Microsoft releases Lumia 735 “selfie phone” in Australia

Microsoft has released its Lumia 735 4G smartphone in Australia with a local price of $399 outright, with the device aimed at users who post photos of themselves (or “selfies”) on social media.

The key feature of the Lumia 735 is a full HD 5-megapixel front-facing camera, beating out the 1.2-megapixel camera on the recently announce iPhone 6 and the 2-megapixel camera on the Galaxy S5.

The device is powered by a 1.2 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor and a 4.7-inch full HD OLED display, meaning the screen is as large (diagonally) as the one on the iPhone 6.

The battery in the Lumia 735 is 2200 mAh, a higher capacity than the 1810 mAh battery in the iPhone 6, and its battery is replaceable, unlike the one in the iPhone 6. The Lumia 735 also has optional wireless charging covers in green in orange.

The device runs the “Denim” update of Windows Phone 8.1. Aside from the standard Windows Phone apps (such as HERE Maps) and a custom “Lumia Selfie” app, the device includes Outlook, Word, Excel, OneNote and PowerPoint, as well as 15 gigabytes of free cloud storage on Microsoft OneDrive.

“With the Lumia 735, we’re enabling people to more easily capture and share more of what they want through unique Lumia innovation and the best Microsoft experiences and providing people with more choice at different price-points,” Microsoft Mobile Devices in Australia and New Zealand general manager Steve Lewis said in a statement.