Lumia 735 is Finally Heading to Verizon

I first saw the Lumia 735 in August 2014, and upon reviewing the device, found it to be the surprise star of Microsoft’s fall 2014 handset lineup. Next week, Verizon is finally going to start selling this wonderful midrange phone to its customers. So here’s what you can expect, including some Verizon-specific information like pricing and availability.

Verizon-specific info

Available on June 18. You will be able to buy the 735 from Verizon starting next week.

Pricing. $192 full retail, $29.99 with a two-year contract (after a $50 mail-in rebate), or $0 down and $8.00 per month with an Edge plan.

Verizon extras. If you buy before August 1, you will get a free one-year subscription to Office 365 Personal, a $69 value.

Wireless charging. Unlike some carriers that remove this functionality, the shell on Verizon’s 735 does include Qi-based wireless charging capabilities.

LTE. Of course it includes LTE, but when the 730/735 phones first launched last year they were international-only devices that did not support any US-based LTE networks.

HD Voice compatible. Verizon’s 735 is compatible with the carrier’s HD Voice (voice over LTE) offering.

Yes, Windows 10 Mobile is coming. Verizon says it will deliver the free upgrade to Windows 10 Mobile when it arrives later in 2015.

Some comments about the Lumia 735

It’s a wonderful improvement on a classic Lumia design. The Lumia 735 looks a lot like the Lumia 920, which many still feel is the apex of Lumia hardware design. But the 735 improves on the 920 is so many ways: It’s thinner, much lighter, and has a completely removable shell, enabling you to get at its innards and swap out the battery, SIM card, and microSD storage card.

The main camera is surprisingly good. The 735 ships with a 6.7 megapixel main camera with ZEISS optics and LED flash. That may look like nothing special on paper, but the quality of its pictures really surprised me. In fact, I’ve found them to be generally superior to those taken with the 10 MP Lumia 830, in part because they aren’t washed-out like the 830 photos are. This is a superior smart phone camera, especially in this price range.

Selfie camera. The front-facing camera is a Full HD 5 megapixel wide angle (2596 x 1948 with a 24mm focal length) unit that works with a new Lumia Selfie app. (Don’t worry, most other Lumia users will be getting it too.)

Glance. The 735 does not support Glance. I know this is important to some.

Basic specs

OS. The Verizon Lumia 735 ships with the Windows Phone 8.1 Update and the Lumia Denim firmware update.

Processor: 1.2 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400

RAM: 1 GB

Storage: 8 GB internal plus up to 128 GB via microSD

Display: 4.7-inch 720p HD (1280 x 720) display with Gorilla Glass 3

Size: 134.7 x 68.5 x 8.7 mm

Weight: 133 g

Connectivity: USB 2.0, Bluetooth 4.0, 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, A-GPS and Glonass, BeiDou

Battery: Removable 2200 mAh