This is the special golden edition Nokia Lumia 930

Lumia 930
Lumia 930 (Image credit: Windows Central)

In early January, Microsoft officially announced{.nofollow} special golden editions of its Lumia 830 and Lumia 930 smartphones for various markets, including Europe, Asia Pacific and China, and India, the Middle East and Africa. Coming in either matte black or glossy white, the gold-framed versions of the latest Lumias add a little sophistication to the previously colorful devices.

I managed to get my hands on the matte black gold Lumia 930, which can be found unlocked for around $430, including on eBay. Here are some photos and a video to show you what it is all about.

What it is

As you can imagine, there is nothing truly unique about this Lumia 930 (or Lumia 830). Besides the gold frame, the software and other features are exactly the same. It does ship with Windows Phone 8.1 build 14157, which is rather old. However, when you check for an update, build 14226 comes down, which is the latest version of the 8.1.1 OS, including Lumia Camera 5.0 and Lumia Denim.

Other than that, it has the same specifications, including a 5-inch 1080p display (no Glance), 32 GB of storage, 2 GB of RAM, 2.2 GHz CPU and a 20 MP PureView camera.

For those in the US, you do not get LTE on this phone due to the unique carrier bands here. However, if you are on AT&T (and to a lesser extent, T-Mobile), you can get 3G HSPA+ data. That is a trade off, but if you are around Wi-Fi often, it is certainly doable.

Cheesy or elegant?

I find the 'blinged out' smartphone craze a bit tacky, but the truth be told, I like this gold Lumia 930. It is elegant, not gaudy, and I think it looks rather tasteful. I am curious about the glossy white version, which is a change from the matte white on the Lumia Icon for Verizon.

Should you get one?

If you are in the market for a Lumia 930, I would consider getting the gold version. Supposedly, these gold variants have a limited run of just 3,000, making this a potential collector's item. Plus it is one of the last Nokia-branded Lumias.

The glossy white versions are due in the coming weeks, and they should start appearing in various retailers.

Overall though, I am keeping this one and using it on my secondary AT&T line.

Let us know that you think in comments! Should Microsoft do this sort of thing more often?

Daniel Rubino
Editor-in-chief

Daniel Rubino is the Editor-in-chief of Windows Central. He is also the head reviewer, podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been covering Microsoft since 2007, when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, laptops, next-gen computing, and watches. He has been reviewing laptops since 2015 and is particularly fond of 2-in-1 convertibles, ARM processors, new form factors, and thin-and-light PCs. Before all this tech stuff, he worked on a Ph.D. in linguistics, watched people sleep (for medical purposes!), and ran the projectors at movie theaters because it was fun.