Nokia Lumia 710 - Affordable Mango
The Nokia Lumia 710 is technically the same as its flagship sibling, the Lumia 800 but comes in a less elegant yet funky package. Will its affordable price tag and Mango sweeten the deal for you to switch over to the Windows Phone camp? Let's find out.
Overview
With the Lumia 800 leading Nokia's charge against the Apple iPhone 4S and other Android heavyweight devices in the high end market, the duty lies now with the Lumia 710 to take on the mass market. It is not going to be an easy battle either as the Lumia 710 has to face off with other Windows Phone devices such as the HTC Radar and Samsung Omnia W. Is Nokia's suite of apps and features sufficient to differentiate the Lumia 710 from its competitors? Read on to find out: -
Key highlights of the Nokia Lumia 710
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Design
The Nokia Lumia 710 drops the unibody polycarbonate design of the Lumia 800 in favor of an all-plastic chassis. This is understandable as the Lumia 710 is positioned as a mass market device and sacrifices have to be made to keep the Lumia 710 more affordable for the masses. Nevertheless, the Lumia 710 still feels very well built and comfortable in the hands. The Nokia Lumia 710 fits comfortably in the palm. Its curved corners gives the Lumia 710 a better handling experience compared to the Lumia 800's angular edges.
The handset itself doesn't weigh much at 125.5g, which is pretty decent for a smartphone. We really liked the matte plastic back of the Nokia Lumia 710. After all, a matte surface means we get a good grip out of the device. Although we had no problems using the mandatory Windows Phone buttons below the 3.7-inch display, it would have been better if the buttons were separated.
In comparison, the Lumia 800 (left) and its angular edges don't feel as comfortable as the curved design taken by the Lumia 710 (right).
Matte surfaces are always well-liked, for the fact that it gives one a good grip on the device.
The single plastic button piece, which contains the three Windows Phone functions, doesn't help in differentiating the three shortcuts. We're not sure who made this silly design decision, but it should have been three discrete physical buttons to better aid in launching the respective functions in a jiffy.
Unlike top-end devices, there's not much subtlety when it comes to the physical buttons on the Lumia 710. The Power button, 3.5mm audio output jack and microUSB port are prominently displayed at the top of the Nokia Lumia 710. On its right profile, you'll find the volume controls and camera button. The left side of the Lumia 710 is mostly bare, save for a small latch for you to grip and remove the battery cover. Yes, the Nokia Lumia 710 comes with a removable battery, and the good news is, you don't need much effort to pry open the battery cover. Once you've unearthed the battery, you'll find a micro SIM card slot. Unfortunately, there is no memory card slot available to increase the storage capacity on the Nokia Lumia 710.
The added lanyard eyelet at the bottom right corner of the Lumia 710 brings us back to an earlier time when people dangle lanyards on their mobile phones.
The small, almost unnoticeable latch on the left profile lets you hook your nails in and remove the battery cover of the Lumia 710.
Features
Putting aside the differences in physical attributes, the Nokia Lumia 710 shares a striking similarity with the Lumia 800 - the Microsoft Windows Phone 7.5 Mango operating system that gives the device most of its functionality. If you are interested to find out more about the OS, here are the links to our earlier stories related to Windows Phone 7.5:
- A Taste of Windows Phone 7.5 Mango
- Top Five Features of Windows Phone 7.5 Mango
- 7.5 Tips for Windows Phone 7.5
- App Attack #015: Mango Appetizers
So what sets the Lumia 710 apart from the other Windows Phone devices? The answer lies with the integration of Nokia services such as Nokia Drive, Nokia Maps and Nokia Music. As these apps are exclusive to Nokia phones only, the Lumia 710 offers more value when compared to its competition. You can find out more detail about these apps in our review of the Lumia 800.
As a phone targeted at the mainstream consumer, the Lumia 710 comes with only 8GB of onboard storage with no external memory card support to expand storage needs. For consumers who need more than 8GB to store their music and video files, they have SkyDrive to fall back on. Similar to Apple's iCloud service, Microsoft's SkyDrive allows you to store photos, video and other documents in the cloud. SkyDrive's main advantage over Apple iCloud and HTC's partnership with Dropbox is its 25GB free storage space, which is second only to Sony Ericsson (or Sony)'s collaboration with Box to offer Xperia phones with a massive 50GB free storage space.
While Mango symbolizes a great leap forward for the Windows Phone OS, it still lacks some essential features that other competing OSes have such as screen orientation lock, wireless hotspot and folder support. Though screen orientation lock is more of an individual's preference, we feel that it is still an important feature that should be included. The lack of support for wireless hotspot, also known as wireless tethering, puts the Nokia Lumia 710 at a disadvantage against its iOS and Android counterparts.
Live Tiles, a core feature of Windows Phone since launch, is definitely useful when it comes to viewing missed calls, unread messages and access to social updates at a glance without the need to jump from app to app. As mentioned before, it's a great OS to rely upon for pure communications purposes. Having said that, tiles will not be as useful if they represent static apps such as Marketplace, Nokia Drive, Music + Videos and Evernote. With no folder support to group apps together and save some precious real estate space on the home screen, one has to wonder if this is something Microsoft should work on for its future updates.
Performance
As a result of Microsoft's strict hardware criteria for Windows Phone devices, the Nokia Lumia 710 is equipped with the same 1.4GHz single-core processor and 512MB RAM as seen on the Lumia 800. Multitasking and screen transitions were generally snappy, though switching across apps can still be a tad slow.
If you are hoping to see the same AMOLED display found on the Lumia 800 to be on the Lumia 710, you will be disappointed to know that Nokia has opted for a basic TFT LCD display. Putting both handsets side by side will reveal a distinct difference - the AMOLED screen on the Lumia 800 is brighter and colors seem more vibrant. Nevertheless, the TFT based capacitive touch ClearBlack LCD display of the Lumia 710 is still one of the better ones we've seen on mobile phones. With the Lumia 710 positioned to appeal to the mainstream smartphone buyers, it was only natural that the screen and its capabilities are some of the most likely playing cards used to differentiate high-end and mainstream mobiles these days.
Compared to its higher tiered brother, the Nokia Lumia 710 also gets a downgrade in the imaging department from an 8-megapixel to a 5-megapixel camera sensor. It is also stripped of the Carl Zeiss branded lens and does not have a secondary front facing camera for voice calls. Keeping these in mind, we put the Lumia 710 through our usual camera test, with the results analyzed below. Unfortunately, the results weren't favorable:-
As expected, the imaging performance is quite disappointing. The photo looks washed out with high noise levels. Check out the close-up cropped photos below.
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Battery Performance
Windows Phone devices have traditionally returned below average results in our battery tests. The new crop of Windows Phone 7.5 Mango devices also suffer the same fate, hence we had no high expectations on the Lumia 710. To get a better gauge of its battery performance, we tested the Lumia 710 against devices with similar specifications, focusing on its processor and display size as the points of comparison.
On the Windows Phone portfolio, the immediate contenders are the Lumia 800 and HTC Radar. We threw in the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S to see how a larger screen and Android OS will fare against the Windows Phone camp (especially since this Android phone still uses a single-core processor).
Our testing methodology involves looping a video with a 480 x 800 pixels resolution under the following conditions:
- Screen brightness and volume at 100%
- Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections active
- Constant data stream via email and Twitter
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Not surprisingly, the Lumia 710 faltered badly in the battery test by registering the lowest battery mileage. It only clocked 204 minutes on a single full charge, which is close to an hour shorter battery lifespan compared to the Lumia 800. Although both devices have the same screen size and processors, the Lumia 800 had a better performance thanks to a slightly larger battery capacity and more power-efficient AMOLED display. Never mind the efficient AMOLED display, if you look at the HTC Radar's S-LCD implementation and registering even higher battery performance even though it has a larger battery capacity and screen size, the Lumia 710 pales in comparison.
Given the fact that our battery test simulates fairly stressful usage conditions, it is likely that you can squeeze a little more uptime from the Nokia Lumia 710 under normal usage conditions. During our day-to-day usage of the Lumia 710, the device barely made it through the day with occasional web surfing and emailing. Do note that actual battery mileage may differ under varying usage conditions.
The final aspect of our benchmarking suite is to establish how worthwhile it is to carry the phone around in our Portability Index. This takes into consideration how well the device balances battery life with its physical aspects. The ratio is obtained by dividing the battery life (in hours) against the combination of its weight (in kg) multiplied by the volume (in m3). This means that a device with a longer battery life, lighter weight and smaller volume will ultimately rank better.
Unfortunately for the Lumia 710, its battery life in our benchmark test was found to be the lowest and its physical aspects aren't better than the competition even though it's not bad on its own. Combining them in our formula further portrays our gripes with the device as it ranked the lowest among the competitors:-
Conclusion
Can the Lumia 710 help extend Nokia's reach into the mass market segment and help the company regain some lost grounds? The answer is not a convincing yes but it is still possible. However, competition from the likes of HTC and Samsung are going to give Nokia a tough time.
Despite scoring a few brownie points with its solid build quality and feel, consumers may be hard pressed to choose its all-plastic chassis. To accentuate this point, consider the beautiful unibody metal chassis of the HTC Radar, and the Samsung Omnia W with its combination of plastic and metal materials in its design. From all perspectives, both devices portray a better finish and quality than the Lumia 710. The HTC Radar also has a longer battery life and an overall better imaging capability. When it comes to processor clock speed and screen technology, the crown goes to the Samsung Omnia W as it boasts a 3.7-inch Super AMOLED display and 1.4GHz single-core processor.
As you can see, the Nokia Lumia 710 faces a tough fight with the other Windows Phone devices in the market. Its exclusive suite of apps (Nokia Music, Nokia Drive and Nokia Maps) may be the only thing that puts the Lumia 710 ahead of the competition. Officially priced at S$505, the Lumia 710 is a decent offering in the mass market segment but it is at risk of being overshadowed by the HTC Radar and Samsung Omnia W. Despite its suggested retail price, a consolation point is its actual store retail price is among the lowest of the Windows Phone devices currently and that could be a consideration for anyone needing an affordable Windows OS based phone to capitalize on its highly touted tiled interface.
In short, the Lumia 710 is a good effort from the Finnish company with several color options to attract the young at heart. On its own, the phone looks and feels good but it starts to pale a tad once you bring out the competition. The differences get more pronounced once you start using these devices as we've found out in various performance aspects. For now, it looks like it will take a while for Nokia to step up its game and match or exceed its competition from an all-round perspective.
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