Could The Lumia 1030 Be Microsoft’s First Flagship Phone?

Microsoft’s first venture as a solo phone manufacturer was tepid at best. The Microsoft Lumia 830 had some sparkling reviews, with many former critics of Windows Phone praising the device, others claiming Windows Phone may soon be the runner-up in the mobile phone operating system war. But, however much positivity the device gathered, it was consistently lauded as a cheap, albeit wonderful, budget phone. It was hardly the flagship phone consumers expected Microsoft to lead with.

That might be changing next year.

Leaks online kindled rumors of Microsoft’s potential first true flagship phone, in the form of the Lumia 1030—a direct successor to Nokia’s high-end, and photographer’s favorite, Lumia 1020. The 1030, nicknamed “McLaren” by the highly secretive Microsoft production team, had been in development for quite some time prior to the leak, but was cancelled for unknown reasons.

Phone Designer created their interpretation of the device that makes the new Lumia all the more tantalizing. Check them out in the gallery below.

Chinese website Tieba was the first to leak photos of what was claimed to be a pre-production model of the Lumia 1030, which was followed by alleged technical specifications that are nothing short of astonishing. At its heart, the device is rumored to be running a Qualcomm Snapdragon quad-core processor, 2GB RAM and a whopping 32GB of onboard storage. The screen size is cause for some debate, and may prove to be a 5- to 6-inch, 1080p HD display.

However, the feature that a true successor to the Lumia 1020 could not be without is a camera resolution that borders on the obscene. Topping the 1020’s 41-megapixel sensor, the 1030 looks as though it will boast a Toshiba-manufactured unit coming in at 50-megapixels.

As can be expected, Microsoft is being mum on these rumors, so it is hard to say whether the phone will launch with the upcoming Windows 10, in which case the device won’t see the light of day until late 2015, or whether it will launch independently running Windows Phone 8.1, which would mean the launch date could come any day.

Launching sooner rather than later shouldn’t have much impact on Microsoft’s plans, since the company already announced that all phones currently running Windows Phone 8.1 will be upgradable to Windows 10.

Microsoft is in dire need of a flagship device bearing only the Lumia moniker since it dissolved the Nokia name earlier this year. Currently, the only two devices considered pinnacle models for the company are the Lumia 1020 and Lumia 1520, the latter of which is a hulking, 6-inch behemoth. Both carry Nokia branding. If Microsoft is to change public perception of Windows-based phones, they need to launch a device that does for the mobile phone universe what Microsoft’s Surface Pro 3 did for the tablet market.

What are your thoughts? Are you excited for the Lumia 1030? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

[Images via Phone Designer]