Nokia 635

Nokia has been banging out the Windows Phones at a fast rate as it tries to regain some of its customer base and its new owner Microsoft continues to try to carve out a place for itself in the smartphone market.

That’s a tall order these days, with Android hoovering up a good proportion of the market and Apple’s iPhone still a favourite among consumers.

But the Lumia 635 is hoping to appeal to the budget market without scrimping on features.

The Lumia 635 does cut a few things here and there. It comes with 8GB of storage space, for example, and only 512MB of RAM.

But it makes up for it with the latest version of Windows 8 pre-installed, so you get the Action Flow keyboard, a notification panel and the updated version of live tiles among other things.

The Good . . .

As far as Windows Phones go, the Lumia 635 is a good deal. The phone is 4G enabled and budget-friendly. Although the high-speed data connection is relatively new to Ireland,

Vodafone

, 3 and Meteor/emobile all offer it to their customers, so having a compatible phone at a budget price is a good move.

Storage is expandable too, which is welcome. Although the phone comes with 8GB of internal storage, a chunk of that will be taken up by the system software so you’ll need that extra space if you intend to capture a lot of images and video on the phone.

The good news is that its compatible with cards up to 128GB in size, so you have plenty of options.

And despite the 512MB of RAM, there is little sign of it being underpowered until you try to do a few more heavy tasks.

That means you can switch between apps and run tasks without any noticeable stuttering. However, try the 635 with some of the more power-hungry games and you’ll see an effect.

The bad . . .

There’s very little to distinguish the Lumia 635 from the 630 save the 4G connection. It has the same 1.2GHz quad core chip that the 630 does, and the camera has the same spec too at 5 megapixel resolution.

The screen is even the same resolution and size. But if you want 4G connectivity, the 635 is the best option.

And in today’s selfie-obsessed world, the 635 doesn’t score any points for eliminating the front-facing camera. That’s right: if you want to take those duck-face out pics you’ll have to become adept at framing them blind or find another phone. It also means video calls are out.

The lack of a flash is another element that may turn people off.

The 635’s display isn’t quite up to the resolution of its more expensive rivals at 854 x 480, but Nokia has brought in some of its technology – ClearBlack, TrueColour and IPS LCD – which improves the overall look of things.

. . . and the rest

Video resolution is 720p, perfectly fine for smartphone videos but behind the current trend for full HD footage on phones.

Still, this is a more pocket-friendly handset so it’s inevitable that there will be some cuts somewhere along the way. Chances are you’ll barely notice the lack of 1080 video on that 4.5 inch screen anyway. Fans of bright colours will like the Lumia 635; the shells are swappable too so you can change the look of the phone if you choose.

Battery life is only average, with a claimed 14 hours of talk time on 3G. That varies according to what you put it through, but the handset does have the option of the Battery Saver app on Windows 8,1 which will allow you to eke out some extra time if you find yourself caught short.

The verdict

HHHH As budget phones go, the Lumia 635 is a decent handset for Windows Phone fans.