Nokia Lumia 735 Review
by Brett Howse on February 3, 2015 6:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Microsoft
- Nokia
- Lumia
Wi-Fi
Windows Phone does not give us as much access to the hardware as Android, making outright declarations about hardware difficult. However, it is most likely the Wi-Fi solution in the Lumia 735 is the Qualcomm VIVE which is part of the SoC. Unlike the Lumia 830 though, this is a single band only, with one spatial stream. The maximum connection speed is 72.2 Mbps.
Maximum transfer speed that I achieved was only 29 Mbps, which is not fantastic. Many people have faster internet connections in their home, so the 735 will likely not be able to max those out.
Cellular
The MSM8926 SoC supports up to Category 4 LTE, which offers a maximum of 150 Mbps download and 50 Mbps upload, depending on tower traffic, provider hardware, and location of course.
The model shipped for review can support GSM at 850 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, and 1900 MHz, along with WCDMA Band 1 (2100 MHz), Band 5 (850 MHz), and Band 8 (900 MHz). LTE FDD is on bands 3 (1800 MHz), 7 (2600 MHz), and 20 (800 MHz). In North America, the main LTE band is band 4, which is not available on this sample to allow LTE speed testing.
GNSS
Qualcomm’s IZat Gen8A is the GPS in the Snapdragon 400 SoC, and as with most modern Qualcomm location solutions it is fast and accurate. With location services enabled on the phone, GPS lock happened within a couple of seconds. Going from location services disabled to a GPS lock took around thirty seconds, which is pretty good.
The Lumia 735 supports A-GLONASS, A-GPS, BeiDou, and assist from cellular and Wi-Fi networks to get a quicker location fix.
Speaker
The Lumia 735 has a single speaker on the back of the device, which reduces bezel sizes but does not give you the optimum location for a speaker. The maximum SPL playing music is around 81 dBA, and the sound quality is as expected not fantastic, with very little low range and a very tinny sound.
If you are to play music on this device, it would be best to do it through either headphones or a Bluetooth speaker. It does have a graphic equalizer, which can be used for the internal speaker or headphones.
Due to technical issues, I am unable to do a recording for call quality at this time.
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kspirit - Tuesday, February 3, 2015 - link
Brett, I applaud you for reviewing all the new Lumias here on AT. Thank youAlso I maintain this is a more interesting phone than the 830, given the price points for both.
Flame me.
Brett Howse - Tuesday, February 3, 2015 - link
Thank you for the kind words, and I won't flame you.iAPX - Tuesday, February 3, 2015 - link
I think that the Lumia line-up is a little weird, but there are many options and I would consider them when it will be time to replace my smartphone (basic usage, but a lot of music to store, for example on a micro-SD card, and tethering for my tablet).I think Nokia have done a great job to differenciate their products from the Android crowd, at least physically, and Microsoft is following with affordable Lumia smartphones.
iAPX - Tuesday, February 3, 2015 - link
Addition: as a photographer, Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) is of no interest except for 135mm+ equivalent (35mm format) lenses. Not on wide-angle, not for capture the true life where people are moving, because you will have too long exposure time with clear and sharp environment and blurry people!My 2 cents!
Laxaa - Wednesday, February 4, 2015 - link
It is useful for low-light shots and video, though. But I do agree with the rest of your sentiment.bretpowell - Wednesday, February 11, 2015 - link
The Lumia series has not been very popular to consumer, even if you look on a consumer base review (like http://www.phonestop7.tk/ for example...) they're nowhere to be found. But with the latest Windows 8 incorporated...hope things would changeSushisamurai - Tuesday, February 3, 2015 - link
does "Battery Saver mode" really equate to "stop background sync" on the other platforms? i'd still assume windows would have a separate option in settings.Zizy - Tuesday, February 3, 2015 - link
Well, it stops non-essential tasks and background stuff. It isn't limited to sync.But it doesn't change performance by slowing down CPU or something like that.
I don't think you gain a lot by using battery saver during these rundown tests. It shows high gains mostly in light use.
mantikos - Tuesday, February 3, 2015 - link
It also stops checking for e-mail and wifi networks to conserve battery. You can of course manually do both.Alexvrb - Thursday, February 5, 2015 - link
Battery Saver is great for what it was designed for. Obviously it isn't going to help much if you're actively using your phone, but it really stretches the "in-pocket" time if you forgot or were otherwise unable to charge it.