At the Gadget Show live in Birmingham this Week Nokia and Microsoft have a big display of their Tablets, PC and Windows Phone based products, but after a few probing questions one of the more secretive devices, the Nokia Lumia 630 was presented to us for hands on look and a few snaps.
First thoughts of the Lumia 630 were that the device is very much a Lumia phone with its Plastic casing and bright colours, but after a few seconds another brand comes to mind: Apple, as the Lumia 630 bears a striking resemblance to the Apple iPhone 5C.
The squared edges and black front of the handset makes the Lumia 630 look like a lovechild of the Lumia 920 and the iPhone 5C.
The handset is a decent weight at 134 g and the 4.5 inches IPS LCD look great on the handset as Nokia’s Clearblack display really shows off the base and bright colours of the Windows Phone 8.1 OS.
Speaking of which, the new WP 8.1 software was installed on the 630 with the fist reminder of this being the background image personalisation. Windows 8.1 has added the ability to add the background image and once set the image shows in the Icons (the handset on show had a cheeky image of a pint of lager), and the image in the icons makes the OS feel very cool, whilst also being very much a Windows Phone.
See also: 5 Cool Things to see at the Gadget Show Live 2014
Swiping down on the top of the screen also brings up the new notification screen; where you can custom set some quick links like Brightness or Wi-Fi controls (including the new Smart Wi-Fi features) as well as checking the notifications.
The side of the handset is minimalistic with the back of the device being covered by the removable (and interchangeable) cover. The sides are squarer than previous Lumia devices, but still have a soft touch unlike the iPhone 5C.
The Power and Volume controls on the right side of the device are the only controls situated on the case, with Nokia telling us that the lack of a dedicated camera button is now a feature of low end handsets, with only the higher ranged Nokia Pureview cameras coming with a dedicated button. There is also a Micro USB and Headphone socket on the bottom and top of the Lumia 630 respectively.
We had a quick play with the new Nokia 8.1 SwypeStyle keyboard, which is reportedly the fastest keyboard in the world, but we were a bit to clumsy to get any good results from the speed!
We managed to get the back off handset too to reveal the 5 MP cam as well as a side loading SIM Card and MicroSD card slot that can only be accessed when the battery is removed.
All in all, the brief view of the Nokia Lumia 630 showed us a very stylish and well equipped affordable smartphone.
Check out our full Gallery below:
