Microsoft today launched yet another budget smartphone, the Lumia 435, in the Indian market. Over the past six months or so, the company seems to have turned its focus completely to the budget segment, having only two new devices priced above Rs. 20,000. The company's newest device, the Lumia 430 targets the tier II and tier III markets, with a price tag of merely Rs. 5,299. It is a quintessential budget phone, taking its place alongside the Lumia 435 and Lumia 532.
Display
On paper, the Lumia 430 has a 4 inch 480x800p display, but its better than many in the market, thanks to Microsoft's uber colourful UI. Windows 8.1 looks nice on this phone and while the display isn't the sharpest, it's passable for a budget device.
Build and Design
The Lumia 430 follows the trademark Lumia design language, with a plastic shell and bright colours. Compared to the myriad colours Microsoft usually offers though, this phone is available only in orange and black. It is a well build and very compact smartphone though, one that should take some rough usage easily.
Performance
The Lumia 430 runs on the 1.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 dual-core SoC along with 1GB of RAM. This is the same processor that powers the Lumia 435 and used to run the Moto E (1st Gen).
Battery
The phone is powered by a 1500 mAh battery, which should be fine for such a device. Microsoft's track record in this department has been pretty good till now, so we expect the phone to last at least a full day.
Rear Camera
While Lumia cameras have usually been on the good side, the 2MP rear camera on this one doesn't seem to be of much use. It makes sense for first time smartphone users, but that's about it.
Front Camera
The same goes for the front VGA camera. In fact, Microsoft should have done better with this one. A VGA camera makes no sense in this day and age.
Storage
The Lumia 430 comes with 8GB of internal storage, which is expandable to 128GB. Microsoft is bundling upto 30GB of OneDrive storage with the device as well.
Offers
Microsoft also announced three offers with the Lumia 430. Consumers will receive cashbacks on the Mobikwik and discounts on the Redbus apps. In addition, Vodafone users will be get 500MB of 3G data free along with this phone. In circles where 3G isn't available, Vodafone will amount the same amount of 2G data.
An interesting announcement that Microsoft made with the Lumia 430 was that of the Lumia Knockout on Wheels initiative. The truck that you see in the image, will go around India, covering 200 cities. Consumers will be invited to pit their existing smartphones against Lumia devices in order to spread awareness about Microsoft's devices and operating system.
Here are a few more images of the Lumia 430.
Of course, the back on the Lumia 430 is removable, which means that you can change shells to change the colour of the device.
It's one of the most compact smartphones in the market right now.
The onscreen buttons have been replaced by physical keys, presumable to compensate for the smaller screen size.