Microsoft Lumia 950 XL review: The Master Chief
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- AnonD-426702
- S7U
- 17 Dec 2015
ICE, 14 Dec 2015Sorry to hear that. Hopefully you will get a case for it no... moreThanks.
Well it WOULD have a case if there was a case available in my country.
I will keep it as is until after New Year day (as it is fully functional), because I am afraid if I tried to fix it now, it would get delayed.
- g
- ggg
- w7h
- 17 Dec 2015
lol. hohohooo.. windows phone os is a failure. this year, pinterest stops supporting windows phone os. next year path will also do the same.
microsoft! thats what u get for destroying nokia.
- D
- AnonD-477189
- 3Y2
- 16 Dec 2015
AnonD-81205, 13 Dec 2015Damn I love this comment section.
1) You don't praise Mi... moreIf continuum is a useless joke, a 4K screen should be a laughing matter too. And just because a feature is new doesn't mean it's something great. HTC's Ultrapixel tech in the M8 was nothing more than a marketing ploy - photos were muddy, had low DR and often had poor contrast. (PS, if everything new was good, then we should all be celebrating their decision to include an 810 instead of an 808 :P )
I'm not saying the 950XL is a wonder phone. Plastic is blegh, especially next to that gorgeous Sammy glass, and the price isn't exactly competitive either, and MS could have done something really great with this device. But that said, it's not such a bad phone! Apart from the build quality and the apps, it does pretty much everything you'd expect from a flagship.
- F
- Forest gate guy
- 8mp
- 16 Dec 2015
I have just bought this after my friend has - no comments on use as I haven't used it yet but I have noticed the bottom of the case creaks which is disappointing. My friends 950xl does not have the same problem
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- lucky
- YTY
- 16 Dec 2015
As shown an told battery life is not so impressive its not lasting much even when it is above 3000 amah battery
- S
- Sefin
- snd
- 16 Dec 2015
I did like the review, but I have one issue with my 950XL. It actually does overheat.
Try to play Tomb Raider Relic Run and see...
I was very dissapointed by this as even Lumia 550 does not heat that much playing this game... but I want to give it a try after a week again. Lumia 550 was heating up like crazy first day even on age of empires and after a few day it was only warm. So I hope it will be the same story for 950XL.
otherwise...
design - I own Xperia Z1 and I find 950XL nicer. I don't know why. I loved design of my Z1, but my new 950XL just seems nicer. So design is pretty subjective.
power - for normal use it is awsome. I am waiting for display dock to test continuum, but for now I did not have any issues except for Tomb Raider overheating and not exactly smooth performance - could be even game's problem.
Windows 10 - unlike others I have minimum of issues with the system - my only problem is outlook. I can no make it work. It receives email, but it does not send it. But in desktop outlook (not the web one) it works fine.
Iris scanner - still in beta, so I would say it is funny feature, yet it works and even in the dark (tested)
camera is excelent. It takes much better pictures than the compact camera we had.
so in overall I am happy with this device. I only hope that the overheating will be fixed ASAP.
- y
- yann
- pct
- 14 Dec 2015
AnonD-81205, 13 Dec 2015Damn I love this comment section.
1) You don't praise Mi... moreMy thoughts exactly!
I was surprised to read so biased review from gsmarena team. Never happened till now.
The only "innovation" is iris scanner, but it's slow and not convenient as fingerprint. Try it in the bar or club, where is dark and all other will think that you take too much drinks to look your phone so close and staring at it.
Even so called Excellent camera is on par sometimes with iPhone, sometimes even better. Yes, it dominates most of the time, but hell - when 930 came out iPhone can't even get close to it. Not to mention 1020. Now Lumia is just in the same wagon with Samsung and Apple.
No comments on design - absolutely agree with you. Describe with one word - unnoticeable, cheap, ugly - everyone can choose what to be.
Windows 10 - so immature and I'm wondering how is possible Microsoft to sell this for final version?!? Enough words for windows as a service - even like this it must be more stable and reliable - not to resume, resume and crash.
Apps - where? Someone mentioned to be patient for system one month old - dude, developers have access to windows 10 long, long before us, but the truth is - THEY DO NOT CARE for OS with 1,7% market share.
I love my windows 8.1 phone and I hoped to replace it with 950's, but that will not happened.
Still I have some patient left till April, but if there is not any device to catch my attention - bye, bye. Then will no longer be even 1,7% share.
- I
- ICE
- NHr
- 14 Dec 2015
AnonD-426702, 14 Dec 2015Unfortunately I seem to have the first feedback on what hap... moreSorry to hear that. Hopefully you will get a case for it now after it's fixed. I'm getting the Mozo leather flip cover for mine.
- D
- AnonD-426702
- nmC
- 14 Dec 2015
Unfortunately I seem to have the first feedback on what happens if a kid 120cm, drops it from over his head on concrete tiles (face up, it seems), then accidentally step on it (~28kg) AND slide it on the tiles like a skateboard.
- Screen 0% cosmetic or functional issues.
- Plastic cover ~2% cosmetic. If it was white, it would be null. Now you can faintly see a couple of slide marks (not deep, may disappear with minimal sanding), IF they tell you they are there. I initially thought cover was for replacement, but really it is not.
- Most serious problem, glass (?) over camera/flash cracked (actually shuddered but in place). Camera and flash fully functional. "Luckily" no crack is right over the lens so photos are ok.
I cannot see any functional problem, still it felt like sh*t to have this on a less-than-a-week 740 euro device (price in Greece - like we are not in crisis... many curse words in my mind right now).
Now I will report back (within the week?) on the quality/speed/price of the service. I might very well be the first 950 XL in Greece, so it is quite possible no service kits are in the country yet. We'll see.
- M
- Mike Ty
- X{h
- 13 Dec 2015
Please do not listen to people who have plenty of imagination but never have faced reality. The best reason to consider the 950/XL is their OS Microsoft Windows 10. We all know that Microsoft is the best software company in the world and today they decided to put all their power into Windows 10, the operating system that works on all platforms. Universal app is great thing for the world and it started just one month ago. it's the perfect time for everyone to start looking at it and find the best way to develop, make money and enjoy. don't forget: The quick you start, the most are the chances to win big
- t
- the tech nerd
- utQ
- 13 Dec 2015
Love_lumia :P, 13 Dec 2015This phone should get an award for the most powerful phone ... moreLol
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- AnonD-81205
- spZ
- 13 Dec 2015
Damn I love this comment section.
1) You don't praise Microsoft? You are a hater.
2) You don't like the look of these devices? You are a hater.
3) You have any objection? Shut up, hater.
That said - my opinion:
1) The review seems very biased hardware wise.
These two phones have literally the same components - except for the camera - that everyone else uses on the market. Even Xiaomi and other Chinese manufacturers use these.
How is that new? How is that a plus?
There are innovators on the market.
Sony uses heat-pipes/watercooling inside. Sony got 4K panel. V10 got dual front cameras. HTC had UltraPixel. Durability (Motorola). Full glass build (Sony, Samsung). Metal body (HTC, Apple).
I mean come on, the market is full of innovations.
But this? I don't see _any_ new hardware features here.
And:
- While noted in the summary, fingerprint reader is a _must_ in 2015. It is convenient, pretty safe, and enables mobile payments / authentication.
- Continuum is a joke. Literally what you can buy for 10-15$ from cheap Chinese electronics sites. (Those HDMI Android sticks? Yepp, same thing.) Not to mention performance wise, reviewers noted that even scrolling lags.
2) The phone does look very cheap. Both.
The market is dominated by a) Glass b) Full Metal c) Leather/Plastic designs.
There is nothing wrong with full plastic/cheapo designs. Nokia Lumias were always durable.
But for this price tag? Come on now.
And to be honest, most people won't care about removable battery - power users do, I do.
But your average Joe? Nope.
3) The SD810 is very power hungry.
Microsoft should have waited for the Helio X20, or SD820.
Or license the latest Exynos chip. Or do a safe bet and use 808 for both.
4) The software is still lacking
It is still very immature, even after so many years and so many reboots.
tl;dr: I am interested in WP, I do follow WP news, but this thing is supposed to make me switch?
Hell no. Just nope.
By the way this device could have made a great WP10 flagship - with a much lower price tag, and a fingerprint reader - it would be a decent device.
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- 2896
- PT}
- 13 Dec 2015
AnonD-475786, 13 Dec 2015No waterproof No finger print scanner No IR PORT But c... moreNo need for the waterproof cos you're not leaving in the sea. And also no need for the fingerprint there's the IRIS SCANNER.
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- Love_lumia :P
- PT}
- 13 Dec 2015
This phone should get an award for the most powerful phone of the year and the following years. Yeahh this phone from microsoft is really so HARD TO BEAT. It gives us what we all need. Spend for this and you'll see what is worth for buying this :) :)
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- Note5
- KS7
- 13 Dec 2015
I just bought this yesterday. IRIS Scanner is Ok but certainly requires some effort to get this unlocked. Overall performance is not great, not sure if this is something to do with OS or Apps. Most the apps are not syncing (SplashID is crashing) not sure if they are optimised for Windows 10 Mobile edition. Haven't bought Dock yet.....The screen is really good but not like Note 5. It is cheap plastic and very light, I like the battery replacement idea and Dual SIM. Nothing significantly improved over my last experience with Windows Phone about 2 years back. I somehow feel that my earlier Nokia Lumia 920 felt extremely premium for the price Lumia 950XL demanding. Not sure where Microsoft is heading.
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- AnonD-475786
- Xu@
- 13 Dec 2015
No waterproof
No finger print scanner
No IR PORT
But cost is high
- t
- the tech nerd
- uuM
- 13 Dec 2015
OfficialTRider, 13 Dec 2015Well at first if you are building a microsoft pc it's not s... moreNo need to pay 14k for win 10pro,just buy windows 8.1 pro and Microsoft will be giving you an update :p
- O
- OfficialTRider
- X0Q
- 13 Dec 2015
AnonD-362866, 09 Dec 2015Don't you know microsoft is huge in india and other develop... moreWell at first if you are building a microsoft pc it's not so cheap. I mean 13999 rs. For win 10pro then another 15k for motherboard and 25k for processor and 25k for gpu. Screen cost will be 25k and cabinet will cost 10k. And 10k as additional costs. So 119k is the price for a good windows pc But the software software suite and all the games you can play on that machine are way too much. And windows interface is more user friendly that's why more users are using it.
- t
- the tech nerd
- 2Tc
- 12 Dec 2015
AnonD-362866, 09 Dec 2015Don't you know microsoft is huge in india and other develop... moreFirst of all you got no right to mock Indian people to buy ishit, not saying that macs are bad but for price they are shit, and your comments seem neither honest, nor realistic
- t
- the tech nerd
- 2Tc
- 12 Dec 2015
AnonD-4697, 11 Dec 2015People like you makes me think is using an Samsung S2 and i... moreDude seriously s2? Just see s6 before mocking him about s2 lol