Microsoft Lumia 950 XL Review

Muhammad AwaisLast Updated: Dec 16, 2015

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After a long time, finally Microsoft is going to set out a flagship smartphone Microsoft Lumia 950 XL with outstanding features and specs, that will surely amaze you with its deadly fast hardware. Microsoft has tried to give full fledged smartphone to its windows users, that will give ultimate experience of windows 10 in Microsoft Lumia 950 XL. The Microsoft Lumia 950 XL has been packed with 2.0 GHz Qualcomm snapdragon processor, powered by latest windows 10. The awesome interface and can be connected to any screen and have experience of windows 10 just like a computer, runs 3GB RAM, 32GB ROM expandable up to 200 GB, 5.7 ” Quad HD AMOLED display, coring Gorilla Glass 4 gives extra protection to screen, bundled with elegant 20 MP rear camera with triple LED flash and 5MP front camera with wide angle feature. Thanks to powerful battery of 3340 mAh that gives long backup to Microsoft LUMIA 950 XL and can be charged through Qi Wireless charging. It definitely supports 4G with LTE Cat.4 (up to 150Mbps), Cat. 6 LTE (up to 300Mbps), USB Type C port with high speed data transfer rate. Microsoft Lumia 950 XL price in Pakistan is Rs. 75,000 as its a high end smartphone andn designed with advanced hardware.

Microsoft Lumia 950 XL Unboxing:

Well, the Microsoft LUMIA 950 XL comes with standard earphone handsfree, USB type C cable, and Quick charger. Earphone has good sound experience while it doesn’t have sound variations, it would be better to have woofer earphone. Thanks to USB type C for fast data tranfer rate upto 10Gbps. The Quick charger promises to charger your smartphone quickly.

Price and Specification of Nokia Lumia 950 XL:

Dimensions	151.9 x 78.4 x 8.1 mm
Weight	167 g
Memory	32 GB ROM , 3 GB RAM Expandable upto 200 GB
OS	Windows 10
Processor	2.0 GHz Octa-core processor, Adreno 430 GPU Qualcomm MSM8994 Snapdragon 810
Network	GSM: 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 HSDPA: 850 / 900 / 1700 (AWS) / 1900 / 2100 4G LTE: LTE band 1(2100), 2(1900), 3(1800), 4(1700/2100), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 12(700), 20(800), 28(700), 38(2600), 40(2300) Speed: HSPA 42.2/5.76 Mbps, LTE Cat6 300/50 Mbps
Camera	Primary: 0 MP, 4992 х 3744 pixels, Carl Zeiss optics, optical image stabilization, autofocus, triple-LED RGB flash Secondary: 5 MP, 1080p
Display	Size: 5.7 inches (~74.3% screen-to-body ratio), AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors Resolution: 1440 x 2560 pixels Pixel Density: 518 ppi pixel density Protection: Corning Gorilla Glass 4, ClearBlack display
Battery	Removable Li-Ion 3340 mAh battery
Features	SIM: Dual SIM (1 Micro + 1 Nano / MicroSD™ card expandable up to 64 GB) WLAN: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, hotspot Bluetooth: v4.1, A2DP GPS: A-GPS, GLONASS, Beidou USB: v3.1, Type-C reversible connector
Sensors	Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer, sensor core
C0lor	Black, White
Price	75,000 PKR

Pros and cons of Microsoft Lumia 950 XL:

Pros:

Super fast processor
Elegant design
20 MP rear camera with Carl Zeiss optics lens and triple LED technology and wide angle 5 MP front camera
Latest Windows 10
Powerful battery of 3340 mAh
v3.1, Type-C reversible connector advanced USB with high speed data transfer rate
Liquid cooling technique to keep smartphone stable
Huge storage space

Cons:

Plastic cover, Microsoft should have tried metal glass technology
A bit thick to fit in hands

Design Microsoft Lumia 950 XL Review:

Microsoft Lumia 950 XL is designed with traditional look of Lumia series. It is packed with thick strong plastic cover and fat bezel around the huge scattered 5.7″ touch screens on the front to protect it. It is perfectly shaped with 151.9 x 78.4 x 8.1 mm dimensions, however a bit thick as compare to other competitors with same specs. The AMOLED display is being protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 4 sheet,

Display of Microsoft Lumia 950 XL Review:

Microsoft Lumia 950 XL has been packed with 5.7 inch AMOLED display with 16M colors. Microsoft preferred 1440 x 2560 pixels screen resolution same as SAMSUNG GALAXY S6. While enriched with minimum 518 ppi pixel. The display screen has captured almost 80% of area of front view. The AMOLED has perfect viewing screen from every angle upto 30° degree. Thanks to Corning Gorilla Glass 4 to protect the underneath display AMOLED screen. The touch screen give you quick reply as you touch it with finger tips. Three virtual buttons are placed inside the touch screen and has a quick feed back. As usual the touch screen is divided into three sections, The top area is reserved for notifications, then comes a huge area for icons and all other fun takes place there and at bottom obviously there is buttons section.

Display features: Orientation sensor, Sunlight readability enhancements, easy to clean, High brightness mode, Lumia Color profile, Wide viewing angle, Corning Gorilla Glass 4, Automatic brightness control
Touch screen technology: Super sensitive touch

Processor of Microsoft Lumia 950 XL Review:

Microsoft Lumia XL 950 is powered by ultra fast, reliable, rich Qualcomm snapdragon 810, 2.1 GHz Octa core processor, is 2000 MHz clocks an ideal processor for x10 LTE speed that supports cutting edge mobile experience with speed upto 450Mbps, further it can run 4K HD videos. Now you can enjoy the ever fast 4G speed with specially designed Microsoft Lumia 950 XL.

The Microsoft Lumia 950 XL runs Andreno 430 GPU to experience the most efficient fast graphics ever, now a days movies, games and animated movies are in fashion, so Microsoft Lumia 950 XL with advanced andreno 430 GPU is ready to run all kind of high graphics games and HD video, Microsoft Lumia 950 XL has employed liquid cooling technology to ensure no heating issue with fast processing.

Memory for Microsoft Lumia 950 XL Review:

Microsoft Lumia 950 XL is equipped with 3GB RAM and 32GB of ROM to save your data for long time until you need. On extra storage space Microsoft Lumia 950 XL shows generosity, that can be further expanded upto 200GB with microSD slot. In addition, it provides OneDrive cloud storage to store data remotely.

Camera within Microsoft Lumia 950 XL Review:

Microsoft Lumia 950 XL is packed with 20 MP rear camera with carl ziees optics, and 5MP front camera with wide-angle for group selfies.The rear camera has auto focus type with two stage capture key. The camera has digital zoom with quality result, the Microsoft Lumia 950 XL has employed 6 lens optics for quality images with reduced noise, triple LED are set to assist the camera in low light places. The camera give you access to set the ISO, White Balance to take perfect shoot. further you can make 4K HD videos with 30 fps.

Main camera: 20.0 MP
Main camera focus type: Auto focus with two-stage capture key
Camera digital zoom: Yes
Camera optics: 6-lens optics
Stabilization: Optical image stabilization
Sensor size: 1/2.4 inch
Main camera f-number/aperture: f/1.9
Camera focal length: 26 mm
Camera features: Backside-illuminated image sensor, PureView, True 16:9 sensor, Fast Focus, High resolution zoom
Camera minimum focus range: 10 cm

Rear Camera of Microsoft Lumia 950 XL Review:

The Microsoft Lumia 950 XL comes with an elegant, smart and high resolution 20 MP rear camera. The camera uses carl ziees optics with 6-lens optics for quality result that you never seen before. The rear camera has its own triple LED flash to support in low light areas, Auto focus feature with two stage capture key. Camera is equipped with some outstanding features; like Backside-illuminated image sensor, PureView, True 16:9 sensor, Fast Focus, High resolution zoom. The resolution of image is (5344 x 3008) px which is a real high resolution image left no noise in image.The size of an image depends on the color intensity in image.

Microsoft Lumia 950 XL is capable of making 4K Hd videos of 3840 x 2160 px resolution with 30fps. The video recording features are Video zoom, Optical image stabilization, Continuous autofocus, Video light, Lumia Rich Recording with four microphones.

Front Camera of Microsoft Lumia 950 XL Review:

The Microsoft Lumia 950 XL is set out with full HD 5MP front camera with wide- angle feature for group selfies. It has its own flash that will help you to take selfie in low light places, the camera is able to capture the image of 2590 x 1450 px resolution that give clear shot with wide large area covered. The front camera makes video of 1080p of 1920 x 1080 resolution.

Network/ Connectivity of Microsoft Lumia 950 XL Review:

Microsoft Lumia 950 XL is a dual sim 4G enabled smartphone with ultra-fast internet speed of 450 Mbps.

It supports Nano SIMs and comes with latest USB v. 3.1 i.e USB type-C that transfer data of 10Gbps. Latest Bluetooth 4.1 connects you with other smartphones to transfer data securely. Furthermore on connectivity section it is equipped with NFC , WiFi IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, MIMO, Wi-Fi call, WiFi hotspot upto 8 device connectivity.

Here is detail of internet connectivity, the speed may be vary according to network operator:

GSM network: 850 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 1900 MHz
GSM max data speed DL: EGPRS 296.0 kbps
GSM max data speed UL: EGPRS 236.8 kbps
WCDMA network: Band 1 (2100 MHz), Band 2 (1900 MHz), Band 4 (1700/2100 MHz), Band 5 (850 MHz), Band 8 (900 MHz)
WCDMA max data speed DL: 42.2 Mbps (Cat 24)
WCDMA max data speed UL: 5.76 Mbps (Cat 6)
LTE FDD network: Band 1 (2100 MHz), Band 2 (1900 MHz), Band 3 (1800 MHz), Band 4 (1700/2100 MHz), Band 5 (850MHz), Band 7 (2600 MHz), Band 8 (900MHz), Band 12 (700 MHz), Band 17 (700MHz), Band 20 (800MHz), Band 28 (700 MHz)
TD-LTE network: Band 38 (2570-2620 MHz), Band 40 (2300-2400 MHz)
LTE max data speed DL: 300 Mbps (Cat 6)
LTE max data speed UL: 50 Mbps (Cat 6)

Battery performance of Lumia 950 XL Review:

Microsoft Lumia 950 XL is powered by powerful, long lasting 3340 mAh battery that can be charged through 2.0A quick Charger and can also be charged by Built-in wireless charging. The battery has good standby time of at least upto 5 days, while you can use it for almost 15 hours on 3G calls, 2.0 charger promise to charger your mobile in half hour from flat to 50%.

In-hand images for Microsoft Lumia 950 XL Review:

Microsoft Lumia 950 XL looks decent, and prominent in hand, its dimensions are 151.9 x 78.4 x 8.1 mm that let you hold in hands easily; however it is too thick to make perfect grip in hands. It has 167 grams of weight that is fine for a flagship smartphone with advanced hardware. The display has 5.7″ QWHD screen along with front camera. While the Microsoft still go with matte black plastic cover. Rear camera on back side of smartphone looks outstanding with triple LED flash. Shiny silver color button are placed right edge of Microsoft Lumia 950 XL which has good feedback.

External Images for Microsoft Lumia 950 XL Review:

While talking about the sides of Microsoft 950 XL which is sleek, slim and round edges adds more beauty to smartphone. The top side has audio jack for handsfree while the bottom has MicroUSB 3.1 Port which is used for both charging and data transfer too. The right side of Microsoft 950 XL has physical buttons; the power button is placed between volume buttons and there is an extra button which is used camera to capture instant image.

Interface Experience for Microsoft Lumia 950 XL Review:

Microsoft Lumia 950 XL run Windows 10 which is latest operating system of Microsoft. The home interface has installed apps icons and it can be resized by pinning on icon. By swipe down on notification area; you will find Quick settings option just like Android interface. The Home screen has two flavours, one is live tiles in which the screen has all the icons like tiles and second screen has list of apps.

The Microsoft Lumia 950 XL has windows Hello app for biometric authentication framework in Windows. This giant supports iris recognition that is managed by dedicated camera sensor on the top of display.

What is New in Microsoft Lumia 950 XL:

The Microsoft has employed liquid cooling technology to handle the heat up issue. The continuum feature that enables you to connect the smartphone to desktop monitor screen via dock which will switch the phone’s user interface to desktop screen and look like windows 10 desktop screen.

Benchmarking Microsoft Lumia 950 XL Review:

The smartphone has been tested with a benchmarking to ensure the its performance and reliability. It has shown magnificent result and secured outstanding points. In below snapshots you will find the score to each hardware separately. It is a complete package with beautiful design and quality hardware.

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Conclusion for Microsoft Lumia 950 XL Review:

Microsoft Lumia 950 XL is a high end 4G/LTE supported smartphone equipped with highly advanced hardware and latest Windows 10. The smartphone furnished with amazing technology and specs. The Microsoft Lumia 950 XL is bundled with 2.1 Octa Core processor, 5.7″ QWHD AMOLED display, 3GB of RAM and 32GB of built in memory which is further expandable up to 200GB. The mighty battery of 3340 mAh can be charged fast through Quick charger. The Microsoft employed liquid cooling technology to overcome the heating issue and it has also the “Microsoft Hello” feature for biometric authentication framework for iris recognition.

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