We go hands-on with the Lumia 950 and 950XL

Microsoft has a big task in front of them: convince the world that there’s still room for Windows 10-powered flagship phones. They’re trying to achieve that Herculean task with their two newest flagship devices, the Lumia 950 and 950XL. These two phones are the best representation of what Windows 10 can do, and while they’re not perfect, they’re a great starting point for company.

Microsoft Lumia 950 XL

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 octa-core processor with liquid cooling
• 3GB of RAM
• 5.7-inch QHD AMOLED display, Gorilla Glass 3, Clear Black tech, 2560×1440 resolution
• 32GB of storage, expandable via microSD up to 2TB
• 20-megapixel rear camera, 26mm equiv f/1.9 PureView Camera with ZEISS optics, OIS
• 5-megapixel front selfie camera with LED flash
• Dual-SIM
• 3G, LTE
• WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS, USB Type-C, Quick Charge, Qi wireless charging
• 3,300mAh battery
• Windows 10 OS

Microsoft Lumia 950 specs

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 hexa-core processor with liquid cooling
• 3GB of RAM
• 5.2-inch QHD AMOLED display, Gorilla Glass 3, Clear Black tech, 2,560 x 1,440 resolution
• 32GB of storage, expandable via microSD up to 2TB
• 20-megapixel rear camera, 26mm equiv f/1.9 PureView Camera with ZEISS optics, OIS
• 5-megapixel front selfie camera with LED flash
• Dual-SIM
• 3G, LTE
• WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS, USB Type-C, Quick Charge, Qi wireless charging
• 3,000mAh battery
• Windows 10 OS

Initial impressions: The most premium of the Lumia lineup

If there’s one thing we can expect from the Lumia line of the devices, it’s awesome build quality and design. The Lumia lineage is obvious in the overall design of the phones. Both phones use a unibody polycarbonate design, though we’d have preferred a full metal build on the 950XL considering how expensive the thing is.

Both phones have physical shutter keys on the side. The Lumia 950 uses a 5.2-inch AMOLED panel while the 950XL has a bigger 5.7-inch AMOLED display. Both phones have QHD resolutions and both have Gorilla Glass 3 protection.

While many people may scoff at the plastic build of both phones, it’s also impotant to note that no one does polycarbonate better than Microsoft. That being said, for the price that you’re paying for, Microsoft could have incorporated at the very least a metal frame on the 950.

Internally, there’s very little to differentiate the two phones – the smaller 950 runs Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 808 hexacore processor while the 950XL runs the Snapdragon 810 processor. To keep things nice and cool, Microsoft used a liquid cooling solution inside the phones to tame the overheating issues of the Snapdragon 810.

The headline feature of these two phones and Windows 10 is Continuum. In a nutshell, Continuum allows you to use your phone as your PC, provided you buy the display dock from Microsoft. The dock is made out aluminum and has all the connectors you need to turn your phone into a PC. You simply connect the USB Type C connector from
the dock to your 950 or 950XL and viola, you have a Windows PC….technically.

There are limitation, but the biggst one so far is that phones in Continuum mode will only run universal apps – that means .exe apps that you’re thinking of installing on the phones won’t run – only apps bought from the Windows Store will function with Continuum. The display dock is priced Php 3,390.

On paper both the 950 and 950XL look to be powerhouses in the imaging department: 20-megapixel rear camera, 26mm equiv f/1.9 PureView Camera with ZEISS optics, OIS. It all looks very impressive but we’ll be reserving judgement until we get more trigger time behind the camera.

Remember our gripes about the body material considering the price? That’s a valid complaint: Microsoft is selling the Lumia 950 at Php 28,990, while they are pricing the Lumia 950Xl at Php 32,990. Phones at those price-points usually have better looking bodies and materials in them. Still, Continuum may just attract the odd mobile worker, though we do have to get more time with both phones to give our final verdict.