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The Nokia Lumia 710 is by no means an ugly phone, but when compared with the beautiful curves of the Nokia Lumia 800 it starts to feel cheaper than maybe it should. The smartphone is directly aimed at younger users with its changeable rear cover, but we're not sure its hardware needed to be downgraded as much as it has been.
We liked
The removable battery is what we have always loved about Nokia handsets, enabling us to carry a spare just in case.
The user interface continues to impress in many ways with its speed of response and the intuitiveness of its icon.
Nokia apps such as Nokia Maps, Nokia Drive, Nokia Music (with Mix radio and gig info) and Nokia Pulse are great. We can only hope that the Nokia Drive and Maps integration will be sorted out.
The integration with Xbox Live is a dream for those of us that have grown up with console and handheld gaming.
The use of cloud based services to back up information and the ability to merge contact information from more than one cloud based service making communication and sharing with friends across the world so much faster and easier.
We disliked
The small capacity of the battery leads us to be disappointed again with the juice-retention of Nokia's Windows Phone offerings.
The cheaper look and feel of the Nokia Lumia 710 when compared with the Nokia Lumia 800 is disappointing, as is the downgrading of the screen (TFT instead of AMOLED), camera (5MP instead of 8MP) and internal storage (8GB instead of 16GB).
The repeated lack of a front-facing camera, with Skype around the corner and the Tango Video app already existing, is frustrating.
The visually fragile volume and camera buttons that are exposed when the rear cover is removed look like they are going to get damaged by battery switchers or cover changers, and that it's just a question of how long it will take.
Final verdict
Although we would buy the Nokia Lumia 710 over the HTC Radar, it's overshadowed by the Nokia Lumia 800, which impressed us a lot more and makes the Nokia Lumia 710 feel more like its cheaper relative than we would have liked. We know that the phone costs less, but the cost savings feel too apparent.
For the small drop in price and the expectation that both phones are to drop in price, we're left feeling that, unless you really want the changeable cover and removable battery, you're better off saving up a little more money and buying the Nokia Lumia 800 instead. The older phone gives a lot more bang for your buck.
Based on the recent announcements from Nokia and rumours flying around the internet, it's likely this will remain the budget option for the foreseeable future - a little bit more of a price drop and we'll be a lot more impressed with this otherwise decent handset.