Comparison of Lumia Smartphones: Which One Is Right for You

If you're in the market for a new smartphone and considering a Lumia, you have several options to choose from. The Lumia 950 has a 5.2-inch display, while the Lumia 950 XL has a 5.7-inch display.

The Lumia 640 has a more budget-friendly price point, with a starting price of $179.99. The Lumia 950, on the other hand, starts at $549.99.

If you're looking for a phone with a long-lasting battery, the Lumia 950 XL has a 3340mAh battery, while the Lumia 640 has a 2500mAh battery.

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To compare the performance of the Lumia smartphones, we used the Basemark II OS software, which is free and cross-platform supported. This software allowed us to test the devices' capabilities without any external factors influencing the results.

Both phones were running the latest software, including Windows Phone 8.1, with the Lumia 530 using build 12400 and the Lumia 520 using build 12393. The Lumia Cyan updates were also applied to both devices.

To ensure a fair comparison, we loaded the app into the internal memory of each phone, and neither device used a micro SD card. This setup allowed us to test the phones' internal performance without any external storage affecting the results.

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Windows Phone 7 was the first generation of Windows Phone devices, introduced in 2011. It was a significant departure from previous Windows Mobile devices, with a new user interface and a focus on social networking.

The first Windows Phone 7 devices were the Lumia 800 and Lumia 900, both of which had a 1.4 GHz Scorpion CPU and 512 MB of RAM. The Lumia 800 also had an 8 MP camera with a Carl Zeiss lens.

The Lumia 710 had a 4.3-inch AMOLED screen with a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels, while the Lumia 610 had a 3.7-inch AMOLED screen with a PenTile pattern.

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The Lumia 900 had a 1830mAh battery, which provided up to 9.5 hours of 3G talk time and up to 8 hours of video playback.

The Lumia 540, 640, and 640 XL are all part of the same generation of Windows Phone devices. They all have expandable memory, with the ability to add up to 128 GB of storage.

The Lumia 640 and 640 XL have the highest supported operating system version, Windows 10 Mobile (1703), while the Lumia 540 is limited to Windows 10 Mobile (1607). This means that the Lumia 640 and 640 XL will receive longer software support and have access to more features.

Here's a comparison of the physical specifications of the three devices:

The Lumia 640 XL has the largest display, with a diagonal size of 145 mm (5.7 in), while the Lumia 540 has the smallest display at 127 mm (5.0 in). The Lumia 640 has a display size of 127 mm (5.0 in), the same as the Lumia 540.

The battery life of the three devices varies, with the Lumia 640 XL having the longest battery life at up to 14.2 hours of Wi-Fi network browsing.

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We used the Basemark II OS software to compare device performance. This software is free and cross-platform supported, making it a great tool for testing.

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The Basemark II OS software was loaded into the internal memory of both phones, as neither device used a micro SD card. This ensured that the test results were accurate and not influenced by external storage.

Both phones were running the latest software, with the Lumia 530 on Windows Phone 8.1 build 12400 and the Lumia 520 on build 12393. The Lumia Cyan updates were also applied to both devices.

Before running the tests, both phones were soft-reset to ensure a clean slate.

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The Nokia 925, Nokia 920, and HTC One are all great smartphones, but they have some key differences. The Nokia 925 weighs 139g, while the Nokia 920 is a bit heavier at 185g.

The display size and resolution vary across these devices. The Nokia 925 has a 4.5in screen with 1280 x 768 AMOLED, the Nokia 920 also has a 4.5in screen but with 1280 x 768 IPS, and the HTC One boasts a 4.7in screen with 1920 x 1080 SuperLCD 3.

The Nokia 925 has a dual-core 1.5 GHz processor, while the HTC One has a more powerful quad-core 1.7 GHz processor. Storage-wise, the Nokia 925 comes with 16 GB of storage, although a 32 GB version is exclusive to Vodafone, the Nokia 920 has 32 GB of storage.

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The Lumia 535 is expected to arrive in the UK in the first quarter of 2015, though it could arrive sooner if the UK is considered a key market.

We don't have an official UK price yet, but the single-SIM version of the Lumia 535 is expected to cost 110 Euros before VAT, which translates to around £99 with VAT.

You can pick up the Lumia 520 for as low as £50 if you shop around, although it's getting harder to find as stock dwindles.

The Lumia 530, on the other hand, is a more affordable option, priced at just £60.

The Lumia 535 is not an ultra-budget model, so you'll be looking at a higher price point than the Lumia 530 or 520.

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The Lumia 535 is a reasonable 8.8mm thick and weighs 146g, making it slightly thicker and heavier than the Lumia 530 and 520.

The Lumia 535 has a range of bright colours, including orange, green, and blue, plus neutrals like black, white, and grey. These colours can be swapped after purchase thanks to a removable back.

The Lumia 520 has a more squared design compared to the rounded design of the Lumia 530 and 535. It comes in colours like yellow, blue, red, white, and black, but no green or orange.

The Lumia 535 has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 processor paired with 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage, which can be expanded via microSD up to 128GB.

The Lumia 535 is a reasonable 8.8mm thick, weighing 146g. This makes it thinner than the Lumia 530, but slightly heavier.

The 535 comes in a range of bright colours, including orange, green, blue, black, white, and grey, which can be swapped after purchase thanks to a removable back. The Lumia 530 also has this feature.

The Lumia 535 has a rounded design, whereas the Lumia 520 has a more squared design. This is a notable difference.

The Lumia 535 is slightly thicker than the Lumia 520, which measures 9.9mm. The 535 is also heavier than the 520, which weighs 124g.

The screen on the Lumia 535 is bigger than the Lumia 530 and 520's 4in screens, measuring 5 inches.

Its qHD resolution of 960 x 540 provides a reasonable pixel density of 220ppi.

The Lumia 535's IPS screen is better than the Lumia 530's TN-based display.

It's also made with Gorilla Glass 3 for added durability.

The Lumia 520's 4in screen has a resolution of 800×480, which is lower than the Lumia 535's.

The 530's 854×480 resolution is an improvement over the 520's, but still lower than the 535's.

The Lumia 520 and 530 have a better pixel density than the 535 due to their smaller screens.

The Lumia 535's high brightness mode is designed to make it easier to use in sunlight.

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The Lumia 535 has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 processor, which is a quad-core chip, but it's not very powerful.

The Lumia 520 has a dual-core 1GHz processor, which is actually more efficient than it sounds.

The Lumia 530 has a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, similar to the Lumia 535.

The Lumia 520 has Adreno 305 graphics, which is better than the Adreno 302 in the Lumia 530 and Lumia 535.

The Lumia 535 has 8GB of internal storage, which can be expanded up to 128GB with a microSD card.

The Lumia 520 also has 8GB of storage, but the Lumia 530 only has 4GB.

All three phones have a microSD card slot, allowing you to add up to 128GB of extra storage.

The Lumia 535 has 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, and A-GPS for connectivity.

The Lumia 520 and Lumia 530 also have the same connectivity options as the Lumia 535.

None of the Lumias have 4G support, but this isn't surprising for such affordable phones.

The Lumia 535 runs Windows Phone 8.1 with Lumia Denim, including features like Cortana and the ‘word flow’ keyboard. It also offers Skype, Microsoft Office, 15GB of free OneDrive cloud storage and Outlook.

The Lumia 535 sports two 5Mp cameras, one on the front and one on the back, with a wide-angle lens on the front-facing camera for selfies. The rear camera has an LED flash.

The Lumia 530 and 520 can both run Windows 8.1, but they lack front-facing cameras and the LED flash found on the Lumia 535.

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The cameras on these Microsoft Lumia devices are quite interesting. The Lumia 535 has two 5Mp cameras, one on the front and one on the back, with the front-facing camera designed specifically for selfies.

The front-facing camera on the Lumia 535 has a wide-angle lens, making it perfect for group selfies. The rear camera offers an LED flash, which is a nice feature.

Video quality is limited to 848×480 on both cameras, which is quite poor. The Lumia 535's rear camera can record video, but with a resolution that's not even close to 1080p.

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The Lumia 530 and 520 also have 5Mp rear-facing cameras, but the Lumia 530 has fixed focus instead of auto-focus like the Lumia 520. This means you can't take macro photos with the Lumia 530.

The Lumia 530 and 520 don't have front-facing cameras, which is a drawback for those who love taking selfies.

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The Lumia 535 runs Windows Phone 8.1 with Lumia Denim, including all of the latest features such as Cortana and the 'word flow' keyboard. It also offers Skype, Microsoft Office, 15GB of free OneDrive cloud storage and Outlook.

The Lumia 530 and Lumia 520 can both run Windows 8.1 too.

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The Lumia 530 outperforms the Lumia 520 in virtually every way, with an overall score of 366 compared to 273.

The largest difference in performance is found in System performance, where the Lumia 530's Quad-core 1.2 GHz CPU scores 566, significantly better than the Lumia 520's Dual-core 1 GHz CPU score of 284.

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Games also load faster on the Lumia 530, thanks to its higher graphics score of 178 compared to the Lumia 520's 125. This makes it a better device for gaming.

However, the Lumia 520 slightly edges out the Lumia 530 in memory performance, suggesting that not all system components in the newer device are necessarily better.

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The Lumia 530 outperforms the Lumia 520 in virtually every way, with an overall score of 366 compared to the Lumia 520's 273.

The largest difference in the sub-tests is found in the System performance, where the Lumia 530's Quad-core 1.2 GHz CPU scored 566, significantly better than the Lumia 520's Dual-core 1 GHz CPU with a score of 284.

For graphics, the Lumia 530 scored 178, while the Lumia 520 scored 125, suggesting that the Lumia 530 is a better device for games.

Interestingly, the Lumia 520 slightly edged out the Lumia 530 in memory, but the Lumia 530's beefier CPU can overcome any bottlenecks.

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In real-world tests, the Lumia 530 feels zippier for launching apps, loading graphics, and scrolling around the OS, thanks to its new chipset.

The Lumia 530 crushes the Lumia 520 in loading games, with a popular example being Subway Surfers, which took 20 to 30 seconds longer to load on the Lumia 520.

Simple tasks like bringing up the app-chooser and attaching images to emails were also faster on the Lumia 530 by a substantial margin.

The Lumia 530 lacks automatic brightness adjustment and sunlight readability mode, but gains dual-SIM support, which may be more important for emerging markets.

The Lumia 530 is a solid choice for those on a budget, offering raw performance and the latest Windows Phone 8.1 operating system.

Its Quad-core 1.2 GHz CPU provides a better experience for launching apps and loading graphics, making it a great option for everyday tasks.

However, it does come with some compromises, such as the lack of a brightness sensor, camera button, and camera autofocus.

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But, it gains dual-SIM support and on-screen keys, which may be beneficial for emerging markets.

The Lumia 630 is a more appealing option for those with a Lumia 520, offering a larger display and improved Adreno 305 GPU for better gaming and graphics performance.

This makes it a great choice for those looking to upgrade from their current device.

In real-world tests, the Lumia 530 outperforms the Lumia 520 in launching apps, loading graphics, and scrolling around the OS.

It also loads games faster, such as Subway Surfers, which took 20 to 30 seconds longer to load on the Lumia 520.