We first heard about this two mid-range smartphones back in February. Initially only the supposed internal codenames appeared online. Since then there has been a constant stream of rumors about the Lumia 630 and Lumia 635. At Microsoft BUILD 2014 today Nokia has finally announced these two smartphones. Nokia also unveiled the Lumia 930, which was also first rumored alongside these two mid-range Windows Phone devices.
With the Lumia 930, Nokia has targeted the high-end market. Its essentially the international variant of the Nokia Icon, which has only been released as a Verizon exclusive in the U.S. Both the Icon and Lumia 930 have similar high-end specifications, accompanied by a hefty price tag.
With Lumia 630 and Lumia 635, Nokia targets the mid-range market. Lumia smartphones have performed spectacularly well in this particular segment before, so it makes sense for the company to continue focusing on this segment, which is thriving particularly in emerging countries around the world.
Both variants have the same 1.2GHz quadcore Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor with 512MB of RAM and 8GB of onboard storage. Support for expansion through microSD up to 128GB is also present. Lumia 630 and 635 also come with a 5 megapixel rear auto focus camera, a 4.5-inch FWVGA display and a 1,830mAh battery. The only major difference is that Lumia 630 is available in single and dual-SIM models, whereas the Lumia 635 offers LTE.
Nokia Lumia 630 will be released in May, starting with Asia, Russia, China, India and Europe. Prices start at $159 for the single SIM variant and $169 for the dual-SIM. Lumia 635 will be “broadly available,” including in the U.S. by July. It will retail for $189. These low price points don’t require carrier subsidies, so customers will buy them off contract. They happen to be the cheapest Windows Phone 8.1 devices.
Update: T-Mobile has announced that it will offer Lumia 635 this summer, and so will its MetroPCS brand. The carrier also announced that Windows Phone 8.1 update will be rolled out to T-Mobile Lumia 521 and Nokia Lumia 925 owners. MetroPCS customers with Nokia Lumia 521 will also receive WP8.1 update this summer.
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