In early January, Microsoft officially announced{.nofollow} special golden editions of its Lumia 830 and Lumia 930 smartphones for various markets, including Europe, Asia Pacific and China, and India, the Middle East and Africa. Coming in either matte black or glossy white, the gold-framed versions of the latest Lumias add a little sophistication to the previously colorful devices. I managed to get my hands on the matte black gold Lumia 930, which can be found unlocked for around $430, including on eBay. Here are some photos and a video to show you what it is all about.

What it is As you can imagine, there is nothing truly unique about this Lumia 930 (or Lumia 830). Besides the gold frame, the software and other features are exactly the same. It does ship with Windows Phone 8.1 build 14157, which is rather old. However, when you check for an update, build 14226 comes down, which is the latest version of the 8.1.1 OS, including Lumia Camera 5.0 and Lumia Denim. Best VPN providers 2020: Learn about ExpressVPN, NordVPN & more

Other than that, it has the same specifications, including a 5-inch 1080p display (no Glance), 32 GB of storage, 2 GB of RAM, 2.2 GHz CPU and a 20 MP PureView camera. For those in the US, you do not get LTE on this phone due to the unique carrier bands here. However, if you are on AT&T (and to a lesser extent, T-Mobile), you can get 3G HSPA+ data. That is a trade off, but if you are around Wi-Fi often, it is certainly doable.

Cheesy or elegant? I find the 'blinged out' smartphone craze a bit tacky, but the truth be told, I like this gold Lumia 930. It is elegant, not gaudy, and I think it looks rather tasteful. I am curious about the glossy white version, which is a change from the matte white on the Lumia Icon for Verizon.