Nokia Lumia 630/635 price, specs, features: Windows Phone 8.1 adds color and accessibility, 3G in May, 4G in July

The Nokia Lumia 630

Nokia Lumia 630 is one of the first to run on Windows Phone 8.1 and it is generating quite a buzz since being officially announced at the 2014 Microsoft Build Conference. 

Following on from the Nokia Lumia 620, the Lumia 630 will be ready to go straight from the box with Windows Phone 8.1 and Nokia Lumia Cyan.

The Nokia Lumia Cyan update will be bringing Windows Phone 8.1 to all Nokia Windows Phone 8 devices this summer.

What that means for the Nokia Lumia 630 is for one thing a refreshed look - with a third column of Live Tiles allowing users to bring out more content - and the incorporation of background pictures rather than the standard black or white background.

There will also be some interesting features like a virtual assistant called Cortana and a simple swipe motion to access the Action Center which will keep users up to date on their messages, calls and social media interactions.

The Word Flow function is designed to make typing out messages quicker and easier by allowing users to glide their fingers around the various keys, with Nokia predicting the word and saving you the hassle. That might sound like annoying predictive text but Nokia promises that the more it is used, the more accurate it becomes at guessing what you are going to write.

The Nokia Lumia 3G will be reaching consumers in May with a price tag of around $164 - or $177 for the dual-SIM version.  It's already available to pre-order in Russia via the Nokia store.

PocketLint says there is little difference between the Lumia 630 and Lumia 635 beyond radio bands and the finish of the casing, the 630 having a matte finish and the 635 glossy.  The 635 will also release with 4G LTE connectivity.

The website reports that in the UK, the Lumia 630 will be available in May for €119 (£100) and the Lumia 635 in July for €149 (£125).

There is still no announcement from the Nokia UK store or the Nokia US store about the release date.

The Nokia Lumia 630 runs on Windows 8.1 and comes with a 4.5-inch IPS LCD touch screen display.  The resolution is 854x480p and the familiar ClearBlack display used in previous Lumia models is toughened with the Gorilla Glass 3. 

Powering the device is a quad-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor, with 512MB RAM and 8GB of internal storage.  If this isn't enough, users can expand it another 100GB by adding a microSD card.  In addition, there is 7GB of free SkyDrive storage.

The camera is 5MP and includes some additional features like geotagging and a panorama function. 

For those who actually liked the idea of the colourful iPhone 5C but didn't get one, this could be a great alternative as the Nokia Lumia 630 is all about colour, with swapable shells in bright green, yellow and orange, among other colour options, and a brighter startscreen thanks to the background images.