Microsoft Lumia 950 XL Dual SIM Features, Pros and Cons

With a stunning 5.7” Quad HD display and a powerful octa-core processor, it’s the Lumia most have been waiting for. Get the phone that works like your PC and push the limits of what’s possible. Here are some of the features of Microsoft Lumia 950 XL Dual SIM.

 

One Windows experience

Apps, games, and music are in one place with the brand new Windows Store and Cortana sends helpful reminders to all your Windows 10 devices. Office apps are easy to use on any screen size and Outlook Mail has the same rich editing tools as Microsoft Word. From Excel to entertainment, Windows 10 keeps your digital life in sync across devices

 

Superior Performance

With an octa-core processor and a 5.7” Quad HD display, it’s the most powerful phone we’ve ever built. With USB-C Fast Charging, an extra-large battery, and wireless charging, it’s pure power that’s easy to charge. Demanding apps, serious games, and the creativity tools you love – get a Lumia 950 XL Dual SIM and discover exciting new ways to do great things.

 

 

Fantastic photos

The moments you want to remember happen so fast. That’s why we designed a 20 MP sensor that automatically reduces motion blur for sharper, more detailed photos. And with unique features like triple LED natural flash and Rich Capture auto mode, challenging lighting conditions won’t stop you from turning magic moments into precious memories.

Windows Continuum

Connect your Lumia 950 XL Dual SIM to a Microsoft Display Dock and use it with an external monitor, a keyboard, and a mouse. Office apps and Outlook scale up to create a big screen-optimized work environment that makes you more productive. It’s a PC-like experience that’s powered by your phone.

Before getting started please note that Its a little bit lengthy review ,but I can guarantee you that its worth your time.I would feel much appreciated if my review was helpful.Also please note that I am not a fanboy to any brand.I am just a tech enthusiast with years of experience in Windows phone.

 

The Microsoft Lumia Flagship was the most anticipated windows phone of 2015. Rumours started up with the launch of Lumia 940 ,which was then cancelled and ended up in the launch of 950. Exactly as the case with windows 9. The main reason to love windows phone is the amazing battery life, 36 months promised updates and of course the premium camera sensors that came way from Nokia Days.

 

Now coming to the Microsoft Lumia 950 XL Dual, Here is a quick look up on the specification of Microsoft Lumia 950 XL Dual SIM

 

1. 5.2 Inches, 2560 x 1440, 564 ppi, OLED ClearBlack Display
2. Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 Hexa-Core, 1.8 Ghz Processor
3. 20 Megapixel, PureView, Zeis Lens, OIS enabled Rear Camera
4. 5 Megapixel Front-Facing Camera
5. 3000mAh Battery
6. Iris Scanner
7. 32 Gb internal Storage w/Micro SD expansion up to 200 Gb
8. Continuum Support
9. USB 3.1 Type-C port
10. 4k Video Recording with up to 120 fps slow motion in 720p

 

Microsoft Lumia 950 XL Dual Design and Build Quality

Looking at the refreshed and highly premium design of other flagships from HTC, SAMSUNG, APPLE AND SONY, Microsoft hasn't invested much on its design department. They just packed it with a polycarbonate casing. It may disappoint people those who love premium metal and aluminium framed Phones.

But still a lot of people like its design and looking at its specification, the design just doesn't matter.
Build quality is great though it looks a bit more budget. It feels great when you hold it, lies flat on a table and doesn't feel heavy or slippery. The handset weighs 150 grams . its a very compact 5.7 inch phone which is perfect for single handed use and much more portable.

Just for some comparison, the 4.7 inch iPhone 6s weighs 143 grams, iPhone 6s plus at 155 grams, HTC ONE M9 at 157 g and S6 edge weighs 132 g. In practice, none of the design gimmicks matters as like 90% of owners, the phone has been put into a silicon skin to protect it from bumps, so all the guff about finish and feel are irrelevant anyway.

Microsoft Lumia 950 XL Dual Display Quality

The OLED display with Nokia's clear black technology looks fabulous.Its one of the sharpest and brightest display present in the market.It has great picture clarity exactly as if a 24 inch LED display is compressed to a 5.2 inch OLED. Its OLED and the blacks are very deep especially for the dark mode in windows 10.

The videos and the photos look great, nothing to complain here.The sunlight readability is superb and very bright. The light sensors does the job flawlessly in adjusting the screen brightness.
As in most of the windows phone, Microsoft Lumia 950 XL Dual SIM also has this super sensitive touch screen for using it with gloves and It does matter a lot. The browsing experience with Microsoft edge is superb. This time they have a great browser to compete with.

WINDOWS 10 on Microsoft Lumia 950 XL Dual?

Microsoft is doing the best they could and should do to improve the OS and its functionality. With windows 10 the story climbs up another milestone. The complete UI experience has improved with added functionality and features.

Of course windows phone doesn't have the bloatware that others have. Live tiles, like the Photo tile, really are nice, with the latest news scrolling on the News tile, latest apps for sale on the Store button etc. The start screen looks so dynamic With windows 10 in this phone, you can expand external memory upto 200GB. I heard you saying Who needs 200GB" the answer is, of course you need at least its a future proof thing.

As of my initial usage with windows 10 for phone,the OS still has some bugs which needed to be fixed. This is not a big deal or something to worry because Microsoft were releasing insider builds at least every two weeks.

Microsoft Lumia 950 XL Dual Apps:

Thi Big Questions- Microsoft has provided all the necessary apps that users in US need and they have no complaints about that. But in India it still lags in terms of app support. Even the apps available in the store are not as feature rich as the Android or IOS Apps. And of course most of the good quality apps are paid, while the same app runs free on ANDROID DEVICES (with annoying ads).

In general, windows phone 10 OS is beautiful, decent, feature rich and a lot customisable. The upcoming Redstone builds looks promising.

HARDWARE PERFORMANCE AND HEATING

Microsoft Lumia 950 XL Dual SIM running windows 10 OS has not faced any lag issues yet. Its very fast and responsive. The opening and switching between apps are very fluid. Its a fact that windows phone are less performance demanding, it would run smoothly even on a 1 GB ram device. Just the case with lumia 730.

The 950 has the snapdragon 808 chipset compared to the 810 in 950XL which has better performance scores including the heating issues.

The entire chipset is good enough to handle all the HD games ,videos and stuff which demand extreme performance. As of the current windows store apps and games, the Lumia 950 can run all of them at full functionality.

Calling and the overall sound quality of the device is very premium. No call drops, no issues. The speakers sound output also sounds great.

Despite all it does get a little warm while long term usage or on heavy load. Obviously its expected when the system is on high load and on any device. But lets see if Microsoft to fix it in the upcoming builds. Newbies please note that Heat is the by-product of power at our current level of technology.

 

CAMERA SENSOR

Microsoft Lumia 950 XL Dual SIM has 20MP pureview camera (The pureview thing does make a difference). Its not just about the Mega pixels, but it has much more than that. One important detail about the 950's camera is that is has a 20MP true 16:9 sensor unlike the iphone which has a 4:3 sensor. This is quite important as the vast majority of our monitors and TV have a 16:9 aspect ratio. So the 950 takes wider imagines at full res and that is one clear advantage it has in comparison to an iphone camera among many others.

The camera quality is truly great and no surprise here. The zooming clarity is stunning. The pictures are very well saturated to give that natural look with a slighter touch of bright colours. The autofocus feature works as intended. The exposure levels and everything else is well collaborated.

In low light, Microsoft Lumia 950 XL Dual SIM is better than most. There is also this really cool feature when taking a photo with flash where you can change the lighting effect to reduce the effect of the flash, which really improved some harshly lit photos. Very clever.

Now coming to the video recording, It can record upto 4k resolution. Which turned out to be really beautiful in terms of overall colours and sharpness. The ability to adjust exposure and stuff with windows 10 camera and that even while the recording is live, is a good feature windows phone has.

It also support the slow motion videos which does need some great hardware. Though at 128 fps it can record upto 720p only. And it appeared great with good amount of light available. Be aware that slow motion videos need good amount for light for better results with every phone.

BATTERY LIFE

Windows phone have always been better in terms of battery life they offer. Though with Lumia 950 the battery life is just decent. I kept my expectation higher with this thing. It can give you a full day with moderate usage and 7+ hours with heavy usage. The on-screen time is comparably better than other flagships with full HD + displays. The battery is replaceable which is great if somehow you got the battery damaged after the guarantee period.

There is nothing like a battery draining issue. Its just because of the highly juice demanding hardware. But the plus point it has is the Fast charging feature It works brilliantly. In 30 minutes of charging at 40% initial charge, Microsoft Lumia 950 XL Dual SIM is going to be back to 85-90% charge. Absolutely brilliant.

There is a battery saver mode in windows 10 which works pretty well and does help getting through the day with enough juice remaining in the end.

SOME OTHER GREAT FEATURES

1. The Lumia 950 has wireless charging along with Hello and Continuum.
2. HELLO works flawlessly though its a bit slower compared to the finger print scanning technology.
3. Continuum is awesome for and it has even more to offer in the future.
4. Microsoft Lumia 950 XL Dual SIM supports OTG
5. Microsoft Lumia 950 XL Dual SIM does not come with a free disply dock for free. You need to pay an extra price for the same. Its available at this amazon link http://goo.gl/BC3fYO
   

Final Words on Microsoft Lumia 950 XL Dual

There is no denying that lumia 950 is a fabulous smartphone. Its feature rich in terms of hardware. If you prioritise a great screen, good camera, expandable memory and CONTANIUM then look no further. Windows Phone OS is great in its own class.