MICROSOFT IS HOPING that cutting down price will help it challenge Apple and Samsung as it launched what it called “the affordable flagship” smartphone.

The Lumia 830 will be released this month and is expected to cost €330. The 5-inch device will include a 10MP pureview camera, which will allow it to record 4K video.

However, the cut in price is down to the smartphone not being as powerful as the Lumia 930, which has a 2GB RAM, 32GB of memory and a Quad-core 2.2GHz processor

By comparison, the Lumia 830 has a 1GB RAM, 16GB of memory a quad-core 1.2GHz processor.

Unsurprisingly, the company has focused on improving the camera with the released of an update called Lumia Demin, which will allow faster camera bootup and capture speeds.

If you longpress the camera button in any mode, it will start recording via 4K video which according to Microsoft, captures 24 frames per second with 8.3MP per frame.

The update also offers improvement to Cortana, Microsoft’s digital assistant, such as voice activation while the phone is on standby, but the company didn’t specify when it would be released globally.

The company also announced the launch of two new mid-range smartphones, the Lumia 735 and 730 dual SIM. Both smartphones were designed with selfies in mind by offering a 5MP camera and wide-angle lens as well as creating a dedicated selfie app.

The Lumia 735 is expected to cost €219 while the Lumia 730 Dual Sim will cost €199. Both are expected to ship globally by the end of this month.

Read: Sony may have come up with the best reason yet to buy an Xperia phone >

Read: Samsung makes its entry into virtual reality official with Gear VR launch >