Nokia Lumia 710: The Ugly
Nokia Lumia 710, posted: 10-Apr-2012 12:10
I say in my bio below that I would be commenting on the Good, the Bad and the Ugly on the Nokia Lumia 710. This post is dedicated to the Ugly.
Things that make no sense
Audible notification for Facebook. Phone is in sleep mode. Swipe the notification away. Swipe up the wallpaper/screensaver for Facebook to automatically open. But it doesn’t open to the notification at all. It’s just launched Facebook. You still need to press the notification button. So what was the point? You save one step. What’s the big deal?
Things I can’t forgive
This is a big thing for me. It might be my need for order and neatness and pegs that match colour on clothes hung to dry. I might have some issues. Deal with it ;-)
Why oh why does the screen have to have the next page just sneaking into view? This really annoys me, but perhaps not as much as the home screen with its wasted space:
The space used to display the arrow button to indicate that swiping to the left will reveal more:
Windows Phone users aren’t stupid, or at least not from what I’ve seen. Why do they think you need to waste real estate by showing an arrow button? So much about the UI is about swiping but nowhere else do I see this little “tip” pointing out the need to swipe to see the next screen.
After having used this “helpful” tip you end up at the list of applications and settings menu:
Here you get an arrow to take you back to the home screen and a search button. Why can’t the hard search button on the phone work here instead of providing a soft touch search button? If the hard search button could be more useful (than just searching Bing) then you could do away with any on screen buttons.
I can’t see the point of these buttons. Someone must have thought they were vital to screw around with the UI. Or to use 100% of the screen UI wasn’t important. Of course if they did use all the space the dimensions of the tiles would need to change.
I can’t help feel we’ve been robbed. And to the best of my knowledge there’s not setting where you can “hide” these on screen buttons if you decide you don’t need the “trainer wheels” and trust yourself to remember how to swipe left and right to reach the screens.
Annoyances
Here’s another design “flaw”, in my opinion. I can’t use a USB cable with a protector case. Now admittedly not everyone is going to want a case for their phone. And perhaps not everyone will want to transfer files/music via Zune. And perhaps the “cheap” case I picked up on EBay isn’t the same as an official Nokia case. Perhaps it’s thicker than the official. But I cannot get the USB cable to connect into the phone. Charging the phone isn’t a problem though. Having to remove the case to connect the phone is obviously an annoyance.
Lack of applications
This piece of Ugly will undoubtedly become a non-issue in time. One of the requests was to use the phone like I would use my own phone. But I simply can’t. There are applications I have on my Android phone that aren’t available, or don’t provide the same functionality.
I seriously feel like my hands are tied. The Windows Phone OS only goes so far for my needs. I’m trying to remain faithful using the Lumia 710 as my daily driver, which results in me missing out on things that I would have otherwise have had access to on my Samsung Galaxy SII.
Round up
It’s not that I’m not enjoying the Windows Phone OS Lumia 710 experience, it’s just that it doesn’t quite go far enough for what I want to do with a phone. I want to tinker, to customise and to have what I want now.
I’ve pretty much come to the realisation that the Windows Phone OS is not for me. But I think it’s a fantastic OS for doing everything it says it will do smoothly.
This is going to be a great phone for my mother-in-law who wants everything to work the first time in a fashion that is easy to follow and doesn’t constantly change. The phone is smart, simple (but not stupid – other than the wasted UI space) and 100% dependable.
About the author:
Hi, my name is Anita, on Geekzone and other social network sites I’m known as Neets, sometimes with a “_”, sometimes with “_nz”. I’m a proud kiwi living/surviving in Christchurch. I’m not blogging about this Nokia Lumia 710 because I need a new phone. In fact I love my existing Samsung Galaxy SII. When offered the opportunity to review the Nokia Lumia 710 I took it up because, in truth, it was an honour to be asked, but I enjoy writing reviews, I like learning new things and I’ve got a bit of a fascination about how far you can push smartphones. The brief is fairly simple, use the phone as much as you can and then write about your experiences. My reviews will be honest about the good the bad and the ugly based on how I use the phone, which undoubtedly will vary to the way anyone else uses their phone.
Things that make no sense
Audible notification for Facebook. Phone is in sleep mode. Swipe the notification away. Swipe up the wallpaper/screensaver for Facebook to automatically open. But it doesn’t open to the notification at all. It’s just launched Facebook. You still need to press the notification button. So what was the point? You save one step. What’s the big deal?
Things I can’t forgive
This is a big thing for me. It might be my need for order and neatness and pegs that match colour on clothes hung to dry. I might have some issues. Deal with it ;-)
Why oh why does the screen have to have the next page just sneaking into view? This really annoys me, but perhaps not as much as the home screen with its wasted space:
The space used to display the arrow button to indicate that swiping to the left will reveal more:
Windows Phone users aren’t stupid, or at least not from what I’ve seen. Why do they think you need to waste real estate by showing an arrow button? So much about the UI is about swiping but nowhere else do I see this little “tip” pointing out the need to swipe to see the next screen.
After having used this “helpful” tip you end up at the list of applications and settings menu:
Here you get an arrow to take you back to the home screen and a search button. Why can’t the hard search button on the phone work here instead of providing a soft touch search button? If the hard search button could be more useful (than just searching Bing) then you could do away with any on screen buttons.
I can’t see the point of these buttons. Someone must have thought they were vital to screw around with the UI. Or to use 100% of the screen UI wasn’t important. Of course if they did use all the space the dimensions of the tiles would need to change.
I can’t help feel we’ve been robbed. And to the best of my knowledge there’s not setting where you can “hide” these on screen buttons if you decide you don’t need the “trainer wheels” and trust yourself to remember how to swipe left and right to reach the screens.
Annoyances
Here’s another design “flaw”, in my opinion. I can’t use a USB cable with a protector case. Now admittedly not everyone is going to want a case for their phone. And perhaps not everyone will want to transfer files/music via Zune. And perhaps the “cheap” case I picked up on EBay isn’t the same as an official Nokia case. Perhaps it’s thicker than the official. But I cannot get the USB cable to connect into the phone. Charging the phone isn’t a problem though. Having to remove the case to connect the phone is obviously an annoyance.
Lack of applications
This piece of Ugly will undoubtedly become a non-issue in time. One of the requests was to use the phone like I would use my own phone. But I simply can’t. There are applications I have on my Android phone that aren’t available, or don’t provide the same functionality.
I seriously feel like my hands are tied. The Windows Phone OS only goes so far for my needs. I’m trying to remain faithful using the Lumia 710 as my daily driver, which results in me missing out on things that I would have otherwise have had access to on my Samsung Galaxy SII.
Round up
It’s not that I’m not enjoying the Windows Phone OS Lumia 710 experience, it’s just that it doesn’t quite go far enough for what I want to do with a phone. I want to tinker, to customise and to have what I want now.
I’ve pretty much come to the realisation that the Windows Phone OS is not for me. But I think it’s a fantastic OS for doing everything it says it will do smoothly.
This is going to be a great phone for my mother-in-law who wants everything to work the first time in a fashion that is easy to follow and doesn’t constantly change. The phone is smart, simple (but not stupid – other than the wasted UI space) and 100% dependable.
About the author:
Hi, my name is Anita, on Geekzone and other social network sites I’m known as Neets, sometimes with a “_”, sometimes with “_nz”. I’m a proud kiwi living/surviving in Christchurch. I’m not blogging about this Nokia Lumia 710 because I need a new phone. In fact I love my existing Samsung Galaxy SII. When offered the opportunity to review the Nokia Lumia 710 I took it up because, in truth, it was an honour to be asked, but I enjoy writing reviews, I like learning new things and I’ve got a bit of a fascination about how far you can push smartphones. The brief is fairly simple, use the phone as much as you can and then write about your experiences. My reviews will be honest about the good the bad and the ugly based on how I use the phone, which undoubtedly will vary to the way anyone else uses their phone.
Nokia Lumia 710: Working out with my phone
Nokia Lumia 710, posted: 4-Apr-2012 16:48
I have a phone case that is totally water proof. I sometimes swim with my phone and listen to music. It’s great but almost all of the time I am only able to listen to my own music while swimming. I know, I am so hard done by...Well, I tried it with the Nokia Lumia 710 and to my surprise I was able to listen to the radio while swimming this time! Also I received several texts from my daughter while swimming. I know I can hear you all saying why would you want to text while swimming. I don’t but every now and again you need to always be on call.
I have found that the reception on this phone is better than my other phone. I have had no trouble with calls when in underground car parks, and some shops that I usually lose reception on my normal phone. I normally am not on the Telecom XT network if that is important.
It is so nice to have a 3.5 mm headset jack that will take any 3.5 mm headset. As I like many others have a certain headset that we only use on our phones or mp3 players. It’s very simple to set up your favourite radio stations, ready for when you want to listen while on the move.
I found it was easy to sync my music, videos and photos to the phone.
I enjoyed watching a movie while walking on a treadmill. Although the movie had been converted to be viewed on the Nokia Lumia 710 it was very good and I was able to watch the full movie without the picture quality being compromised.
My phone is my music and video centre on the move. I need to be able to enjoy both music and movies whenever I want to relax or exercise. I want choices and this handset gives me those choices while I am out and about.
About the author:
Hi I am Dreamy, a 54 year old mum of two teenagers. Ten years ago I didn't know how to work a computer, and my phone was a Nokia 3315. To keep up with my children's interest in everything to do with the Internet, xbox live, computer games, I turned on a computer and the rest as they say is history. Now I wouldn't be without my smartphone. Being connected to my children, my family and friends around the world. Able to read the news anywhere at anytime.Nokia Lumia 710 visits the Ellerslie Flower Show...
Nokia Lumia 710, posted: 3-Apr-2012 10:20
In my continued desire to jump right in with the Nokia Lumia 710 I decided to use it as my camera for the day at the Ellerslie Flower Show in Christchurch. It was a beautiful cloudless day so all the outdoor shots I expected to be perfect but the real test was the Starlight tent (a wonderful indoor marquee of stunning exhibits that I knew would test it). Two years ago my iphone 3gs was very average at the same venue.
Leaving the manual at home straight away some things became obvious. The camera button is on the side of the phone so easy to push by mistake. The phone does have to be on (i.e. active) for it to work though which is good. So turn on, flip up the wallpaper, push the button and click. Simple. Except now you are walking to the next exhibit and get a great shot of the ground.
Three other buttons are also on screen. An up arrow to scroll old pictures and a flower type symbol for settings and a movie camera. All reasonably obvious as for function.
Example of a shot that at a smaller size looks fine but larger is soft in focus. "Urban Refreshment - Silver Distinction"
Zoom is an easy + or - on the screen but after you take a shot did not seem to default back to standard which is positive or negative subject to what you are doing. It does mean that there is no way to tell if you are zoomed in or not while using the camera. I tended to regularly reset it back to full (either manually or by exiting the camera function). To me the slider should show if you are zoomed in and this would solve this small but annoying issue.
Auto focus can be frustrating as it is a half click. The difference between the half click working and not is small. Sometimes I would always get it and others I would want a half click and would get the picture and be totally unable to focus. I would prefer this to be separate or the auto focus to show what it is focusing on screen.
This distance shot was in full focus front to back (many did not for some reason). "Straight from the Heart - Silver Award"
The camera was able to capture fine rock details and plants well with the background still in good focus. "Transitions - Gold & Supreme Award"
I took almost 300 photos over four to five hours and battery was still about 20% at the end of the day with email, WiFi, Bluetooth and Facebook updates on that whole time. I was very pleased with this aspect of the test.
Back home it's time to check out the pictures. Plug in the phone to the PC for the first time and it wants me to install Zune. I would much prefer the device is automatically seen in Windows the same as a USB drive. I am NOT a fan of this method at all. Zune seems pretty enough though. Head into custom settings and it's found my Windows Media Player settings including iTunes which is nice. Same with videos. Now it's trying to add all that media when all I want is to access the photos I just took.
At first it seems to only want to sync via USB cable but soon offers me a wireless option which is excellent. Disconnect the phone from USB and not working. It keeps telling me to connect the phone. I will win but this is frustrating and needlessly complex to me. Connect the phone, drag & drop from windows. How hard is that to make work.
So back on the USB cable we go. Click on pictures and there is a pile of blank grey boxes and it says I have 270 photos on "Camera Roll". Clicking one does nothing but I can hear the PC whirring away so let's leave things a while.
The camera is capable of excellent framing even into the sun and taking some nice images. "Casa De Vidro - Supreme, Gold and Lighting awards"
Five minutes later pictures start appearing in the grey boxes which is mind boggling slow and I still cannot even click a picture and have anything happen. Go away for a bit longer. Finally seems done. Clicking the first and last selects all and right click gives me the option "Copy to my collection". Do so and nothing seems to happen. By now the frustration is growing and while this is not a Nokia issue it annoys me that what should be a simple step is made so complicated.
Finally I check in the Windows default directory I setup at the start. Full copies of everything which explains the slowness earlier as everything copied. Nothing (that I noticed) told me it was doing this.
So what is my first impression going through the pictures? They are good to ok but very few are excellent (which may be harsh of me as this is a lower cost phone). Many are just short of clear focus and have the wrong exposure. The indoor ones in particular are disappointing. Some distance shots have no focus at all front or back in the shot so I cannot see where the camera took the focus from. Anything zoomed in is just poor quality.
I later uploaded about 150 of the photos to Facebook using the High Definition upload option. Most looked good to excellent and if this is your intended output medium then I will say that the photos and camera will work just fine for you.
Equally, if used in an article like this they will more than adequately do the job for a report or assignment. But if you want to blow them up to A4 then you could be pushing the camera a little hard.
I would use the camera on this phone but know its limitations.
The videos however are extremely clear but the recorded sound very very low. Excellent results in fact and I was very impressed with the clarity. So overall a good test of the phone that it did not fail but did not really excel at either. Some of the areas I had issues with may be solved by "reading the manual" but my goal here was to continue testing the phone use in real world and as is.
One of the few indoor shots that was useable. The camera did not cope at all with the low light. "Dan Rutherford's Fresh Start, New Growth - Gold & Lighting Silver Distinction Awards".
About the author:
Leaving the manual at home straight away some things became obvious. The camera button is on the side of the phone so easy to push by mistake. The phone does have to be on (i.e. active) for it to work though which is good. So turn on, flip up the wallpaper, push the button and click. Simple. Except now you are walking to the next exhibit and get a great shot of the ground.
Three other buttons are also on screen. An up arrow to scroll old pictures and a flower type symbol for settings and a movie camera. All reasonably obvious as for function.
Example of a shot that at a smaller size looks fine but larger is soft in focus. "Urban Refreshment - Silver Distinction"
Zoom is an easy + or - on the screen but after you take a shot did not seem to default back to standard which is positive or negative subject to what you are doing. It does mean that there is no way to tell if you are zoomed in or not while using the camera. I tended to regularly reset it back to full (either manually or by exiting the camera function). To me the slider should show if you are zoomed in and this would solve this small but annoying issue.
Auto focus can be frustrating as it is a half click. The difference between the half click working and not is small. Sometimes I would always get it and others I would want a half click and would get the picture and be totally unable to focus. I would prefer this to be separate or the auto focus to show what it is focusing on screen.
This distance shot was in full focus front to back (many did not for some reason). "Straight from the Heart - Silver Award"
The camera was able to capture fine rock details and plants well with the background still in good focus. "Transitions - Gold & Supreme Award"
I took almost 300 photos over four to five hours and battery was still about 20% at the end of the day with email, WiFi, Bluetooth and Facebook updates on that whole time. I was very pleased with this aspect of the test.
Back home it's time to check out the pictures. Plug in the phone to the PC for the first time and it wants me to install Zune. I would much prefer the device is automatically seen in Windows the same as a USB drive. I am NOT a fan of this method at all. Zune seems pretty enough though. Head into custom settings and it's found my Windows Media Player settings including iTunes which is nice. Same with videos. Now it's trying to add all that media when all I want is to access the photos I just took.
At first it seems to only want to sync via USB cable but soon offers me a wireless option which is excellent. Disconnect the phone from USB and not working. It keeps telling me to connect the phone. I will win but this is frustrating and needlessly complex to me. Connect the phone, drag & drop from windows. How hard is that to make work.
So back on the USB cable we go. Click on pictures and there is a pile of blank grey boxes and it says I have 270 photos on "Camera Roll". Clicking one does nothing but I can hear the PC whirring away so let's leave things a while.
The camera is capable of excellent framing even into the sun and taking some nice images. "Casa De Vidro - Supreme, Gold and Lighting awards"
Five minutes later pictures start appearing in the grey boxes which is mind boggling slow and I still cannot even click a picture and have anything happen. Go away for a bit longer. Finally seems done. Clicking the first and last selects all and right click gives me the option "Copy to my collection". Do so and nothing seems to happen. By now the frustration is growing and while this is not a Nokia issue it annoys me that what should be a simple step is made so complicated.
Finally I check in the Windows default directory I setup at the start. Full copies of everything which explains the slowness earlier as everything copied. Nothing (that I noticed) told me it was doing this.
So what is my first impression going through the pictures? They are good to ok but very few are excellent (which may be harsh of me as this is a lower cost phone). Many are just short of clear focus and have the wrong exposure. The indoor ones in particular are disappointing. Some distance shots have no focus at all front or back in the shot so I cannot see where the camera took the focus from. Anything zoomed in is just poor quality.
I later uploaded about 150 of the photos to Facebook using the High Definition upload option. Most looked good to excellent and if this is your intended output medium then I will say that the photos and camera will work just fine for you.
Equally, if used in an article like this they will more than adequately do the job for a report or assignment. But if you want to blow them up to A4 then you could be pushing the camera a little hard.
I would use the camera on this phone but know its limitations.
The videos however are extremely clear but the recorded sound very very low. Excellent results in fact and I was very impressed with the clarity. So overall a good test of the phone that it did not fail but did not really excel at either. Some of the areas I had issues with may be solved by "reading the manual" but my goal here was to continue testing the phone use in real world and as is.
One of the few indoor shots that was useable. The camera did not cope at all with the low light. "Dan Rutherford's Fresh Start, New Growth - Gold & Lighting Silver Distinction Awards".
About the author:
Debs (Quinny) works in the Christchurch construction industry so has had a pretty busy 18 months. With a 30 year plus work history that includes government Departments, IT consulting and the entertainment industry she has a love of samoyeds, gaming, science fiction and spends time on voluntary community work. Some of a eco, tech and gadget freak she has an iPhone 3GS, Nook & Kindle eReaders, usb caddy, recyclable shopping bags and a Blackberry Playbook inside that massive Guess handbag. I game, being a World of Warcraft junkie, in a big NZ raiding guild.
Nokia Lumia 710: Coverage, GPS and navigation
Nokia Lumia 710, posted: 3-Apr-2012 10:06
I thought I’d take the time to go a little off the beaten track to comment on the experience I’ve had using the Nokia Lumia 710 while I’ve been out an about.Recently we took a trip to Akaroa, it’s been about 3 years since we were last there and I recall at the time being pointed out to a street light where we’d get the best reception with the “other” carrier.
I was interested to see whether the Telcos had improved the coverage provided and was expecting a weekend where my social network activities would be severely curtailed.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that I had instant mobile coverage after arriving at the outskirts of Akaroa. I’m with Telecom XT, my husband with the “other” that we were with some three years ago. It’s only fair to note my husband also didn’t have any areas where coverage dropped out.
During the weekend I was able to tweet, check in with Foursquare, upload photos to Facebook and carry on as normal.
However normal is not being out in Akaroa Harbour at the mouth of the sea. But I still had mobile coverage out there. The Nokia Lumia 710 took great photos of Shag, Albatross, Blue-eyed penguins and Hector Dolphins.
It was all going on, or is that off?
On our trip from Christchurch to Akaroa I set Nokia Drive to map our way. If you’re familiar with the drive you’ll realise this was almost pointless. There’s no turn offs. You head in the right direction and keep on following the road until you wind up at your destination.
The GPS was great with tracking us, except the same split second delay in realising we’d just passed a street rather than just arrived at it. I’ve mentioned this in another post.
This delay was significant. We passed the street we should have turned down. It was pretty obvious given our only other choice was to carry on into the drink.
During the 73km 60 minute drive the battery life went from 69% to 56%. Given we couldn’t really go wrong (until we got into Akaroa) I allowed the screen to shut down.
When I realised we were practically in Akaroa I pressed the power button to bring the phone back to life. The Nokia Drive app said it had lost GPS and it took a few seconds longer than it usually does on first start up, to locate where we were. I wouldn’t say this was a problem. If you truly needed navigational assistance you’d not have let the phone go into sleep mode. And it could be simply the “fault” of the route. There was no feedback to give. Point the car in the right direction and go until you arrive.
One last thing to note. A post wouldn’t be the same if I didn’t mention my Samsung Galaxy S2 phone. When using Samsung’s Navigon app the battery really heats up, and I also started this app at the same time as Nokia Drive. The SGS2 got warm really quickly so I shut it down. The Nokia Lumia 710 never suffered any heat despite having left it going a much longer time.
Thanks Nokia for making sure I could record some memories, and for Telecom for making sure I could share them.
These were from the local Fish ‘n Chip shop, which was unfortunately burnt down just days after we’d eaten there.
About the author:
Hi, my name is Anita, on Geekzone and other social network sites I’m known as Neets, sometimes with a “_”, sometimes with “_nz”. I’m a proud kiwi living/surviving in Christchurch. I’m not blogging about this Nokia Lumia 710 because I need a new phone. In fact I love my existing Samsung Galaxy SII. When offered the opportunity to review the Nokia Lumia 710 I took it up because, in truth, it was an honour to be asked, but I enjoy writing reviews, I like learning new things and I’ve got a bit of a fascination about how far you can push smartphones. The brief is fairly simple, use the phone as much as you can and then write about your experiences. My reviews will be honest about the good the bad and the ugly based on how I use the phone, which undoubtedly will vary to the way anyone else uses their phone.
Nokia Lumia 710: Connected to my world
Nokia Lumia 710, posted: 2-Apr-2012 11:00
The Nokia Lumia 710 has connected me to my world. I always have wifi and Bluetooth permanently on so I do expect to charge the phone nightly. I want to be connected whenever possible, however possible. The down side of that is using up the battery.
The Nokia Lumia 710’s battery is good for a day’s normal (to me) use. Using the internet, accessing emails, my children playing games, checking Twitter or Facebook etc.
Using Wifi is easy to set up, a 12 year old can do it, and did do it on my phone. I found it would pick up wifi connections whenever I was in the area of a signal.
As for Bluetooth, I use a stereo with built in Bluetooth handsfree and as soon as the car was turned on it would pick up the 710. Sound quality is good when I am on a call in the car. The person I was talking to have no trouble hearing me. Which is always a bonus in any conversation.
I have had no trouble using internet via 3g or wifi. I found it fast and with no lagging.
To me having a phone that will keep me connected to my world is the most important fact in choosing a phone, and choosing the mobile provider.
A good priced plan is always good but also necessary to me is how the cellular coverage is. I hate dropped calls, or lagging when I want to watch video. I have not experienced anything like that since using the Nokia Lumia 700 on Telecom XT.
My friends who are middle-aged are interested in a phone that can connect them to their families overseas. They seem very interested in the windows phone. Several like how easy it is to set up and use. And also the price of the Nokia Lumia 710 is very attractive to first time smartphone users. Telecom has made it very simple to access my mobile account to addon or change my plan. This appeals to me as my life is always changing, and I want a plan to suit me now.
Taking photos and sending them to my ipad, desktop or someone else’s computer is so easy. I downloaded dropbox onto the lumia and then put the photos in it. Must admit I really like using dropbox and was hoping they would have one for the windows phones. Very fast and easy transfer of photos and any Microsoft word document.
We might miss a party in the family, concert or some event, but with a phone and internet access we can check out the videos or photos of the party anywhere. That’s what we want, in our hand at our finger tips. Right now!
About the author:
Hi I am Dreamy, a 54 year old mum of two teenagers. Ten years ago I didn't know how to work a computer, and my phone was a Nokia 3315. To keep up with my children's interest in everything to do with the Internet, xbox live, computer games, I turned on a computer and the rest as they say is history. Now I wouldn't be without my smartphone. Being connected to my children, my family and friends around the world. Able to read the news anywhere at anytime.
