Nokia Lumia 610

Editor's Review of the Lumia 610

Windows Phone is a delightful mobile operating system, featuring an interface that's so user-friendly that a toddler could use it... probably. The problem with it until has been that all its handsets have been in the mid-high price and specs range. The Nokia Lumia 610 is set to change all that, offering people all the tiled, hub-based fun of Windows Phone for a much more reasonable price.

Design & Build

The Lumia 610 deviates from the bigger boys in the Lumia family with a more curvy, modest design. The front chassis is framed by a faux-metallic rim, and the whole phone is made of cheap and cheerful plastic. The battery compartment gives the it a stout little chin, which looks and feels great.

The Lumia screen is a humble 3.7" LCD offering that packs in a decent 480 x 800px resolution and a surprisingly substantial 252ppi. With just a 64,000 colour palette however, the picture often looks washed out, and it fails to capture that deep, black-hole black colour seen on better screens.

OS & Performance

The OS featured here is, of course, Windows Phone 7, which is probably one of the main reasons you'd want to get this phone. The colourful Tile interface is a joy to navigate, and smartphone first-timers will appreciate the ease of access to all the phone's main functions.

The 7.5 Mango update adds a ton of features, including better social network integration, more camera features, and great options for group communication. In fact, the Lumia 610 is so special that the recent 7.6 Tango update is designed pretty much specifically for it, allowing it tor run WP in the first place.

Be aware, however, that no current Windows Phone handsets will be getting updated to Windows Phone 8 (due out this fall), so if you're the kind of geek who likes to keep up with the latest OS, you might feel a little left out.

Performance-wise the Lumia 610's 800MHz processor (an all-time low for Windows Phone handsets) has had a few issues, such as the notorious problems running such popular apps as Angry Birds and Skype. While fixes are expected, it still doesn't make a great impression. Thankfully, navigating the OS is as smooth as cream cheese, and the experience is no worse than that on higher-end Lumias.

Camera

The 5MP camera embedded into the Lumia 610 is, on paper, what you'd expect from a relatively low-end phone, but even so Nokia could have made a little bit more effort. Shots in bright outdoor environments never do justice to more colourful places, and generally make the world look like a sad, pale place. The inclusion of an LED flash is welcome though, and it's more than can be said of some similarly-priced phones. Still, the flash-lit shots are nothing to shout about either.

Software & Multimedia

Thanks to the wonderful Mango update for Windows Phone, the Lumia 610 features the ever-useful Microsoft Office. Documents edited and created through this can be synced with the phone's other word-processing apps such as OneNote and Office365. You can also easily transfer documents to and from Microsoft's SkyDrive cloud storage service, making the document-making and sharing streamlined across all areas of your phone.

Unlike many manufacturers, Nokia's choice of apps to pre-load their phones with are always considered and useful. Mix Radio is a great music-streaming hub that gives you access to a plethora of well-categorised radio stations and streaming services, and Nokia Drive is a powerful navigation system which has the benefit of including offline maps for you to use.

Battery life, connectivity & storage

The Lumia 610 gets an impressive amount of life out of its 1300mAh battery, and you'll be able to get a solid two days use of medium usage out of it. The official talk time is up to 10 and a half hours, which is a fine indicator of this phone's stamina. Sure, with these kinds of modest specs, you'd expect nothing less, but it doesn't disappoint.

There are no pleasant surprises or shocking omissions here when it comes to connectivity. There's Bluetooth 2.1, WiFi connectivity and HSDPA with speeds of up to 7.2Mbps. For those looking to be up to speed with the latest wireless tech, there should also be an NFC-equipped model of the phone coming out soon.

An insufficient amount of storage space can put a huge dent in the usefulness of an otherwise good handset, and this is the case here. It's simply baffling how Nokia could think that 8GB of non-expandable onboard storage is enough. This is 2012, and smartphones are often bought with the purpose of being everything-in-one. Microsoft's SkyDrive means you get 25GB of free cloud storage, but it's not the same as having it right there, physically in your phone.

Conclusion

This, as with all Windows Phone handsets, is a good option for smartphone newcomers thanks to the OS's inherent ease of use and appealing layout. Furthermore, it's an affordable handset that actually looks like it could be worth a lot more, so you won't feel like a cheapskate wandering around with it.

The major shortcomings with the Lumia 610 are its storage capacity and screen quality. Ironically, its predecessor, the Lumia 710, can be acquired for a similar price and is superior in both the aforementioned areas, among others. That being said, if you want an uncomplicated smartphone with a smooth OS and strong battery life, then this could satisfy all your needs.