Nokia Lumia 710 - £99.95 (+£10 topup) - SIM FREE at CPW instore and online!!

MattLFC

UPDATE - 03.06.12 - Now reduced to £99.95 (+£10 topup) until the 7th June 2012, but with £20 worth of free apps included as well!!!

Bought one of these on Saturday... Had seen it online, went into the store (where the display said £279 or £299 iirc) and asked if it was £129. Guy was gobsmacked, said no way, looked on the system and seemed to be in shock when he saw the price. He said he has sold a few at the proper price in recent weeks!!

Now this must surely be losing money for Nokia when one considers the CPW will be making a profit on it too. This is likely to get the handsets, and Windows Phone, into peoples hands and popular. Nokia and Microsoft have been spending billions on Windows Phone promotion this year. Obviously as this is a Windows Phone 7 device, so it is very powerful, fast flowing and simple to use, with a massive library of "apps". It is a good policy, because everyone who has seen my handset, is simply wowed by it, indeed a few peeps I know have ordered them already lmao!!

The display is only a standard LCD (not an AMOLED on its big brothers the 800 and 900) but it features Nokia Clearblack technology (makes colours more vibrant, blacks blacker and more importantly, enables the screen to be viewed in the brightest of sunlight), and is also a Gorilla Glass screen (iirc, it is the newest varient, the same as used in the Lumia 800/900 and iPhone 4s), so is ultra scratch and crack resistant.

Basically, for the price, this is a top-notch smartphone at a basement price.

http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/mobiles/mobile-phones/NOKIA-LUMIA-710/PPAY

A scan of the barcode with the Shopsavvy app confirms this is a SIM FREE handset, so is basically unlocked for any network, and has no crappy network customization. Play.com are currently doing the same handset, for £262. The box includes the standard black back cover as well as a blue one, to match the blue tiles if you prefer it. Obviously included is the charger, data cable and earphones etc (3.5mm jack).

As it's a Nokia Windows Phone device, it includes the Nokia Music app, but more importantly to a lot of people, it includes Nokia Drive, which is a fully featured, 3D satnav application, with maps available for across the world at no cost iirc.

And with it being Nokia, it has excellent reception and build-quality etc, basically what you'd expect from any Nokia... Also, Nokia have all but ditched Symbian/Meego/Maemo mobile operating systems for Windows Phone, and they view the Lumia range as their future in the smartphone industry, and are investing in it and shouting about it like there is no tomorrow. So this phone will receive the next major Windows Phone update (aka Tango).

I was going to buy one at £199 a few weeks back, I'm glad I waited lol. :T

MattLFC

Should also add, unless you know you definitely want the Lumia 710 (like I did), I'd advise you purchase it online, as you then have a 14 days "cooling off" period during which you can return it to the store or via mail for a full refund (minus the top-up). If you buy instore, you don't get this, but still get 28 days to return for a replacement if faulty, and 14 days to return for an exchange iirc (only on Vodafone at £129 though, not T-Mobile).

So if in doubt, just buy it online. Also, you "will" need a decent data plan with this phone, if you intend to use to its fullest (500MB+).

moonshine

I can't see any online at that price that are SIM free. Are you sure it is SIM free?

pingu

someone who works for CPW on HUKD said that all CPW phones are simfree/unlocked

Blackdog

moonshine wrote: »

I can't see any online at that price that are SIM free. Are you sure it is SIM free?

It is PAYG not sim free however as the phone is unlocked you can dump the sim that comes with it and use it with any network. It takes a microsim so if you have an existing normal sim you need to cut it down.

shanikang

Thank you I have just ordered one for my son, his contract phone finishes shortly and he defo doesn't want another contract.

:j :j

eljmayes

The 710 got exactly the same "guts" in it as the 800- the only differences between the two are the design, a slightly inferior screen to the 800, 8GB of storage instead of 16GB and a 5MP camera instead of an 8MP one.

All in all it's a great phone which should convert a few people over to Windows Phone. The price will likely stay at £129 for a fair while according to CPW reps.

MattLFC

Has been reduced for 7 days from 1st June until 7th June to an unbelievable price of £99.95.

http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/mobiles/choose-tariff/NOKIA_LUMIA_710/PPAY/NEW

Again, they are SIM-free handsets, so not locked to any network, or "branded".

mikegahan

Do we know if this is available in store or only online at this special price of £99.99? Many thanks

MattLFC

Instore and online; I'd highly recommend buying it online though, unless you know for certain you want the handset/Windows Phone, as the returns policy is better online (instore you can only return if the handset is faulty, online is covered by the distance selling regulations (think in this case CPW actually give you 14 days), so if you decide it's not for you, restore it back to factory settings and return it.

digp

this phone is not very good overall.
the camera is very poor.
it has other limitations too.
at this price though it is a bargain even with its limitations.