Microsoft Lumia 950 review: Legendary Edition

02 December, 2015
Microsoft Lumia 950 is the firstborn of the new Lumia series, following the company's strategy shift. It's a precisely designed smartphone with clear ideas for its future, sharp hardware choices and groundbreaking software innovations. It's an epic device based on Nokia's legacy and reborn under Microsoft's custody.

Sort by:

  • D
  • AnonD-473116
  • KS6
  • 04 Dec 2015

Sounded more like an advertisement than a review. Yes, the OS has taken great strides but that is only because it lacked so much.
And there is no mention of the complete lack of good apps in the App Store, which is the biggest drawback of the ecosystem.
It just becomes a useless expensive brick because you don't have apps to do anything with it.

    • s
    • sr777
    • X}t
    • 04 Dec 2015

    Battery issue is software related. In earlier preview builds it was worse than this. But still it is still bad than 8.1.

      • I
      • Indian
      • 2T9
      • 04 Dec 2015

      AnonD-459976, 04 Dec 2015sorry , this is hardware related issue ! the battery lif... moreIt's Software Issue Man........ I Have Downloaded Windows 10 Preview In My Lumia 640.......... In 8.1 It Was Gave Me 8-10 Hrs Continous .......... But Windows 10 Preview 5-7 Hrs Continues Usage............ First Use Windows Phone Then Comment.

        • D
        • AnonD-354074
        • Mfx
        • 04 Dec 2015

        TeD, 04 Dec 2015Seems like a phone with great hardware, if only it was andr... moreif only you'd stop being biased then your comment would make sense

          • D
          • AnonD-167064
          • mcE
          • 04 Dec 2015

          mir, 04 Dec 2015Wow. You sure like to defend a half-baked OS.I surely don't defend Windows Mobile. I just know how it was with 7.5 and what it became with 10. And all I can tell you is it always gets better and better than before. As simple as that.

          Same goes for Android and iOS aswell, but Windows progresses faster than both if you compare Andorid ans iOS at their stage when they were as old as Windows Mobile is now.

          They were not this mature/stable and didn't have that much options and apps as Windows Mobile do now.

            • m
            • mir
            • thh
            • 04 Dec 2015

            AnonD-167064, 04 Dec 2015Built-in (native) apps launching and resuming speed will be... moreWow. You sure like to defend a half-baked OS.

              • ?
              • Anonymous
              • 5FJ
              • 04 Dec 2015

              What about the limited availability of apps for this OS? It isn't mentioned anywhere but in my mind it's the phone's biggest drawback. I am not trying to start a fight but Microsoft should work much harder on it's software ecosystem before releasing expensive devices for which a lot of apps available for Android or iOS are missing. I have a Lumia 630 which I use as a secondary device, and in this role I am perfectly satisfied with it. But to buy an expensive device which uses such underdeveloped OS: no, thank you. I have tried many devices with all current OS-s and at this point investing such amount of money into a Windows phone is in my mind a stupid and rationally not well founded decision, driven mainly by fanboyism.

                • T
                • TeD
                • vaS
                • 04 Dec 2015

                Seems like a phone with great hardware, if only it was android. No way i will buy a phone with half finished windows software...

                  • D
                  • AnonD-167064
                  • mcE
                  • 04 Dec 2015

                  Anonymous, 04 Dec 2015Or, you know, you have a 3 year old phone and batteries ten... morethe comparison is pretty accurate.
                  I don't comapre my Lumia 1020's battery life from day 1 with Windows 8.0 Mobile on it against my same Lumia 1020 with used battery several years later on Windows 10 Mobile.
                  I have compared the 2 the same day. I don't think that my battry got instantly worst in 1 day.

                    • ?
                    • Anonymous
                    • GwU
                    • 04 Dec 2015

                    AnonD-167064, 04 Dec 2015You've asked for accurate comparison with same OS and same ... moreOr, you know, you have a 3 year old phone and batteries tend to lose capacity after a while.

                      • ?
                      • Anonymous
                      • GwU
                      • 04 Dec 2015

                      Can it block ads?

                        • D
                        • AnonD-447116
                        • dPU
                        • 04 Dec 2015

                        I have been using WP for 5 years now and Windows is always working on something, but never finishes it.
                        The 950 is just another "Work in progress phone", it will probably be a complete product in 2017. after 200 updates

                          • D
                          • AnonD-167064
                          • mcE
                          • 04 Dec 2015

                          Have installed 38 updates on my Lumia 950 a few days ago, 10 yesterday and now I see there are 24 pending now.
                          This is just so you know Microsoft is working hard to make thing run smooth and fast.

                            • D
                            • AnonD-167064
                            • mcE
                            • 04 Dec 2015

                            Built-in (native) apps launching and resuming speed will be improved.
                            Edge browser speed will be improved.
                            Camera launching, shooting and saving speed will be even more improved.
                            3rd party apps developers must update their apps to the Windows 10 Mobile standard as some of them didnt received updates for Windows 10 Mobile and are running the same version as on Windows 8.1 Mobile which explains the fact that they can be slow when starting or resuming and even crash.

                              • D
                              • AnonD-167064
                              • mcE
                              • 04 Dec 2015

                              ICE, 04 Dec 2015I agree. Also if they can do an official test by updating o... moreLet's just wait and hope that GSMArena guys will retest Lumia 950 using the final RTM build 10586.17 for more accurate and realistic data concerning it's actual battery life.

                                • D
                                • AnonD-167064
                                • mcE
                                • 04 Dec 2015

                                And build 10586.17 is actually the final RTM one and not the 10586.11 as everybody believed it to be when released back in November

                                  • D
                                  • AnonD-167064
                                  • mcE
                                  • 04 Dec 2015

                                  Windows 10 Mobile build 10586.117 is coming later this month with no new features but with several bug fixes and other improvements.

                                    • D
                                    • AnonD-167064
                                    • 8kx
                                    • 04 Dec 2015

                                    I would rather not to give the fault of poor battery life to the AMOLED display, but rather to yet unpolished OS, because the battery life on my Lumia 1020 (also AMOLED display) got around 30% worth after upgrade to Windows 10 Mobile, but was way better on Windows 8.1 Mobile.
                                    Microsoft is saying, that a final/stable OS build is coming soon to deal with this problem.

                                      • D
                                      • AnonD-391800
                                      • pEs
                                      • 04 Dec 2015

                                      AnonD-391800, 04 Dec 2015I really hope its a software issue... The battery life is ... moreNow that is the trick with samsung amoled phones also
                                      The battery test decieves sammy users in some merit, cause UI and app usage is not tested, which on sammy phones is mostly all white and punchy colors, draining the battery.
                                      Its not all about the video app and browser.

                                        • D
                                        • AnonD-391800
                                        • pEs
                                        • 04 Dec 2015

                                        I really hope its a software issue...
                                        The battery life is really really bad...
                                        But amoled is not the fault here, as amoled favours black based UI design, and as we can see win10 ui is mostly black based,
                                        The 3g talk, browsing (mostly white) and video ( relative) time says it all...

                                        How can they release a phone with such bad OS optimization?
                                        Who would, except real windows phone enthusiasts, buy a phone which offers about half a day of usage for a typical smartphone user?!

                                          4 of 12