Nokia Lumia 710 review: Smack in the middle

Nokia Lumia 710 has a tall task at hand. The second brainchild of the Nokia- Microsoft partnership is the budget-friendly option in the lineup. It will try to entice first time smartphone buyers, while battling the Windows Phone establishment in the face of HTC and Samsung.
While the upscale Nokia Lumia 800 is clearly the object of more attention for its impressive build and superior features, the Lumia 710 is expected to sell in bigger numbers and perhaps bring higher profits. From a business perspective, the smartphone is even more important than its flagship sibling.

Nokia Lumia 710 official photos
Just don't take the budget reference to Nokia Lumia 710 at face value. Because of Microsoft's strict hardware requirements for the Windows Phone platform, the smartphone has the same 1.4GHz Scorpion CPU and 512MB of RAM as the Lumia 800, therefore promising identically smooth handling. In order to maintain the budget status and keep the price down, Nokia Lumia 710 has less built-in memory, an LCD screen instead of AMOLED, and a 5MP camera. Its design is less ambitious than the flagship's, but the Lumia 710 is still solidly built, even if not as good looking.

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Nokia Asha 200 review: Dual SIMpatico

Nokia's Asha is back for another round of bargain basement action and we find ourselves wondering how much cheaper it can get. Most of the time it makes sense to be skeptical of the lowest bidder but we've found the Finns' budget lineup to be efficient and dependable.
So, cheap it is. And although there're lots of bad ways to be cheap, the Nokia Asha 200 seems to get it right. It's a QWERTY messenger with dual-SIM support. There isn't a whole lot more to it than that - but Nokia are getting ready to sell big. You don't offer eight - repeat, eight - paintjobs unless you anticipate huge demand.

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LG Optimus Vu does a photo shoot alongside its biggest competitor...

n case LG Optimus Vu's teaser from a couple of days ago got you curious how a 4:3 aspect display might look like, we have some good news for you. A photo of the device has emerged, where you can see LG's upcoming phone/tablet pose next to its biggest competitor (or inspiration?) - the Samsung Galaxy Note.

As you can see from the photo above, the screen of the newcomer is wider than the unit of the Galaxy Note, despite its smaller diagonal - all thanks to its 4:3 aspect ratio.
A screenshot from the LG Optimus Vu from the same source hints at its software capabilities too. The phone will likely do some tricks, which will resemble the Samsung Galaxy Note's functionality.

We haven't learned more about the specs, than we know already. They include a 1.5GHz, dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU, 1GB of RAM, 8 megapixel camera, 8GB internal memory, NFC, Android 2.3 Gingerbread, and the impressive 5" IPS display with 1024 x 768 pixels resolution.
It shouldn't be a surprise if we see the LG Optimus Vu break cover during MWC at the end of this month. Naturally, we will update you accordingly the moment we find out.

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