Nokia Lumia 830 now available

Nokia Lumia 830 is meant to act a gap-filler in Microsoft's Windows Phone 8.1 line, slotting in-between the Lumia 930 flagship and the Lumia 735 budget-friendly offering. It's a mid-ranger, in both hardware features and price. It is also the successor to the two year-old Lumia 820, as its name implies.

Microsoft has high hopes for Lumia 830, calling it "the first affordable flagship" and marketing it as cheaper alternative to the likes of Apple iPhone 5s and Samsung Galaxy S5. It's a strategy which could pay off in emerging markets, where consumers want premium devices but cannot afford the cost premiums. We will have to see how the market reacts to Lumia 830, which goes on sale starting this week.

With an MSRP of €330 (around $415), before any taxes and subsidies are applied, Lumia 830 undercuts those two aforementioned rivals by at least $100 at the time of writing this article. Of course, neither is new these days, and one of them has already lost flagship status (iPhone 5s is replaced by iPhone 6) in its maker's lineup.

I should probably mention that the better-specified Lumia 930 -- and, probably better all-around -- is selling for not much more, being available for less than $500 off-contract. In Europe, it can be had for around €450 with taxes, which is just marginally higher than Lumia 830's price, after taxes. Buying a Lumia 930 is a no-brainer, at least in my mind.

Nokia says that Lumia 830 will be available in black, bright green, bright orange and white. There are also some official accessories for it, like a rather lovely-looking flip cover, which is wireless charging-compatible.

Lumia 830 highlights include: 5-inch IPS display with a resolution of 720 by 1,280; 1.2 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor; 1 GB of RAM; 2,200 mAh battery; 10 MP main camera with optical image stabilization and 1080p video recording; 0.9 MP secondary camera capable of recording 720p video; 16 GB of internal storage; microSD card slot; 4G LTE; Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n; NFC; Windows Phone 8.1 Update 1 with Lumia Denim firmware. Lumia 830 comes in at 139.4 x 70.7 x 8.5 mm and 150 grams.