Market position and competitors:
The Nokia Lumia 530 is not a high flyer, there is a price breaker. Therefore, you can tell by the smartphone at one point or another that Nokia / Microsoft had to calculate with fine-tipped pen. Still convinced the result. Sure, there are a few Android models that are cheaper, but they mostly use old hardware and update - no matter how important they are - you need not think about these discontinued models. That's the Lumia 530 differently: This smartphone was launched in September 2014 and as part of its mainstream support guarantees the Microsoft update for Windows Phone 8.1 supply to 11 July 2017th
Processing and delivery:
The first thing you notice on the Lumia 530, is the good workmanship. To insert the card (2 x Micro SIM, 1 x Micro-SD) is necessary to remove the cover. This is not difficult if you follow the instructions. A second cover in dark gray is included, so you can change color. However, headphones and USB cable are missing, but there is a charger. The internal memory is not spacious enough with 4GB, but thanks to micro SDXC can be upgraded up to 128GB.
Software:
Windows Phone 8.1 can also take without Microsoft account in operation. The operating system is running pretty fast on the quad-core SoC of the Lumia 530 and the operation is learned quickly. With Skype, HERE Drive +, Bing Maps, Xbox Music, and Office Mixradio many good apps are preinstalled. Especially practical: The map data for the whole world can download and use offline! Overall, the software can totally convincing.
Field experience:
The 5 megapixel camera with fixed focus and no flash is neither quick nor impressed by the image quality. But outdoor shots in sunshine can be quite impressive. The speaker is loud, but sound quite tinny. For the headphone output provides a neat Klang.Statt LTE is only available UMTS with maximum 21.1 Mbit / s (download) and 5.76 Mbit / s (upload). The 4-inch LCD display offers 854 x 480 pixels a practical resolution, but is faint, and has no automatic brightness adjustment.
Conclusion:
With a better display, flash and autofocus I would give it 5 stars. Nevertheless, the Nokia Lumia 530 is a good choice and is in my eyes a real bargain.