Microsoft Lumia 535 and 535 Dual SIM review: A first of many

3. Display, battery life, connectivity

Display

The Microsoft Lumia 535 packs a 5.0" IPS display of qHD resolution (540 x 960 pixels). The pixel density of 220ppi provides acceptable sharpness and the image quality is surprisingly good.

Colors are nice and punchy and viewing angles are quite decent too. There's little color and contrast loss even if you look at it at an extreme angle.

Here's a microscopic image of the screen's RGB matrix - it does come with a standard pixel arrangement.

Microsoft Lumia 535 Dual SIM

Although we found the blacks and pixel density of the Lumia 535 to be only average we should note that the contrast is very good, particularly for this price range.

Display test	50% brightness			100% brightness
Display test	Black, cd/m²	White, cd/m²	Contrast ratio	Black, cd/m²	White, cd/m²	Contrast ratio
Microsoft Lumia 535	0.26	312	1188	0.45	458	1118
Nokia Lumia 630	0.24	184	764	0.71	508	771
Nokia Lumia 830	0.21	223	1087	0.49	533	1078
Sony Xperia M2	0.33	325	989	0.64	643	1000
Nokia Lumia 735	0	258	∞	0	363	∞
HTC One mini 2	0.19	220	1141	0.42	501	1196
Nokia Lumia 1320	0.34	341	1008	0.62	671	1089

Unfortunately the smartphone did poorly in our sunlight legibility test, the screen is very reflective and almost unusable outdoors in a bright sunny day.

Sunlight contrast ratio

Nokia 808 PureView
4.698
Samsung Galaxy Note 4
4.033
Apple iPhone 5
3.997
Samsung Galaxy Note 3
3.997
Apple iPhone 6
3.838
Samsung Galaxy Note Edge
3.799
Samsung Galaxy K zoom
3.675
Nokia Lumia 930
3.567
Apple iPhone 5s
3.565
Samsung Galaxy S5
3.549
Nokia Lumia 735
3.547
Alcatel Idol X+
3.527
Apple iPhone 5c
3.512
Samsung Galaxy Alpha
3.509
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
3.487
Motorola RAZR MAXX
3.42
Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III
3.419
Nokia Lumia 925
3.402
Gionee Elife S5.5
3.386
Samsung I9505 Galaxy S4
3.352
Samsung Omnia W
3.301
Samsung Galaxy S5 mini
3.174
Samsung I9000 Galaxy S
3.155
Samsung Ativ S
3.129
Samsung I9190 Galaxy S4 mini
3.127
Samsung Galaxy S4 zoom
3.118
Nokia N9
3.069
Apple iPhone 6 Plus
3.023
Samsung Galaxy Note
2.97
Samsung Galaxy Premier
2.958
Sony Xperia Z1
2.95
HTC One S
2.901
Samsung I8730 Galaxy Express
2.861
BlackBerry Q10
2.856
Samsung I9100 Galaxy S II
2.832
HTC Desire Eye
2.815
Gionee Elife S5.1
2.812
Samsung Galaxy S II Plus
2.801
BlackBerry Z30
2.79
Sony Xperia ZR
2.672
Huawei Ascend P1
2.655
Sony Xperia Z3
2.618
Sony Xperia Z3 Compact
2.616
Sony Xperia T3
2.609
BlackBerry Passport
2.595
Nokia Lumia 900
2.562
Motorola Moto G 4G
2.546
HTC One Max
2.537
Nokia Lumia 720
2.512
HTC One
2.504
Motorola Moto G
2.477
Sony Xperia Z
2.462
Xiaomi Mi 4
2.424
Samsung Galaxy S III mini
2.422
Lenovo Vibe Z2 Pro
2.416
LG G Flex
2.407
HTC One (M8)
2.371
Meizu MX4
2.366
Motorola RAZR i
2.366
Sony Xperia ZL
2.352
Samsung Galaxy Note II
2.307
HTC One (M8) for Windows
2.291
Oppo Find 7a
2.279
Alcatel One Touch Hero
2.272
Apple iPhone 4S
2.269
HTC Desire 600 dual sim
2.262
Nokia Asha 311
2.25
LG Nexus 5
2.228
Nokia Lumia 820
2.193
HTC One (E8)
2.185
Nokia Lumia 920
2.17
HTC One X
2.158
Nokia N8
2.144
Nokia Lumia 620
2.142
Nokia 515
2.134
HTC Desire 500
2.129
Sony Xperia acro S
2.119
Xiaomi Redmi Note
2.119
Nokia Lumia 1020
2.103
Oppo Find 5
2.088
Sony Xperia SL
2.078
Nokia Lumia 630
2.056
BlackBerry Z10
2.051
Huawei Ascend Mate7
2.024
Samsung I9295 Galaxy S4 Active
2.022
Apple iPhone 4
2.016
HTC One mini
2.003
Xiaomi Mi 3
2.001
Huawei Ascend P7
1.992
LG G2
1.976
OnePlus One
1.961
Oppo R819
1.957
Sony Ericsson Xperia ray
1.955
Sony Xperia Z2
1.944
Sony Xperia E3
1.943
Nokia Lumia 1320
1.941
HTC One mini 2
1.94
Samsung Galaxy Camera
1.938
Sony Xperia J
1.932
Acer CloudMobile S500
1.931
LG Nexus 4
1.926
LG G Pro 2
1.922
Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3
1.913
Nokia Asha 308
1.911
HTC Butterfly 2
1.905
Sony Xperia T
1.894
Nokia Lumia 830
1.887
HTC Desire X
1.878
HTC Butterfly
1.873
HTC Windows Phone 8X
1.873
HTC Butterfly S
1.867
Huawei Ascend P6
1.865
Huawei Ascend Mate
1.845
LG G2 mini
1.838
LG G3
1.82
Nokia Lumia 1520
1.813
HTC Desire 616 dual sim
1.797
Sony Xperia V
1.792
HTC Desire 816
1.783
Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
1.772
HTC Desire 700 dual sim
1.769
Sony Xperia U
1.758
Meizu MX3
1.754
LG Optimus G
1.753
Sony Xperia T2 Ultra
1.74
Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact
1.735
Sony Xperia SP
1.733
Oppo Find 7
1.691
LG Optimus 4X HD
1.691
HTC One V
1.685
BlackBerry Q5
1.682
LG Optimus Vu
1.68
Xiaomi Mi Pad 7.9
1.672
LG Optimus GJ
1.666
LG Optimus 3D Max
1.658
HTC Desire V
1.646
Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2
1.632
Samsung Galaxy Ace 3
1.622
Jolla Jolla
1.605
Sony Xperia Z Ultra
1.578
Sony Xperia go
1.577
Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 I8160
1.566
Samsung Galaxy Core
1.563
LG Optimus G Pro
1.552
Motorola Moto E
1.545
LG Optimus 3D
1.542
Nokia Asha 302
1.537
BlackBerry Curve 9320
1.488
Sony Xperia M
1.473
Oppo N1
1.47
Meizu MX 4-core
1.462
Nokia Lumia 610
1.432
Samsung Galaxy S Duos
1.4
Sony Xperia M2
1.393
Microsoft Lumia 535
1.393
Samsung Galaxy Grand Neo
1.393
Samsung Galaxy Grand 2
1.38
Sony Xperia E1
1.372
Nokia Lumia 625
1.371
Gigabyte GSmart G1355
1.361
Sony Xperia L
1.351
Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8
1.35
Xiaomi Redmi 1S
1.35
HTC Desire 510
1.34
Sony Xperia M2 Aqua
1.331
Sony Xperia miro
1.324
Samsung I9082 Galaxy Grand
1.321
Samsung I8530 Galaxy Beam
1.315
HTC Desire C
1.3
Nokia X
1.291
Sony Xperia C
1.283
Nokia Asha 503
1.281
Nokia Asha 501
1.27
LG Optimus L7
1.269
Nokia Lumia 510
1.268
Samsung Galaxy Fame
1.245
LG Optimus L9
1.227
Meizu MX
1.221
Samsung Galaxy Young
1.22
Sony Xperia E
1.215
Nokia XL
1.204
Sony Xperia E dual
1.203
Asus Memo Pad 7 ME176C
1.198
Samsung Galaxy Pocket
1.18
Nokia Asha 305
1.178
Nokia Asha 306
1.175
Sony Xperia neo L
1.169
Sony Xperia tipo
1.166
Nokia Lumia 520
1.161
Samsung S6802 Galaxy Ace Duos
1.148
Samsung Galaxy mini 2
1.114

We notice the touch input is not as accurate as on other Lumia smartphones. We occasionally ran into issues with the touchscreen - from activating the adjacent option instead on the one we pressed on to not detecting the fingertip at all. It isn't that annoying as it sounds, but it is still something to consider as a drawback.

Battery life

The Microsoft Lumia 535 is powered by a 1,905mAh battery. According to the official stats it should be enough for about half a day of calls in a 3G network and two weeks of stand-by. Of course, we ran our own battery test and the results are in.

The Lumia 535 Dual SIM is indeed capable of lasting half a day on a call. Its browser and video playback endurance however is quite poor, while the standby performance is only average.

The Microsoft Lumia 535 posted an overall 44 hour endurance rating, meaning you can use the smartphone for about two days days if you do an hour each of calling, web browsing, and watching videos daily. It is far from impressive, even for a dual-SIM smartphone.

Our proprietary score also includes a standby battery draw test, which is not featured in our battery test scorecard but is calculated in the total endurance rating.

Connectivity

The Microsoft Lumia 535 is available in both single SIM and dual SIM versions. Both models support quad-band GSM and dual-band 3G networks. The SIM card slots are of the micro-SIM variety, while none of the models offer SIM card hot-swapping.

If you opt for the dual-SIM Lumia 535, you'll get two microSIM beds with dual stand-by functionality. Of course, once you're in a call on one of the cards, the other SIM becomes inactive.

The rest of the connectivity features available across all models include single-band Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS with GLONASS, and an FM radio with RDS. There is a microUSB 2.0 port for charging and data connections.

Mass storage mode is supported for access to the phone's built-in memory and microSD card.

There is no TV-out functionality whatsoever - wired, or wireless. Also currently, there are no Windows Phones that support USB On-the-go, so that's missing, too.

Next Page » 4. User interface

3. Display, battery life, connectivity

Reviews Microsoft Lumia 535 and 535 Dual SIM reviewPage 3