Cheapest ever Microsoft smartphone - the Lumia 430

Lumia 435 was offered in the UK yesterday for £24 sim free (way below $70). I bought a Lumia 535 on the weekend for £59 sim free. (both were at carphonewarehouse for the inquisitive). So this cheapest ever claim is dubious at best.
even tesco do the 535 for £59..normal retail pricing (a bit above the $70 but also a bit better phone)
http://www.tesco.com/direct/tesco-mobile-microsoft-lumia-535-black/695-5488.prd

It does seem in the last few weeks that MS has been putting downward pressure on retailers to clear stock into consumers hands
 
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werner said:
Lumia 435 was offered in the UK yesterday for £24 sim free (way below $70). I bought a Lumia 535 on the weekend for £59 sim free. (both were at carphonewarehouse for the inquisitive). So this cheapest ever claim is dubious at best.
even tesco do the 535 for £59..normal retail pricing (a bit above the $70 but also a bit better phone)
http://www.tesco.com/direct/tesco-mobile-microsoft-lumia-535-black/695-5488.prd

It does seem in the last few weeks that MS has been putting downward pressure on retailers to clear stock into consumers hands
Click to expand...

Why did you not take the cheapest one?
 
because I had already bought the 535 a few days before and wanted the 535 and liked the 535 and luckily have enough not to worry about £20 keeping me awake at night.
I just wanted something to play with win10 when it comes out for phones, this fit that bill nicely.
 
@werner - out of interest, experienced any touch-screen issues yet on the 535 as reported below ? ; I've noticed some owners find the apparent fix to have not worked out on their phones, but it seems to of not affected all 535's.

From Feb 2015 :
Microsoft is still working to fix Lumia 535 touchscreen issues for some owners
http://www.windowscentral.com/microsoft-still-working-fix-lumia-535-touchscreen-issues-some-owners
Click to expand...

Above contradicts with this report (from Jan 2015) + recent comments on GSM Arena's website :

Update finally ends touch issues on dual-SIM Lumia 535
http://www.gsmarena.com/newscomm-10678.php
Click to expand...
 
What p's me off about the pricing in SA, is the fact that even the supposed cheap Lumia's they charge as much as they can/want to, after obviously taking taxes/exchange rates into account .. I think they still add on about R500 to the mid-range devices, and possibly R300 to the lower-end ones.

But, in the US/UK/Oz etc., where they know they won't get away with it, they virtually give them away - even the mid-range ones :

(deal expired, but was at least available for a time @ US$50 !)
http://dealnews.com/Nokia-Lumia-635-Windows-Phone-8-for-50-free-shipping/1291291.html
 
re: touchscreen,
no, oddly enough I was prepared for some nonsense but it went without a hitch. This is my first windows device, mainly because customers are now starting to ring me up asking how to configure the things for their exchange servers and so on, so thought it would be a good idea to have one (cheapy). Touchscreen has been faultless. Actually, the phone and OS have been faultless.

In fact, the whole thing is pretty good overall...android had project butter to try leverage hw accel to smooth out the ui, and to an extent it has worked, but this thing is just so fluid and responsive. I hate microsoft (for good reasons) and now I hate them more (because I have to eat my hat).
Apps are spotty right now, and it has no notification LED, so I'm missing msgs if I'm not around when it buzzes and chimes (android flashy led wins here), but it is truly a good cheap phone. Camera is ok enough.

I have a One+ One android to compare to. Sure they are different as can be, but for the price paid and for what I ended up with the Lumia has stunning value.

My wife has a motog 2014 and is eyeing this Lumia up everyday. I cant quite describe how I feel about it...except its like that spanner you dont mind just throwing on the floor while you work. You know it'll be there, ready for you, when next you want it. It wasnt an expensive spanner, and it isnt the prettiest spanner. But it is dependable. I have had no reason not to recommend this thing really. Apps will catch up, I'm sure I'll find something to blink the camera flash in lieu of a notification led (most android mtk-based phones also have this "issue".) Windows 10 will come. Battery is lasting me two days.
~£59. Laughing.
 
Thanks for the detailed 'report' you provided - very much appreciated.

I have family in the UK & North America I can 'call' on to bring one of these or a similar one next time they visit, probably early'ish on next year. Currently using a cheaper Android phone I rooted & have a custom ROM on. However, I'm intrigued by the Lumia's & the fluidity I've heard / read about (no lag, unlike most Android's), so do want to get a Lumia sometime, but not at our extortionist prices here.

The 'suggested retail' in SA was around R1,700 , but two shops I've priced the 535 in, the last few days are selling it for R1,999 - approx. £110 or $165 converted.
 
@jacques -
I think they're bombarding the market/s with as many price-points as possible, in the hope that some of the newer models get worthwhile sales - like the 520 did.

Then, when WP10 comes out, they can punt as much as possible, the uniformity/sync'ing abilities of the platform across devices/PC's etc.
 
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