Nokia Lumia 635 / 630 (GSM)
Phone Scoop Review
Aug 1, 2014 by Eric M. Zeman
Nokia's entry-level Lumia 635 is a solid little phone, especially when you consider just how inexpensive it is. It is among the first to run Microsoft's Windows Phone 8.1 platform, which shines on this tiny titan. read review ›
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The Baconing
Carrier: AT&T
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Everybody knows that one person who, but for a glaring flaw, might be okay to hang out with. Like that guy from college who can burp the alphabet (hey, fun!) but who smells like Junior Mints and sauerkraut (not so fun). Or that girl from your office who brings in donuts every Friday (hey, fun!) but who sits at her desk and screams "MAURY POVICH!" at random intervals throughout the day (freakin' terrifying). The Lumia 635 is one of those people; I like to think it's the girl with the donuts, but I'm not too sure yet.
Windows 8.1 is a great upgrade to Microsoft's mobile operating system. It adds several sorely needed features, including Word Flow, which incorporates swipe typing into the system keyboard, and Cortana, which (who?) is Microsoft's answer to Apple's digital assistant, Siri. Word Flow isn't as good as Swype, as there have been several instances in which I have been unable to teach it to recognize a manually entered word ("Terraria" and "corncob"), and Cortana is still in beta, but overall these are wonderful additions. All donuts so far.
The problem occurs when you wrap these donuts inside a $99 phone. While the quality of the display is fine for this price range, the glass covering the display is a horribly horrific smudge-magnet. I'm generally a clean guy, and I don't have this problem with any other phones, but the display on the 635 is always (no hyperbole there; I do mean always) covered in a layer of grime that mutes the colors and makes tracing your finger over the surface of the screen actively unpleasant. So the 635's two primary instances of user feedback -- sight and touch -- are immediately diminished by its budget-conscious material design. Not a great way to introduce people to your OS.
Overall, the 635 is a good little phone, with solid performance and decent features, but the screen issue is a deal-breaker for me. If an Oscar Meyer-thick layer of screen grease would bother you, too, I suggest searching for alternatives.
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Simply amazing
Carrier: T-Mobile
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This phone comes out of the box with windows 8.1 and have to say I absolutely love the updates. The camera is a great shooter for every day use and it has the Nokia ikon software package. I love Nokia glam for the selfies. The screen is absolutely beautiful. The best part about this phone is the speaker it is so loud just love it. With the LTE it is super fast. Another thing I like is smart storage you can literally move almost all the phones apps to your sad card and all apps going forward can be set up to go there automatically. Love the new keyboard and notification center. Cortana is amazing. It's like Siri and google now had a baby and got it right. Battery life is descent enough to make it through the day. Only thing I wish it had was a led light not so much for the camera as for a flashlight. Other than that this phone is amazing. Windows has also surprised me that it's App Store is catching up I have found every app that I use on a day to day basis. Nokia drive is awesome love how it is integrated through out the phone. I totally recommend this phone.
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Good for the price but not perfect.
Carrier: T-Mobile
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Pros
Battery life. I get a full day easy. YMMV
Screen. It is really clear and easy to read.
Battery. Removable.
Call quality is good.
Seems fast and snappy.
Camera seems pretty good to me in daylight.
Cons
No flash.
Screen resolution is less than 720p
Windows Phone is still lagging in apps. Runkeeper is one that I used on my Android phone that is missing on WP.
Community. I have posted question on several forums about this phone and have never gotten any answers. The Nokia website does not offer much in the way of help so overall support and community are lacking compared to Android and IOS
Problems.
Reboots. My phone has started to just reboot now and then once in the middle of a call.
Bluetooth issues. I can not get my phone to connect to the cheap BT dongle in my car. It works fine with old GNex and my wife's S3. It could be the dongle.
Conclusion. For the price it is a good phone. If you want to get a phone for a kid or if you want try out WP or if you want an inexpensive WP device it is a really good choice.
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nokia Lumia 630 ( cricket )
Carrier: Cricket
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Ok have cricket wireless in west palm beach fl . Great service great signal.I left google LG f-6 to Windows mobile8.1 Crotona.awesome. best move .pros signal strength built quality screen bright phone volume high 4g hspa camera better keyboard battery last all day heavy texter and data user .you won't go wrong.Nokia and Microsoft did great work . Cons no flash but don't need it no 4g lte no front facing camera.other then that great phone. Plus a $50 dollar rebate.so its free.
