The Lumia 610 is certainly a Nokia—more akin to the Nokia of yesteryears. Gone is the polycarbonate all-in-one design found on the Lumia 800 and 900. Its more basic design reminds us of the original E series of devices, if not the N95.
The corners are curvy, there is a metal-looking shiny plastic trim, and the back plate, which feels soft to touch, slips off the back to reveal the battery and micro-SIM. The appeal here will be the menagerie of colors and back plates you will be able to get. Kids will certainly go for the brightly colored offerings, while adults may opt to play boring and safe with black.
If the Lumia 800 and 900 are a breath of fresh air compared to the average Android handset, the Lumia 610 is far from that, but that’s not to say it isn’t a tidy device. You won’t be mocked for pulling it out of your pocket—which you might get for owning some cheap Android handsets—but no one is likely to make any sort of positive comment, either.
To the left of the phone are the volume, power and dedicated camera buttons, while the top features a 3.5 mm headphones socket, a micro USB charging plug (not covered), and a hole for a lanyard to be attached.
The back features a 5-megapixel camera, flush with the design, while the front sports the 3.7-inch capacitive touchscreen display with the usual three Windows Phone 7 buttons along the bottom.
Novel feature
Nokia has introduced a flip-to-silence mode that isn’t to be found in the settings menu—a first for the Lumia range. The idea is that when you get a call, you can flip the phone over on its face and mute the noise—handy if you are in a meeting and a feature I would love to see in other models in the range. It also means it isn’t just HTC that now offers this feature.
I wasn’t expecting much from the Lumia 610’s camera, but I was pleasantly surprised. It’s not as great as the other Lumia models in the range, nor are the pictures standout-amazing, but they are better than most at this price point, and you aren’t going to be upset with the results.
The lens itself is fairly wide, and copes well in low-light environments. There is always the very handy auto-fix feature that corrects your images after you’ve taken them. Video is VGA resolution, so don’t expect much of any worth to come from that.
The Nokia Lumia 610 manages reasonably impressive battery life. With moderate use, I managed to go a full day without charging, which puts it ahead of many other smartphones on the market. If you’re a heavy user, you’d need to charge the phone before the end of the day, but I suspect most users will be pleased with its battery life. I suspect the good battery performance is a combination of the efficient Windows Phone OS and the Lumia 610’s relatively small screen.
Verdict
The Lumia 610 offers a very user-friendly experience for the first-time smartphone user. It’s enjoyable to use and comes with enough extras and goodies—Nokia Drive, Nokia Music, Nokia Transport that it will go down well with those who try it.
However, Nokia’s biggest challenge will be to convince people to try it, to convince them they don’t want the plethora of apps the iPhone offers, or the friendly cuddle of BBM and a keyboard.
Against the low-end Android handsets, this is a no-brainer choice.