[Quick Impressions] Who Just Got The Lumia 950 XL?

[Loc Ngo]

Got mine yesterday. The phone is super light and hard to grip to me. There were some instances that I almost dropped it. That never happened with my old 1520 though. The design is somewhat a put off but I bought a red mozo back cover and now it looks much better, really flag-ship like. But I feel like the phone wasn't built from premium plastic like my 1520. Yesterday I dropped it from my desk to the ground and it was scratched at the plastic bit on the bottom left of the phone. That was very unfortunate for me as that means I have voided my warranty for this phone. I felt so disappointed as I had dropped my 1520 for countless times but there isn't a single scratch considering I have never put on a cover for it.

Front camera is subpar in comparison to other flagships, especially when the surrounding lacks natural light (sunlight). The colour profile appears to be washed out and the pictures are lack of details. But still, it's much better than my 1520 after the Denim update. The back camera is superb. There is no need to say anything more about the quality of this camera. Flagship Lumias have always been the king of camera phones, especially when it comes to taking landscape pictures.

The phone got hot a lot while it was updating and installing my apps. But it dissipated heat very quickly thanks to the liquid cooling system. And the temperature has never reached the point where it's uncomfortable to hold. Whenever it gets warm, I just need to leave it for 1 or 2 minutes and it gets cool again as if I didn't use it.

The performance got choppy when the phone was under heavy workload yesterday but after the phone had finished its initial set up, it got a lot faster. Though apps like Store, Messaging, Weather sometimes get laggy. Also, Groove seems to drain the battery a lot more than it does on my 1520 and 920. I don't know why. I checked the battery saver app and groove is the main offender. That's understandable as I listen to music a lot but I don't know why the drainage was much less on my 1520 and 920 with the same listening hours. Moreover, whenever you unlock the phone while listening to music, Windows Hello has to wait for the music quick control to disappear before it can log you in. I reckon MS didn't consider it when they were making the feature. And it fails to recognise me when I look at the phone while it is on a table. But overall it has been fast for me. The process takes about 1 or 2 seconds. And I've noticed that the navigation bar can only be hidden with universal apps as it constantly stays on screen with old apps such as OALD, Windowscentral, and even 6tag. And despite missing Double Tap to Wake, but I am okay with the power button. I actually like the Double Tap to Lock feature.

Battery life has been modest for me although 3G seems to drain battery life a lot. I went to sleep with 61% battery last night (with Groove on using the external speakers for a 40 minute album for late night music) and got 50% when I woke up. Seems satisfactory to me.

So far I am happy with the phone. Hopefully there won't be any hardware bugs that make me replace the phone as my warranty is voided.

 

[CDino]

still waiting for the day i get my lumia 950 xl

 

[Joe920]

The phone is super light and hard to grip to me. There were some instances that I almost dropped it. That never happened with my old 1520 though.

For me it's exactly the opposite. The heavy 1520 with its smooth rounded corners made it tricky to handle for me. The much lighter 950XL with its straight sides is far less likely to slip out of my hands. It's actually one of the things I like most about my upgrade. If they can iron out the kinks in W10m I'll be very happy with it. And they'd better, because by now I'm past my return window!

 

[associatedpress]

is anyone able to "recommend" me in the Lumia Offers app so that we both get the $50 gift card code? If so, please contact me on here in a direct message so that I can proved you with my email address.

 

[Scorpio5x0]

Just took the plunge today. Finally got fed up with Verizon and went and bought an unlocked Lumia 950XL and 2 unlocked Lumia 950s. Then went straight to T-mobile and ported all my numbers and jumped on their Unlimited data plan offer they have. Still setting it up, but already loving it.

 

[associatedpress]

Also, yes, I just picked up a Lumia 950 XL in white from the Microsoft Store in Dallas. Updated to the 164 version of Windows 10 mobile and got the MicrosoftDMG firmware update. I haven't set up the Iris scanner as I think I will wait until it's out of beta before I go all in on it. I have not enrolled this phone in the Insider ring either as it will be my main driver and I still have a 640 to try stuff out on.

I immediately miss visual voicemail compared to my iPhone 6s and my Lumia 640 (T-Mobile variant but unlocked).

I like the feel of the 950 XL in hand and it is very snappy. Camera is great and really responsive. It's in an Incipio case and has an Incipio tempered glass screen protector I picked up at the Microsoft store as well. I was hesitant to pick up a current flagship at first but the last two Insider updates I used on the 640 convinced me that it was time. I am glad to be all in again on Windows, and hope that Chase and other banks I use (not BOA), makes a return to the platform. Also, it would be nice if SiriusXM had an official app. All in all though, happy with my purchase and might pick up a Band 3 whenever that comes out to accompany this new phone.

 

[venacephalica]

Hey all, will there be a waterresistant case available...

 

[iliramove]

Got the 950 XL a couple of days back.

First impressions, very light as compared to my 1520 and 930. I've been using the 930 before I got this phone and I find that 930 overheats worse than 950 XL doing the same stuff.

The moment I got home, I unboxed it and connect to WDRT. Updated to the new firmware and .104. Checked for updates and it updated to .164. Rebooted and installed all the updates and apps from Store and have been using it since.

I noticed the speed difference from 930 is quite significant. Used to get Loading acreens all the time but on this phone I've never encountered them as much. I don't bother to kill apps in the carousel and it just works.

The build of the phone is so so. Ordered a tempered glass screen protector and the Mozo cognac cover from eBay. Hopefully they'll ship by next week. That should make the phone feel better.

Camera is good, I wouldn't say great. Due to the large aperture there's a lot of focus hunting going on. Hopefully they'll update the Camera app.

Iris scanner works, but only indoors, also works when its almost pitch black. When outdoors, it'll fail to work for me. I suspect its my glasses reflections when I'm outdoor under the sun.

The phone gets warm, but never unbearable (930 was a champ in overheating) and I do feel it gets laggy though.

Restart issues do exists. When I was receiving or making WhatsApp calls. Other than that, no auto reboots yet.

Battery life is great. Hold charge better than 930. But not as fantastic as the 1520. 1520 is still the king in that department.

Overall, I'm happy. Will use it until the next big thing come, which will be the 41MP 1020 replacement for me...

 

[Gaurav Sag]

 

[Rimaz Flyil]

Hi can anyone please send me a request using lumia offer app so that we both can get ?50 windows store cred

 

[Mits5139]

Hi there,

Decided to make the jump from my iPhone 6S Plus as was looking to try something a little different. Had windows phone and loved it before but kept going back to the iPhone because of the ecosystem. Bought the white one off amazon.

Booted it up, installed all updates, added 128gb sd card and changed the cover to a pretty well made mozo black leather one. In all honesty its a pretty sharp looking phone which is easy to hold in the hand and has a nice balanced weight to it.

Set my theme up as a dark one as i like it very minimalist and have installed all the apps except one which has to be a crime. My starbucks app which is not available. Otherwise all my banking apps etc are there on the store and a big bonus is that the garmin connect app means my fenix 3 gets all the notifications, can control my music player and updates my sports stats. Pretty happy there. A word of note. Install the garmin app on the device and not the sd card otherwise the phone and watch won't play nice at all.

The screen is beautiful but not the brightest but did a stellar job out in the sun in london today. The audio quality through headphones whilst taking calls and listening to music was really clear. Phone reception was strong especially in areas where my iPhone tends to lose a connection.

Tested out the camera and it really does produce some very good shots. Not tried anything indoors as yet but looking forward to the results.

Battery life has been epic as far as I'm concerned. Being a new toy i haven't stopped messing about with it. Was my day off today came of charge at 4:30pm, constant music and syncing with emails twitter and instagram and web browsing. It is now 8:40pm and i still have 30% left. On a normal day i can imagine getting even more.

Iris recognition has been pretty solid in most lighting conditions. Only once or twice has it not registered and I've had to use the pin.

Main bone of contention is that it doesn't play nice with my mac which doesn't recognise it so I've slowly been uploading my music via one drive and downloading back to phone as a temp workaround but i can live with that. Also have spotify so all bases covered.

Also works really well with my 1 series BMW. shows album art etc on screen. Very happy!!!!!

I think the phone is far to underrated. Haven't got the dock as yet as i dont feel i have the need for it just yet. The phone has been pretty stable. I'm not using any insider builds. Only been kicked out of an app once or twice so far. Phone also runs fairly cool but in all honesty i dont play any games on mine.

I honestly think i will stay with WP10. I think its got a lot of promise. Got my iPhone as a backup but its in the drawer and out of sight lol.I can see my next phone being a WP and the hp looks pretty cool too. Overall a very happy punter

 

[tinyNorwegian]

Just got my 950XL in the mail!

I used the Lumia 930 from before 8.1 and upgraded it to W10 with the upgrade advisor. The result was OK. It ran good enough, and looked a bit more alive from the look of 8.1. Ofc I lost my phone just a couple of days later. That's why I ordered a Lumia 950XL. A read a lot about the 950's after they released. I was not convinced. Now I have used the Lumia 950XL for a day and DAYUM... This phone runs like a beast. Im on the official consumer-version (or whatever it is called). I like this phone so much Everything is smooth as butter (except Spotify). W10 runs like a king on this hardware What was your first impression?

Note: Can't get Groove to synd with my music-folder in Onedrive. :-(.

 

[hacer619]

Hi there,Main bone of contention is that it doesn't play nice with my mac which doesn't recognise it so I've slowly been uploading my music via one drive and downloading back to phone as a temp workaround but i can live with that. Also have spotify so all bases covered.

I think you should try share.it to transfer your files between devices over a wifi network

 

[peetypies]

My Lumia 950 XL has arrived in the post this morning and appears to have the latest released firmware installed.
Phone looks good although seems to get rather hot charging (Battery was completely flat when it arrived.) It's nice to hold and is on par with the fruity plus phone and the 6 edge plus that I'm moving from.
Setup has been pretty painless so far although I've had lots of "Error - see details" while the phone's updating apps from the store which seems a bit strange but a reboot seems to have solved that issue and it's happily downloading things that had previously failed.
Can't wait to get it connected to the Continuum dock and see how it fairs then....
Pete.

 

[falconrap]

Well, I've now had my 950XL for about 2 months now. I love this phone. While the metal ring on the Icon was nice, it also dented fairly easily and the black model's black coating (I originally wanted the white Icon, but they were rare at the time, like Unicorns and honest politicians) slowly chipped off in spots. The Icon also felt heavier in the hand due to the way the weight was distributed. Also couldn't stand the heat under a heavy work load (the phone always got very warm, to almost hot). Loved my Icon, otherwise, but the 950XL is easily the best phone I've ever had by a long shot.

Honestly, I'm not sure why so many people have dinged it for build quality as I feel the phone is very well built, although, when you take the cover off and the display is sitting there almost floating on top of the electronics and remaining housing, I could see that looking flimsy. But the phone feels solid all around and my white 950XL just pops out. Nobody who's handled it thought it felt or looked cheap, so maybe we have some built in negative bias in our community. The battery life on the preview build is incredible. My Icon, with normal use, would be at around 50-60% remaining after work (pulled off charger at around 7am until around 3:30pm) with 8.1. With Windows 10, I just kept it on the charger until the last build before I swapped (where it would be around 40-50% at the end of work). The 950XL started out being around 60-70% after work, but the latest build gets to around 70-80%. Then I put the phone on the company's guest WiFi network (we get poor cell service for all the carriers in our manufacturing facility, but AT&T is spottier than Verizon - though not horribly so). Now I'm regularly leaving work with over 80% left. When I play a lot of games, it will still last almost twice as long now as my Icon did.

The camera on this phone is mostly great, and almost always takes better pictures than my Icon did. Video is great most of the time, but when it starts focus hunting, it can be bad. MS needs to get their algorithms right for the auto-focus, especially during video, as it's really the only thing holding the camera back. The Iris scanner works quite well, but I've gone back to using my phone unlocked as I'm always needing to do things in a hurry. Would be nice to see my favorite secure apps use the Iris scanner to be able to skip entering a password. The speaker on this phone is much louder than my Icon's was. I used to leave my Icon at ringer level 6, sometimes 7 if noise was a little more than normal. With this phone I could use level 4, but tend to leave it at 5, which seems louder than my Icon at 7.

I love the rapid charging. Nothing like topping the phone off in 20 minutes or less for most of my use cases. The display is superb. Very sharp and crisp. When I look at the display on the Icon, which I always thought looked really good and sharp, it now looks sub-par and pixelated in comparison (I have sharp vision for this stuff, so I tend to see tiny details better than most folks).

Overall, this phone is great. It doesn't deserve the negative reviews it got early on, though it was on sub-par software back then. I got a laugh when a co-worker talked about how they needed a case on their S7 Edge because of the sharp metal back edge (was worse on the S6 version) but also to prevent activating elements on the edge of the display when just trying to hold the phone. It may look great, but what a gimmick. I couldn't be happier with my purchase, and, although I wasn't thrilled with losing Verizon's stellar service, in my are (Tampa bay area), I don't really notice it, I am happy no longer being a slave to the carrier. Maybe a Wallace "Freedom!" shout is appropriate. I hope more people get a chance to try this phone out.

 

[Saad Rashid]

OKay so I got 950xl in BOGO deal. Have been using it since 3 weeks now. Following is my unbiased review
The Good:
Camera. Its extremely good. The video slow mo works very well. The only bad thing is that it really sucks in long exposures, it over expose everything.
The Bad
Over heats I am running it on official .318 build and it gets super hot even on light apps and no mobile data. Using heavy apps is unexplainable
Multitasking It fails all the time to multi task. Whenever I open some other app, the pending task doesn't resume from where i left it
Battery Drain The lock screen and health App shows significant battery drain without any reason
Health App Its a big joke, it doesn't sync automaticaly and will only show updated data after a while you open it. It also consumes a lot of battery and the steps calculated by it are pretty much fake. e.g It calculated that i took 400 + steps while i was sleeping
Skype & Messaging Its a nightmare, Microsoft own product can not be used in it own platform
Apps quality Over all apps quality is extremely poor, e.g Facebook, viber & instagram sucks big time
Cortana It crashes all the time whenever I ask her questions
Screen Brightness bug The screen brightness level gets stuck to minimum once in a day and you need restart
SLOW Yes, unlike windows 8.1 WM10 gets slow even running small apps like whatsapp
App gap Many apps are still missing. Every one knows that
Freeze/reboots In three weeks it has randomly rebooted and frozen around 6 times. It is not acceptable at all.
Iris scanner in sunlight The iris scanner fails to read my eyes in harsh sunlight conditions

 

[Liron Ben-David]

Just got my first windows phone yesterday the dual sim version of the Lumia 950XL.

I was really surprised about the operating system, it's intuitive and easy\fun to use.

Pack itself included one usb-c cable and replacement charger as it was imported by local store as there is no official import into Israel yet. I'm using LG 5V-1.8A charger (from the V10 kit) and it works well.

Also got the phone with battery of course and earphones. The earphones are good sound wise but they are made of plastic and looks kinda cheap - also without any rubber or something else after few minutes they will hurt your ears so I'm considering to get new ones instead.

The phone works well but I've encountered two major issues.
1. Outlook.com mail will not sync and I can't search old mails.
2. There is MAJOR lack of apps in the store. I'm migrating from android and many apps I've used are not on the store.
- Competent eBook reader like Moon+ or Aldiko.
- All Google apps like YouTube or Google+.
- Most browsers like Firefox or Dolphin.
- Many other apps which offered functionality like my bank app etc.
If there was a way to install android apps on Windows Phones it would have been splendid.

 

[Nilesh64]

Got my 950xl dual sim last week. Having Used Android and iphone until now, I must say I am impressed. Love the phone. Not impressed by the keyboard though. Hope swiftkey app would be released for windows.

 

[yaswanth veeramachaneni]

I was using Lumia 930 till few days back. My screen was broken so I had to buy a new device. I thought of getting Lumia 950 XL but I didn't like its design.
Thought of getting Galaxy s7 edge but In the end, I got lumia 950 XL so that I can test RS2 builds LOL.
I had to say, I am loving this device more than my 930.

 

[yarchlrl]

I have a 950xl. I can honestly say, I MISS MY 1520! I hate the 950xl. It is definitely not the quality, design or workmanship my Nokia 1520 was.