The Windows Phone 8.1 handset should prove as successful as Lumia 521

Jul 23, 2014 19:15 GMT  ·  By

Today, Microsoft has officially announced the upcoming availability of a new, very cheap Windows Phone 8.1 smartphone in the form of Lumia 530, and T-Mobile USA has already confirmed plans to add the phone to its offering later this year.

This is the first wireless carrier in the United States to announce plans for the release of this smartphone, though others are expected to follow suit sooner rather than later.

For those out of the loop, we should note that T-Mobile has launched Lumia 530’s predecessor in the form of Lumia 521, and that it has enjoyed great sales of the device.

Thus, the new smartphone is expected to prove very appealing to its users as well, especially since it comes with ungraded hardware and with a brand new OS flavor loaded on top right from the start.

Lumia 520 / Lumia 521 has become the most popular Windows Phone device out there, with over 12 million units sold to date, and Lumia 530 is expected to follow on its footsteps, allowing Microsoft to grab more ground on the smartphone OS market.

What remains to be seen, however, is whether the mobile operator will receive an exclusive flavor of the new smartphone, the same as it happened last year, or will launch it as Lumia 530, just as other wireless carriers out there will do.

“T-Mobile today confirmed that later this year, the new Lumia 530 will be available on the Un-carrier’s blazing fast, data strong network,” the wireless carrier announced.

“This gives consumers the chance to try out the successor to the Lumia 521, one of T-Mobile’s best-selling Windows Phones ever – and take advantage of all the benefits of being an Un-carrier customer: no annual service contract, no overages, and international roaming in 120+ countries and destinations at no extra charge.”

Made official earlier today, Lumia 530 will hit shelves worldwide starting this August, featuring a 4-inch touchscreen display and a 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 200 processor inside.

Moreover, it comes with 512MB of RAM, 4GB of internal memory, and a microSD memory card slot with support for 128GB of additional storage. On the back, Lumia 530 sports a 5MP camera. However, the entry-level smartphone does not sport a front camera or 4G LTE connectivity.

What it will have to offer includes all of the features that Windows Phone 8.1 was released with, such as Action Center and Cortana, along with out-of-box integration with Microsoft services, including OneDrive, Skype, and Office.