Nokia Lumia 710 first impression

The Lumia 710 is Nokia's second Windows Phone 7 device. It is positioned as an entry level device, but unlike most entry level devices, what you get is pretty much the same experience as with other Windows Phone devices, thanks to Microsoft's strict chassis rule. I have been using it for about a week now and the performance is pretty much exactly as it is with my Lumia 800 and other modern Windows Phone 7 devices.

Like the Lumia 800, the Lumia 710 is powered by a single core 1.4GHz Snapdragon SoC, which is pretty speedy for Windows Phone 7. It is augmented by 512MB of RAM. The LCD Clear Black display can be seen as either an upgrade or downgrade to the Lumia 800's AMOLED CBD display due to the use of traditional RGB matrix (versus Pentile on the Lumia 800). The 8GB of built in storage is disappointing, due to the fact that Windows Phone does not yet support hot swappable memory cards, but should be sufficient for the majority of people.

The camera has also been downgraded from 8MP to 5MP, though you will hardly be able to tell the difference between the two, no thanks to the Lumia 800's very poor image quality. The 1300mAh battery is also smaller, but at least it is replaceable, and the LCD display should at least ensure good battery performance when browsing the web.

Apart from the slight changes in specs, the Lumia 710 design itself is based on the Symbian-powered Nokia 603. It isn't the prettiest device around (in fact I think it is downright ugly), but it gets the job done. I initially welcomed the three hardware-based physical buttons on the front, but after a week I have since grown to dislike them because of how hard each buttons were to press. Nokia has included an additional battery cover (in cyan) to personalise the device, which is a nice touch. I would have preferred a free rubber case similar to the one bundled with the Lumia 800 myself, but you can't win all.

Internet tethering is still missing from the Lumia 710 (as well as the Lumia 800 I should add), despite the promise by Nokia back in November 2011 that it will be made available in a firmware update. While it does not affect me much, it is still disappointing considering this is a core Windows Phone 7.5 Mango feature. We will see if Nokia makes good on their promise to include tethering in their future firmware updates.

The Lumia 710 runs on the latest and greatest version of Windows Phone 7.5 Mango and comes preinstalled with exclusive Nokia applications as well as a couple of third party applications. Fortunately due to how Windows Phone handles apps, it is easy to delete these unwanted apps without leaving any residues. While WP7 isn't for everyone, it is a mobile OS that I admire most due to its unique and fresh UI.