Nokia Lumia 630 Review

One of the first smartphones by Nokia taking up the newly released Windows 8.1 is also one of the first smartphones by Nokia to take up dual-SIM support. However, this latest addition to the Lumia line is nothing extraordinary – the inspiration and is taken from some of the other recent releases, while the basic features are mostly like the Windows 8 ones.

One of the benefits from these is the improvements that came about after the feedback from the Lumia 625 – Nokia correctly decided against the screen size, opting instead to reduce the diagonal, which also improved the display quality utilizing the ClearBlack technology.

The Lumia 630 raises the 4.5 inch IPS display to FWVGA resolution and is powered by the consistent favorite chipset of Nokia, the Snapdragon 400. The Lumia 630 has a quad-core processor, and Nokia Cyan also implemented out of the box.

While we feel that Microsoft has caught up with the competition finally via the Windows 8.1, we still feel that with the Lumia 630 being targeted as a budget phone, it still does not get some options, like the front facer, LED flash, absence of a headset and USB cable, only 512MB of RAM – though the device has enough juice to function pretty well, there are some grey areas. We feel that with Nokia pitching this as a mid-range device, it was not meant to impress with its muscle, rather to provide a realistically hiccup-free experience.

Some areas where Microsoft has improved with the Windows 8.1 is the provision of an Action Center with quick toggles, similar to the notification area in Android, ability to customize Start screen background and tile sizes, a voice assistant labeled Cortana, option to install apps on SD card directly, the Quiet Hours mode, the option of a keyboard with swipe, among others.

While unboxing the Nokia Lumia 630, you will get the following inside the retail box, though we feel Microsoft should have included a USB cable and headsets into the mix.

• Nokia Lumia 630
• Travel Charger

Taking cue from the recent Lumia releases, the Nokia Lumia 630 has been released with a 4.5 inch FWVGA display with ClearBlack incorporated, and has a resolution of 480 x 854 pixels. The 218ppi, and gives off a decently sharp display, with very nice angles of view and punchiness in colors, with minor color and contrast compromise on extreme angles.

Even though the pixel density and blacks in the display is only mediocre, the improved contrast, perhaps the better one in this price range, makes the display look much better. The Lumia 630 has the Color Profile every present, to improve the color saturation and the balance, as well as an improved brightness option, and with the lacking of the ambient-light sensor, this setting comes in predominantly handy. The sunlight legibility is also much better than a lot of the other expensive counterparts.

Nokia takes up the plastic matte look for the Lumia 630, covering the complete front side with the Gorilla Glass 3. A flat touch, rather than a curvy one, has been incorporated this time around, similar to the Asha series. The matte covering gives a good grip also, while the compactness makes it very comfortable in hand.

The line-up has multiple colorful offerings to select from, to go with the vibrant nature. The back covers are exchangeable, and come up to the sides in a snug fit. However, there are no extra covers provided in the package, so these will have to be bought separately.

The changeable back panel covers the back and sides, and is also visible from the front as a frame surrounding the smartphone, defining the Lumia 630. The additional cover provides additional benefit. The chic colors add to the vibe of the phone. The matte finishing on the rear panel is invulnerable to fingerprints, while adding a quality feel. The hardware buttons on the sides are also part of the panel.

The Lumia 630 looks like a black slab on the front, with two slits, one each for the earpiece and microphone, since the device does not have the sensors or the front facer. Still, the proximity sensor’s absence does not mean the screen constantly available, as the screen does identify when against an ear and dims automatically – this did work really well, even though we were a bit skeptical at first about this.

On the sides, the left side is bare, while on the right reside the volume rocker first, followed by the power / lock key – both have a solid feel and press, something that gives the smartphone a nice feel. The 3.5mm audio jack is at the top, with the microUSB port being at the bottom. At the back is the 5MP snapper near the top without any flash, and the loudspeaker grille residing close to the bottom.

Underneath the back cover, which will take some peeling off, lies the battery, under which the SIM card slots and the microSD card slot reside – the smartphone boasts it can support cards up to 128GB.

The Lumia 630 was the first smartphone to be released with Windows 8.1 and Lumia Cyan out of the box, with the OS going to all the Windows Phone 8 devices by the end of June. With Windows 8.1 bringing in a bunch of modifications, the Cyan adds onto it and comes out with some exclusive apps like the Nokia Camera, the Storyteller, Creative Studio as well as additional options on some Lumia devices like the Miracast Wireless Display and Dolby Surround Sound capturing. All in all, this just might be the largest upgrade in recent times across the board, and should not be taken lightly, though to many users it will still give out the same consistent Windows Phone experience.

To start off, we didn’t find the Glance screen or the double tap to wake up feature, as these are meant for the higher range Lumias only – however, there are six notification slots, and PIN can be set up too for screen unlock. A wide range of wallpapers has also been added into the mix to cover for the absence of wallpapers that Windows Phone was famously criticized for. Still, for us, the implementation was done incorrectly, as instead of replacing the white or black background on the menu also, only the tiles were made transparent – and that is not all – not all tiles work correctly for this feature. Still, we have got to appreciate that at least Microsoft tried to work on this area. Additionally, the number of tiles per column can also be set. Command over on-screen controls has also been improved, by the ability to set the background too.

Another addition to the Windows 8.1 is the much awaited notification center. Access is similar to Android, and there are toggles also present – these include the battery meter also. Notifications can be removed one by one or altogether, whichever is required. The quick access toggles can be set also, and double tapping on toggles that have additional settings leads to accessing the settings. Still, Microsoft needs to work on this area, as this feature works with some such toggles like Wi-fi, but not for others like Bluetooth.

The notification types can be customized also, similar to the iOS. Microsoft also adopted the multitasking feature from iOS, suspending most of the apps once the Win key is hit, and resuming them when opened back, while keeping some of the basic apps like the Cortana and Navigation apps open in the background, unless killed manually.

The Quiet Hours mode is present again, supporting the quiet duration and normal operation timings and activating these on presets – the Quiet Hours also supports the Inner Circle, where notification from the people in the Inner Circle can bypass the Quiet Hours setting. Microsoft has also updated the synchronization option, and the settings like app settings, themes, data, IE tabs and passwords can be synced with all devices.

Windows Phone also offers the Find My Phone option, using which lost or stolen smartphones can be located, locked and wiped also.

The audio recognition is also pretty decent, though the accuracy is sometimes off base, and there are issues in noisy environments. Still, with Cortana still in beta, we can understand the glitches, though Microsoft promises to make quite some leaps when the final version is released. We are hoping that one of the top updates is the support for additional languages.

With the IE 11 accompanying the Lumia 630, Microsoft laid into the browser to convert it into one of the best browsers for mobile devices, and we did actually enjoy the experience rather than using it only because there was no other option. The standard private browsing, unlimited tab support, reader mode, passwords saving, bookmark and tab sync between different devices, and support for inline videos are just a few of the upgrades. The reader mode is especially cool, since it takes away everything other than the article and its related images, which helps user focus on the article only, rather than the number of unnecessary ads burdening the browser. A link can be made a Live Tile also, and the Live Tile then displays the latest page preview. It seems Microsoft has also made the browser more efficient, with page load speed increased, as well as the scrolling.

The Lumia 630 comes with the best document viewer / editor around in Microsoft Office, enabled for Word / Excel / PowerPoint to view and edit, and includes OneDrive integration. Docs are automatically synced between the Lumia 630 and computer via this feature. OneNote is also included as the note taking tool of preference, including support for multi-level lists, photos and voice memos, and also synced via OneDrive. Notes can also be sent via emails.

Microsoft includes the standard Calendar, Alarms, Weather and Calculator apps as part of the package. The News, Travel, Finance, Sports, Food & Drink apps are present. The Creative Studio app much talked about for advanced image modifications, the interactive diary Storyteller, and the HERE Maps and HERE Drive+ apps also come packaged.

Windows 8.1 includes the Battery Saver and Storage Sense, two new apps to manage the Lumia 630 better. The Battery Saver displays the power consumption, overall and app wise, including battery usage tracking, when the battery saver comes into play, and toggling if the apps are allowed to run in the background or not when battery saver is active. The Storage Sense also, as the name suggests, tracks the storage, and can be configured to specify what things are stored in which memory location.

Automatic updates for apps are also a part of the Store this time around, and it can be defined as to whether this happens only via wi-fi or mobile data networks too. There is also a manual option to check for updates.

As mentioned already, the Siri version of Microsoft has come out by the name of Cortana, which is pretty decent in performance. The voice recognition is good, and support in different areas is always beneficial. Though not quite close to the Google Now, it does function similar to Siri, recognizing audio commands and questions, providing voice feedback. The Cortana needs to be personalized initially to work better, with settings labeled Notebook segmented into Interests, Reminders, Quiet Hours, Inner Circle, Places and Music Searches. Cortana can help track news, plan trips, finds restaurants among other things. Reminders are included, so you do not forget important meetings, reminding anything when calling a specific contact the next time. Places and important people are also remembered. Of course, the basic cell phone functions like testing, calling, appointments management, note taking, alarm setting, music play, navigation and searches can be done too, and toggling between settings, and answers to simple questions, traffic status, delays in bus or trains, etc. Cortana can also, on your behalf, make third party apps do actions, like calling a contact via Skype – currently, only Skype, Facebook and Twitter support this, but more are sure to follow.

The People Hub app is present with this release of Windows 8.1, and instantly a hit, with a one-page social communication center with contacts, and also includes social updates, Rooms and Groups. This also includes chats and emails, so that is always helpful. A Me option is also present to display your own updates and related information.

The Lumia 630 also keeps up the in-call performance of the Lumia 625, raising it up a notch. The sound is loud and clear, with no signal reception issues whatsoever. The loudspeaker also scored very well, and we are sure that there will be very few calls being missed.

An interesting option added in the in-call screen is the Skype button, clicking which converts the call into a Skype video chat – understandably, this works only when both parties have Skype and internet connectivity, and also, without the front facer present, the Lumia 630 cannot provide a face to face call.

The Messaging is as solid as ever, with the additional feature to go to the contact’s full details as well as Mute option, which temporarily blocks receipt notifications of all communication from that sender, though the communication will still be stored against the sender in the thread. The communication contains, in addition to messages, emails, social media connects, Skype / Windows Live messages, all in one place. Messaging now includes a swype-like option to enter text in a fluid movement, without the need to lift your fingers.

The native email client coming with the Lumia 630 is pretty decent, a strong performer and has more control over the emails than ever. Linking multiple accounts together is possible now.

The Photo Hub gets a makeover favoring the traditional Windows Phone like look instead of the magazine user interface, with three pages, All, Albums and Favorites – no need to explain these, we think. Sharing includes Bluetooth, messaging, email, social media, and OneDrive. Images are automatically backed up on OneDrive once enabled from Settings. Microsoft provides 7GB free, and additional 3GB per device on which this feature is enabled.

The music play is also in a familiar display, with the Now Playing, Collection, and Music Store, all displaying relevant information. Playlists can be created and managed. The player can connect with Xbox music account, and streaming can be done directly without the need to save. However, the audio formats supported does not list FLAC or WAV, nor is there any equalizer option present.

The video player has turned into a separate app labeled Video, with a similar layout to the Music app, displaying Your Collection, Movie Store, TV Store, and Spotlight. The formats supported are pretty decent, though the MKV format and AC3 audio codecs are not in the list. 1080p display is present, and plays seamlessly, but subtitle support is limited, though the subtitle play requires a specific structure in which to place the video and subtitles file.

An FM is present on board, and supports RDS. Speaker play is possible, though headset is required in this case, since it also works as an antenna.

The Drive+ coverage is for one country only, and being available offline means no constant connectivity is required. The HERE Drive provided voice guided navigation, once a voice is downloaded in the language of choice.

HERE Maps has details about locations, reviews, and guides as well as photos of locations. It may be the best travel companion for many. This lists shops, galleries, restaurants and other points of interest nearby, and includes comments from renowned guide sites like the Insight Guides.

The Lumia 630 comes with a 5 mega pixel camera with auto focus, though absent flash and camera key, that can take pictures of up to 2592 x 1944 resolutions. The interface of camera is the Nokia Camera app, which is fairly familiar, with the basic settings of white balance, exposure settings, focus, shutter speed, ISO, and modes, i.e. the 5MP mode at 4:3 while the 3.7MP mode at 16:9. The Lenses are still in place too, with the Cinemagraph and Panorama – the latest Panorama can shoot in both Landscape and Portrait modes, which was nice – we didn't find this in the Sony range, which is considered to have a command in this domain. The stitching and detail on these shots could have been improved though, but they already exceeded our expectations, so this still counts as a compliment towards the Lumia 630. Additional lens are available for download as well from the store.

With a 5MP snapper coming out with the Lumia 630 instead of a higher snapper, we were already let down and didn’t expect the camera to perform worth mentioning, but were pleasantly surprised by the results of our taken snaps, with a surprisingly high level of details, perhaps one the best we have seen from a 5MP shooter, with good contrast and rendering of colors. The processing has improved and matured, and noise reduction is good, while the detail resolved is also great. The macro shots that we tested came out pretty good. The slight addition to the sharpening as compared to the Lumia 625 improves the results.

The video recorder, though, is a different story altogether. Nokia has provided only a 720p capability for 30fps, keeping the videos in MP4 mode, with the bitrate kept at 10Mbps, and stereo audio at 128 Kbps, with a 48 kHz rate.

The interface is fairly similar to the camera. The white balance is modifiable, and the continuous auto-focus can be turned on or off. The frame rate can be set between 24, 25 or 30 fps, whichever suits. Audio bass filter can also be managed, either turned off, or between 100 and 200Hz. The 200 Hz captures the best audio, though it is probably better suited for concerts or clubs etc.

The resolution is not too good, especially coming here after the images, though the contrast and colors remain pretty nice. Though the camera performs equal to its own in terms of cameras on other Lumia devices, even outperforming them in darker conditions, we still find it going backwards since the competition is moving forward at a brisk pace.

Nokia as usual has brought into play a decent, yet not top of the line processor, the Snapdragon 400. The processor is Cortex A-7 quad-core, performing at 1.2 GHz, with Adreno 305 and a somewhat underprovided 512MB of RAM. Though the initial performance at random did not show any issue with the RAM or processing, we still checked out the smartphone in terms of more rigorous testing for optimum performance. In terms of single core performance, the Lumia 630 was way down in the list, since its own competitors like the Lumia 1520, the Lumia 720 and others were using the Krait 400.

In terms of the multiprocessing, the performance was on par with the Lumia 1020m which runs 2GB of RAM as well. With the latest version of Internet Explorer, the IE 11 bundled in, we got to find out first hand just how improved it is in terms of performance, along with other improvements. Still, using the Windows 8.1 upgrade on other Lumia devices, we found that even though the browser has made important modifications, the hardware is equally valuable in performance, as the Lumia 630 came in after the Lumia 1520, Lumia 1020 and the Lumia 720 too.

The overall performance of the Lumia 630 turns out to be pretty smooth, with decent scores, though there were areas that could further be improved, as the Lumia 630 was not the top of the list, not that it ever was targeted to be that, as such.

Talking about the connectivity in the Lumia 630, the smartphone is available in both single and dual-SIM modes, with the LTE version also available, labeled as Lumia 635, with all the features other than LTE connectivity. The basic offerings have the dual-band 3G support with 21 Mbps downlink, with the Lumia 635 offering the Tri-band 3G at 42 Mbps downlink – the Lumia 635 also comes up with the LTE as mentioned above, offering 100 Mbps downlink. The dual SIM model can keep one SIM card active at a time.

The smartphone has GPS together with GLONASS, wi-fi, hotspot, and Bluetooth 4.0. The smartphone also has FM with RDS. For additional connectivity, the microUSB 2.0 port is already present, which, in addition to charging, helps for data connectivity, with the mass storage mode available to support.

The 1,830 mAh battery is assigned with the Lumia 630, and can drive the smartphone for more than 13 hours on talktime as par as 3G is concerned, with web browsing and video playback both coming to 10 hours. The Lumia 630 can endure close to 66 hours on standby. Of course, the call duration is greatly helped by the ear-sensing technology, which dims the display, thus reducing the consumption.

The Lumia 630 we perceive, may receive mixed reaction from the market when pitted against formidable competition from market due to some drawbacks, a few of which are listed below:

• Absence of 1080p recording
• Front facing snapper is missing
• The LED Flash is missing
• RAM stands very low at only 512MB
• Proximity sensor is missing
• No headset or USB cable within the package is surprising and a bit shocking

The Lumia 630 follows on the footsteps of the Lumia 520, with similar structuring in terms of affordability and to some extent the design as well. Of course, Nokia would be hoping that the Lumia 630 follows the Lumia 520 in terms of sales too. The design, we must say, looks better with simplicity, with a slight refreshing, while being familiar and neat at the same time – and the back covers provide ample color options.

The screen size issue was played well by Nokia, by taking up more size than the Lumia 525, while keeping it under the Lumia 625 which was chided for its stretchy display. The display quality uses the ClearBlack tech well, and the quad-core makes its own presence known too. The camera performs pretty well, aided by the add-ons out of the box from Windows 8.1.

Like the previous versions, Nokia has put in the add-ons like the location and navigation, Cinemagraph, the Nokia Creative Studio, the Storyteller app and Nokia Camera advanced imaging options.

While the Nokia Lumia 630 is not the only smartphone in this price range, being taken into competition with the likes of Samsung, Motorola, Sony and even Nokia itself, we feel that the Windows 8.1, the smooth processing, and to some, the dual SIM, may be the factors that may drive the sales on this one. At least, that is what Nokia will be wishing for.