Well I sought after the replacement of my ill-fated Nokia Lumia 800, after it went for a swim courtesy of my little daughter!
Ended up grabbing the Nokia Lumia 710 after reading that it had the same hardware internals, same display resolution and overall size, and a removable battery. The change has lost me 8GB of storage (Lumia 800 has 16GB) and there is no AMOLED display, so the colours look a little "washed" in comparison, but at a third of the price of the Lumia 800 it seemed a good deal.
I ordered it Monday, and got it Tuesday, for just under £130 delivered.
My thoughts:
1. I love the fact Nokia included a second rear cover for the phone. I had a choice between Cyan and Black, so choose Cyan to add a splash of colour. Admitedly it won't be to everyones taste, but its a nice touch.
2. As previously mentioned, the hardware is identical (display and storage aside) to the Lumia 800 so performance is identical. I've come to love just how smooth the experience is on WP, it's certainly something Android could sorely benefit from. Overall both this and the Lumia 800 "feel" considerably smoother than even my previous SGS2.
3. The rounded corners and more traditional design make this phone waaaaaaaaay easier to hold and use than the Lumia 800. It always felt like the squared corners of the 800 were cutting into my hands in use, and I never truly got comfortable using it, despite being a lovely looking phone.
4. The battery is worse than the previous Lumia 800, but at least this one allows you to swap out a replacement battery in seconds by simply pulling the rear cover off. Bonus points for that, and it certainly makes it less of an issue for me. I still get a day's usage out of it though, even with 10 inboxes pushing emails as recieved, display on full brightness, and wireless always connected when in range by default -- I can live with that.
5. The cost -- Nokia have really trumped this smartphone. Okay the display is dull when you've used an AMOLED handset and you're used to that, but to offer the same performance as the Lumia 800 at a pricepoint one third the cost to purchase upfront is a fantastic move that's worthy of a mention, and extra bonus points.
6. The display is a total finger print magnet, like no other phone I've had in the past! Case and point, the first picture above -- and that was wiped before I unlocked it to take a picture! Thankfully it doesn't affect the viewing experience, and only shows up under strong lighting, which thankfully, isn't most of the time. Can be a bit frustrating in bright sunlight though, but I felt the Lumia 800 was similar, with the exception that the AMOLED display's brightness kind of overpowered the bright light making it visible.
7. Hopefully this phone will last a bit longer than my last two. I've managed to destroy a Samsung Galaxy S2 and a Nokia Lumia 800 due to water damage so far this year. The SGS2 was dropped in a puddle and smashed to pieces (was on the roadside) and the Lumia go "thrown" in the bath full of water by my very helpful little girl. Touch wood, this lasts a little longer. haha.
I've also finally decided on my replacement keyboard, which I'll be ordering shortly, and I might be firing off an order for my new displays in the next couple of days as well. So definitely more to follow from me.
