Name: Lumia 735
Brand: Nokia

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The Essentials and camera

When it comes to using the Lumia 735 everyday there are certain things that it must do well. The big one for me has to be the keyboard, as I find that I am forever sending texts, and with the Lumia 735 I found myself typing on Skype a lot more than I would usually be.

One thing I couldn't find myself getting use to with the Windows keyboard was its positioning on the screen. The added buttons often positioned below the keyboard (such as the send button on Skype) meant that the keyboard sat a lot higher on the screen.

The keyboard also seemed larger than most, and meant that less of the screen was visible at the time which was a little frustrating. Generally though, the larger keyboard meant that I was accurate in my typing. This was rather thankful given the poor auto correct.

Nokia Lumia 735 Review — The Skype integration works really well

Web browsing is also extremely important on the modern smartphone. As with all Windows handsets this is all handled via Internet Explorer. Under normal circumstances I would sigh. IE has hardly built itself the best reputation over the years, but things have changed.

I can't say that I am a big fan of the URL bar's placement at the bottom, but general internet browsing was smooth over a 3G network, as well as over Wi-Fi, and it comes with all the features that you would expect from a standard mobile browser; tabbed browsing, full page views, the ability to disable pictures and even Do Not Track.

When it comes to viewing media on the Lumia 735, you are left pretty well catered for. The external speaker is loud enough to annoy your friends with. It also doesn't suffer from any loss of quality at the highest volume, but if I'm extremely critical, I found that bass was a little lacking.

If you plan to store a lot of media I would suggest buying a decent microSD card though, as of the 8GB internal storage only just over 2GB is actually available. This means that your app consumption will also be restricted.

All of these are smartphone functions, but does the Nokia Lumia 735 still work as a simple phone? The short answer to that is yes.

At no point during my time with the Lumia 735 did I find that I was lacking in signal, except in areas that I know to be signal black spots. I also found that phone calls came through clear, something that is expected of all modern smartphones but has been found a little lacking on some cheaper handsets.

Making those phones calls is also easy, although not as much as I would have first hoped. If you have the contact in your address book it's not too bad, but if you have to manually type in the number it's a little more complicated.

Push the phone button and you're faced with a speed dial list, and able to swipe left and right to see the call history. The dialler is hidden under a small button at the bottom, rather than being front and centre, and is something that I managed to overlook for the first few seconds.

It's only a small problem, and one that I could easily overlook for most of the time, especially as I find that 99% of my contact interaction through my phone is text based, but if you're in a hurry and need to make an emergency call, those few seconds could be vital.

Camera

When it comes to the cameras on the Nokia Lumia 735, it is clear that the majority of the emphasis has been placed on the forward facing camera, after all it's not every day that you find a handset with a 5MP front sensor.

Nokia hasn't left the rear lens lacking though, as it comes packed with a 6.7MP sensor and Carl Zeiss lens, as well as a single LED flash.

In terms of software, the Lumia 735 comes with all the standard Windows phone options, including the ability to download different lenses to add effects to your images. This is something that I have previously encountered with the Sony Xperia Z1 Compact coming with a similar ability.

Searching through and selecting lenses will take you to a dedicated page of the Windows Store so you can have a look through the lens before downloading.

Despite this, the camera app does feel a little bare. Yes you can pop a framing grid on screen or set a timer, even the white balance can be toggled, but added extras such as scene and ISO modes are missing.

Selfie lovers have been given their own app though, inventively called the Lumia Selfie app. At first I was a little confused as it doesn't automatically save your photo like an ordinary camera app, but does mean that you can perfect your pose before saving and editing.

You're then brought into a basic photo editor, with the ability to apply different filters to your perfectly framed visage. I can see the appeal, especially to those looking to share the photos via Instagram, but it is not something that I found myself using a lot.