Nokia Lumia 710, 800 launch and cost details

Nokia’s final hope, the Lumia range of smartphones, is set to land in the hands of South African customers on 7 February.

Both the Nokia Lumia 710 and 800 will make their way to the country’s shores care of South African telecom, Vodacom. The mobile provider promises that, for R279 a month, users can enjoy the Nokia 800 on a Business Call contract with 100MB data thrown in. No word yet on the contract price of the Lumia 710, which will only see the light of day come the second quarter of 2012. Also launched is the Nokia Purity HD Stereo headset by Monster. But less of that, and more of the phones.

What’s all the fuss about then?

Lumia 710

Nokia claims the 710 is a “colourful, affordable” device with interchangeable covers (retch) and “thousands of apps”. The 710 is an HSDPA touchscreen smartphone, with a 3.7-inch screen, a 1.4Ghz CPU, 512 MB of memory, 8GB of storage, a 5MP camera and the well-received Windows Phone 7.5 Mango OS.

Lumia 800

This is the Nokia the geeks of the world crave. A 3.7-inch AMOLED touchscreen, an insanely responsive 8MP camera — possibly the best I have ever used on a phone — and 16GB of internal memory. What makes the 800 desirable is its design, which is the exact same as the unsuccessful Nokia N9. The phone is pure sex, design-wise and delivers a challenge to the glass-hugging curves of the iPhone 4S.

Nokia Purity HD Stereo headset by Monster

Monster makes exceptional headsets. This one is wired, and promises “HD” audio. It costs R1 800. Moving on…

Gerard Brandjes, vice-president for Nokia in South and East Africa said that the launch, was “the day that something unique, bold and exciting arrived in the South African smartphone market. I have been amazed with the strong operator partnerships, critical acclaim and consumer excitement the Lumia range has achieved across Europe, Asia and the US, and I expect exactly the same kind of enthusiasm for the devices locally. This is truly a new dawn for us.”

Windows Phone and Nokia could be the knockout combo that Nokia has been searching for. Delve into our hands-on for further information.