Nokia Lumia 710 Review
One of the greatest drains of battery is not always obvious. It is your network or generally the lack thereof. Straining for signals or constantly switching between 2G and 3G can deplete your battery in no time. Nokia really comes in to its own here, oft regarded as having the best antennae of any manufacture, you really see Nokia holding onto signals and as such having a very decent battery life. The Nokia Lumia 710 lasts well over a day of good usage; it could in a marathon of less usage get two days or more but as with most modern smartphones I still recommend charging daily.
I really like the 3.7” screen, the ClearBlack display really is an amazing screen. Its only fault is white representation can be somewhat tinted at lower brightness levels. Not something you would notice except with comparison with screens. But you’ll be amazed at the deep blacks and popping colours.
Nokia also makes the device come alive with Nokia Drive a free turn by turn GPS solution that easily works just as well as the best because it comes from the best, Nokia Map aka Navteq.
The 1.4 GHz CPU makes for a very smooth device; Windows Phone really comes into its own here as it ran smoothly at the previous gen 1 GHz CPUs. Android and to a degree iOS don’t even compete here.
I would have certainly enjoyed the option to purchase models with higher amounts of internal storage like how Apple does with the iPhone. I can understand the push to cloud and Windows Phone 8, which should come as an upgrade, will remedy most of my concerns but Windows Phone 7.5 is not quite there yet.
Sound quality in calls and using the speakerphone are above average, however music lovers may wish that using a headset would provide for somewhat more pronounced lower frequencies. This is truly the biggest negative with the device and may bother some people more than others. Nokia is apparently aware of the same issue with the Lumia 800 and is working on a fix.
The camera is certainly better than my previous phone, the HTC HD7, but its only 5 megapixels and could do better. But for a budget entry level smartphone, it is more than adequate and will surprise you compared to other 5 megapixel phones.
The Lumia 710 is overall a great device, especially when you consider is budget price of $350 outright and $50 on contract. I would certainly recommend the device to anyone especially first time smartphone buyers. Previous Windows Phone buyers may want to devices with more storage or better camera. Those from other platforms should decide based on specs that work for them realizing how much better Windows Phone is compared to iOS and Android. A lower end user of the iPhone 3GS or lower spec Android devices would do well in going to the Lumia 710. More demanding users might decide the Lumia 800 or 900 are better for them.
