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Microsoft Unveils Windows Phones: Introducing The Lumia 950 And 950 XL

By Chanel Adams
Published on: 12:43 PST, Oct 6, 2015

Microsoft finally unveiled their latest Windows phones at the live event on Tuesday, Oct. 6. It seems like every other week or every other month there’s a new Android or Apple phone, but never any higher-end Windows phones.

Microsoft announced the new Windows 10 flagship Lumia phones. The Lumia 950 and 950 XL are the most popular smartphones released by the tech giant since they run on Windows 10. They also come with nifty new features like liquid cooling.

Let’s start with the Lumia 950. This Windows phone is smaller than most on the market, which is desirable for users who love carrying their smartphones in their pockets. It has a 5.2-inch size with a 2560×1400 OLED screen, which is still slightly larger than the Samsung Galaxy S6. Microsoft also updated this Windows phone with the 20MP PureView rear camera with optical image stabilization, a triple LED flash, and a Carl Zeiss lens. Like the iPhone 6s, both phones shoot 4K video.

The 950 XL has a 20MP rear camera, but has a 5.7-inch OLED screen with the same resolution. Both Windows phones have USB Type-C ports that allows you to charge them for up to 50 percent in just 30 minutes.

The look of the Lumia phones hasn’t changed at all, as they looked the same as the old ones. But their internals have improved with specs like 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. The Lumia 950 runs on the hexa-core Snapdragon 808 with four Cortex-A53 cores and two Cortex-A57 cores. The 950 XL runs on the Snapdragon 810 with four Cortex-A53 cores and four Cortex-A57 cores.

It’s been reported that the new Snapdragon 810 heats up quickly, which is why Microsoft incorporated liquid cooling technology into the phone. Now it’s time to talk about the battery. The 960 XL has a larger battery – 3300mAh compared to the 3000 in the smaller version. Both phones have removable batteries, something that Apple’s iPhones don’t offer. And both Windows phones will support a microSD card up to 2TB and are available in dual SIM variants.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snEIjWR4lQw

Microsoft has also incorporated fingerprint sensors into both phones that will use the Windows Hello beta infrastructure that uses facial recognition software as the desktop version of Windows 10.

The new Windows phone comes in three colors: black, white, or cyan. Some users will find that the color choices leave a little to be desired. The Lumia 950 and 950 XL retail at $549 and $649, with the XL version costing $100 more. The phones will ship out in November and pre-orders will begin on Wednesday, Oct. 7. These phones will be available exclusively at AT&T in the U.S., although users can purchase the unlocked phones on the Microsoft website.

If these new Windows phones are still over your budget, Microsoft launched the lower-end Windows 10 flagship phone, the Lumia 550. This budget-friendly phone has a smaller 4.7-inch AMOLED screen with a 1280X720 LTE display. It also runs on the quad-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon 210. The Lumia 550 has 1GB of RAM and 8GB of storage. This Windows phone is not known for its stellar camera since it only has a 5MP rear camera and 2MP front camera. It’s available in four color options: red, white, blue, and black, which look similar to the previous lower-end Lumia phones. They’re all made with black glass fronts and a wraparound polycarbonate casing. The Lumia 550 will cost $139 and will be available in December.

Microsoft even offers other affordable Lumia phones like the 520, 535, 620, 625, 630, and 635. An unlocked version of the Lumia 535 is available for $149 in the U.S. under no-contract carriers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bk-oBt0HD4w

What are your thoughts on Microsoft’s new Windows phones? Do you use a Lumia phone? Share your thoughts below in the comments section.

[Image: Sean Gallup/Getty Images]

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