Microsoft Lumia 950, 950 XL Phones Benefit From Windows 10 Features

Microsoft packs its Lumia 950 and 950 XL phones with premium features, and for budget-conscious buyers looking for a Window 10 handset, there’s the Lumia 550.

The new Lumia 950 XL smartphone includes a 5.7-inch Quad HD AMOLED display with a Corning Gorilla Glass 4 cover, a 2GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor, a 3,340mAh battery, wireless charging capabilities and USB-C Fast Charging, which provides up to a 50 percent charge in just 30 minutes.

The new 20MP PureView camera shared by the 950 XL and its Lumia 950 partner features a triple LED natural flash and Zeiss quality optics that promise beautiful images, even in dark environments. The Lumia 950 phones let users take sharper images of fast-moving subjects, while allowing the addition or removal of the flash after the photo has been captured.

Both the Lumia 950 XL and the Lumia 950 also include a new Windows Hello Beta feature that lets users unlock their devices securely by looking directly into its screen so they can be positively identified via an infrared camera.

The companion smaller Lumia 950 smartphone includes a 5.2-inch Quad HD AMOLED display with a Corning Gorilla Glass 3 cover, a 1.8GHz hexa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor and a 3,000mAh battery. Like its stablemate, the Lumia 950 also includes wireless charging capabilities and USB-C Fast Charging, which provides up to a 50 percent charge in just 30 minutes.

Both the Lumia 950 XL and the Lumia 950 smartphones include 4K video capture capabilities, which give users super high-quality resolution for video. Also included is advanced Optical Image Stabilization and auto-focus capabilities.

The Lumia 950 handsets can also be connected to an accessory Microsoft Display Dock through the new Continuum feature in Windows 10, which allows it to be used with an external monitor, a keyboard, and a mouse to run Microsoft Office, Outlook and other apps. Prices for the Lumia 950 and 950 XL have not yet been announced. The phones will be available in select markets starting in November.

The budget Lumia 550 is a new $139 4G LTE smartphone that runs on Windows 10. The Lumia 550 has a 4.7-inch HD display, a 5MP rear-facing camera with LED flash and a 2MP front camera. It is slated to be available starting in European markets in December, with additional markets to follow.