Gear Diary Nokia Backtracks on Lumia 710 Backplates photo

When Judie was in New York last month we had the opportunity to attend a special Nokia event and spent some hands-on time with the Nokia Lumia 710, 800 and 900 Windows Phones. We were, and are, impressed. And we left the event with our own shiny new Lumia 710s courtesy of Nokia! They are nice phones that, on contract, can be had for no more than a song. (You can read Judie’s full review here.)

Gear Diary Nokia Backtracks on Lumia 710 Backplates photo

They look quite nice and feel good in the hand. Yes, there is something to be said about smaller phones that actually fit IN the hand rather than phablets with 5.3 or even 5.7″ screens that require two hands.

Gear Diary Nokia Backtracks on Lumia 710 Backplates photo

The phones we got have a white face and a black back that results in a Windows Phone that looks like it is wearing a tuxedo.

Gear Diary Nokia Backtracks on Lumia 710 Backplates photo

The Xpress-on back plates are removable and replaceable. That means the battery is user-replacable and one could even put a new plate on the phone if, for example, yours broke. You could even change out the color and get a new look on your Nokia 710! Or maybe not. Google “Nokia 710″ and “backplate” and the first thing you learn is this…

Gear Diary Nokia Backtracks on Lumia 710 Backplates photo

That’s right, the Europeans get their choice of colors when it comes to the backplate/backcovers of the Nokia 710 while we Americans are left choose from Black and White. How very boring. And how very false.

You see, until the end of this month if you buy a Nokia 710 you can get a free color back in one of four colors. Judie and I were each sent two. That means we are able to cover all the combinations and they look great.

Gear Diary Nokia Backtracks on Lumia 710 Backplates photo

I got Yellow and White for a total of three different back plates.

Gear Diary Nokia Backtracks on Lumia 710 Backplates photo

At first I thought the Yellow would look silly but the contrast between the White and Yellow is rather eye-catching.

Gear Diary Nokia Backtracks on Lumia 710 Backplates photo

And a mild-mannered phone suddenly has personality plus!

Gear Diary Nokia Backtracks on Lumia 710 Backplates photo

I really like the look and it does grab attention!

Gear Diary Nokia Backtracks on Lumia 710 Backplates photo

Then I tried on the White back plate. One might think it is a bit boring but I really like it. It is clean, simply and sophisticated.

Gear Diary Nokia Backtracks on Lumia 710 Backplates photo

In fact, the white plate is an absolute keeper. (Although I can’t rule out using the Yellow one when I’m feeling a bit silly.)

There are, of course, two more colors available. More on those shortly.

Tags: ,



Having a father who was heavily involved in early laser and fiber-optical research, Dan grew up surrounded by technology and gadgets. Dan’s father brought home one of the very first video games when he was young and Dan remembers seeing a “pre-release” touchtone phone. (When he asked his father what the “#” and “*” buttons were his dad said, “Some day, far in the future, we’ll have some use for them.”) Technology seemed to be in Dan’s blood but at some point he took a different path and ended up in the clergy. His passion for technology and gadgets never left him.


XBOX One Fallout – No XBOX or X360 Games, No Indies, No Used Games, and More

Xbox One - What about Gaming?

Well, THAT didn’t take long! In fewer than a dozen hours the XBOX One reveal went from being exciting … [...]

Cognition Episode 2 The Wise Monkey Slashes onto Mac and PC!

Cognition Episode 2 The Wise Monkey

A few months ago I reviewed the iPad version of the first ‘episode’ of Cognition, the adventure game series from [...]

Jagged Alliance Kickstarter Closes in On Goal During Final Hours

Jagged Alliance Flashback

Anyone with a history in classic PC gaming is familiar with the Jagged Alliance franchise. Going back to the 90s, [...]

2014 Kia Cadenza Stylishly Conquers the Pacific Coast

Last week I was invited to test drive the 2014 Kia Cadenza along with a small group of other bloggers [...]

Popcornflix Partnership Enhances Digital Movie Xbox 360 Application

The popcorn keeps expanding at the Popcornflix movie streaming service, as Unicorn Media, a leading Internet video solutions provider, announced [...]

Carry Yours Cards, Cash and Phone in Style With Waterfield’s New Finn Leather Wallets

With the advent of such things as Google Wallet and Apple’s Passbook there is a growing interest in virtual wallets. [...]