Microsoft announces the Lumia 950 and 950 XL flagships

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The biggest news at today's Microsoft event in New York was, of course, the official announcement of two of the most leaked smartphones in recent times, the Lumia 950 and 950 XL flagships, designed to carry the flag for Windows 10 Mobile into 2016, with 'Hello' Iris recognition, Continuum support and upgraded specifications across the board, relative to the 18 month old Lumia 930.

Lumia 950

Lumia 950 XL

Lumia 950 XL

Here are the specifications you need:

  Lumia 950 Lumia 950 XL
OS Windows 10 Mobile Windows 10 Mobile
Dimensions 145 x 73 x 8mm, 150g 152 x 78 x 8mm, 165g
Chipset 1.8GHz Snapdragon 808
64-bit hexacore
'Liquid cooling'
2.0GHz Snapdragon 810 v2.1
64-bit octacore
'Liquid cooling'
GPU Adreno 418 Adreno 430
Connectivity LTE up to 450Mbps
plus dual SIM option
LTE up to 450Mbps
plus dual SIM option

RAM 3GB 3GB
Display 5.2" AMOLED, QHD (1440p)
ClearBlack Display
Glance screen
Gorilla Glass 3 
5.7" AMOLED QHD (1440p)
ClearBlack Display
Glance screen
Gorilla Glass 4 
Storage 32GB, plus microSD 32GB, plus microSD
Rear camera 20MP, PureView with oversampling
1/2.4", f/1.9
Fifth generation OIS
Triple LED flash
4K capture
Dedicated capture key 
20MP, PureView with oversampling
1/2.4", f/1.9
Fifth generation
OIS
Triple LED flash
4K capture
Dedicated capture key 
Front camera 5MP 5MP
Cabling/charging USB Type-C (up to 5Gb/s)
USB 3.1 standard
Quick Charge 2.0
Qi wireless
USB Type-C (up to 5Gb/s)
USB 3.1 standard

Quick Charge 2.0
Qi wireless
Battery 3000mAh replaceable   3300mAh replaceable 
Speaker Rear-mounted, mono Rear-mounted, mono
Other Infrared iris-scanner ('Hello Beta')
Continuum-ready
Infrared iris-scanner ('Hello Beta')
Continuum-ready

Lumia 950 XL camera

I recently took all the specifications above and did a detailed breakdown of how they compared to the existing Lumia 930, Icon and 1520, so let me quote a little from that. 

In summary, the obvious question to ask is how much of a 'must' this upgrade, this new brace of flagships, is, especially for those with an existing Lumia 830 or 930 (or 1520). To be honest, everything above represents incremental improvements for 930/Icon owners, but they're all increments worth going for, especially for 930 owners, who will be eyeing up the extra power efficiency, storage expansion, Glance screen and better camera rather greedily. Anyone with a Lumia 1520 is faced with a slightly harder choice, since this already has the larger screen and at full RGB/1080p, plus the microSD support and Glance support.


Away from the prior flagships, the Lumia 950 in particular is going to be very tempting, taking existing 735 and 830 owners up to a spec level that competes with the best of Android. But all this misses the point slightly - Microsoft needs to make new friends, new customers with these flagships. Armed with the universality with Windows 10 on laptops, tablets and hybrids (Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book were announced during the same event, though are beyond the scope of AAWP), and with the possibility of hooking up a Microsoft Display Dock (Continuum), there are benefits here that should appeal to Windows 10-using businesses across the world.

 

Docked, Lumia 950 XL and Continuum

Pricing is still being announced in most countries. As an example, Mobile Fun have the 950 at £450 £500 inc VAT (price got changed 24 hours after launch!) and the 950 XL at £550 inc VAT in the UK. These feel a little high in this form, but remember that most of the target market will be picking these up on contract, so exact SIM-free prices are probably not that relevant.

Availability in all markets starts from November 2015, so at least a month from today's event.

Obviously, being a UK web site, we're unable to get hands-on with the devices at the New York launch, but the phones aren't expected for several weeks yet in a reviewable state and AAWP should be in the vanguard of those opinions.

What's that? You want a promo video too? Of course there's one, embedded below!