Microsoft Lumia 950 XL Review

Lisa Gade reviews Microsoft’s flagship Lumia phablet, the 5.7” 950 XL. In some ways it is simply a larger, faster version of the Lumia 950 we reviewed, but there are other differences including a dual SIM design and a bigger battery.

The GSM unlocked Lumia runs Windows 10 Mobile on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 2.0 GHz octal-core CPU with Adreno 430 graphics, 3 gigs of RAM and 32 gigs of storage. It has a microSD card slot compatible with cards up to 200 gigs, a removable 3340 mAh battery, dual band WiFi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.1, NFC and a GPS. The Lumia has a QHD AMOLED display, 4G LTE on a wide selection of bands (works on both AT&T and T-Mobile in the US), a front 5MP camera, rear 20MP PureView camera with Zeiss lens and try-tone LED flash and a Windows Hello camera for iris recognition (biometric authentication). It supports Windows Continuum and has Cortana the virtual assistant. It sells for $649 with no contract.

[GhufranYousafi]

I switched to Lumia a year ago and I am never going back, I am in love with it.

[Goldegearz]

Amazing phone, with such a beautiful camera. I took amazing photos at the Toronto Zoo last weekend. I wish more people would be interested.

[stormeirman]

Let me just say, you are one of the very best tech review youtubers. I'm so glad I'm subscribed to you! 😊

[nickackermanchannel]

Just bring the apps devs, it is the obvious thing windows phone needs, great video.

[babiboib]

@MobileTechReview Thank you for finally reviewing this phone..I've been looking forward to this for awhile, so thanks again Lisa👍😀

[RubenGoMoRadioboyPlus]

Best phone on the market. Unfinished OS. :(

[EstyVids]

I own the 950 XL dual sim and while I'm happy with the hardware the OS is a whole other story. Simply put I do not expect to have to beta test a £550 phone. The most severe of the problems concern stability, notification issues and battery life. Stability has been a nightmare with random restart loops that cannot be solved by a restart or even taking out the battery, notifications occasionally do not appear so I'm unaware I have received a text,  and battery life, while I do get a day out of, just seems like it should be more. Apps like Baconit or games rapidly drain the battery, and I cannot understand why an AMOLED screen uses over 70% of the battery life! They're slowly getting there but that's Microsoft's problem - they're slow. I've been with them since Windows phone 7 and I see a lot of potential but I do wish I had waited for the Surface phone in this instance.

With that said I do think this was a good and balanced review which is a rare thing. Subbed.

[pauljamesburgin]

Thanks for the review. I have a Lumia 640XL, and use it for note taking in meetings because the predictive text is better than on my Android and Apple phones ... I'm going to upgrade to the much faster 950XL ...

[Mr.Nabil.Belhaj]

Dear Lisa thank you for the 950xl review :)

[nobblynobody]

I didn't fancy paying through the nose to be a beta tester, so I got the cheapo 550. It actually works really well, if you just want to try out a w10m phone and you don't need some of the whistles and bells, I'd recommend it. No where near as many issues as the high end ones.

[pavitreelongtong]

I bought the phone and it's camera is awesome.

[julzmax]

I used to enjoy my Lumia 1520 but after a while it became apparent that Microsoft had given up on the OS. The apps are just not there and my phone would work terrible after every update. I was even beta testing win. 10 on my old 925 but it worked horrible. What is taking Microsoft so long to get things right? I've have long switched over to Android but I don't like that much.

[WolfieSilveira]

950 vs 950xl ? I wanna upgrade my windows phone, had the nokia lumia 925 for over 3 years, and it has become a bit buggy from time to time, so within 6 months or so, I want a new phone.. however should I wait for the next flagship from windows?, I've heard tales that upcomming windows phones will be able to run android apps too.

[TheLastESPADAx]

@Stephen Haunts how long ago was this? Some people had problems with that and u have to factory reset or they also came out with an update several weeks ago that fixed that

[TonyStark]

I loved my 925.. I've moved on to the 1520, then to iphone 6s plus. It's relieving to finally be on an OS that actually gets attention heheh. I enjoyed my years with windows though

[Afa]

I love my new 950XL! No issues so far with the device. I was shocked to discover though, that Microsoft removed it's official radio feature from the OS. You can pull up the radio on a basic android phone, but can't with a Windows flagship. Makes me sad.

[TallStarlite]

Wow, Sim cards, microSD and removable battery Wow!!

[Mtx]

If you press power button and volume up it will take the screen shots, that why I think the buttons are build that way. Its more easy to take the screen shots with one Hand on that way, with just one finger.

[ps]

Thanks for posting the video, was considering one and the video was very helpful !!

[TheCapeverdean]

PLEASE SOMEONE HELP....How much longer will 950 and 950xl work and what carrier will they work on. My 1520 no longer works as of 3 months ago. Got a Sony Xperia XA Ultra because of the size and the camera was supposed to be great. Just hate it. Would like to buy 950xl even if only for another year of use