Microsoft Launches Multiple Budget Lumia Smartphones

Microsoft is taking the fight to Android and has launched all new affordable 400-series smartphone, the Lumia 435 and Lumia 435 Dual SIM. The Redmond giant has also launched the Lumia 532 and Lumia 532 Dual SIM, sporting a layered design. The Lumia 435 and Lumia 532 will start rolling out in February in select regions including Asia-Pacific, Europe, India, the Middle East and Africa. The Microsoft Lumia 435 has been priced at EUR 69 (approximately Rs. 5,100), while theMicrosoft Lumia 532 will be available at EUR 79 (approximately Rs. 5,800) before taxes and subsidies. The company notes that the prices of the Lumia 435 and Lumia 532 will vary by market and operator. Notably, Microsoft India, at the time of writing, had listed the Lumia 435 Dual SIM andLumia 532 Dual SIM tipping that the dual-SIM variants of the handsets will be headed to the country. Both the new Lumia smartphones come with the latest Windows Phone 8.1 with the Lumia Denim update. The Lumia 435 and Lumia 532 feature a suite of Microsoft services including Microsoft's Office suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote), Outlook, Skype, OneDrive (up to 30GB of free cloud storage), and can download more apps from Windows Phone store. Both the new Lumia handsets also come preloaded with Here Maps. Both the Lumia 435 and Lumia 532 feature a 4-inch WVGA (480x800 pixels) LCD display, and their dual-SIM variants have identical specifications except the additional SIM card slot. The Lumia 435 is powered by a 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 processor whereas the Lumia 532 packs a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 processor clocked at 1.2GHz. Both feature 1GB of RAM, 8GB of built-in storage, expandable storage support via microSD crad (up to 128GB), and 1560mAh battery. The Lumia 435 sports a 2-megapixel fixed-focus rear camera, while Lumia 532 includes a 5-megapixel fixed-focus camera. Both pack a 0.3-megapixel front-facing camera as well. The company touts that both the Lumia 435 and Lumia 532 come with Lumia Camera app. The Lumia 435 and Lumia 532 will come Bright Green, Bright Orange, White and Black colours, and support Micro-SIM cards. Commenting on the launch, Jo Harlow, corporate vice president for phones atMicrosoft said, "With the Lumia 435 and Lumia 532, we've realised our goal of creating the most affordable Lumia devices to date, opening up the opportunity to reach those people who are buying a smartphone for the very first time. Lumia 435 and Lumia 532 deliver competitive hardware alongside innovative software that will continue to receive the very latest updates and enhancements, keeping users up-to-date with the best new features." NDTV