Hands-on with the Nokia Lumia 710: mid-range Windows Phone on the cheap

We haven’t really mentioned much about that other Windows Phone device that Nokia launched today, the multi-toned, backplate-interchangeable Lumia 710. That’s because, as opposed to the €420 ($585CAD) Lumia 800, the 710 will debut at a much more reasonable €270 (around $380CAD).

And what sacrifices are there for $200 less? Impressively, not many. Sure, the screen is no longer that pure black AMOLED from the 800, but the 3.7″ ClearBlack LCD display is excellent in its own right. It’s a little bit more rotund, losing some of that sleek internal battery curvature of its more expensive counterpart.

The biggest omission might be the camera, however. Moving from an 8MP Carl Zeiss lens to a more industry-standard generic 5MP shooter, the pictures don’t have that noticeable pop at first glance. Neither device has a front-facing camera, unfortunately.

The hardware is also a little different. Hardware buttons replace the 800’s capacitive trio, and the power button is on top along with the standard 3.5mm headphone jack.

One area in which Nokia hopes to help the Lumia 710 appeal to a younger demographic is with its interchangeable backplates, all of which are styled after tile colour options in Windows Phone 7 itself. Nokia has teamed up with Monster and Purity, two big players in the portable audio circuit, and there are several new headphone options available for purchase.

Neither device has the NFC capabilities of its N9 cousin, and both the Lumia 710 and 800 come with 1.4Ghz processors and 512MB RAM. The 710 has 8GB of internal storage while the 800 has 16GB.

There is no word on availability for the North American market at this time, but the 710 or something like it should be arriving in Canada in early 2012.

Check out the video for an in-depth overview of the Lumia 710, along with a deeper look at the 800, from Nokia America’s Director of Communications, Keith Nowak.