Nokia Lumia 735: A 4.7-inch Windows Phone Built for Selfies
The Nokia Lumia 735 arrived at a moment when Windows Phone was still searching for its identity beyond the corporate crowd. Announced at IFA 2014 and shipped globally through the tail end of that year, it pitched itself as the "selfie phone" thanks to a wide-angle 6.7-megapixel front camera that felt almost absurdly generous for the time. In markets like Australia, where buyers in Sydney and Melbourne were already eyeing the iPhone 6 and the freshly released Samsung Galaxy Alpha, the Lumia 735 offered a refreshingly different proposition at a mid-range price.
For readers browsing through our archives, it is worth comparing this handset with the classic iPhone 4S review we covered a while back, since both phones belong to an era when manufacturers experimented with bold identity choices rather than chasing the same glass-slab template that dominates the category today.
Design and display
The Lumia 735 carries the familiar polycarbonate shell that defined Nokia's mid-range Windows Phone lineup, with curved edges, a matte finish, and a removable back cover in bright orange, bright green, white, or black. At 134.7 mm tall and 68.5 mm wide, it slots neatly between the smaller Lumia 630 and the larger Lumia 830, and the 8.9 mm thickness feels comfortable in hand without being chunky. Weighing in at around 134 grams, it is light enough to slip into a back pocket for a quick train trip across Brisbane's City Loop without dragging trousers down.
The screen is a 4.7-inch ClearBlack OLED panel running at 1280 by 720 pixels, which works out to roughly 316 pixels per inch. Colours pop with the saturated character that OLED is known for, and the deep blacks make the Windows Phone live tiles look genuinely striking on the lockscreen. Outdoor visibility is solid under Australian sun, although peak brightness lags behind the LCD panels that flagship Android devices were shipping with at the same time. Gorilla Glass 3 protects the front, which is reassuring for anyone prone to dropping their handset on café tables in Melbourne's laneways.
The selfie camera and imaging
The headline feature is, of course, the front-facing camera. Nokia fitted a 6.7-megapixel sensor with an f/2.4 lens and a wide-angle field of view that comfortably fits two or three friends plus a harbour backdrop. Around the back sits a 6.7-megapixel shooter with Carl Zeiss optics, a single-LED flash, and 1080p video recording. For a phone positioned at the mid-range, that rear camera actually outperforms several competitors that lean on interpolation to inflate their megapixel count.
Software support matters as much as the sensor itself. The Lumia 735 ships with the Lumia Camera app and the dedicated Lumia Selfie app, both of which expose manual controls for ISO, white balance, exposure, and shutter speed. The latter uses the rear camera when you flip the phone around, which sounds odd but produces noticeably sharper results than relying on the front lens. There is also a built-in timer mode that triggers three audible beeps, which proved surprisingly handy for group shots at a friend's barbecue in Perth's coastal suburbs.
Compared with the camera focus of competing devices from the same launch window, the Lumia 735's wide-angle front sensor was one of the first to be marketed primarily for selfies rather than video calling. It cemented a trend that the Android camp would adopt within a year, and it remains a memorable footnote in the short history of Windows Phone hardware.
Performance and software
Inside, the Lumia 735 runs on Qualcomm's Snapdragon 400, a quad-core chip clocked at 1.2 GHz, paired with 1 GB of RAM and 8 GB of internal storage. A microSD slot accepts cards up to 128 GB, and Microsoft also bundled 15 GB of free OneDrive cloud storage. That storage arrangement was generous for the price, especially given that many Android rivals capped out at 8 GB with no expansion on lower trims.
The phone launched with Windows Phone 8.1 and the Lumia Denim firmware update, which brought folders on the home screen, a more transparent action centre, and the Cortana voice assistant in regions where it had launched. Cortana was, at the time, the most natural-feeling voice assistant on any mobile platform, and integration with local data sources was genuinely useful in Australia, where the assistant pulled in transport tips, weather from the Bureau of Meteorology, and reminders tied to Outlook accounts.
In everyday use the interface flows smoothly through live tiles, and the Snapdragon 400 handles social apps, email, and casual games without strain. Demanding 3D titles occasionally stutter, and multitasking with more than a handful of apps open can see the system pause to reload tiles. Still, for the routine mix of messaging, photos, navigation, and streaming that most Australians rely on, the Lumia 735 holds its own.
| Specification | Nokia Lumia 735 | Nokia Lumia 730 Dual SIM | Microsoft Lumia 640 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Display | 4.7-inch OLED, 720p | 4.7-inch OLED, 720p | 5.0-inch IPS LCD, 720p |
| Front camera | 6.7 MP, wide-angle f/2.4 | 5 MP, wide-angle | 1 MP |
| Rear camera | 6.7 MP, Carl Zeiss optics | 6.7 MP, Carl Zeiss optics | 8 MP |
| Processor | Snapdragon 400, quad-core 1.2 GHz | Snapdragon 400, quad-core 1.2 GHz | Snapdragon 400, quad-core 1.2 GHz |
| RAM | 1 GB | 1 GB | 1 GB |
| Storage | 8 GB + microSD | 8 GB + microSD | 8 GB + microSD |
| Battery | 2200 mAh, removable | 2220 mAh, removable | 2500 mAh, removable |
| Wireless charging | Yes (Qi, built-in) | No | No (XL version only) |
Battery, wireless charging and connectivity
Powering the Lumia 735 is a removable 2200 mAh battery, which is rated for roughly 14 hours of 3G talk time and a similar figure for browsing over Wi-Fi. In practice, with mixed usage including push email, social apps, navigation, and the occasional music stream, the phone comfortably survives a full working day and stretches into the next morning for light users. The removable cover is a quietly useful feature for travellers heading out to regional South Australia or the Northern Territory, where carrying a charged spare is more practical than hunting for a power outlet.
Wireless charging is built in via the Qi standard, which was still a novelty in 2014 and helped the Lumia 735 stand out from similarly priced Android rivals. Drop the phone onto a Nokia DT-903 charging plate or any compatible Qi pad and it begins refilling without a cable in sight, a small but tangible quality-of-life upgrade for anyone with a bedside dock at home.
Connectivity covers the essentials: 4G LTE on the 700 MHz, 1800 MHz, and 2600 MHz bands that Australian carriers were actively rolling out, plus Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, and GPS with GLONASS support. The single-SIM variant sold through most Australian retailers, although a dual-SIM 730 sibling was available through grey imports. Australian Consumer Law guarantees a minimum one-year warranty on handsets sold locally, so buyers shopping through Telstra, Optus, or Vodafone storefronts were well protected against early defects.
Pricing, carriers and where it fits in Australia
At launch the Lumia 735 landed in Australia at roughly A$379 outright through major retailers, with carrier-subsidised plans on Telstra and Optus pushing the effective upfront cost down to around A$50 to A$80 on a 24-month contract. Vodafone Australia also offered it on prepaid bundles with included data, which appealed to younger users who wanted the selfie camera without committing to a long contract. The price point put it firmly against the Motorola Moto G 4G, the Samsung Galaxy Core Prime, and the lower storage trims of the iPhone 5c.
What made the Lumia 735 interesting for Australian buyers was the combination of features at that price. Built-in wireless charging, an OLED screen, and a genuinely capable front camera were not common in the sub-A$400 bracket, and the Windows Phone ecosystem, while smaller, included solid local apps for banking, news, and transport. Readers curious about how it stacked up against the broader mid-range of the period can browse our Android coverage for context on the competing handsets of that same launch window.
For anyone hunting a used Lumia 735 today, the usual caveats apply: check the battery health, confirm that the model supports Australian LTE bands, and look for a clean IMEI that has not been blocked by a previous carrier. With the NBN rollout in full swing and more Australians streaming content on the go, an LTE-capable mid-ranger like this still serves as a reliable secondary device or a starter smartphone for a younger family member.
Drop your priorities and budget into the comments and we will line up a few head-to-head comparisons to help you choose the right handset for your daily routine.