Nokia Lumia 710 Hands-On

We were quite excited to see a budget Windows Phone 7.5 device, especially from Nokia. This here is the Nokia Lumia 710, and even though it's not the most powerful phone it has been satisfactory and reliable so far. It is a first-gen device from Nokia, and hence many of the prominent Nokia features are missing. However, one should keep in mind that Nokia has a made a big change in its smartphone platforms and the Lumia 710 is still a very impressive smartphone with a good display and a simple UI.

The Nokia Lumia 710 packs Windows Phone 8.5 Mango goodness in a moderately powered device and comes at a price for 20,000 INR. The only competitor it has is the Samsung Omnia W and we choose the Lumia 710, mainly because of its great display and Nokia's services.

The Lumia 710 feels a bit heavy, but it certainly has good built quality. Then rubberized back cover really helps improving the grip of the device in your hand. However, we were not very pleased with the design which resembles a typical C-series phone. Maybe this is a very personal opinion but I Nokia could have worked a little bit harder for the Lumia 710 to carry the same aura as the Lumia 800, when it comes to the design.

It has a 3.7-inch ClearBlack display with Gorilla Glass protection which will help the screen sustain some scratches. The display is one of the biggest traits of the Nokia 710, movies, photos and home videos look great on the device. It is a 480 x 800 pixel resolution screen with 252 ppi pixel density.

Windows Phone 7.5 Mango is really simple and easy for a new user. Although there are a few shortcomings it is a very good platform for business and entertainment based applications. The UI looks elegant and it is easy to navigate through the device, a first time user will need to spend sometime to get familiar with the device, but he won't end up in confusion.

 

The Lumia 710 has a 5-megapixel camera on the back with autofocus and LED flash. It is not the best camera - when compared to the a few other smartphones with 5-megapixel cameras, it seemed moderate. It also records videos at 720p at 30 fps. The camera also includes geo-tagging and face detection.

On the right side you have the volume rocker and the camera button. Inside the device is powered by a 1.4 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor which is supported by a Adreno 205 GPU. It also includes WiFi and 3G connectivity along with A-GPS.

On the top of the device you have the mini USB port which is used to charge the phone and connect to a computer. It has a 3.5 mm jack and a power button next to it. The device comes with pre-loaded apps like Microsoft Office, Nokia Drive and Nokia Maps. It has a bunch of other applications which can be downloaded from the Marketplace, but free quality apps are very low in numbers.

The back cover is opens up to reveal a 1300 mAh battery, there is no microSD card slot and users get 8GB of built-in storage with additional cloud storage from Microsoft SkyDrive. It has a microSIM slot. I found the back cover a bit difficult to open, mainly because it opens from the side.At the 20k range, should you buy the Omnia W or the Lumia 710? That's what we'll soon determine, as we follow up this hands-on with a complete review. Stay tuned.