The recently released Nokia Lumia 830 is an end of an era, and though it's also a mid-tier smartphone, this device deserves consideration when it comes to picking a smartphone to own for the next couple of years.

With a solid design, some nice hardware features, and at least decent software that covers the fundamentals, the Lumia 830 is a well-balanced device for people looking for a sensible smartphone with a midrange price and the Microsoft ecosystem. But it's not for everyone.

Design

With the recent release of Apple's iPhone 6 Plus and Google's Nexus 6, it's important to remember that there are still some consumers that want impressive features all wrapped up in a small -- or at least non-gigantic -- sturdy package. When it comes to design, the Nokai Lumia 830 exceeds expectations on this front.

Like other Lumia smartphones, the Nokia Lumia 830 is a boxy but sleek slab. Our demo device was black, contributing to the streamlined look, but Nokia's eye-catching bright green, orange or white rear covers are also options -- as is the ability to switch those covers out, since the Lumia 830 has a removable back.

No matter what color you get, the Lumia 830 has an elegant face made of the same Gorilla Glass 3 as most flagships, and on the back is the large black 808 PureView sensor-housing circle that makes it look more like other Lumia flagship phones, rather than a cheaply built low-tier afterthought. 

It feels solid too, despite the removable rear panel, because the majority of the phone is housed in an aluminum frame.

(Photo : Robert Schoon)

In fact, Samsung could learn a couple of things from the Lumia 830 because it looks and feels more expensive than that company's last two flagship Galaxy S phones.

At the same time, it's lighter than most phones that make use of an aluminum chassis (150g), and it's pretty small and thin, too (139.4 x 70.7 x 8.5mm).

The only thing I had a problem with, design wise, was Nokia's decision to keep the Lumia 830's charging port at the top edge of the phone, right next to the headphone port. I still have a hard time believing smartphone manufacturers honestly think putting the charging and headphone ports anywhere other than the bottom and top (respectively) is in any way convenient for users. I wish all hardware manufacturers would decide that, even though Apple and Samsung do that, it's best not to try to challenge the status quo if it makes everything more awkward.

Hardware Specs and Performance

Even though the Lumia 830 looks like a flagship smartphone, it has scaled-back ambitions to match its scaled-back price. But that's not as limiting as you might think.

First off, the removable back allows for microSD storage to boost its meager 16GB onboard storage by up to 128GB more, meaning storage shouldn't be a problem. And speaking of the back cover of the Lumia 830, each one comes with wireless charging support built in, which is an advantage many premium Android handsets have yet to offer.

Inside, there's a 1.2 GHz Snapdragon 400 chipset with 1GB of RAM running on a (removable) 2,200 mAh battery. Clearly, these two aspects of the Lumia 830 are what make it more affordable -- AT&T is selling them at $100 with a two-year contract -- but it's hard to see these specs as anything but a disadvantage.

However, the device gets 4G LTE data (still worth mentioning for a mid-range device), and I didn't notice the processor struggling with any day-to-day performance. Don't expect it to be your hard-core gaming smartphone, though.

The battery does a decent job, too. I noticed a negative difference in standby battery life compared to other, larger smartphones, but in regular use, I didn't actually drain the Lumia 830 as much (or as quickly) as I had initially worried.

This is probably due in part to the less energy-demanding display on the Lumia 830. The Lumia 830's 5-inch screen (still the best screen size for a mix of one- and two-handed use, in my opinion) is an IPS LCD with 720 x 1280p resolution.

If you want nice inky black levels and a device to watch eye-popping HD movies, this isn't the device for you. But if you plan on using the smartphone as a phone, and not an entertainment center-phablet, you probably won't notice the Lumia 830's 720p maximum resolution.

(Photo : Robert Schoon)

In any case, the display works in the overall hardware package, and I never found myself having to recharge the Lumia 830 during the course of a normal day.

The one place where the Lumia 830 stands above its peers, of course, is the PureView camera. While it's only 10-megapixels -- not the 20-megapixels of the Lumia 830's flagship Lumia Icon/930 cousin or the 41 MP beast in the Lumia 1020 -- the camera performs above its paygrade.

Nearly all photos I took looked gorgeous, and the camera's optical image stabilization and autofocus made it much easier to take good photos than other heavy-megapixel sensors. Videos were sharp, 1080p quality and not wobbly either. Still, in low-light settings there's a noticeable, if inevitable, drop in image quality.

But my chief complaint was how slow the camera was. The "action shots" of my not-very-spry cat that I tried were all captured about a half-second after what I wanted was perfectly in frame -- even though the Lumia 830 comes with a dedicated camera button (a convenient feature all smartphone manufacturers should seriously consider). However, the demo device I was using had older Windows software, before the "Denim" update that's designed specifically to fix camera speed, so, grain of salt.

It's also worth noting that the front-facing camera is not even one megapixel, so if you're a selfie addict, this isn't the device for you (anyways, you're probably part of the iPhone hoard already).

Software: This is a Windows Phone

There are many hardware aspects of the Lumia 830 that make it a touch choice: A PureView camera is nice, but a Snapdragon 400 isn't; the screen is okay, but the phone looks outstanding.

The software, however, is an easy make-or-break aspect of the Lumia 830 because this is a Windows Phone.

I'm not saying Windows is a bad operating system. In fact, using the Lumia 830's Windows 8.1 was easy, and as a native Android user, I quickly picked up on Window's different, but far from alien, user interface. Microsoft covers all the software bases you need (maps, virtual assistant, music, etc.), and there's some cross-compatibility for essential major apps like Facebook.

But this is a Windows phone. Software giants don't always play nice with eachother, and there are important limitations to the "3rd mobile OS" to consider.

Software ecosystem lock isn't as onerous between iOS and Android devices, simply because they're the two most popular mobile platforms -- and that compels developers to give consumers similar experiences on both, if they want their app to be popular.

But with Windows, it's a little different. Do you use a lot of Google services? Don't use a Windows Phone, because you won't have native apps like Gmail, YouTube and many others. Have you been completely assimilated by Apple? Same thing. It's hard to recommend against Windows simply because it's less popular, but the range of apps and services that many people might be familiar with and want to use is simply more limited.

That said, if you're deeply dependent on Microsoft systems and services like OneDrive, Outlook or especially Office, Windows on your phone is a no-brainer.

It's unfortunate that the choice of operating system comes down to almost a matter of accident -- which software and services did you originally buy into the heaviest -- but that's what ecosystem lock does.

Conclusion 

The Lumia 830 is great if you're a Windows phone person looking to re-up their contract and want a good deal on a reasonable performer with some nice perks and above-class looks.

While the guts of the Lumia 830 are decidedly unimpressive, its camera, wireless charging, storage expansion and quality of build make up for it. So does the price, on-contract. 

However, if you're just looking for an impressive-but-cheap unlocked phone, the Lumia 830 is less of a bargain. Especially if you don't care about Windows OS.

Without the two-year contract discount from AT&T, the Lumia 830 runs about $450. For that price, you can get unlocked year-old iPhones or a year-old Android flagship, both of which are guaranteed to feature a more future-proof processor. Heck, you can even get a current Moto X for around that price.

But for Windows phones, you won't find a better balance of features, build and on-contract price than the high-end, mid-tier Nokia Lumia 830.

The Lumia 830 is newly (and currently only) available at AT&T for $100 with a two-year agreement.