Nokia’s primary target markets may have been, for the most part, emerging countries, but back in the days before it was bought out by Microsoft, its Lumia phones used to be available on some carriers in the United States. And it looks like Microsoft Mobile may be continuing that tradition and releasing its new arrivals, the Lumia 735 and Lumia 830, across several American carriers.
Several readers had sighted some apparent release confirmation on the Nokia US website, and while everything appears to be all systems go for a US release, the Nokia website did not include any specific carriers for the Lumia 735 and Lumia 830 release. Still, if we are to rely on previous history, Nokia mainly released previous Lumia handsets on AT&T, Verizon and/or T-Mobile among major carriers, and Cricket and MetroPCS among regionals. Sprint is a notable exception among the major carriers, and while there’s a chance we’ll be seeing Microsoft Mobile’s new Lumias on Sprint, we don’t see that as a huge possibility, even with the Microsoft buyout.
The Nokia US page also suggests that basic specifications and features should remain the same across the board for both international and American versions. Both Lumia 735 and Lumia 830 launched yesterday at the IFA 2014 conference in Germany, and the devices are considered midrange in terms of fundamentals. The Lumia 735, in fact, can be filed under entry-level, as it comes with a 4.7-inch, 720p display, only 8 GB internal memory, and a 6.7-megapixel rear camera. The device does have a 5-megapixel front shooter, and is targeted by Nokia as a so-called “selfie phone.”
The Lumia 830 was described yesterday as an “affordable flagship,” but its specs, once again, are closer to midrange than high-end. These include a 5-inch, 720p display, 16 GB internal storage, a quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor, and a 10-megapixel PureView rear camera.