(Video and Gallery) Nokia Lumia 710 Unboxing

As you may have seen me mention in earlier blog post, I picked up a Nokia Lumia 710 on Vodafone for sister. I thought it was time to go full on touch screen and this was a very decent price for a very good smartphone.

This was £150, with an offer lasting until yesterday. I’m writing this in advance and posting after the offer date so I haven’t been able to check if that’s still available. It is markedly cheaper than the other networks.

I’ve played with one of these before at Nokia World 2011, but not another since (wonder where I actually am on the trial list for that :S). Well, unless you count the 710 at the shops.

Anyway, the handset arrived 2 days after ordering. There’s no usual Nokia Box, instead it appears to be in a red Vodafone box. It seems to have already been tampered with as there are scratches on the top half of the screen (fortunately the screen protector is there) and the phone started up without the usual WP start up sequence to help you get started.

The back button felt awfully squeaky on day 1 but some how that became quieter (though not as silent as menu and search button) Quite odd. I don’t remember the buttons being so squeaky. The phone feels great! Super snappy and as previously blogged about, the rotation speed is so much faster on the Lumia 710.

http://mynokiablog.com/2012/01/16/video-nokia-lumia-710-faster-rotation-speed-than-800focus-s-maybe-even-iphone-4s/

The Lumia 800 rotation speed wasn’t slow, but after experiencing the 710 it now feels like treacle. It just feels very fluid. The LCD CBD is quite alright. The screen fares better than most non CBD LCD, though the colours don’t pop as much as the AMOLED CBD on the Lumia. Furthermore, the 800 has wider viewing angles and better outdoor visibility. Note, there is a screen protector on the 710 which slightly affects how the screen looks. I’ve told my sister to keep the screen protector on.

The Lumia 710 feels quite nice in the hand. Despite the plastic removable back cover, it feels sturdy and solid . There is a tiny flex around where the camera is though, but you have to push this quite hard. The button placement is different to the Lumia 800 with the lock/power at the top. I’d say it’s a little bit more of a reach than being placed at the side. On the right hand side you have your volume and camera buttons. These are part of the back cover and are flush, requiring minimal pressing. The camera button in fact requires minimal pressure when using the autofocus. The same pressure I might use to get a focus on the 800/N8 would be enough to fully take a picture. I quite like how light it is on the 710, as I just need to pretty much just place my finger on the button. Fortunately this doesn’t lead to accidental camera snaps when in your pocket because you still need to press all the way (to unlock and activate the camera which does take a little bit more of a push.

The screen feels nice and responsive, like the 800. Note, the 710 does have another layer (Screen protector film) that I’m keeping there.

As I said, the bottoms at the bottom were rather squeaky when I first started using them but now it’s pretty much gone. Although accidental pressing of capacitive keys did happen on occasion with the 800, I much prefer them to actual physical buttons. Having said that, they do have a nice smushy feel to them that kept making me want to press it :S.

GPS seems to lock just as quickly on the 710, though the Nokia Drive app opens a fraction of a fraction of a second faster than the 800. Possibly different app versions. All other apps open simultaneously.

That’s all I have time to do for now. If you do have any questions, let me know. I’ll demo that screen rotation thing again on the Lumia 710 when I get back some time this coming week.

Category: Lumia, Nokia, Unboxing, Windows Phone