Review: Nokia Lumia 830 for AT&T
Screen
The Lumia 830 has a 5.0-inch 720p HD screen. It uses Nokia's ClearBlack LCD technology with Gorilla Glass 3. It's a decent combination of size and resolution, which means it has a decidedly sharp appearance even though it's not full HD. There are definitely sharper screens out there, but the 830's display is more than sufficient. I found the screen to be bright no matter where I took it. Even the sunniest skies didn't drown out the screen when using the 830 as a camera or to check the time. There's a little bit of brightness loss when the phone is tilted side-to-side, but colors still look good. The Lumia 830 has an excellent screen for this class of device.
Signal
I was pleased with the 830's performance on AT&T's network in the New York City metro area. The phone never had any trouble connecting to AT&T and always remained on LTE. I was able to connect calls on the first dial consistently, and the device never dropped or missed a call while I reviewed it. Data speeds were best when a strong network signal was available, but only slowed a little bit when coverage was weak. Even under the worst LTE conditions I could find, the 830 exceeded 5 Mbps download speed. I'd rate the 830's signal performance as above average when compared to other handsets I've tested on AT&T's network.
Sound
It should be no surprise to learn that the 830 is an excellent voice phone. Both the quality and volume of calls coming through the earpiece are excellent. Voices have a warm, pleasing nature to them, and the earpiece offers enough volume to handle most environments, other than dance clubs or active jetways. The speakerphone isn't quite as impressive, but it's solid enough, no doubt of that. I found volume to be quite adequate, though there was a tad more interference. If you're worried about missing phone calls, don't be. The 830 is loud enough to grab your attention through (several) closed doors. The vibrate alert is perhaps a wee bit too subtle. I'd prefer if it were stronger.
Battery
The Lumia 830 has a 2,200 mAh battery and I found it was good for one day of use, but not much beyond that. Speaking frankly, if my phone can get me from 8am to midnight — even on heavy usage days — then I am a happy man. The Lumia 830 managed to do that without fail, though it was gasping for breath come bedtime. In other words, the Lumia 830 is about average when it comes to battery life. It doesn't die early in the day, but it doesn't go the extra mile, either.
Windows Phone 8.1 does include a battery saver tool. Smart users will put this feature to work. You can use it to manage certain functions once the battery reaches 20 or 30%. I found you can eke out an extra couple of hours if you really need to. Sometimes that's all you need.
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Nokia Lumia 830
