14 DAY TRIAL // Windows Phone fans in Italy will be pleased to know they will now be able to pre-order the cheapest smartphone to come with Windows Phone 8.1 platform on board, the Nokia Lumia 530.
The smartphone is now available for pre-order via Amazon Italy for only €99 ($132), thus confirming the under €100 ($135) outright price announced by Microsoft last month.
Potential customers should know that only the single-SIM version of Nokia Lumia 530 will be available in Italy. It is also worth mentioning that customers can choose from four different color options: white, gray, green, and orange.
The dual-SIM model is aimed at emerging markets, so you won’t be able to get one unless you can order it from one of the countries in Asia where the Lumia 530 dual is likely to make its debut this month.
Speaking of which, the first country where Nokia Lumia 530 has been officially introduced is Vietnam, and customers can pick it up for just $110 (€80) outright.
Well, it looks like Europeans will have to pay slightly more for the Lumia 530, but not by much. Considering the smartphone is priced at under €99 ($132), that’s still a good Windows Phone choice for those who wish to switch to Microsoft’s mobile platform.
The Lumia 530 also makes as a nice upgrade for those who currently own the best-selling Windows Phone to date, the Nokia Lumia 520.
However, the differences between the two smartphones are small and not always in Lumia 530’s favor. For example, the Lumia 520’s 5-megapixel rear-facing camera can capture HD (720p) videos, whereas the Lumia 530 has been confirmed to record videos in 480p resolution.
The good news is Nokia Lumia 530 comes with a more powerful processor, better battery usage and a slightly improved display.
In this regard, those interested in buying the Lumia 530 may want to know the phone sports a 4-inch TFT capacitive touchscreen display that supports 480 x 854 pixels resolution.
The phone is equipped with a 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 processor, an Adreno 302 graphics processing unit and 512MB of RAM. Nokia Lumia 530 packs only 4GB of internal memory, as opposed to Lumia 520 that features 8GB of storage.
Still, users can further expand storage up to 128GB via the microSD card slot. The 1430 mAh battery of the Lumia 530 should provide up to 528 hours of standby time or up to 13 hours of talk time.