Right, so I took the plunge and bought a 710. It was/is intended to replace my ageing TP2 (Windows Mobile 6.1/6.5 depending on my mood, always with SPB Home Shell instead of HTC Crash (aka Sense).
Build Quality & Ergonomics
The device is light, and feels quite well built, although I'm not sure how much confidence I'd have if it flew out of my hand, time will tell I guess!! The TP2 on the other hand, is a tank!! It has survived 100+ forceful drops onto concrete etc, and lived through it all!!! The physical buttons and the Nokia brand where what drew me to the phone in the first place, indeed the physical buttons have taken a slating in most reviews I have read, but I really do fail to see why this is; they seem to work flawlessly and imho, are a much more practical choice than capacitive buttons when the majority of the phone, is a screen (no accidental pressing of the back key etc).
The size of the handset and the placement of the buttons seems very ergonomic, if there was any criticism of the design, it would simply be aimed towards the tapered edges, where it can make the rocker buttons on the side slightly harder to press, though this is being rather picky in all fairness.
Screen
The screen, is at least on a par, if not better, than my TP2. The Clearblack display certainly works, it makes the actual screen look descreet on the handset and the contrast is certainly stunning for a standard LCD, making my TP2 look overly bright and not exactly black lol. Clarity and definition are imho, slightly better than the TP2, whether this is a result of the screen of the OS however, is not known (I do have cleartype enabled on the TP2 and it is really crisp but very smooth edges on fonts, however I think there may be advanced Cleartype at play on the WP7 os).
Operating System
Not going to go into massive detail here, but as you'd expect, the OS is, for the average user, leaps and bounds ahead of WinMo, and no combination of HTC overlay in some menu's, and SBP in other menu's, can aid the antiquated interface to compete with the fresh and modern Windows Phone interface. The colourful tiles, the library of apps, the seemless intergration between everything, just leaves both Android and WinMo (I've run Froyo and GB on the TP2) looking like something from the steam age, trying to compete with a Bugatti Veryron; impressive achievements in their day, but that is precisely the problem, the world has moved on.
However!!!!!!! For those of us who like control over things, and a powerful business tool, the TP2 is better from an OS perspective. Things like emails and the availability of Opera Mini on the TP2, leave the WP7 device struggling to keep up, and the powerful Youtube app available on the TP2, in comparison with the IE-based app on WP7 (I know this isn't Microsoft's fault) makes the WP7 device look below-par. Even worse imho, the onscreen keyboard is nowhere near the quality of the HTC one on the TP2, the lack of direction buttons is a glaring omission to say the least (and that is before we consider the TP2's hardware keyboard of course - but that's irrelevant here). Microsoft's absolute stupidity, in not allowing custom ringtones (yep, I've managed to get my fave one on by cutting it down to 38s and under 1MB) is simply pointless, and just begs the question as to WHY??? The need for Zune may be better for the average joe, but it does seem like Microsoft has forgotten about those who simply want drag and drop access - there may be a technical reason for this (security?) but it is pretty lame to say the least. I loved WinMo where you could just drag and drop your files, and then play them in media player, set them as ringtones, and share them with your friends as you pleased... I am really struggling to move away from the TP2 on the basis of productivity, and a few little issues such as this, which become even more apparent shortly...
Camera
The camera seems to be acceptable, not had a massive play around with it yet admittadly, the flashlight is very bright for a single LED, and the video is stunning in all honesty, given the Lumia is recording at 720p and the TP2 can only manage VGA, this is hardly surprising.
Battery Life
Battery life on the Lumia is still an unknown entity, due to playing around with it constantly, to be fair, it seems okay, but given that my TP2 still regularly gives me 2+ days battery life with moderate usage (for technicalities, the battery is 2.5 years old and the device is overclocked from 524mhz to 741mhz, and has 4x email accounts checking every 15 minutes) and countless hours of talk time, I doubt the 710, based on initial impressions, will able to achieve this. I may be proven wrong, but at it's peak, the TP2 was giving around 3+ days of standby with light use, and 6+ hours of talktime.
Reception
Reception seems to be noticeably better than the Touch Pro 2; I'm on the "Three" network here in the UK, and it is restricted to 1800Mhz, which always has problems penetrating walls etc. In addition, though the network has come on leaps and bounds in the past 5 years, it is still the youngest network, and being 3G only (with no GSM licence), the network is still well-known for having weaker signals than the competitors. In my flat it does seem to get 3-4 bars out of 5, whereas the TP2 would get 1-2 out of 4... now we know the software is not always accurate, but it does seem better. However, there has been instances where a message has not sent, and it has had complete loss of signal on occasion; as to whether this is an issue with the network or the phone, is not known as yet; there isnt usually problems like this with the TP2. So a bit of a mixed bag.
Audio
This is where the phone may well meet a short life in my hands, it's audio capabilities. To say it is poor, is an understatement. Okay, so I have probably the best phone for audio-capabilities in the TP2, after all it was built for conference calling... but my god the difference between the two, is like night and day, and yet I still feel the TP2 is not as good as I'd like!! The 710 has zero bass - not a problem for me as I don't care for that (don't really use the phone for music much etc), but it also has no volume!!! It is soooo quiet, it is unbelievable. I installed a cab file to increase the volume of the TP2 from stock, so I uninstalled it, and it still leaves the 710 sounding like a mouse! The TP2 has bass as well as volume, which makes everything just sound "better", and the 710 would really struggle to be heard in a busy enviroment. As before, the lack of customization for the ringtones, is pathetic (Microsoft, have a word with yourselves, if you want to aim the OS at younger users, at least get the basics right first), and none of the included ringtones are much good, and not one could be considered "cool".
In addition, the vibrate is piss poor in comparison to the TP2, and call quality, whilst being acceptable, does not really compare to the TP2, and is not what I expected from Nokia.
Overview
Unfortunately, for me, the 710 offers so much, and to a point seems like the perfect way forward; but some really bizarre issues, and a general lack of productivity, means it is likely going to end up nothing more than an ornament on my desk now, thanks to the Carphone Warehouse not allowing returns. Having said that, at least it was only a ?129 ($200) ornament and not a ?199+ ornament like I was originally going to pay a couple of weeks ago.
It's a real shame, but whilst the core-OS is a dream to use, everything seems to be a bit clunky (Zune, ringtones etc) and the audio lets the phone down bigtime for me. I'd have liked to have ditched my TP2, and things like the lesser onscreen keyboard etc, I could have lived with, but all the letdowns combined, make the phone a real problem for me to actually even like. I'm sorry to go back to Windows Mobile, but at this point in time, WP and the Nokia 710 isn't for me, as a power user. For most people, it will probably suffice, but for those who are interested in moving from any device similar to the TP2, to the 710 or even WP in general, consider it very carefully, you have a lot to lose if it works out like it did for me (either money, or comfort). I'm opting to lose the money and regain the comfort of WinMo.
Sorry guys.
Build Quality & Ergonomics
The device is light, and feels quite well built, although I'm not sure how much confidence I'd have if it flew out of my hand, time will tell I guess!! The TP2 on the other hand, is a tank!! It has survived 100+ forceful drops onto concrete etc, and lived through it all!!! The physical buttons and the Nokia brand where what drew me to the phone in the first place, indeed the physical buttons have taken a slating in most reviews I have read, but I really do fail to see why this is; they seem to work flawlessly and imho, are a much more practical choice than capacitive buttons when the majority of the phone, is a screen (no accidental pressing of the back key etc).
The size of the handset and the placement of the buttons seems very ergonomic, if there was any criticism of the design, it would simply be aimed towards the tapered edges, where it can make the rocker buttons on the side slightly harder to press, though this is being rather picky in all fairness.
Screen
The screen, is at least on a par, if not better, than my TP2. The Clearblack display certainly works, it makes the actual screen look descreet on the handset and the contrast is certainly stunning for a standard LCD, making my TP2 look overly bright and not exactly black lol. Clarity and definition are imho, slightly better than the TP2, whether this is a result of the screen of the OS however, is not known (I do have cleartype enabled on the TP2 and it is really crisp but very smooth edges on fonts, however I think there may be advanced Cleartype at play on the WP7 os).
Operating System
Not going to go into massive detail here, but as you'd expect, the OS is, for the average user, leaps and bounds ahead of WinMo, and no combination of HTC overlay in some menu's, and SBP in other menu's, can aid the antiquated interface to compete with the fresh and modern Windows Phone interface. The colourful tiles, the library of apps, the seemless intergration between everything, just leaves both Android and WinMo (I've run Froyo and GB on the TP2) looking like something from the steam age, trying to compete with a Bugatti Veryron; impressive achievements in their day, but that is precisely the problem, the world has moved on.
However!!!!!!! For those of us who like control over things, and a powerful business tool, the TP2 is better from an OS perspective. Things like emails and the availability of Opera Mini on the TP2, leave the WP7 device struggling to keep up, and the powerful Youtube app available on the TP2, in comparison with the IE-based app on WP7 (I know this isn't Microsoft's fault) makes the WP7 device look below-par. Even worse imho, the onscreen keyboard is nowhere near the quality of the HTC one on the TP2, the lack of direction buttons is a glaring omission to say the least (and that is before we consider the TP2's hardware keyboard of course - but that's irrelevant here). Microsoft's absolute stupidity, in not allowing custom ringtones (yep, I've managed to get my fave one on by cutting it down to 38s and under 1MB) is simply pointless, and just begs the question as to WHY??? The need for Zune may be better for the average joe, but it does seem like Microsoft has forgotten about those who simply want drag and drop access - there may be a technical reason for this (security?) but it is pretty lame to say the least. I loved WinMo where you could just drag and drop your files, and then play them in media player, set them as ringtones, and share them with your friends as you pleased... I am really struggling to move away from the TP2 on the basis of productivity, and a few little issues such as this, which become even more apparent shortly...
Camera
The camera seems to be acceptable, not had a massive play around with it yet admittadly, the flashlight is very bright for a single LED, and the video is stunning in all honesty, given the Lumia is recording at 720p and the TP2 can only manage VGA, this is hardly surprising.
Battery Life
Battery life on the Lumia is still an unknown entity, due to playing around with it constantly, to be fair, it seems okay, but given that my TP2 still regularly gives me 2+ days battery life with moderate usage (for technicalities, the battery is 2.5 years old and the device is overclocked from 524mhz to 741mhz, and has 4x email accounts checking every 15 minutes) and countless hours of talk time, I doubt the 710, based on initial impressions, will able to achieve this. I may be proven wrong, but at it's peak, the TP2 was giving around 3+ days of standby with light use, and 6+ hours of talktime.
Reception
Reception seems to be noticeably better than the Touch Pro 2; I'm on the "Three" network here in the UK, and it is restricted to 1800Mhz, which always has problems penetrating walls etc. In addition, though the network has come on leaps and bounds in the past 5 years, it is still the youngest network, and being 3G only (with no GSM licence), the network is still well-known for having weaker signals than the competitors. In my flat it does seem to get 3-4 bars out of 5, whereas the TP2 would get 1-2 out of 4... now we know the software is not always accurate, but it does seem better. However, there has been instances where a message has not sent, and it has had complete loss of signal on occasion; as to whether this is an issue with the network or the phone, is not known as yet; there isnt usually problems like this with the TP2. So a bit of a mixed bag.
Audio
This is where the phone may well meet a short life in my hands, it's audio capabilities. To say it is poor, is an understatement. Okay, so I have probably the best phone for audio-capabilities in the TP2, after all it was built for conference calling... but my god the difference between the two, is like night and day, and yet I still feel the TP2 is not as good as I'd like!! The 710 has zero bass - not a problem for me as I don't care for that (don't really use the phone for music much etc), but it also has no volume!!! It is soooo quiet, it is unbelievable. I installed a cab file to increase the volume of the TP2 from stock, so I uninstalled it, and it still leaves the 710 sounding like a mouse! The TP2 has bass as well as volume, which makes everything just sound "better", and the 710 would really struggle to be heard in a busy enviroment. As before, the lack of customization for the ringtones, is pathetic (Microsoft, have a word with yourselves, if you want to aim the OS at younger users, at least get the basics right first), and none of the included ringtones are much good, and not one could be considered "cool".
In addition, the vibrate is piss poor in comparison to the TP2, and call quality, whilst being acceptable, does not really compare to the TP2, and is not what I expected from Nokia.
Overview
Unfortunately, for me, the 710 offers so much, and to a point seems like the perfect way forward; but some really bizarre issues, and a general lack of productivity, means it is likely going to end up nothing more than an ornament on my desk now, thanks to the Carphone Warehouse not allowing returns. Having said that, at least it was only a ?129 ($200) ornament and not a ?199+ ornament like I was originally going to pay a couple of weeks ago.
It's a real shame, but whilst the core-OS is a dream to use, everything seems to be a bit clunky (Zune, ringtones etc) and the audio lets the phone down bigtime for me. I'd have liked to have ditched my TP2, and things like the lesser onscreen keyboard etc, I could have lived with, but all the letdowns combined, make the phone a real problem for me to actually even like. I'm sorry to go back to Windows Mobile, but at this point in time, WP and the Nokia 710 isn't for me, as a power user. For most people, it will probably suffice, but for those who are interested in moving from any device similar to the TP2, to the 710 or even WP in general, consider it very carefully, you have a lot to lose if it works out like it did for me (either money, or comfort). I'm opting to lose the money and regain the comfort of WinMo.
Sorry guys.
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram