A Regular User Review of the Microsoft Lumia 435

Finally after a few months of NOT using a Windows phone (my last was a yellow Nokia Lumia 520), I finally got another one. I was checking some budget friendly phones considering to buy our local brands, I finally decided to get one from one of the pioneers of using the Windows OS on their phones- Nokia. 

I visited the Nokia store in one of the malls near my office. I was thinking of getting the budget phone Lumia 435. I was amazed though that the brand etched on the unit they showed me was not Nokia but Microsoft. The day before, I was scanning the internet for affordable Windows phone There were a lot of options on the web from different manufacturers and finally I made up my mind to get the Microsoft Lumia 435 after seeing a couple of unboxing and reviews.

I went to the shop and immediately checked the phone. I was given 4 choices (white, orange, green and black) and I chose white to match my white LGG2. I was amazed how the phone fits my hand and how sturdy it feels. The phone is made of plastic, however, it didnt really feel cheap. 

I checked the phone out and here are some things I liked.

1. The Price- Lumia 435 is a budget phone coming from Microsoft. It costs PHP 4,290.00 here in the Philippines ($279.25). For a Windows phone and an imported brand, this is a very affordable phone. 

2. A Fully Functional Windows Phone- I bought this phone to be the partner of my ACER Aspire Switch 10 which is also running on Windows 8.1. Since this is a fully functional Windows phone, I could easily sync all my schedules from my notebook's calendar to the phone. It also has the app that I like on my notebook which is the Health and Fitness. This app has all that you need fitness wise- it has articles on diet, food and conditions, a weight tracker and a my favorite- the symptom checker. Another good news is, it is mentioned by Microsoft that this baby is also getting the Windows 10 update. 

3. Storage- As a photographer, I sometimes cram alot of pictures in memory cards and show them to friends. Lumia 435 has expandable storage aside from the 8 GB internal capacity that comes with the device. It can support not just 32 or 64GB of storage but a whooping 128 GB. This is a perfect phone for storing all your memories and showing them to friends. 

4. Performance- Windows phones are always snappy. I noticed this when I used Lumia 520 before. Though my Lumia 435 only has a 1.2 GHZ Dual core processor, it doesn't have any noticeable lags that other dual core devices have. 

5. Cortana- And the last thing I like about this Microsoft Lumia 435 is Cortana, Windows' own personal assistant. I have used Cortana with my Lumia 520 before and I could say that she is one helpful assistant. You could easily ask her questions, directions, recipes and even ask her to tell jokes and sing for you (though she would always sing "Danny Boy"). I use Cortana to set my alarms, schedule my meetings, remind me of appointments and even send text messages. By far, this is the most interactive and responsive AI Assistant ever. 

Runner-up: 2 SIM Card Slots- This feature is a close runner up. With the dual sim capability, this lets me bring 2 phones instead of y usual three (1 data plan, 1 normal call and text plan and 1 business line). Since the phone has dual sim, I get to use both my personal line and my business number together. 

There you have it guys, my observation of the new Microsoft Lumia 435. Though I have only used it for a day, I really liked it. Stay tuned for updates regarding the new budget phone from Microsoft.