A Quick Look at Microsoft Windows 10 Devices Event

At yesterday’s event, Microsoft made a series of announcements including flagship Windows 10 mobile devices – the Lumia 950 and the Lumia 950 XL. In addition, Microsoft also announced a budget Lumia device – the Lumia 550, and the Surface Pro 4

Microsoft Lumia 950, 950XL: Quick Specs!

Finally, Microsoft has unveiled its new smartphones – Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL. This also means Microsoft has jumped into the mobile space with a complete refocus on its mobile devices, yet again. Let’s take a quick look at its specs to understand what it holds within.

Display

The Lumia 950 features a 5.2-inch AMOLED display with 2560 x 1440 pixel resolution.It will sport a pixel density of 565 ppi that means one can view crisp and clear images. The larger 950 XL comes with a 5.7-inches IPS display with 2,560 x 1,440 and whopping pixel density of 518 ppi that will ensure the device isn’t knocked out easily in the competition.

Processor

The 950 is powered by a hexa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 (RAM uncear) while the larger 950 XL packs in a 64-bit octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 with 3GB RAM.

In terms of processing power, both devices are well placed to take on the competition. However, one shouldn’t forget that the OnePlus 2 also packs in an 810 processor and at a much lower price. However, Microsoft’s Windows 10 could be a great distinguishing factor here if it manages to strike the chords right.

Operating System(OS)

Both the phones will come with of course Windows 10 out of the box. One of the biggest USP of the new Windows 10 is said to be the Continumm feature that allows turning the mobile device into a full-fledged Windows 10 PC. Both devices feature almost the same hardware so one can also expect a similar experience. It requires Microsoft Display Dock that will connect the devices via Type-C port to a display, keyboard and mouse. Moreover, you can also connect to an external source. The user can then continue to use universal apps that are pre-loaded on the phone.

Camera 

The best part of any Windows Phone is its camera, and the key factor I look upon is how good does it work. In terms of camera, both come with 20MP rear snapper along with triple LED flash and a fifth generation OIS. As usual both devices will also come with a dedicated camera button and a 5MP front-facing camera for selfies.

Storage

Microsoft keeps it simple with a 32GB storage variant of both models, which can be further expanded via microSD card slot.

Price and availability

The Lumia 950 is priced at $549 and 950 XL at $649. Both are expected to hit stores in November. There is no word on the India pricing and availability details.

 All other specs will be listed in a Full Review.

Lumia 550: The new budget Windows 10 device

Microsoft also announced a budget Lumia device – the Lumia 550.

To ensure that Microsoft has a contender in the budget segment too, the all new Lumia 550 is priced at $139, which is slightly over Rs 9000. Expected to ship in December 2015, the smartphone has a 4.7 inch IPS display with a pixel density of 315ppi.

The Lumia 550 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 210 with graphics support by Adreno 304. While the device comes with 8GB of internal storage and 1GB RAM, it supports external storage up to 200GB, just like the high-end Lumias.

In terms of camera, the Lumia 550 has a 5MP rear auto focus camera with an LED flash that can record 720p video. The front camera is a 2MP snapper that supports 480p video recording.

The device is powered by a 2100 mAh battery offering approximately 15 hours of talktime. Though the device was just a passing mention during the event and didn’t really much much limelight, it could be a great way to position Microsoft in emerging markets with devices at such price points.

Surface Pro 4; packs in an impressive specification set!

I expected Microsoft would launch the Surface Pro 4, which they did. However, the offering did leave most of us surprised.

For those of you who want to evaluate the specifications of the Surface Pro 4: 

• Processor: Intel 6th-gen processor (Core M3, i5 or i7)
• Graphics: Intel HD graphics 515 (M3), Intel HD graphics 520 (i5) and Intel Iris (i7) graphic cards
• Stylus: Microsoft Pen with custom Touch G5 chipset by Microsoft. Surface Pen stylus (five colors and interchangeable pen tips)
• Dimensions: 7.93 x 11.5 x 0.33 inches (201.4 x 292.1 x 8.4 mm)
• Weight: Between 766 and 786g (depending on processor)
• Display: 12.3-inch PixelSense display with 2736 x 1824 resolution. 3:2 aspect ratio with 267 ppi and Gorilla Glass 4 screen
• RAM: Choice of 4/8/16 GB
• Storage: Choice of 128/256/512GB/1TB SSD
• Networking: Wi-Fi 802.11 ac/802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.0 LE support
• Supports microSD card
• USB 3.0 and Mini DisplayPort connectivity
• Camera: 8MP rear and 5MP front-facing camera, both supporting 1080p HD recording
• Fingerprint sensor
• Battery: Up to 9 hours of video playback
• Operating System: Windows 10 Pro
• Surface Pro 4 docking stations (four USB 3.0, two 4K DisplayPort and Ethernet ports)
• Surface Pro Type Cover 

Sure, a quality product demands a price. But considering that the previous Microsoft Surface Pro 3 hasn’t been retailing in India and has been demanding a premium tag of close to Rs 1 lakh, it tends to be a bit more than what most users would prefer to opt for.

The one way for Microsoft to deal with this is to aggressively offer exchange programs and incentives to shift to the Surface Pro, and more importantly launch it in India. We’d await details on that from Microsoft.

Essentially, it’s the price that we expect to pinch most consumers in India. By a great deal. But those who travel to the US, would want to try their hands on a device once it launches.

Microsoft Band

Microsoft launched the successor to its fitness band which was announced last year, simply calling it the new Microsoft Band. Priced at $249 (approx Rs 16,500), the new Microsoft Band will start selling from 30 October.

The new Microsoft Band comes with a curved touch sensitive OLED glass display with a Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection. It sports a 320 x 180 pixel OLED display. The Band features an in-built GPS, guided workouts, UV monitoring, sleep tracking, calorie tracking, distance tracking and so on. The Band communicates with the Microsoft Health app on your smartphone to give you detailed information. The Band works with iOS, Android as well as Windows 10 OS sporting devices.

Microsoft has also added a barometer to give you an idea of the elevation when you are hiking or climbing stairs in real time. It also comes with Cortana integration, which will let Cortana remind you if you miss on a workout.

Another interesting metric that the Band measures is the VO2 max, which is a volume of oxygen, for serious athletes. It also includes features for golfers such as automatic shot detection for golf and even promises to give you reports of your golf outing based on your movements and shots.

Microsoft has also added support for other apps such as Uber, RunKeeper, Subway, Twitter, MyFitnessPal and many more. So it looks more like a smartwatch than just a mere activity tracker. But will it see more love from the audience as opposed to its predecessor? Only time will tell.
Let me know what you think of Microsoft’s latest tablet, which it calls the thinnest, most powerful tablet ever, Latest Smartphones, considering the price and specs. Does it offer enough for you to choose it over the Pixel C or iPad Pro?

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