Nokia Lumia 710 Review

The Nokia Lumia 710 was announced together with the Lumia 800 back in October 2011. Both the devices are running on Microsoft Windows Phone 7.5 Mango. So what are the features that the Lumia 710 could offer? Read on to find out.

At a glance:
+Responsive UI
+Simple control
-Limited themes
-Requires Zune software to transfer data
-Limited apps available

In the box:
-Nokia Lumia 710
-Charger
-Micro-USB cable
-3.5mm headset

There are few things missing out here compared to its sister, the Lumia 800. We do not have the USB power adapter and a protective cover for the phone. The USB power adapter is, however, replaced with a classic three pin plug charger.  Depending on your preference, you may find this three pin plug charger more convenient compare to a USB power adapter. Not too much of an issue on the charger, but the absence of a perfect-fit protective cover for the phone is a letdown.

Exterior, Controls and Screen

The Lumia 710’s appearance is more of an adoption from the Nokia 603. Nokia has included a polycarbonate back cover on the phone. Its oddly-curved rectangular shape gives you a better grip on the device. Despite the bigger form factor than its cousin, the Lumia 710 is actually lighter (125.5grams vs 142grams) than the Lumia 800. There is a micro-USB port, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and an unlock button situated on top of the phone. Both the volume rocker and the camera shutter are on the right side of the phone. At the bottom of the display screen, you will find the three Windows buttons - Back, Start, and Search. These are physical buttons unlike the capacitive buttons from the Lumia 800. For the micro-SIM slot, it is located at top right of the battery slot. So, it requires you to remove the back cover along with the battery to reach it. The 5-megapixel camera is located at the back of the phone, right beside the LED flash. The speaker is located at the bottom of the device.

As for the display, it sports a TFT capacitive touchscreen with 400 x 800 pixels and Nokia ClearBlack technology. It shares the same 3.7-inch display size with the Lumia 800. We hardly spotted any differences on the display, even when both models are using their respective display technology (TFT vs AMOLED).

Software, Application and Games

The device is running on Microsoft Windows Phone 7.5 Mango, which offers an intuitive Metro style user-interface (UI). There are only one homescreen which contains the shortcuts to the most common applications; messaging, hotmail, and games. You can view all the apps installed in the device by tapping on the arrow on the top right corner of the screen. The apps are arranged in an alphabetical order that makes it easy to spot what application you need.

Also included in the device is Microsoft Tellme, a voice recognition assistant which works similar to the Siri voice recognition on the iPhone. So you can just speak out what loud you want the phone to do. The voice recognition also works for typing out SMS.

As for apps, Nokia has included their Nokia Maps and Nokia Drive for your convenience. Other than that, there is also Microsoft Office bundled in the phone.

For social networking apps, the phone is preloaded with People app and Me app which connects you to Windows Live and Twitter to get your latest social feeds.


 At the time of writing, the “mobile hotspot” update for the Lumia 710 is currently not available. No official date has been announced for the update yet, but we will update you as soon as it is released.

Camera, Video and Audio

The Nokia Lumia 710 is equipped with a 5-megapixel camera that is capable of capturing images up to 2592х1944 pixels. The camera is equipped with autofocus and LED flash. The Lumia 710 could be at the disadvantage when compared to the Lumia 800’s higher megapixel camera with Carl-Zeiss lens. In addition, the Lumia 710’s camera is also capable of recording 720p video.

The video playback on Lumia 710’s 3.7-inch display offers a great visual experience. The display screen has around 252 ppi pixel density, the same as the Lumia 800 and the Nokia N9. The speaker at the back of the phone pumps up a pretty good sound quality.

Verdict

In terms of pricing, the Lumia 710 is priced at RM999, while the Lumia 800 is priced at RM1650.  It is obvious that the Lumia 710 would be an economical choice over the Lumia 800. Plus, the Lumia 710 also offers the same simplistic OS (Microsoft Window Phone 7.5 Mango) and it comes with decent specs as well.