Nokia Lumia 710 4G Windows Phone (T-Mobile)

MS and Nokia got this one right--best phone I've used February 6, 2012

Reviewer:  Andrew J. Riemer "Andrew James Riemer"  (Winsted, MN United States) -

Earlier Windows phones were not well received. When I read the early reviews on this one, I was intrigued enough to consider it. After seeing a coworker with one, I decided to give it a shot. T-Mobile had a great deal that made this one too good to pass up, even if I had to go back and get a different phone in six months. Since receiving it, I've had no disappointments. In fact, it has exceeded my expectations in almost every way!

Prior to the Nokia Lumia 710, I had been a long time BlackBerry user, as well as a user of a couple of different Android phones (a T-Mobile Comet and a Samsung Galaxy S). In addition, as a support tech, I've had to handle and configure many different devices over the years, including Apple's revered iPhone. What can I say? Microsoft and Nokia got it right. This is--hands down--the best smartphone I've ever used!

A BlackBerry was my companion for many years. It had long passed the exciting phase, but was a dependible little tool. When I first moved to an Android phone after my BlackBerry, I was astounded by the abundance of features and the ease of use. I never imagined I would feel the same way when I switched to a Windows phone, but that really is the case. The leap from Android to this Windows 7.5 phone felt just like leaving my BlackBerry behind for Android!

The controls are easy to use and intuitive. The touch response is absolutely fantastic. While flipping through a long list, a single touch stops the list, but does not automatically open the item beneath my finer (something that did happen quite frequently under Android). That prevents a lot of unintentionally opened contacts and apps. The only tactile experience similar to it is on an iPhone, but I think the Nokia Lumia 710 even one-ups them there. I can't fully express how easy it is to handle and navigte--it's a real pleasure.

A REAL BENEFIT: IT KNOWS OFFICE
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One advantage Microsoft has off the bat with its Windows 7.5 mobile OS is how well it works with Microsoft Office. Compatibility with Word, Powerpoint, and Excel are there from day one. For anyone working in a MS environment, that's a big plus--no third party apps or conversion issues.

WHAT ABOUT THE WINDOWS MARKETPLACE?
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The place where both Apple and Android have had an upper hand has been in their app stores. I wondered if Microsoft's Marketplace would have enough of a selection to meet my immediate needs. Thus far, I've been very pleased with the depth of the Microsoft Marketplace. Barcode scanner app (RedLaser)? Check. QR code generator? Check. Specialty apps, created for my hobbies? Check! The Marketplace also connects with XBox Live, for access to many games. My wife was excited to find a trial of Angry Birds on her phone. Thus far, my only disappointment in the Marketplace is that there's no official Scrabble app--one of my favorites.

HAND FEEL
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If you're familiar with a standard BlackBerry (e.g., Curve), then this will sum it up for you: it's as wide as a BlackBerry about a quarter taller. It has a nice hand feel--enough heft to feel substantive, but not enough to make it seem heavy. If you're looking for an ultra-trim, svelte phone, this is not the one for you, but it fits both my large hands, and my wife's smaller hands very well.

NAVIGATION AND CUSTOMIZATION
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Navigation on this phone is easy. In fact, it was so easy that my six year old daughter was able to pick up and use the phone on her own after seeing me download a coloring app for her. No other instruction was required!

The home page contains tiles (think "shortcuts") for various apps, each pinned in place. Each page holds four rows, and by default the phone came with two pages of tiles. Just flick (up/down) to move between pages. By holding a finger on an app, it unpins, allowing you to move it elsewhere on the list. Within a few moments, I had all the tiles I wanted on the first page, and arranged just the way I wanted them.

Moving between pages relies on flicks. A really nice feature for when you have multiple programs open is to hold the left navigation button (the "back" button) down for about a second and a half. It shrinks the active app to a smaller size and then lets you flick through any open apps, greatly easing navigation. It's a great feature.

The customization options for background and colors are, sadly, limited. You may choose either a light (white) or dark (black) background, and your tiles may be one of eleven colors, each of which stands in stark contrast to either background. Personally, I like a dark background with largely dark tiles, since it takes less energy to keep a screen dark than it does to make it light (translating to longer battery life). There are instructions online intended to let you specify your own preferred color(s) by modifying the HEX value for the color in a configuration file, but I've not had a chance to try that yet. If they would let users pick their tiles' background colors from a custom pallet, I'd be even happier.

BATTERY LIFE
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Battery life has been decent for a smartphone. If not using any data, and just standing by, it will go days and days without a charge. With periodic data use (e.g., checking email, FB status) and a few calls throughout the day, I might be able to go a day and a half. If doing a lot of browsing, or watching movies/video, you'll be charging nightly. The phone has a battery saver option that is not enabled by default. I recommend turning it on right away (it lets the phone shut down unnecessary services to conserve power). And, as is true with any smartphone, leave the WiFi and Bluetooth services off unless you are actively using them.

CONS
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Very few, and all minor:
- limited ability to customize tile colors
- batter saver is not on by default
- people will keep asking if it is any good, and then will want to try it
- The data/charging cord connects at the top of the handset, rather than the bottom. That makes it harder to use the phone to make a call while it is on a charging cable. That configuration is annoying, but affects me less than 1% of the time I'm using it, so its tolerable.
- as an early adopter, I had a hard time finding accessories when it was first released (likely true for many other smartphones, though)

SUMMARY
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Overall, it's the best mobile phone I've ever used. Microsoft really got things right in Windows 7.5 mobile, and with their partnership with Nokia. I think you'd be hard pressed to find a better smartphone experience.

Great phone for the price January 20, 2012

Reviewer:  tfisher 

I came from a relatively good android phone to this phone, due mostly to curiosity of WP7 and the anger with my high spec phone freezing and lagging and apps force closing at the wrong time. I may not be a "power user", but I do use my phone for quite a bit of task and was very pleased with this phones performance in those task. To put it simply, it just works. No lagging, freezing, or apps failing to initialize. Might be the best phone I have used because of that and it only cost me a little on upgrade. If you do video calling, or want unlimited customization this is not for you. Perfect for entry to mid range level buyers.

Great first time Smartphone, decent Nokia phone, well priced, NOKIA APPS ARE AMAZING March 31, 2012

Reviewer:  Jacob Roggero "flumpage"  (Lakewood, Colorado United States) -

My previous phone was an LG android phone. I was so excited to get an Android and be able to customize everything on the phone. That is most certainly where Android shines as the phones are conceivably able to do whatever we can come up with. Since that is what windows has been on the PC it is strange that their phones are much more of a closed system. Some of the complaints listed about the phone and OS's shortcomings are accurate so buyer beware. These include, customization of phone, sharing files and using as external storage, front facing camera, lack of apps, not very business centered, not as powerful as previous Nokia smart phones.

For a more balanced view however you should consider a few things. Windows phone 7.5 is a new system and hasn't been around long enough to be fully relevant for the business world. However, some of the complaints like lack of file sharing or inability to sync with outlook are not entirely true. If you store files on your skydrive (MS gives 25 gigs free storage) then you can access PDF files and all office files and edit those files on the phone as well (office files, not PDF). Onenote is constantly syncing and any notes created on the computer are accessible on the phone.

It is true that this phone is not as advanced as some previous high end Nokia phones and doesn't even have a great camera. However this isn't a high end phone. I bought mine brand new for $220 on ebay.

The truth is this phone is very solid. The design is beautiful and it honestly looks and feels much better than any pictures do it justice. Even demoing it in the store wasn't as nice as getting a new one out of the box. The phone is very light and has a decent battery life.

Nokia is solid in general and I like the build of the phone. The OS is wonderful. Yes it is more restrictive than android but it is much faster and seamless. My android was amazing for the first few months, then it was constantly freezing, different apps would conflict with each other, it would randomly shut off... This OS is much easier to use and is very quick.
I would highly recommend this to seniors or first time smart phone users. The windows phone software simplifies everything and makes the phone what it should have been all along... a tool for communication, rather than most phones today (iphone) which make it a portal for everything non phone-call related and basically people carry their entire computers with them in their pocket. Finally after years MS realized we don't need to carry a computer in our pockets. The phone integrates everything. Threads pull chats and texts into one stream. Set up is very easy, especially if you use Google or hotmail or facebook. It imports everything and integrates overlapping contacts automatically. Out of the box it took me 5 minutes to have all my accounts imported with all my contacts set up.

Xbox integration is awesome and easy to use. There is no flash as internet explorer is all about HTML 5. Having said that the browser is pretty quick and major video streaming sites like youtube and netflix work perfectly.

All in all for being the "cheaper" Nokia windows phone it is pretty much awesome. I would have purchased the lumia 900 but I prefer T-mobile and this phone hasn't disappointed at all.

Cons:
No font facing camera
Still not as many apps as IOS or Android (but it's growing and the quality of apps appears to be better)
No expandable memory (though free cloud integration and file sharing with microsoft skydrive 25 gigs)
finger print prone
some lack of customization of the OS that would be helpful
no Wifi calling (T-mobile told me there was Wifi calling, but I am pretty sure this phone doesn't offer it)
4G is not as fast as LTE
5 mp camera

Pros:
OS is beautiful and very quick
Xbox integration is awesome and totally useful for things like streaming video (phone acts like a remote control)
Facebook and live integration into all the contacts works seamlessly
Office integration is pretty cool (PowerPoint as flashcards is great for studying)
Gorilla glass is very scratch resistant
Nokia build seems solid
call quality
t-mobile's unlimited data
Bing integration is pretty cool, including ability to recognize text with the camera, (books, cds, movies) looks them up and even can translate them (for example a foreign menu). Also provides really useful information of the surrounding areas (movies, restaurants, events) with reviews and directions. The great thing is that you don't jump from one app to another. Everything just naturally extends to the next thing.
Zune integration: some people have said this is a negative, having to use the zune software. That just isn't true. Zune is much better than itunes and uses less system resources. Not to mention it has always been more creative and visually appealing instead of the spread-sheet style that itunes often has used. Zune integration is an amazing music and video player and looks breathtaking on the phone itself. If you have a zune pass you can download and play unlimited music. Otherwise this is just as established as the itunes store. You can buy apps, music, movies and tv shows, podcasts, games.... It has everything and you can sync your phone wirelessly. For those unfamiliar you with using this software or windows phones, you can set things to automatically download and save to your computer and be removed from the phone, this includes pictures, videos, and music. When I connect my phone, without doing anything at all the computer downloads all the HD video's I've taken and then deletes them from the phone, copies all my pictures and leaves them on my phone, and then switches out a new playlist of about 100 songs. All seamless, all without deciding what to save and what to put on.

All in all definitely worth considering. If you buy the phone outright you can still get an unlimited plan with T-mobile for only $50 a month... which is a total deal.

**********July 2012 Update*****************

After having the phone for a while now I have a few additional words.
1. The battery life isn't that great when using this phone a lot, but on the plus side it charges really fast
2. Nokia just added "Internet Sharing" to this phone to turn it into a mobile Hotspot, honestly this is amazing! I am using this more and more, and with just the flip of a switch my computer can use my 4G without any additional tethering plan.
3. Nokia continues to issue updates and the camera features are pretty awesome
4. The app marketplace has grown a lot
5. still missing true multi-tasking, (if I am not in the skype app, people can't call me through skype, even if I just opened the app)
6. overall a great phone for the money

************* September 2012 Update *****************

This will be the last update I think before the next version of Windows 7.8 is released for these phones.
These are all pros, the phone continues to work flawlessly, body has held together with minimal scratches or marks. The largest reason I still love this phone and will probably get another Nokia? They continue to put time and effort into making these phones better than other windows phones.
Apps that Nokia offers that are either exclusive to their lumia phones or in some cases now made available for other windows phones (such as their amazing Nokia maps)
1. Nokia Camera Extras (includes editing pictures, new software updates for different lighting and styles, panorama pictures, self timer, group shot...)
2. Nokia Contacts Transfer
3. Creative Studio
4. Nokia ESPN app (and now separate ESNP Fantasy Football app)
5. Nokia Maps
6. Nokia City Lens (which lets you hold your camera up and Nokia shows you shops and reviews and such of the surrounding area)
7. Nokia Drive (free GPS turn by turn navigation)
8. Nokia Music (which was just turned on this week for US customers, free music streaming and downloads without any subscription and no advertisements or commercials, only available on Nokia phones)
9. Nokia Trailers
10.Nokia Play to (which allows you to send pictures or videos to other devices such as blu ray players or tv's or cell phones)

The list goes on, and the point is Nokia is always updating and improving the experience on their phones. All of the above apps and more are free and make the experience on this phone better. I can say this phone is better today then when I purchased it almost a year ago.

Love it February 27, 2012

Reviewer:  LuWeGeeeeeee  (Minnapolis, MN USA) -

This is my first smartphone ever. The last phone I had for almost 4 years and it was a regular brick style phone. I read all the great reviews regarding this phone and decided to jump on it. The lumia 710 and the htc radar both had good reviews, but this one was cheaper and the faster processor.
Can't believe I didn't do this sooner. The phone is awesome. I really like how it almost automatically syncs facebook, google, and the phone contacts' information together and creates a card for each, and I can access each one's photos and history and facebook updates.
It really is a great phone that works great out of the box and was easy to use. I was surprised actually at the lack of "endless settings" typical on most phones. The only downside is the lack of Flash support, but it is a dying format that uses a lot of battery life. Sites like youtube and netflix offer better formats that this phone will take. Only problem I've run into is hulu. But, the marketplace has an app for a browser that will play flash if needed.
In conclusion, Great phone! If you are like me and had trouble syncing google calendars if you have multiple google calendars, just google it and you'll come across a way to customize sync options to include them all!

A great smart phone from the best phone company Nokia February 12, 2012

Reviewer:  timothy 

I have been a life-long Nokia phone fan since I got my first conventional Nokia phone back in 1993. However, it will not be a bias review about Nokia Lumia.

Compared with other smart-phone I've ever tried such as Samsung Exhibit II 4G, Samsung Galaxy S, iPhone 4S..the iPhone outpaced all others.

Phone feature. All are of equal quality. The Lumia stands out thanks to it stable signal reception. In my area, T-Mobile signal is not that good that non of my previous smartphone that I've ever tried works.

Web surfing. Whenever you try the Lumia 710 with 1.4Ghz and Window 7, you will forget other smartphones with Andriod or Apple OS.

Compability. Windows, Andriod & Apple OS....by the order from greatest to worst. Everyong should agree with this.

Camera. You can easily catch your special moments or events in crystal clear photo thanks to its 5MP camera.

Storage. I wish iPhone and Nokia have slots for mini SD scard to increase storage capacitty.

Battery...same for all.

Hope this review help smartphone shopper.