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Sub-R1000 Microsoft smartphone launched in SA

Johannesburg - Software giant Microsoft has boosted the choices SA consumers have when it comes to purchasing cheaper smartphones.

The company on Tuesday announced that it will start selling its Microsoft Lumia 430 Dual SIM smartphone in South Africa which has an expected cash retail price of R999.

This device is built with Windows Phone 8.1 software and has a dual-core processor running at 1.2GHz.

It also comes preloaded with Microsoft Office, Skype and OneDrive, says Microsoft.

Other features include a 4-inch WVGA display. The dual SIM feature, in particular, helps owners of this phone use two networks at the same time.

“The Lumia 430 Dual SIM combines the right hardware, software, services and a growing ecosystem of local and international apps at an affordable price,” said Shaun Durandt, Microsoft mobile devices sales lead.

Meanwhile, Microsoft has also unveiled other Lumia smartphones to the SA market.

These include the Microsoft Lumia 640 and Lumia 640XL.

These are LTE enabled smartphones and contract prices for these devices are expected to be up to R269 per month for the Lumia 640 XL dual SIM version.

Technical specifications of the Lumia 640 devices include 1GB of memory, quad core Qualcomm Snapdragon processors and HD displays.


The Microsoft Lumia 640 dual-SIM smartphone. (Microsoft)

More specifically, the Lumia 640XL has a 13 MP camera with LED flash while the Lumia 640 has an 8 MP camera also with a LED flash component.

Microsoft said that the Lumia 640 and 640XL come with a one-year subscription to Office 365 Personal, valued at R750.

This subscription includes free 1TB of OneDrive storage, Microsoft said in a statement. The company also said that both devices will also be upgradeable to Windows 10 when it becomes available later this year.

Microsoft’s Lumia brand used to be strongly associated with Nokia. But Nokia was acquired by Microsoft for $7.2bn last year.

Microsoft’s launch of its Lumia 640 and 430 range in SA also comes after the company unveiled its R1 699 Lumia 535 in the country earlier this year.

Which is your favourite smartphone brand and why? Tell us by clicking here.

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