In response to a lot of speculation and leaked information about a new Microsoft smartphone, Microsoft has finally announced the Lumia 650, running through the power of the Windows 10 Mobile.
Acclaimed to be a business-oriented smartphone, the Lumia 650 boasts of good security features and the latest mobile versions of Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook and OneNote in the Office 365 cloud suite, which has been fully-optimized for touch screens.
The Lumia 650 is available in black and white and both options are stunningly attractive. Powering the edge-to-edge 5 OLED display and claimed to be the most beautiful screen ever, at a low price, is a removable Li-Ion 2000 mAh that can withstand up to 13 hours of heavy use. The Lumia 650 also features a highly polished, diamond cut and anodized aluminium frame, giving it an unparalleled, premium feel.
In terms of physical appearance, the Lumia 650 is incredibly thin with a light profile of only 6.9mm and weighing just 122 grams. Other key specifications include a 16GB internal storage space (expandable up to 200GB with the right microSD card), a 1GB RAM, NFC support, an 8-megapixel main camera and a 5 megapixel front-facer camera with a wide-angle lens.
So, the question of how the Microsoft Lumia 650 will thrive in the market comes in. Despite showing some signs of competitiveness following a partnership with companies like Uber and Hulu, in Microsoft’s five-year lifetime, the Lumia line has sold only 110 million handsets compared to Apple which sold 75 million iPhones in three months.
Unfortunately, the Lumia 650 lacks a pair of Windows 10 Mobile’s best features: The Windows Hello facial recognition-based phone unlocking, and Continuum, which lets you plug a phone into a monitor and use it like a PC.
Furthermore, no matter how appealing the Microsoft Lumia 650 looks, it lacks the right CDMA support for use on Verizon’s legacy 2G and 3G networks unlike the the Lumia 950 and 950XL before it. The phone will be offered through Cricket Wireless, AT&T’s low-cost prepaid subsidiary. The device makes sense as a low-cost phone for the budget-conscious, but business-oriented users will probably find it lacking.
The Lumia 650 will be launched in select European countries this week (February 18th) with an estimated cost of $199 in the United States and between £150-160 in United Kingdom.
