Nokia’s Lumia 530 is using the qualcomm snapdragon 200 quad core processor clocked at 1.2GHz. It runs Windows Phone 8.1 with 512MB RAM and 4GB internal storage. For the price of approx Rs. 7,200 the Nokia Lumia 530 is not worth it.

Box pack : 530 handset, user guide, earphone and travel charger.

Design, Display and OS
Lumia 530 has got that typical Nokia Lumia look, and it is not that slim. Build quality is very good. The sides are curvier and handset feels much comfortable to hold especially because of its size. Weight with battery is 129 grams and dimensions are 62.30 x 119.76 x 12.96mm.

Power button and volume rockers are on the right, 3.5mm audio jack on the top and micro USB port at the bottom. This Lumia 530 handset is available in different colours with matte finishing. Light sensors are missing – you will manually need to adjust the brightness.

Screen is LCD of size 4 inches with 845 x 480 pixels resolution. There are no dedicated buttons and some area of the screen is allocated for dedicated onscreen navigational buttons. Touch is good, smooth and responsive. Viewing angles however are not that great. The screen quality is also not at par as compared to Nokia Lumia 520 and above. This is a dual SIM handset you need 2 micro SIM’s.

Nokia Lumia 530 box pack

Memory and Storage
There is just 512MB RAM and 4GB of storage. 512MB is okay – the Lumia 520 also was with 512MB RAM and it is good enough to run the Windows Phone 8.1 OS. The internal storage of 4GB however is quite less; users will get about 1.2GB of free space. There is micro SD support of up to 128GB. You can install most apps on external storage. OTG is not supported.

Nokia Lumia 530 review and unboxing

Performance
It is a quad core using the 1.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 chipset, however the handset cannot play 720p videos and above. This quad core is different from what is used on the Lumia 630. The 630 is using qualcomm Snapdragon 400.

Nokia Lumia 530 review

Benchmark

App Result
Antutu 11647
WP bench 48fps
Multi Touch 5 point

Camera and Entertainment
As already mentioned the 530 cannot play 720p videos. I tried the 720p MP4 video and it failed – sound out of sync and video playback was kinda slow motion.

The Lumia 530 comes with a single fixed focus camera placed on the rear. It is without LED flash support. Still photos are good, however videos can be recorded in max FWVGA resolution – the video quality is no good.

Nokia Lumia 530 camera 5MP fixed focus

Gaming
I tried Temple Run that played really well. There is just 1.2GB free space available on the internal storage.

Others
Sound is very loud and clear. No issues found with 3G, Bluetooth, GPS and Wi-Fi.

Battery
The 1430 mAh battery gives an average usage of about 3 to 4 hours (moderator to high).

Nokia Lumia 530 battery 1430 mAh

Verdict
Don’t buy the Nokia Lumia 530 just because it is quad core, well it is, but not a powerful one. Storage is less and handset cannot play or record 720p videos. You will get a better performance with Nokia Lumia 525 – a dual core that can play FHD videos.

Nokia Lumia 530 is available for Rs. 7,199.

Lumia 530 image gallery


Sample Images shot using the 530 camera


Nokia Lumia 530 review

FWVGA video shot using the 530 handset

By Rajeev Rana

Founder and Chief Editor - gogi.in