Nokia Lumia 710 is closely related to the flagship Lumia 800 model

The Windows based Nokia Lumia 710 is closely related to the flagship Lumia 800 model, but it is quite a lot cheaper than its sibling at the cost of missing out a few features along the way.

As with the 800, the Nokia Lumia 710 has a 3.7" 480 x 800 pixel display, with a 1.4 GHz single-core CPU and 512MB of RAM under the hood. In this case though, the display is a cheaper TFT panel rather than the curved Super AMOLED display in the 800. Other downgraded features include a 5 megapixel camera on the back rather than an 8 megapixel one, a smaller battery and half the amount of internal flash memory, with just 8GB rather than 16GB.

For many users, these downgrades won't be a particular problem, and when you consider that the Lumia 710 is pitched to sell at just €270 before tax and subsidy compared to €420 for the 800, then it does look like very good value for money.

In terms of software, the Lumia 710 is a Windows Phone 7.5 smartphone that does everything that the 800 does.. in other words, it does everything that you want but wrapped up in a novel tile-based interface that looks much fresher than rivals. One key selling point over other Windows handsets is that the Lumia 710 has the Nokia Drive turn-by-turn navigation software installed plus Nokia's own Music and Mix Radio services.

The Lumia 710 looks very different to the 800 in design terms, which a much more traditional Nokia design. The handset comes in black and white colours with a variety of interchangeable covers for the back. It is about the same size as the 800 but a little lighter at 119 x 62 x 13mm and 126 grams. Inside is a 1300 mAh battery that gives up to 7.6 hours talktime on 3G and 16 days standby time.

Although the 710 is a good looking handset, it can perhaps be considered to be a bit more functional than the elegant Lumia 800. But, you might not get much of a choice between them as the Lumia 710 will be available first in Hong Kong, India, Russia, Singapore and Taiwan by the end of 2011 with other countries following in 2012, so some European customers will only have the more expensive 800 available at first.

This is an impressive device, and it is good value too. The Lumia 710 will retail for about €320 SIM-free when you add tax, if you compare it against Apple products then it is much cheaper even than the old Apple iPhone 3GS which sells for €370.

Will customers be attracted to this radically different and stylish smartphone? Perhaps they will.. this particular device looks to be very appealing, and there is a good chance that it will be quite popular when it finally reaches the shops. Nokia will certainly hope so.

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