Nokia's more affordable Windows Phone 7 handset, the Lumia 710, is to be released in the UK on 1 February. The handset, which runs on Windows Phone 7.5, will ship in six different colours at launch and feature a similar build and styling to the Lumia 800 and 900.

Unlike the slightly more premium Lumia 800, the 710 uses a 3.7-inch WVGA screen with the awesome ClearBlack tech found in other Nokia handsets. Inside is 512MB of RAM, 8GB of storage and a 1.4GHz single core processor. The specs don't exactly suit what we would consider a budget phone, Nokia however is marketing it as a value-for-money model, which with those internals, it most definitely is. 

A single rear-facing, 5-megapixel camera with LED flash sits on the back. From our time playing with the handset, the phone is incredibly quick for a Windows Phone and quite frankly matches the Lumia 800 in terms of performance. 

It may mean that when it comes to picking up the Lumia 710, the decision between it and the 800 is a very tough one. Although, contracts will likely be cheaper with the 710.

If you want to read more about the Lumia 710 then why not check out our hands-on here.

Update: We have the Three network telling us it will be stocking the Lumia as well as Orange, although no specific date yet. Nothing from T-Mobile or O2 yet, although we expect the former should be stocking it as will Vodafone.

Like the Lumia 710? Let us know in the comments below ...