Another knock out for Microsoft’s Entry Level Lumias with the New Lumia 540

The 5xx series is a great line up for Lumia. The 520 becoming one of the best selling Windows devices was followed up with a rather compromise packed Lumia 530. Fortunately Microsoft fixed most of that with the almost brilliant 535.

Today they launched the 540.

• 5″ HD display. The 535 had a 960×540 5″ display. It was OK but HD on an entry level is much more welcome.
• 5MP wide angle front camera
• 8MP Rear with flash. Up from the 5MP rear.
• 8GB on board storage + MicroSD
• Dual SIM
• 2200mAh, up from 1905mAh
• 144 x 73.69 x 9.35 mm 152g so it’s bigger and heavier but possibly justified as it just packs more inside (535, Height: 140.2 mm Width: 72.4 mm Thickness1: 8.8 mm Weight: 145.3 g)
• <150USD sans taxes

The design is like a mix of Lumia, with something resembling a very grown up Asha. The attention to detail on an entry level device makes me look forward to their eventual flagship offering.

Comments at LumConv are overall very positive. Some concerns over the processor though from using the 535 I thought it was more than OK for that intended audience.  There’s some queries on availability with some claiming Lumias are hard to get hold of. Some mention confusion about whether to get this or either the 640/640 XL which were launched not that long ago too.

The only thing I can say I miss about old Lumia is the camera button. It’s something that came from Nokia but that was also an original piece of WP too. Being able to quickly launch the camera and bypass the lock was really cool is still a better method than all the other touch input options as you’re also using a more versatile, tactile, shutter button.

Source: Conversations

Category: Lumia, Windows Phone