Nokia Lumia 610

Okay,this review would primarily focus on the huge shortcomings of windows phone in general.
(p.s - I have used the lumia 610 and as a phone,its good in its price range. Build quality is good and looks vibrant. It has got a 3.7 inch screen with 480x800 res.,which is rare for a 12k handset)

Now,I have used windows phone and these were the basic limitations I observed which i believe shouldn't exist if i buy a phone above 12k(since none of the windows phone cost below 12k)

- it doesn't have a mass storage mode,so if you dont have zune installed on your computer,you wont be able to connect your phone to your computer to transfer files.(and since you require windows vista and above for zune,those of you who use xp have got a problem.)

- Zune will only transfer photos, videos & music.other files like documents have to be emailed to yourself.

- It doesnt allow file transfer bluetooth!! You can just use bluetooth to connect 2 a bluetooth headset.

- You cant just use any desired MP3 file as ringtone!!!(WTF!) MP3 file must be less then 40 seconds in length,less than 1mb in size and without DRM protection(DRM-digital rights management,i.e you cant save an mp3 downloaded form nokia music with protection even if you have paid for the song.)

- You cannot send videos in MMS!!

- You cannot charge your phone when it is off.

- Wi-fi disconnects when screen sleeps. So if u start a download and leave it idle for a while,download would stop.

- you cant save contacts to SIM card.

- you can only attach photos in email,but not documents.(kind of lame,even when it allows to edit ms office documents)

- another very irritating drawback is,it wont recognise phone numbers in sms,so if someone messages u a no.,you wont b able to save it or call!! U memorise it and then save it as new contacts!

- U cant close music player,only pause. Music player on lockscreen will stay until you switch off and restart phone.(Be careful not to touch it in a classroom or meeting etc.)

- If you receive a sms when talking on the phone, if full volumw is set,a very loud audio alert will blast your ear!!(all other phones will give a soft beep.)

- It doesnt support flashplayer(even if you buy a very expensive windows phone and your phone has the hardware for it!)

These are just some basic problems one would notice after starting to use a windows and would miss some very very essential features that you would expect to get with even a very modest phone. There are a lot more(just search the web for shortcomings of windows phone 7.5)

this is not actually abt the lumia 610 but abt the windows phone ecosystem... ppl who dismiss windows phone saying it has no apps plz look again the app store now has more than 100,000 apps with most of the quality apps already available or coming soon enough..agreed android has more apps but many of them are copies,duplicates or even malwares.
as for the wp interface it has won rave reviews all over the world.

and abt the lumia 610 having 256MB RAM,still the phone runs much smoother than the cheap androids u get with much more RAM and thats because windows is optimized to have lower RAM requirement especially with the Tango update..the core os hardly lags with some lag if u do heavy multitasking and run many apps simultaneously but still nothing like the laggy hell cheap androids are.

ppl complaining abt the price, seriously? have u seen the build quality of the phone..

ppl plz go and try out the phone b4 being so dismissive or atleast dont talk crap, i am certain u'll like it :)

Disclaimer :I am pretty much an android user for 2 years, which makes my review little aggressive. Any android fan boys out there please don't be offended.

1.I get Windows Phone OS with all the apps I need ,I don't need my phone just to have angry bird or talking tom ,what I need is quality apps which work for me. Facebook and Twitter and all other social sites integrated into the OS (so I don't have to do to marketplace install their apps which doesn't help much :D ) will save lot of time going through apps and figuring out what's new in all of them.

Guys why do you need so much apps in market ? are you gonna install 100000+ apps in your phone ?? Are you kidding ?

2. In built Outlook Mobile Client: I have an android tablet which I use as my alarm. yeah its good for just that. When I already spent enough on a tab/smartphone why would I not get a world class Email client or browser? Trust me, the default Email Active sync do not sync folders I have specified on my outlook nor google has a concept of giving regular update. Cannot blame them for the fact their vendors messed it all. So I will be forced to Buy Email clients like "TouchDown" which I found the only app giving a good professional Email sync.
In Case of Windows Phone we get the outlook mobile itself present, and I get to see all my meetings on the start screen. I get complete office mobile version which is an added bonus .

3. Nokia build quality: The screen resolution is awesome for this price. I will tell you why I feel that. I recently gifted someone an android phone when nokia did not have 710 or 610 available it cost me around 9.5k, from Samsung. The screen resolution is so bad that I can see the pixels in them :D. This model has soft key which even Lumia 710 does not have. I would say this phone would have cost 15k-17k if this was released 1 year before. And this looks to have Gorilla Glass.

4.Camera : Agree they don't give you a VGA(oldddd technology) front cam. However at this price there aren't much phone who will give 5MP cam with LED flash. Am I talking like a nokia sales man? well I have a Samsung Galaxy S, much celebrated phone from the Apple rivals.. they don't have a flash for their camera. Nor does their 15k phone Galaxy Ace has it... guess what.. an entry level Windows Phone from Nokia has it..

5. Fits my budget: I would not spend on 40k iphone to show off. I am happy to spend for something fits my needs and this phone does it and covers my work and social life.

A friend of mine recently bought this with 'cyan' as a colour choice.After handling it and using for a while here's my opinion (no offence) for it.

For best specs that none have,go to:
http://www.nokia.com/in-en/products/phone/nokia-lumia-610/specifications/

I will just point out Pros and Con's

[Pros]
THE BUILD - super glossy metal and polymer finish {Guy's at 13K one get's super osoumn metal and polymer finish,it even competes with iPhone build}

DISPLAY -3.7 inch (480 x 800 pi)lcd tech {best value for the price}
Corning® Gorilla® Glass {That's some serious heart winner}

Connectivity - Hsdpa 10.2 Mbps {pretty neat for low end device}
WLAN IEEE 802.11
Power - Max talk time (2G is 10.5 hrs and 3G is 9.5)

Software/O.S - windows 7.5 mango,Upgrade to Tango by sept 2012
Sync - MS ZUNE pc suit
Mac connector sw {std for mac user's like me}
support for HTML 5
NAV - Nokia Drive and Nokia maps {The best out there}
CAMERA - Main resolution of 5.0 meg's {pretty std}
Led flash {at 13k it's Squeaky clean}
Auto focus with 4x digital zoom
Flash opt.range is 3m
Geotagging
Video capture with freeze still
STORAGE - internal (8GB)
Cloud with skydrive (25GB)
MUSIC - Zune app {In metro U.I it's super smooth}
Audio streaming and Windows media DRM 10
Playready DRM support
Active Noise Cancellation
FM with rec.
For the first time on Flipkart I'll include Material's too cuz I am a nature boy :)
MATERIALS - free of BVR and PVC
contains Recycled metals
100% recyclable {won my heart for this}

[CON's]

Display - No Clearity display like lumia 710 {that means black's won't pull out more}
RAM - probably a deal-breaker although phone works fine but for core multitasking,3rd part apps ...umm nope it lag's and sometimes crashes.{U won't get skype and angry birds :O}
Storage- NO External storage support {Yikes oO}Although we get 25GB free cloud support but that's also not a good idea cuz upload speeds in India so(wuuuuuuoooooo}

OVERALL
If u want a Pretty damn gorgeous phone, Nokia assurance,budget friendly and Chillax performer then go for it or else if you are Hardcore performers{that includes tweaking the O.S, overclocking ,playing with kinect through phone sensors and stuff}then you might be dissapointed.

As far as the handsets in this range are concerned, this one is one of the best. You will only feel the slow hardware when you'll play demaning games or run heavy apps. The OS is very fast and light and everything opens up in a flash. You'll actually not feel any difference from the 710 nad the 800 as far as the basic use is concerned. Someone earlier commented that this phone is getting the Windows phone 8 update, but that is not true. Even the lumia 800 and 900 will not get the Windows 8 update because of the difference in the kernel of the two operating systems. The lumia 710 and 800 received heavy price cuts some time after their launch, so if you can wait then you'll get it for around 10-11k after some time. At the present price, it's better to buy a lumia 710 which is priced just around Rs.2500 more than this one.
The main problems with this handset (actually with the Windows phone mango OS) are:
1. No mass storage mode. You have to use the zune software on your PC to transfer files which can be a little frustrating.
2. Less number of apps than Android, although all he basic apps are there which most people use. This is a con for those who spend all their time searching and downloading apps.
3. Bluetooth can be used for everything except file transfer.

Frankly speaking, this phone is better than most in this price range and Nokia the most reliable company as far as mobiles are concerned, so I'll just be waiting for the price cut coz my budget is tight.