Nokia Lumia 610 hands on

[MWC 2012] After the official announcement, I got some hands-on time with the Nokia Lumia 610. It is a small device that has a bit of an entry-level feel to it, which is completely normal, but as expected, he Windows Phone interface ran flawlessly and was fluid at all times. I suspect that high-powered games or apps will run noticeably slower than on the high-end Windows Phone, but it’s really great to see that the basic user interface and mundane tasks run just as well as they do on expensive models like the Lumia 800 and 900.

While it is currently hard for Windows Phones to compete on “specs” (the OS does not support multi-core), we can take away from Windows Phone that its UI is super-fluid, and the keyboard is super-responsive. At this point, what Windows Phone really needs is “more apps” and today’s announcement of Skype for Windows Phone (beta) helps a bit, although the hopes that the 610 would be a Tango device have been dashed.

The Nokia 610 looks like a great entry-level phones, and I would take it any day over a WildFire S or something like that, as entry-level Android phones can be sluggish – even before you start apps… Now, Nokia and Microsoft will have to market this hard, but at least there’s a solid foundation to build on.

If you want a smartphone only for basic email, social networks and browsing, this is worth looking at, and you may be surprised by it if you have never used a Windows Phone before.

The industrial design is fair and clean, but as an entry-level phone, don’t expect any miracles: it feels a bit plastic, although it is very light. I’m not 100% sure about what the battery capacity is, but this would be the most important thing to test at this point.