Microsoft Lumia 950 XL Review: 950 XL comes with an Enhanced Screen and Processor
Lumia 950 XL
Microsoft Lumia 950 XL is a realretaliation for Microsoft in its Windows smartphone division. The handset has been introduced with an enhanced display and improved processor when compared to earlier Lumia 950. The device is also loaded with an improved liquid cooling system, which helps in solving the heating while playing high-end games and engaging in high-end processing. Lumia 950 XL includes Windows 10, which has now improved as an overall smartphone platform. Windows Continuum is a unique feature added to this smartphone. Also Windows Hello, which is an iris-scanner that provides authorized authentication to use the smartphone. Microsoft also improved the designing features of Lumia 950 XL. But the use of Matte finished plastic case is still debatable issue. Even though the latest handset has an enchanting spec sheet, let us have a detailed look to explore ourselves to have a better idea of the handset.
Design
The dimension of Lumia 950 XL comes to be 151.9*78.4*8.1mm. When compared to its predecessor, this handset is much broader and taller also weighs nearly 15 grams more. In a sense this has enhanced the display, battery and performance of this latest smartphone from Microsoft. The display featuring 5.7 inches wide is made of durable Gorilla Glass 4, which is scratch resistant and protects the AMOLED screen from any cracks. The back panel is made of matte polycarbonate which can be easily detached.
Unlike other uni-body handsets, Nokia prefer to be old-fashioned and stick to premium plastic panels. Lumia 950 XL comes out with a dual-SIM option. The only issue that I have with this latest smartphone is its high pricing, which of course doesn’t suit its plastic designing. The matte finished back panels ensure that the handset remains safe in hands. The earpiece is placed to the top of the screen. This is accompanied by 5MP front cam, iris scanner, ambient light and proximity sensors also. Top of the display precisely on the left end, you can find red light flasher, which supports the iris scanner in dim lights.
The handset is packed with four mics on the board. In this four, two are placed on the front, each above and below the screen. The other two are placed to the back of the smartphone. All these four mics helps in having Lumia Rich Audio Recording experience during video capturing.
The main snapper is placed to the back panel. It is supported by features such as optical image stabilization and LED flash. The left side panel is left blank, while right one holds two volume trackers. In addition to this you can also find the power button next to it. The top panel has the audio jack for connecting headphones, while the bottom one places USB Type-C port. The battery is removable and when removed, you can find the SIM slots placed beneath along with microSD card slot also.
Display
As I mentioned earlier, the display comes to be 5.7 inches edge to edge. The display is packed with Quad HD resolution and AMOLED. The pixel density comes to be 518PPI. This has given the screen a crystal clear clarity along with high resolution. The brightness of Lumia 950XL can be enhanced upto 705nits, which helps to provide an enhanced viewing experience even in bright sunlight. Inorder to reduce sun glare effect, the screen is also loaded with Nokia ClearBlack technology, which uses polarization filter to deal with glare. Another feature is the colour rendering feature which is DeltaE, which records 1.6, considered as least deviation seen in mobile handsets. Also the company has provided a Colour Profile app which manages the saturation and colour tone according to the profile.
Processor, Memory and Storage
Lumia 950XL functions on Snapdragon 810 Octa-core chipset. The chipset is packed with 4*2GHz Cortex A57 and 4*1.5GHz Cortex A53 cores. Inorder to provide flawless processing, this processor is supported by a RAM of 3GB. Apart from this the graphics is enhanced by Adreno 430 GPU. This helps the processor to run high-end smartphone games on this handset. The internal memory allowed in this handset is upto 32GB, which is essential to hold all the applications thatmakes the handset run. This internal memory can be enhanced with the help of external microSD memory card and can be extended upto 200GB. This extensive external memory can be used to store HD videos, images as well as other important docs and files. In short you can use your handset as a secondary laptop if you prefer to.
Operating System
Microsoft introduces Lumia 950 XL as the second handset to be loaded with Windows 10 out of box. The Mobile version of Windows 10 blends in so well that it appears to be similar and familiar for the users. The features like Live Tile homescreen, well managed settings menu, application list down and action center with controls are placed well under the hoods. Yet certain new features requires introduction. One such feature is the Glance Screen, which displays the unicolor clock, date and missed number notification. Next feature is the LockScreen, where you are allowed to see the notifications without unlocking your device.
Windows 10 supports only two Homescreen modes. One is packed with live tiles which you can customize according to your requirement. The other one is the list of applications available in your handset.The Action Centre offers four controls and all available notifications that come from Windows. Here you are allowed to enhance these controls also. The other usual features that Windows offers are Navigation, Cortana and Battery Apps, all are available in this version of Windows 10 Mobile also. The Task Switcher shows 6 live assignments in the place of 3 in Lumia 950.
Windows Hello Feature
Windows Hello is the biometric authentication system introduced by Microsoft in its software series of Windows. Inorder to use this feature, the device is required to have an iris or face or fingerprint scanner. With the help of iris scanner, Windows Hello works perfectly in Lumia 950 XL. The Lock Key can turn on the display and the iris scanner can unlock it in seconds without any issues. Only one user can access the device with the iris scanner, which makes it so safe and secure.
Cortana and Continuum
Cortana is the digital assistant that Microsoft added to its Windows 10 OS. With the help of Cortana, you are allowed to give voice commands to gadgets that are installed with Windows 10. The gadget performs according to your commands.this feature can also be used to trail news feeds, help you in cooking, help you in your journeys, find out locations and book tickets online and the list goes on. Another feature, Continuum, is used to interchange User Interfaces especially in convertible devices. But when it comes to Lumia 950 XL, this can do certain extra things. Continuum starts functioning as soon as the device is connected to a display board or keyboard. Then you will be able to see the Start Up screen of your handset on the monitor. Everything else, such as Cortana, Task View and Start Menu can be used so conveniently in those monitor also.
Camera
The main snapper is powered by lens of 20MP. This is enhanced with a new PureView sensor. The main snapper makes use of a 1/2.4 inches BSI sensor which comes with ZEISS certification. Also the triplicate LED RGB flash ensures that the images will be taken without red eyes. The ZEISS lens are 26mm wide and has got an aperture of F/1.9. The Windows Camera Application can be used to have extensive quality images. The Lumia Rich Capture feature enhances the capability of the snapper. It helps in colour balanced images with enough warmth and colour contrast. The other features supported by the camera are face detection, geo-tagging, HDR and so on. Videos can be recorded with 2160 pixel resolution at 30fps along with optical stabilization and stereo sound. The front cam is loaded with 5MP snapper. This has got 1080 pixel resolution and promises lovely selfies with your close ones.
Performance and Benchmarks
| Apple iPhone 6S Plus | Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+ | LG G4 | Samsung Galaxy Note 5 | Lumia 950XL | Lumia 950 | |
| Basemark OS 2.0 | 2261 | 1789 | 1584 | 1560 | 1472 | 1281 |
| Basemark X (Medium) | – | – | 24990 | 36475 | 32178 | 26330 |
| Kraken 1.1 | 1731 | 3767 | 4085 | 3702 | 6133 | 6856 |
| BrowserMark 2.1 | – | 2591 | 1990 | 2324 | 1067 | 1056 |
| White cd/m2 (100% brightness) | 590 | – | – | 439 | 705 | 626 |
| Speaker Test (Voice dB) | 65.8 | 65.8 | – | 65.3 | 74.9 | 71.9 |
Battery Capacity
Lumia 950 XL is loaded with a battery which has 3340 mAh capacity, which is almost 10% more than that of Lumia 950. When tested it showed that the battery could last for nearly 62 hours, when you uses handset one hour each for calling, music and video playback and browsing. This is the case in which you are using only one SIM. But when you insert your second SIM, the battery backup gets reduced to 47 hours. This clearly indicates that the Windows 10 OS has nothing to enhance the battery backup.
Summary of Specifics
| Design | 151.9*78.4*8.1mm165 grams
Dual-SIM |
| Display | 5.7 inches with 1440*2560 pixels518PPI with AMOLED capacitive touchscreen
Corning Gorilla Glass 4 with ClearBlack Display |
| Processor | Qualcomm MSM8994 Snapdragon 810 Octa-core processor |
| Graphics | Adreno 430 |
| OS | Windows 10 Mobile version |
| RAM | 3GB |
| Storage | Internal – 32GBExternal – upto 200GB with the help external microSD memory card |
| Camera | Primary – 20MP with 4992*3744 pixels, Carl ZEISS optical certification. Optical Image Stabilization, Autofocus, Triple LED RGB flash, Geo-tagging, Face Detection, Panorama, HDRSecondary – 5MP |
| Video | 2160 pixels @30fps with Optical Image Stabilization and Stereo Sound Recording. |
| Scanners | Iris scanner, Accelerometer, Gyro, Barometer, Proximity, Sensor Core |
| Communication | WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n/acBluetooth v4.1, A2DP
USB v3.1 Type-C |
| Battery | Li-Ion 3340 mAh battery |
| Price | Premium Range – $1111 |
Prons
- Improved and Enhanced Display
- Windows 10 OS coupled with Cortana and Continuum
- Windows Hello Feature blended with Iris Scanner
- Enhanced Primary camera with ZEISS certification
- ClearBlack technology preventing glare issues
- Cooling facility to deal with heat issues
Cons
- Enhanced battery but not enhanced backup
- Tagged with high price
- Panels made of matte plastic
- No FM radio
