the questions! (too expensive).
An interesting option was Lumia 630, my only concern was the RAM which is only 512 MB.
There were some Chinese Android phones I never heard of before called iKU.
Some Chinese company called Xtouch, slightly better than iKU in terms of support but still..
Some deprecated Nokia phones that were overly used and abused.
After taking a look at the specs online and some video reviews, I decided that was it! The Lumia 630.
I almost went for the Archos 40 Cesium, it came with three covers and it ran Windows 8.1 with a 4′ screen and a front camera(Lumia didn’t). The screen had no protection and it wasn’t eligible for Windows 10 update as it had 4GB of memory, it’s a decent phone with solid battery life (even better than the Lumia).
The Purchase
I went and got one, I didn’t like the fact it was white, because the cover is easily stained. But it’s easily replaceable without unscrewing the phone. It’s available in 4 colors.
The screen size is 4.5′ which is just perfect. The touch is also very responsive and quite easy to use. The word flow input is really handy and super easy to type with!
The official Nokia info-graphic used to promote Lumia 630
The OS is Microsoft Windows 8.1 which is in my opinion better than Android JB and Symbian. It’s stable and responsive even tho the RAM is just 512 MB. As soon I opened it downloaded a couple of updates and its running Cyan Update (latest version).
Battery life and connectivity
It uses Wifi and GSM 3G. And using Opera Mini is the best way of saving data. Battery life is good with a 1830 mAH battery, and the battery saver is even better. Managing multiple apps at once is good also.
The camera
The camera is good. And auto focus makes it better. Doesn’t have a flash and no front camera (total bummer if you are a selfie addict!) Here is a comparison between E6’s 8MP and Lumia 630 5MP, the picture was taken under the same light circumstances to be fair.
Lumia 630 at 5MP
Nokia E6 at 8MB
Applications
The apps have been a constant pain for Windows Phone. The store has many apps. But much like Android they contain ads and some are totally useless. I felt that the apps shipped with the phone were better than the store free counterparts. The ones I didn’t find were Snapchat and Dubsmash which I never use! There are third party apps for sites like Instagram (6tag). I haven’t tried side loading apps so far.
Prodcutivity
The Office suit provided is fantastic! It provides support for Excel sheets and word documents with power point viewing. You can edit the template provided but creating a new one is not available.
I share my documents via dropbox and sync them so I don’t have to send via bluetooth, the only draw back is that the layout between Office and LibreOffice is different so the documents “blinks”.
Cortana is also one of the high points of this phone. She is very clever and quite helpful. I don’t like that it needs to be online all the time to work (only a few commands can be achieved offline), there are many fun things to do with Cortana so check these links out.
I had to change the location to USA for Cortana to work, and it didn’t work until I updated to Cyan.
Typing with Lumia 630 is so easy and effective, it’s even better than the QWERTY keyboard I was so fixated to, it lived up to the hype, I must say!
Interface
The unique interface that stands out from Android and iOS, uses tiles instead of launchers. You can control the tile size, while app tiles bring live updates, and you can group tiles in folders.
Lumia 630 home screen
Lumia 630 app list
Lumia 630 lock screen
Multi-tasking with office and Opera mini
Adaption concerns
If you are coming from iOS or Android, there is an app to transfer all your data to your new device.
As for getting used to Windows phone, that’s a personal matter, my first day was oblivious! I didn’t know where was anything and I was a bit frustrated, but in no time I got used to it and it became a daily routine to use. I recommend visiting Windows Phone’s official site for tips and help. All about Windows phone is a great community for Windows Phone users to read and interact.
It’s up to you to be open minded and don’t try and turn a Lumia into an Android / iOS device!
Windows 10 support
Windows 10 upgrade. On paper Lumia 630 is upgradable to Windows 10. I tried to upgrade it to 10 using Windows Insider. But that’s a separate post!
I received an e-mail saying that Windows 10 is coming soon to Windows phone (not that I care or anything like that).
The general rule of thumb is that any Lumia device running Windows Phone 8.1 Cyan is able to get Windows 10. But there are performance concerns for devices with RAM less than 1GB, don’t jump head first, that’s all I’m saying!
Look and feel
It looks really nice and feels sleek and chalky. Not too heavy, fits nicely into the hand, at 4.5′ it’s perfect for typing with one hand.
Lumia 630 with box front and back, credit goes to Gizbot
On the right side there is a volume rocker and a lock/power button to the left, nothing on the right.
The headset jack is at the top, the usual 3.5 mm while the USB charge port is at the bottom.
Exif_JPEG_420
The back side has the camera and a speaker at the corner.
The back cover peels off and can be replaced, there are several color options to go with.
The Office suit and Onenote with Onedrive integration which comes free of charge with Windows 8.1
The camera performs well for a 5MP with no flash.
It’s kept to update with Microsoft, and will get Windows 10.
Draw backs
Couldn’t find accessories in Tripoli so far. Cases, covers, screen protectors. Even if it’s supporting Gorilla glass I don’t like scratches.
The white cover is really easy to get dirt but it is was to clean with an eraser!
The screen attracts finger prints like crazy!
The memory card is located under the battery, alongside the dual micro SIM cards.
The box contents were very minimal! Just a charger! No headset was provided, you would except a screen protector or an extra cover but that wasn’t the case! Not even a mini USB cord, how classy Nokia? Even the charger is a single piece (doesn’t breakup into a USB cord). But other than that its running good so far!
Final Words
I’ve always admired the sleek Lumia design. And my only problem was the operating system. Windows 7,8 mobile weren’t as good. But Windows 8.1 is a mature OS that can rival Android. Good camera, good feel and design. It’s totally worth checking out. The only downside is the lack of some apps. But other than that all is good.
I had it for around 3 months now. And I’ll see if its a good pick. Mostly it’s productive and handy. I recommend it as long you find accessories for the phone. If you aren’t then the Archos Cesium 40 is a good call.
