In our audio-streaming test, the Lumia 535 consumed 5.3% of its battery capacity per hour, a result that compares unfavourably to the 1.9% consumed by the Honor Holly. If you keep the Lumia 535 up to date with updates it’s hard to say what its performance will be in 12 months.īattery life is a tad disappointing. Still, overall performance is acceptable, with the only caveat that Windows Phone 8 has changed enormously in the past 18 months, and it’s possible that it will continue to evolve. Running the SunSpider browser benchmark confirmed our subjective experiences: a result of 1,306ms is decent for the money, and a smidgen ahead of the Honor Holly, but very far from the leading edge set by more expensive handsets. When you consider that the Honor Hollymanaged 7.1fps with its higher-resolution 720p display, the Lumia 535 is just a little off the pace. There’s some modest gaming potential, too: a quick blast along the tracks of Asphalt 8 was borderline acceptable, although the GFXBench T-Rex benchmark stuttered along at an average of only 7.7fps, meaning the luxuriously smooth frame rates of pricier handsets are some way off. It isn’t overly enthusiastic, but it doesn’t drag: Windows Phone’s icons stutter slightly when you return to the homescreen and panning around Here Maps is a little juddery, but users who can keep their ambitions in check will find little to complain about. The reality of the Lumia 535’s specifications is reasonably good performance.

Microsoft Lumia 535 review: benchmarks and performance

Inside is a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 processor running at 1.2GHz, as well as 1GB of RAM – plenty enough for a Windows Phone device.

The specifications are basic, but there are no obvious compromises. Of most significance is the price: you can have the Lumia 535 delivered, SIM-free and unlocked, for a mere £83: impressive indeed for what appears at first to be a fully functioning smartphone.

Windows phone icons meaning