The Microsoft Lumia 435 is the cheapest terminal from Microsoft, we can buy it in Spain for free for just 54 euros in the Pccomponentes store, as we will see it has very modest specifications for a smartphone today. Despite its discreet characteristics, this little one hides great features and excellent performance thanks to the benefits of its Windows Phone 8.1 operating system.

Technical characteristics

The Microsoft Lumia 435 is built with a polycarbonate chassis featuring dimensions of 118.1 x 64.7 x 11.7 mm and a weight of 134 grams. Inside is a modest Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 dual-core 1.2 GHz Cortex A7 processor and an Adreno 302 GPU, undoubtedly a very modest chip for the times. Next to the processor we find 1 GB of RAM, behind were the Lumia with 512 MB of RAM, and a tight internal storage of 8 GB that we can expand by up to an additional 128 GB thanks to its microSD slot.

The screen of the Lumia 435 reaches a diagonal of 4 inches with a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels, it is LCD technology without IPS so its image quality is not the best and it does not have Gorilla Glass so you will have to be careful with scratches.

As for connectivity, the Lumia 435 has the usual technologies in low-end devices: Wi-Fi 802.11 b / g / n, A-GPS, GLONASS, Bluetooth 4.0, FM Radio, 2G and 3G

- 2G: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz. 3G: WCDMA 850/900/1900/2100 MHz.

Content and design of the Lumia 435

The terminal is sold with a small and compact cardboard box with a colorful appearance that reminds us that the Smartphone is aimed at a young audience. Inside we find:

Microsoft Lumia 435 Smartphone 1, 560 mAh Battery Wall Charger Quick Start Guide A couple of minor brochures on Mix Radio and Windows Phone.

We highlight that no headphones or data cable are included, surely in an effort by Microsoft to save costs and offer a product with the most adjusted price possible. A decision that seems correct to me, to include poor quality headphones, better not to put it and that the user uses the ones that he already has.

The Lumia 435 has the volume buttons and the power and lock button on the right side, the microUSB port for recharging on the bottom and the 3.5mm headphone jack on the top. In addition, the three Windows Phone buttons are at the bottom off the screen, a success given the small size of the screen.

The front camera is located in the upper right part while the rear camera is located in the upper central part, in the lower rear part is the speaker.

The casing is removable and interchangeable, we can buy other units of different colors to customize our Lumia 435. The casing separately has a fragile appearance but once we join it to the body of the Smartphone there is a very solid set that transmits a good quality feeling When you put pressure on the back it does not give way like it can happen with other low-end smartphones. In addition, if we look at the corners of the case, on the inside we can see some small structures that are in charge of cushioning the blow in the event of a fall, a detail of the care that Microsoft puts in all its terminals, including the low range and of the inheritance received from Nokia since its terminals were characterized by a very robust and durable design.

A quite usable camera

Optics is not one of the Lumia 435's strong points, it has a 2-megapixel rear camera without flash and with a fixed focus capable of recording video at 480p and 30 fps and a VGA front camera. We know that an image is worth a thousand words, so here is a sample of the captures made:

Testing the rear

And a little bit of the lead

Relevant operating system and software included

We come to the main aspect that differentiates Microsoft Lumia from the rest of the low-end smartphones on the market, its Windows Phone 8.1 Lumia Denim operating system. A highly optimized software that knows how to use the resources it has very well and the truth is that this Lumia 435 feels great, the Smartphone moved with excellent fluidity and ease.

It is true that when you resume some heavy applications in the background or when you open some, a message of "opening application" or "resuming" may appear, but it does not go beyond a couple of seconds at most and it is perfectly acceptable in a terminal that It costs just 54 euros free in the Spanish market.

As soon as the device is started, a notice that a major update is available to correct a serious error that can cause the Smartphone to restart periodically, Microsoft is very concerned about the low range. It is important to note that the Lumia 435 will be updated to Windows 10 like all Lumia smartphones that have come to the market with Windows Phone 8 or higher, thanks to the inclusion of 1 GB of RAM it is expected that it can include all the functions of the new version of the Microsoft operating system. Good job!

The Microsoft Lumia 435 comes with a series of interesting preloaded applications among which we find the following:

- - Mix radioLumia cameraMapsHere mapsHere drive + NewsInternet explorerMail clientFacebookTwitterA weather appSkypeOfficeCortana

Most of these applications can be uninstalled if we are not interested to free up space on the phone.

Cortana

A very interesting personal assistant created by Microsoft, is currently in an alpha state but is already capable of offering very valuable functions. For example we can ask him to wake us up at a certain time or within a certain time and he will take care of setting the alarm for us, if we want to cancel an alarm we just have to ask Cortana.

Tell Cortana to take you to the nearest pharmacy and he will look for those that are in your vicinity, click on the one that interests you and he will open the GPS navigation application to take you.

You can also ask Cortana about the time of day we are in or another one next and she will provide you with valuable information.

A sense of humor is something that is not lacking in Cortana, ask him to imitate an elephant and he will, ask him who his father is or his age and he will surprise you with the answer. You can also ask him to surprise you or tell you a joke, although the latter should improve.

Here Maps and Here Drive +

Two applications preloaded on the Lumia terminals and the most interesting. You can download the maps that interest you to use them without an internet connection, very useful if you do not want to consume data, do not have good coverage or simply prefer an offline maps application.

Coupled with this we have GPS navigation, it should be noted the speed with which the Lumia 435 synchronizes with GPS satellites, it certainly surprised me that it is much faster than with my car navigator that cost me more than double what that this great little Smartphone costs. We only have to open Here Maps, search for a destination and the application will guide us during our trip without depending on the internet for it.

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Here Cortana also has her site, just tell her where you want to be taken and she will be in charge of opening the application and looking for the route.

And more Apps: Office, One Drive and One Note

Other interesting applications preloaded on the Lumia 435. Firstly, the Office office suite that will allow us to view our Word, Excel and PowerPoint files.

We also have the One Drive storage service with 15 GB free + another 15 GB as a gift if we configure the photos and videos to be saved in the service and the One Note application to take annotations in a comfortable way.

Multimedia

Regarding games, this little guy is capable of running heavyweights like Asphalt 8: Airbone or Modern Combat 5 without any problem or slowdown, and the loading is reasonably fast. Of course, it is highly recommended to get a good class 10 memory card with a high transfer rate, otherwise it will be the card itself that ensures that the games do not go well.

Web browsing also offers a very satisfying experience, the pages take just a couple of seconds to load and the scrolling is very fluid, as well as the pinch gesture.

One aspect that I have loved about the Lumia 435 is how loud its speaker sounds, I dare say that of all the phones I have had it is the loudest, plus the quality of the audio is not bad.

Battery

We come to one of the aspects that I consider most important in a smartphone, its battery. The Microsoft Lumia 435 has a 1, 560 mAh unit, a meager figure that shows that it is not one of the strengths of the terminal. Thanks to discreet hardware and only a four-inch screen with low resolution, the Lumia 435 should not have too many problems to reach the end of the day, if we are going to use it very intensively it may be better to carry a small powerbank to which we can plug it in. if we are in a hurry, with a 2, 000 mAh we will have enough so we do not need to spend a lot of money.

I have done a test playing Subway Surfers for 10 minutes and it has drained a 4% charge, maintaining the ratio we get a consumption of 24% in each hour of play.

Final words and conclusion

The Microsoft Lumia 435 is a small 4-inch smartphone that hides great features inside. Its operation is very fluid thanks to the excellent optimization of its Windows Phone 8.1 operating system that will be updated to Windows 10. With a cost of just 55 euros free this terminal will allow us to play all the games available in the store, we can also enjoy a good offline GPS navigation experience with excellent satellite sync speed.

Despite its low price, it has a high quality construction, the sensation that it conveys when holding it in the hand is good and its appearance is robust.

If you are on a tight budget but want to enjoy an excellent experience of using your smartphone, the Microsoft Lumia 435 is your choice, it will not disappoint.