Microsoft Lumia 532 Dual SIM Review: Up Against the Android Army
No matter which part of the market it tries to address, Microsoft will have stiff competition from multiple Android partners. At the high end, there's really no contest - Microsoft hasn't released a new flagship since it erased Nokia's name from the catalog, and it won't until Windows 10 is ready to go later this year. Lumia models stand out in the mid-range because of their attractive styling, good cameras and decent battery life, which somewhat make up for other shortcomings.
Last year, Nokia had a fair bit of success with the 52x and 62x Lumia series, which were priced well and offered enough value. Now, the budget Android landscape has shifted dramatically in the wake of a Chinese invasion. Xiaomi, Lenovo, Motorola, Asus and many others have strong grips on the sub-Rs. 10,000 market, so can Microsoft still carve out a niche?
Look and feel
The Microsoft Lumia 532 Dual SIM is a bit of an ugly duckling. It's thick, chunky and not immediately appealing. In fact it looks a lot like the Asha series thanks to the obvious outer shell with squared off sides and pointy corners. Our review sample was black, which didn't help the phone look sleek, but it's also available in white, green, or orange. At least it isn't too heavy, at 136g.
The Microsoft Lumia 532 Dual SIM is a bit of an ugly duckling. It's thick, chunky and not immediately appealing. In fact it looks a lot like the Asha series thanks to the obvious outer shell with squared off sides and pointy corners. Our review sample was black, which didn't help the phone look sleek, but it's also available in white, green, or orange. At least it isn't too heavy, at 136g.
The rear has a matte finish for grip, but the sides are glossy. As expected, the shell pops right out and we can easily see that the phone could have been a lot less bulky without it. The corners dug into our palms and we noticed a lot of scuffing on the glossy plastic bits, which was a little disappointing.
Specifications
Microsoft will find itself falling behind Android smartphones in this price range - the Lumia 532 Dual SIM feels like a phone that's several years old, and that's primarily due to the screen. At 4 inches diagonally, the 480x800-pixel resolution means there are visible jagged edges and gradients are not smooth. It's also not a very high-quality screen - colours are dull, and lose definition as soon as you look at the screen from an angle. It gets bright enough, but is still difficult to use under direct sunlight.
Microsoft will find itself falling behind Android smartphones in this price range - the Lumia 532 Dual SIM feels like a phone that's several years old, and that's primarily due to the screen. At 4 inches diagonally, the 480x800-pixel resolution means there are visible jagged edges and gradients are not smooth. It's also not a very high-quality screen - colours are dull, and lose definition as soon as you look at the screen from an angle. It gets bright enough, but is still difficult to use under direct sunlight.
The processor is a rather anaemic Qualcomm Snapdragon 200, which has four 1.2GHz Cortex-A7 cores running at 1.2GHz, and Adreno 302 graphics. We expected the 1GB of RAM, but it was nice to see 8GB of storage space. Lumia phones usually support high-capacity microSD cards, and this one is no exception - you can add up to 128GB more space if needed.
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