Nokia Lumia 530 White - No Contract (T-Mobile)

Bought this phone for my 11 year old daughter. 50 bucks for a smartphone, what was I expecting? (I'm thinking $20 digital camera of a few years ago...yikes!! that was bad) Needless to say, I wasn't expecting much, but I am blown away by what you can get for 50 bucks. Obviously, it is not the same as my top of the line Samsung Galaxy, but it can basically do all of what you would want the smartphone to do. Pictures look good, screen is great, speed is fine, it even has Bluetooth, and internet tethering capabilities. I think it is a fantastic phone for a kid, and if it was all I could afford, I wouldn't be disappointed with it for myself either. Yah, you get what you pay for, but in this case I can think of a lot of other crap that I have bought for my kids for 50 dollars that is nowhere near the power of this high tech tool. Oh, and if she breaks it? The replacement would cost about the same as the phone case did for my Galaxy, ha!FYI: We have T-Mobile with five lines, 2.5 gigs on each line, unlimited everything else for $120 a month. We like their service.However. . . this is not a knock on the phone, but the Windows operating system. Microsoft has amazing "Family Safety" settings for all their products except... the Windows phone. You can set it up so that kids cannot purchase apps and only have access to downloading kid friendly games, but you cannot apply the internet filtering settings, which apply the kid's PC account, to their phone account. There are also not a lot of kid safety apps, browsers, or options on the Windows phone. I'm crossing my fingers that Bill Gates asks his friends at Microsoft to make the family safety settings available to the phone.

Very unhappy with this phone. I bought this phone as a backup while my phone was being repaired. It is a okay starter phone but not something I would use long term. I was going to give it to my daughter, who really wanted it after vi was done. When I tried to open it to take out my sim card, the screen cracked. I did have to fight with it when I first tried to get the sim card in. They make it very difficult to open the case. The second time I really had a terrible time opening it. It probably looked very funny when I was struggling but I was pissed. So now its cracked and shouldn't be used. Waste of my money. I never used a nokia window phone before and don't know if they are all like this. I have had many cell phones over the years and never had such hard time.

I have read most of the reviews that I could find about this phone (Which actually helped), before I purchased it. So, this might be a little lengthy for some of you. This review is simply about the transitioning from iPhone or Android to the new Windows format.Firstly, If you DO NOT already use Windows 8 or 8.1 on your personal computer, before buying this phone, you will have a few problems with it. Hence, AMOST ALL of the bad reviews of these phones where by people who do not use a windows 8/8.1 machine. Meaning the new windows format is a little difficult to understand. But, When you add a windows OS to a phone, there will be a lot of problems if you don't already use Windows8/8.1 I would suggest that you use a windows 8/8.1 machine for little while before buying this phone. But, that is just my opinion!However if you DO use windows 8/8.1 on your personal computer, you will have a much easier time with the transition from iPhone or Android to the Windows Operating system on a cell phone.Personally, I do use Windows 8.1 on my Laptop. So it was a WAY easier of a transition to this phone. Oh! and for the IPhone and Android people: At the least, this Windows phone IS A LOT FASTER!!!Yes, this windows phone has some issues (the annoying type), But so does the windows Operating Systems on computers! But, like every new product on the market, There are adjustments that need to be made (Also known as UPDATES!!!).I've had this phone for about 3 weeks now. But, The bugs are being worked out already. When I fist received the phone, I notice a few glitches(Like being kicked off of the internet while browsing.) But, after doing the updates a couple of times, It stopped kicking me off. So, the fixes are in progress.If you are a die hard windows 7 or Vista user, YOU WILL BE DISAPPOINTED BY THIS PHONE! It is nothing like the operating systems of old.In Closing, My suggestion would be to try using windows 8/8.1 for a while (Like 2 weeks or so), If you like it, you should have very few issues with the new phones.If you think this is just a fad, and refuse to upgrade yourself. Then you will be left behind like the NOW OBSOLETE WINDOWS XP!!! Yes windows XP was a good operating system. It has run is life course and is now time to bury it! It is called Progress People!!!Just remember, If you are getting this phone, DO THE UPDATES!!! It will fix most of its issues.OK, Good luck, and remember,WORK HARD, LIVE LIFE, BUT, ALWAYS HAVE FUN!!! Otherwise what's the point?!?!?!

Oh gosh - they clearly put this thing in oil or butter to make it so slippery that you have to expect it. The phone is very light even though it has a battery in it. The phone falls short in the iphone replacement category. Once you get past that - the phone is WONDERFUL. Well kind of. It offers a lot that the newer iphones are now offering. The pictures I was well pleased with. Though it does not have a front camera. It though takes pretty good pictures. I would not go to the place of amazing - good pictures. You have to press the button on the screen in order to take pictures which can be a burden at times. Wi fi phone calls can be hard to hear - it though is a nice option if you have bad service. The battery life though requires you to plug in every night or you will be low battery life. The One drive destroys the icloud in my opinion. Everything is up loaded and is there for very easy sharing. It takes some getting use to but once you know how to use it you are in a good place for a good phone especially for the price.