January 27, 2012
By Donovan Jackson

2012 gets off to a great start with the first Nokia with Windows Phone smartphones entering the market in the first quarter of the year. Two models are headed for South African shores: the high end Nokia Lumia 800 and the midrange Nokia Lumia 710. While both are built on the same software platform and with many of the same hardware components, there are some differences.

The similarities

Let’s start with the similarities. Both the Nokia Lumia 800 and the Nokia Lumia 710 feature a 1.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and 512MB RAM. Most significantly, they both feature Windows Phone 7.5, otherwise known as Mango. Both handsets offer quadband radio reception, HSPA, WiFi and Bluetooth. The applications that run on the device are identical. Both include advanced services such as Nokia Maps, Nokia Drive voice-navigation and Nokia Music. Each handset active noise cancellation, a 3D accelerometer and proximity and ambient light sensors, providing all the hardware and sensors required for developers to create any manner of innovative apps.

The differences

The most obvious difference is in the look and the size of the phones. The Nokia Lumia 710 is relative lightweight at 125 grams, while the Nokia Lumia 800’s single piece, polycarbonate chassis comes in at 142 grams. Batteries are also different with the Nokia Lumia 710 boasting a 1300mAh with 7.6 hours of 3G talktime, while the Lumia 800 has a 1450mAh unit good for 9.5 hours.

The ‘buttonless’ fascia of the 800 has only ‘soft’ dedicated keys, while the 710 features an ‘rocker’ for the Start, back and search buttons.

As one would expect, there are hardware differences too. The Lumia 710 is equipped with 8GB of memory compared to the 800’s 16GB of storage. However, one of the most substantial differences is the camera. The Nokia Lumia 800 gets a more advanced camera with its 8MP Carl Zeiss unit, with double LED flash, versus the 5MP and single LED flash in the 710.

While both devices have a 3.7-inch 800×480 pixel touchscreen the 710 features an LCD display while the 800 has an AMOLED, Clearblack display increasing contrast, colour, and visibility in bright sunlight.

Probably the most important point to note when looking at both these devices is that with either, you don’t have to compromise on user-experience, as any device featuring the Lumia name will offer a great experience all round.