Nokia Lumia 830 Unboxing: A Delightful Surprise

Nokia Lumia 830 Unboxing: A Delightful Surprise

Finally time to unbox the Nokia Lumia 830!
Finally time to unbox the Nokia Lumia 830!

Nokia Lumia 830 Now at the Unbox HQ!

When the Nokia Lumia 830 was first announced a few months back, we wrote an op. ed piece talking about why the device mattered a lot. We expressed that Microsoft was going the right route by strengthening their software, improving their ecosystem, and packaging everything into a premium built device at a more competitive price. The good news is that the Lumia 830 lives up to all of those promises. Microsoft’s newest baby just landed at our HQ and we’d like to share with you guys our initial impressions!

Before anything though let’s quickly go over the specifications.

Nokia Lumia 830 Spec Sheet

  • 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor
  • Adreno 305 GPU
  • 1GB of RAM
  • 5-inch, IPS ClearBlack display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection, 720 x 1280 resolution
  • 16GB of storage, expandable via microSD up to 128GB
  • 10-megapixel rear camera with PureView technology, Carl Zeiss optics, OIS, AF and LED flash
  • 0.9-megapixel front camera
  • WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, NFC
  • 3G, LTE
  • Microsoft Phone 8.1 with Lumia Denim update
  • 2200mAh battery
  • SRP: Php 18,990

As we said in our first post, don’t let the specs fool you. Windows Phone doesn’t need as much power as Android devices to run smoothly. With that let’s jump right into our unboxing!

Packaging & Unboxing

Nokia ditched their blue hard carton boxes with the Lumia 930 and they continued that here with the 830. We have a plain soft carton box with the product photo at the top (featuring a green back) and the usual print at the back. We removed the circular tape holding the package together and slid the top cover off (comes off sideways) revealing the Lumia 830.

Our first reaction? It looked exactly like the Lumia 930 (click to read our review)!

Unboxed! Woohooo!
Unboxed! Woohooo!

The sides and the build felt and looked the same. The metal frame along the sides is still there which is the same style used by more expensive flagships like the iPhone 6 and the Galaxy Note 4. There are subtle differences at the front and sides but you can actually tell which one is which if you look at the back plate. The 830 has a dotted speaker grille at the bottom and it has a bigger black circle shape compared to the 930. Here’s a photo of the Lumia 830 on the left with the Lumia 930 on the right.

Nokia Lumia 830 Reviewed

We’ll get more into the phone in a while.

We dug deeper into the box and found the usual bevy of accessories: micro USB cable, battery, wall charger, earphones, and a variety of manuals. I was actually hoping that Nokia would give away free wireless chargers with the Lumia 830 but that doesn’t seem the case here, hehe. We just get the normal charger. So yeah, nothing too special beyond the phone.

What else is in the box
What else is in the box

Maybe when Microsoft completely takes over operations they should consider bringing back what Nokia used to do before with their earlier smartphones: including cases as freebies in the box. Fingers crossed for this one, hehe.

Initial Impressions: Premium Build, Solid User Experience

SUPERB build!
SUPERB build!

Now we get to the phone itself. The Nokia Lumia 830 definitely does not feel like a low-end or even mid-range smartphone. When it comes to style and build it can compete head-on with the flagships of Samsung, Apple, LG, etc. The combination of metal, matte polycarbonate, and the smooth Gorilla Glass 3 screen is a powerhouse combo that premium smartphones ship with.

Despite the metal, the phone also is quite light making it easy to manage and use with one hand. We didn’t have any problem stretching out our thumb to either end of the screen.

Amazing display!
Amazing display!

A big change that we appreciated in the Lumia 830 compared to the Lumia 930 is the removable back plate. Not only does this mean interchangeable batteries, we also get a micro SD card slot. Microsoft was generous here as they made the phone compatible for up to 128GB micro SD cards. That’s a lot of content. You can probably cram several seasons of your favorite TV series in that card, hehe.

Removable backplate FTW!
Removable backplate FTW!

As for the software, the device runs Windows Phone 8.1. This is the best version of Windows Phone yet and it’s actually very refreshing compared to the usual experience you get with iOS or the more complicated but more customizable Android. We think the Windows Phone experience is a middle ground between the two, offering customizability (not as deep as Android) and intuitiveness/ease-of-use out of the box. There’s a learning curve for mastering the Windows Tiles but that shouldn’t take an average person more than an hour to figure out.

In terms of performance, we rarely saw any lag whatsoever with the Lumia 830. This is a testament to the fact that specs aren’t everything in a smartphone. We daresay that the Lumia 830 offers a much smoother and more fluid user experience compared to Android devices with similar or even better specifications.

Windows Phone 8.1
Windows Phone 8.1

With Microsoft taking over Nokia’s hardware, we can expect more kick-ass updates on the OS and we’re definitely excited to see where Microsoft will take Windows Phone in the next few years.

Full Review Coming Soon

Abangan!
Abangan!

We’re working on our full review for the Lumia 830 but so far it’s very promising. Watch out for it next week! We definitely want to test out the battery life, call quality, gaming performance, and LTE compatibility during our test.

The Nokia Lumia 830 is available locally with an SRP of Php18,990 at official Nokia stores nationwide.

See Also: Nokia Lumia 930 Review – The Best Windows Phone To Date?

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