Nokia Lumia 710

Power struggles

As you might expect, since they share the same internals, the 710 has the same advantages and disadvantages as the Lumia 800. There's no microSD card expansion and no front-facing camera for video calls… and Windows Phone still doesn't support Skype. NFC is absent, too. Battery life was even poorer, given it has a 150 mAh less capacious battery than the Lumia 800. Rival Mango phones such as the HTC Titan sport larger batteries and are less likely to induce panic towards the end of the day.

Nokia's music app allows free genre-based music downloads for off-line listening

This UK retail version came bundled with eBay, ESPN, Groupon, SkyNews and Trip Advisor. Home grown bundles includes Microsoft Office, Nokia Maps with turn-by-turn navigation (in addition to Microsoft’s Maps) and Xbox Games.

The Windows Phone Marketplace continues to expand rapidly. The ‘starter pack’ will get most people up and running: Angry Birds, eBay, Flixter, Kindle, Shazam, Spotify and basic Facebook and Twitter apps. There is the odd showstopper from iOS: Plane Finder, for example. But beyond that it’s still dispiriting. You’re quickly into the dregs.

WinPho 7 apps are increasing but many standard offerings lack the versatility experienced on other platforms

The utilities section made me wonder just which demographic had taken WinPho 7 to their hearts: I found such gems as Star Password Cracker, ip Cam Manager, Sleep Talk Recorder, and Invisible Phone – everything the paranoid stalker might need. Oh, and ‘How to Tie My Tie’ – for the junior paranoid stalker, I guess.

I found the 5Mp camera adequate, but no more. It isn’t immediately apparent that a tap on the viewfinder takes a picture. This is something you can turn off in settings. Still, displacing the iPhone for a week was an interesting experience. I regained comfort and responsiveness, with the the UI giving me the sort of instant and up-to-date check on messages that made the Blackberry a success. For my money Mango offers the easiest and speediest user experience on offer to a smartphone newcomer. But this comes at a cost.

The 5Mp snapper features an LED flash and captures 720p video

It was a crapshoot whether I’d get through a day without needing a recharge, and usually I didn’t. Rather annoyingly, too, there’s the odd lag in the battery indicator reflecting its state – the first thing I saw after recharging it all night was the battery indicator showing zero charge. It updated after a few seconds, but not after some cussing. And I had to be persistent.