Samsung isn’t the only manufacturer in the smartphone market that’s moving into the use of metal in their products in order to attract more buyers. This week, Microsoft announced the Lumia 650 which sports a solid aluminum frame.
Although the back plate of the Lumia 650 is still plastic (and is removable), the use of metal around the device hints that the company is going to the right direction.
Specs-wise, the Lumia 650 is sporting a 5-inch HD AMOLED display, a Snapdragon 212 chipset with four Cortex-A7 processor clocked at 1.3GHz, 1GB of RAM and 16GB of expandable storage. There’s also an 8MP camera on the back of the device (f/2.2 aperture) and a 5MP snapper on the front with the same aperture.
The phone is rocking LTE connectivity, Bluetooth v4.1, NFC, Wi-Fi b/g/n, an FM radio, GPS, dual-SIM functionality and a 2000mAh battery which is replaceable too.
The Microsoft Lumia 650 will be launching in select markets in Europe this week for $199.
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After months of waiting, Microsoft has finally announced new
models for this year including two flagship models – the Lumia 950 and 950 XL
and a budget model in the name of the Lumia 550.
The Lumia 950 and 950XL will be the first flagship phones of
the company after it axed the Nokia branding and will replace last year’s Lumia
930 (Icon) and the Lumia
1520 from 2013.
The bigger Lumia 950 XL packs a 5.7-inch QHD AMOLED display,
a Snapdragon 810 chip with an Adreno 430 GPU, two quad-core processors clocked
at 2GHz and 1.5GHz, 3GB of RAM and the same liquid-cooling solution that’s
implemented in the company’s new Surface products.
Microsoft has decided to go with a 20MP sensor with Carl
Zeiss optics for the phone’s main camera, which also features optical image
stabilization (OIS) and a triple LED flash. The rear camera is capable of
recording 4K content at 2160p. Selfie lovers will also be delighted with the
phone’s 5MP front-facing snapper that comes with its own LED flash.
The Lumia 950XL will pack a 3340mAh battery and a USB Type-C
connector; and just like the Acer Jade Primo and other upcoming Windows 10 Mobile
handsets, the Lumia 950XL will also support Continuum.
A notch down, we’ll find the base Lumia 950 with its
5.2-inch QHD AMOLED display with Glance Screen and ClearBlack technology. It
has a Snapdragon 808 chip with 3GB of RAM. Its main camera is identical to that of its bigger sibling,
but the 5MP selfie snapper on the front does without the LED flash. The battery
has also been downgraded to 3000mAh.
Still a notch lower, is the Lumia 550, a 4.7-inch Windows 10
Mobile budget phone that sports a Snapdragon 210 chip with a 1.1GHz processor,
1GB of RAM and 8GB of expandable on-board storage. The phone also boasts a 5MP/2MP camera combo, a 2100mAh battery,
LTE connectivity and swappable polycarbonate back covers.
All three phones will be available starting next month, with
the Lumia 950 XL to retail for $650, while the Lumia 950 and 550 will sell for
$550 and $139 respectively.
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It looks like Microsoft is trying to fill the void on the
budget segment of the Windows Phone market. The tech giant has just announced a
new Lumia phone that’s intended for the budget-conscious consumers.
The Lumia 540 is a 5-inch smartphone that runs on Windows
Phone 8.1. The handset is equipped with a Snapdragon 200 chip with a 1.2GHz
quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM and 8GB of storage that’s expandable with the
use of a microSD card.
The screen will have HD resolution while the cameras at the
back and front will have an 8MP and 5MP sensors respectively. Just with other
Lumia handsets, the Lumia 530 will come with 15GB of free OneDrive cloud
storage with an additional 15GB if auto-upload is enabled. There’s no word on
connectivity details yet but we do know that the phone has two slots for two
SIM cards.
Microsoft has used a 2200mAh removable battery on the Lumia
540 and will certainly provide an update for Windows 10 once the OS becomes
available. The phone will go on sale for around $150 and will be available in
different colors including cyan, orange, white and black.
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The smartphone industry has definitely changed a lot in
recent years, especially after the entry of low-cost phones that run on a smart
operating system. The leader in this segment of the market is of course Google
with its open-source Android OS. And now that Microsoft has finally made the
Windows Phone OS free for manufacturers, we’re seeing an influx of affordable
WP phones in the market.
The most recent addition to this group is Microsoft’s very
own Lumia 430. And at $70, you may well consider it as the most affordable
Windows Phone handset in the market.
The handset is built with a 4-inch display with a resolution
of 800 x 480 pixels with a screen density of 235ppi. It also sports a Snapdragon
200 chip with a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 1GGB of RAM and 8GB of expandable
storage. On the camera-front, the Lumia 430 will come with a 2MP at the back
and a VGA snapper on the front.
As for connectivity, the budget constraints made sure that
the handset didn’t get LTE, but for its price we’re pretty surprised it gets
3.5G connectivity. And again, at $70, Lumia phones don’t get any cheaper than
this. And if Microsoft keeps its promise of providing Windows 10 updates to the
Lumia range, the 430 might actually a good investment.
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