Nokia Lumia 630 Review: Nokia's last low-priced high performer was the Lumia 520, and the Lumia 630 is its successor. Competition at the lower end of the smartphone market is becoming fierce as manufacturers vie to pack in the most functionality at the lowest price. These devices may not have all the bells and whistles of the serious high-enders, but they can do most things more than well enough to justify their pocket money prices.
Chassis and screen The Lumia 630 doesn't look sophisticated. With its blocky polycarbonate wraparound cover it looks a little cheap, but fortunately it also looks cheerful -- a fun phone that should be capable of withstanding a few knocks and bumps.
Nokia likes its bright colours, and the Lumia 630 is available in either lime green or eye-burning orange, as well as plain black for those with less peacock-like tendencies.
The 4-inch touch screen is just about big enough to be comfortable and it delivers a less-than-HD resolution of 854x480 pixels (221ppi) which is slightly better than the 520. It looks fine for most things, though there doesn't seem to be an automatic brightness sensor on board, so you'll find yourself flicking between the medium setting to save battery (low is just a bit too, well, low) and high when you're out and about.
Processor and software The quad-core 1.2GHz processor is backed by 512MB RAM and along with Windows Phone 8.1's slick interface it delivers a very nippy performance indeed, flitting between apps in a trice. With Windows 8.1 you now get an Android-style pull-down menu for your latest updates, though you can't as yet respond to emails from it. As ever, Nokia has preloaded a range of free services including offline maps and sat nav as well as Nokia MixRadio. You also get a full version of Office 365, allowing you create and edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents. It's nice to see there's a new Swype-style element that allows you to write words without taking your finger off the keyboard too.
There's 8GB of memory on board, but you can add up to 128GB via microSD card. Usefully, you can also run apps from the memory card. Our test sample didn't have 4G capability, though one is available -- under the name of the Lumia 635 -- and there's also a dual-SIM version. The 1,830mAh battery is almost a third larger than the 520's and while it's not huge, it does a more than respectable job -- you can certainly expect to get close to two days of steady use out of it.
Photography The 5-megapixel camera comes with autofocus but no flash and there's a choice of camera software -- Windows' basic but quick model, and the slightly more sophisticated Nokia Camera. This takes a bit longer to load, but offers additional features like Smart Sequence, which takes a series of pics and allows you to choose the best one and edit elements within it. Picture quality isn't bad, so long as you're careful with your light, and colors are generally accurate. Surprisingly, there's no front-facing camera, so no opportunity for video chat.
Conclusion The Nokia Lumia 630 is certainly a bargain, offering a speedy processor, decent camera and a host of Nokia and Microsoft features for less than a hundred quid. The screen isn't super sharp, and there's no front-facing camera, but it will do most of the things you need it to, really well, and for most of us, that's what counts.
