How the Lumia 532 fits into Microsoft's budget lineup

By Abhishek Baxi
last updated

In recent times, Microsoft has had a lot of budget smartphones in the market and that could confuse potential buyers. There are the siblings – Lumia 532 and Lumia 435 – launched together, and the Lumia 535 and Lumia 530 launched a while ago. Of course, there's also the Lumia 430 announced recently, but I haven't had the chance to look at it as yet.

The Lumia 532 and 435 pack in almost similar internals barring a few differences. Let's take a look at how the Lumia 532 is different from the Lumia 435 (our review here) and other budget Lumia devices.

While both devices feature a 4-inch WVGA display and almost look identical, the 532 is powered by the Snapdragon 1.2GHz quad-core processor, while the 435 has the same processor with dual core capability.

Both Lumia 532 and Lumia 435 feature a VGA front camera, but the 532 features a 5 MP fixed focus camera while the 435 features a 2 MP fixed focus camera. Incidentally, the Lumia 630 doesn't feature a front camera, but the Lumia 532 and 435 take care of that.

The Lumia 530 was positioned as the next 520, the bestseller amongst affordable smartphones, but the 4GB internal memory disappointed most. Both, Lumia 532 and 435 feature 8GB of internal storage, with a microSD card slot for expansion up to 128GB.

One of the constant complaints from a section of our readers at Windows Central was about 512 MB RAM, especially around the launch of Lumia 530 and Lumia 630. While I haven't always agreed to that, case in point – Lumia 520 – the recent devices sure need to offer 1GB RAM to be at par with budget Android smartphones in the specifications-driven market. The Lumia 532 and 435 of course offer 1GB RAM, and with the Windows Phone operating system, everyday usage is a breeze.

The Lumia 532 and 435 are well-rounded budget phones offering consistent Windows Phone experience in a great package. The Lumia 532 is a great, compact affordable smartphone, but if you are okay with cutting some corners, the Lumia 435 is even cheaper.

33 Comments
  • At the bottom, but not quite
  • An addition of led flash alone would make a lot of difference in the perception of the device
  • How is it confusing? It seams that they are spread across markets. In Canada we have 635, 830. Soon will have 640. I'm not confused.
  • Well, in Italy we have every Lumia device (obviously not the carrier specific ones, like the Icon), so all those "numbers" MAY be a little confusing for an average Joe.
  • You state budget line up. I think you can just state lineup, we all are painfully aware MS is only offering budget phones...
  • The first sentence should have been like "Microsoft has had "only" budget phones in the market"
  • Well what about the 1020, 1520, 930 and even 920. Not sure if 830 counts..but its close
  • Those were competent a year ago.
  • All discontinued and over 12 months old in the US. Except 830. Now I see why they called the 830 a flagship, they discontinued anything that was better than it...
  • Waiting patiently for a flagship phone.
  • What I don't get is, even with 1GB RAM resuming bug is still there, even though in flagship it's almost unnoticeable due to blazing fast cpu, but that bug is still there, and most app that doesn't support resuming will refresh..
  • Either the app is tombstoned, or doesn't support fast resume. I think bigger RAM will give bigger pool to keep apps stay paged, while the speed of bringing it up back will largely depends on CPU.
  • All these numbers!!! I have stopped caring! I hope that they don't do this horrible numbering system to the flagship. Learn from Apple, Samsung and HTC. Just have a big name flagship that gets spread across carriers. I can care less about it if they call it the Lumia 1000. Surface Phone will do just fine. Please kill off this Nokia naming system! Please, kill it Microsoft!!!
  • Yea, I thought they were suppose to be killing the numbers. If I lined them ALL up, which are many, I would have no way of knowing what product name goes to what because there is no visibility. That's a problem! Its like walking up to having a great conversation with someone at a bar and never getting the person's name or identifier. Surface & Surface Pro Phone with more than just the Microsoft logo on the back but in small letters actually put Surface or Surface Pro at the bottom. Now, I know its from Microsoft and that its a Surface phone. Let Lumia be the new mid/low range with Surface being their flagships.
  • The problem with htc Samsung and apple is that when you say 'i have a HTC one' you have to say 'which one?' (the m7, m8, m8 for windows, or the m9?) same with Samsung. 'i have an S6' (which one?, the s6 or the s6 edge or the s6 mini if there is one). Sane goes for iphone 6, do you have a 6 or 6 plus and soon a 6S? At least with a Lumia you can tell exactly what phone they have (except 640) Its a Lumia 532 end of. And you can tell that generally speaking the '30 series are better than the '20 series, and the higher the first number, generally, the better and higher specced phone you have. Just my personal opinion
  • 512 Mb devices work well in the beginning, however, their performance deteriorates significantly over time. Also, it restricts you from playing certain games smoothly. I have a Lumia 520 and a 720 so I can relate to it well. I think the 532 is a very good choice in the low end. I'm not a very big fan of the numbering of such devices though. It's confusing for those who don't use Lumia's or have knowledge about Windows Phone.
  • Seriously an unwanted article...if it was a comparison between the 640& 730 it was great....
  • We'll consult with you next time. Thank you for your input.
  • @Daniel start a monthly poll
    App/Game of the month.
  • Sweet sarcasm. :D
  • @Daniel
    Pls stop with these arrogant responses. Completely unnecessary.
  • Microsoft better make Windows 10 butter smooth.
    because despite the claims of WP working the same across all devices, it suffers from frame drops and occasional resuming on even 1gb phones with snapdragon 400.
    it's not as bad as laggy androids. but not 100% fluid either.
  • The Android lag and WP smoothness myth is just a myth at this point.  My 1020 can barely scroll through pinned tiles at this point.  The outdated, underpowered hardware is a joke, and don't get me started on the camera which can barely take pictures and takes minutes to open and capture shots.  WP is way worse than android at stuttering and lagging at this point. 
  • Oh really, keep trolling troll. "Android lag is myth", what a joke
  • Agreed, was checking out someone's nexus 5 the other day, updated to lollipop 5.1, and still, they cant make zooming snappy, whether its in chrome or in the gallery or anywhere. Still not snappy.
  • My 920 has the same I repeat SAME specs as your 1020 except the camera. And its butter smoothe, just like wp7 and wp8.0. You probably got a bad phone. If your sick of outdated hardware then why don't you buy a new phone? No ones forcing you to keep your 1020. My 920 is still fine, running Lumia denim 8.1 and patiently waiting for 10
  • He's just a troll, he doesn't have a 1020 or any windows phone.
  • Its 100% fluid in wp8, 8.1 comes with this resuming screen. Hope official 10 will fix the issue.
  • What a confusing nightmare.  They are running of numbers to label junk phones. 
  • L532 has glance, dual SIM, so it's perfect...
  • Clear up the muddy water that is the Lumia series by adding more mud
  • Who cares. Lets hear about flagship phones. These retreads of the 5\6 series are getting redundant.
  • Got myself the Lumia 535 today and I must say it is seriously good for a low end mobile. Not found coming from android to much trouble at all