Microsoft Lumia 950, Lumia 950 XL With Windows 10 Mobile Launched

The long-rumoured Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL are real. Microsoft on Tuesday at its "Windows 10 devices briefing" event unveiled the two flagship smartphones, alongside the launch of the Surface Pro 4, Surface Book, and Microsoft Band 2. Both the handsets run Windows 10 Mobile, the mobile edition of the company's latest operating system.

(Also see: Microsoft Lumia 950 vs Microsoft Lumia 950 XL)

The two smartphones, platform lead devices for Windows 10 Mobile, were unveiled by Microsoft's Panos Panay, the new head of engineering of the firm's premium devices division. The Microsoft Lumia 950 will start from $549 (roughly Rs. 35,800), while the Microsoft Lumia 950 XL will start at $649 (roughly Rs. 42,300) - both will become available in November. The company also announced the Lumia 550, due in December at $139 (roughly Rs. 9,100), but did not detail the specifications.

(Also see: Microsoft Lumia 950 XL vs Apple iPhone 6s Plus vs Sony Xperia Z5 Premium Dual vs Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+)

The Microsoft Lumia 950 sports a 5.2-inch QHD display with a pixel density of 564ppi. It is powered by a 1.8GHz hexa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 SoC and 3GB of RAM. It comes with 32GB of inbuilt storage that's expandable via microSD card (up to 200GB).

(Also see: Microsoft Lumia 950 vs Apple iPhone 6s vs Sony Xperia Z5 Dual vs Samsung Galaxy S6)

The Microsoft Lumia 950 XL, on the other hand, sports a 5.7-inch QHD display with a pixel density of 518ppi. It is powered by a 2GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 SoC and 3GB of RAM. It also comes with 32GB of inbuilt storage that's expandable via microSD card (up to 200GB).

Both the handsets come equipped with a 20-megapixel rear camera with 4K video recording, OIS, and an f/1.9 aperture, apart from a 5-megapixel sensor placed upfront with an f/2.4 aperture and full-HD video recording. The rear camera module features a triple-LED RGB flash module, and the phones feature dedicated camera buttons. They are the first Lumia handsets to run the new operating system, Windows 10 Mobile. The Lumia 950 XL is also liquid cooled, though Microsoft has yet to detail this aspect.

(Also see: Windows 10 Now on 110 Million Devices; HoloLens Release Date Announced)

The Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL come with adaptive antenna technology. The company says that this makes it possible for the device to give users the best reception no matter how they pick it up.

(Also see: Microsoft Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book With Windows 10 Launched)

The phones also feature USB Type-C port (USB 3.1), which Microsoft says with the inbuilt fast charging can charge 50 percent of the battery in just 30 minutes. Both phones also feature removable batteries, and built-in wireless charging.

As for software features, both Lumia 950 and 950 XL support Windows Hello biometric system that unlocks the device by just looking at your face. But the biggest deal was Windows 10 Continuum. Using a Microsoft Display Dock - which comes with an HDMI port, DisplayPort, and three USB ports - you can connect your phone to a monitor and use it with a Windows 10-like PC interface.