[Real Users] My Lumia 950 XL Detailed Review

[Indistinguishable]

If you have a Lumia 950XL, let's hear what you have to say about it. User reviews are incredibly helpful for everyone. The more detailed the better!

[INFO]Quick glance at the specs

5.7" Display
20.0 MP Main camera sensor
32 GB Mass memory
4G LTE Network
Front camera: Full HD 5 MP wide angle
Flash type: Natural flash
Processor type: Octa-core 2.0 GHz
Charging: Built-in wireless charging, Fast charging
Maximum talk time (3G): 19 h
Maximum standby time: 12 days
[/INFO]

Remember, this thread is for detailed user reviews of the Lumia 950XL. For quick first impressions of the Lumia 950XL, check out [Quick Impressions] Who Just Got Lumia 950 XL?

What say you?

 

[therealcostanza]

950XL Initial Impressions

I got my 950XL in the mail this morning, thanks UPS! I've been using it for the day, keeping with my daily routine, and was trying to keep notes for my friend thinking of coming back to WP, and thought others may find them useful, have the same pros and cons, or just get them down.

I'm not sure where on the scale I fall, but after a solid 6 or so hours with this phone and Win10 Mobile, I'm moving back and forth between underwhelmed and whelmed. Did I really spend $650 on this?

Continuum - seems cool. there definitely aren't many apps that use this yet. It synced up perfectly, instantly, with my Roku which I wasn't expecting. It was really cool! The phone screen as a touchpad needs work. There may be less lag with a wired connection, or if my router wasn't on a different level of the house as my Roku and phone during the test. I can see this as a nice to have as a frequent business traveler. Not only in the office, but also just to have netflix and other functions on the tv in the hotel and not having to hook up my laptop. All in all, this is the biggest feature I was looking to try, and it is cool.

Iris scanner - neat. It works with and without my glasses, I know others were complaining about issues with use and glasses. I do have to open my eyes wide, and stare directly at the IR LED (it lights up nice and brightly red so you know where to stare) and unlocks the phone. It is easier to type in my 4 digit PIN. I also don't have to hold my phone close to my face to type a PIN. The fingerprint reader on my work iPhone is faster and more convenient. This is also a novelty at this point. Maybe if they tie it to purchases or some other secure transaction in the future?

Camera - haven't used it, sorry.

The phone itself - the 950XL is nice and light, lighter in my hand than my 1520. Taking the rear cover off to put in your SIM and/or SD is not super easy, lots of clips run around the side of the phone. The phone back (I got white) feels cheap. Nothing more descriptive - cheap. The rest of the phone itself feels nice and light as well, and the two SIM slots are clearly labeled as is the SD slot. The SD card slides in, the gate doesn't move. Use your nails to seat it correctly.

Wireless charging - I had the wireless charging puck that came with my 920 a few years ago, and worked perfectly. USB-C is nice, but the phone take a long time to charge to levels I'd like to go out and about all day.

UI, Apps, Etc -

I hoped the phone would be faster switching apps, and even did get some loading/resuming screens. With a brand new system, I hoped this would have been worked out. Especially with high specs of the phone. I really do like parts of the UI. The notification screen is great, and I like that all the quick action icons are there. ATT must have disabled the hotspot or I have to go over there to turn it on or something, but that's one feature out of the box I wish the MSFT phone had working. Not sure if you can reorder the icons, but I'm not going to check.

The amount of updates out of the box is frustrating. At least 18 apps (MSFT apps) have required at least 2 updates. I fully understand that W10 is a service. That can be a good thing that they are being updated, or a bad thing that may make people think they are never finished.

The system menus are not the most intuitive. Thankfully there is a search bar. The headers they have are nice, but I have found items are either buried 2-3 layers deep, or aren't under one of the main headers. Again, just search for it, it's faster. The system menu reminds me of the Android Honeycomb tablet I had. Much of W10Mobile to me feels like Android in a Windows wrapper.

On screen buttons don't bother me, I wish there was a more intuitive way to make them show/hide.

The phone is slow, at least on the ATT network here. I have sent text messages and have waited minutes for them to send. FB messenger is slow as well. The lag is quite noticable compared with my 1520. Gmail, when set to receive items as they come, hasn't updated in over two hours. I have to manually check for new mail. That's a no go.

Edge. I don't like it. Crashed a few times, needs an adblocker, just not feeling it. Some select boxes had options that i would tap, and tap, tap, tap, and couldn't select the option I wanted. I don't know if it was the site, edge, what.

Apps - the 6-series apps from Rudy are great. Pandora still has the best app over their iOS/Android version. The preloaded facebook app still doesn't seem to know that chronological order doesn't mean show me a story from 3 days ago, 15 minutes a go, then 3 hours ago. Using some websites for workouts because they don't have an app yet is not working well. I wish I knew how MSFT was marketing Project Islandwood (and Astoria) to companies. Smartphones have changed our lives, and we have become dependent on them.

My phone is my main link to the outside world, and this W10Mobile experience feels nothing less than kludged together still. Maybe in 6-8 months things will change and be more filled out. I may stick with my 1520 on WP8.1, but at this point, I'll likely just get an iPhone. I want my phone to work for me, and the 950XL experience has left me wanting.

 

[Paolo Cardelli]

I received my Lumia 950 XL from Microsoft Store Italia this week-end, and I played (a lot) with it for 2 days.

Here's my detailed Review:

Design and Overall build quality
When I first opened the box, and kept the phone in my hand, my initial reaction was: WOW. And that was genuine. It was the same "WOW" I said when I first held my Surface Pro 3, so it says a lot about the REAL quality of this phone. How can "Tech Press" like The Verge and many others say and write so much bull***t without no one suing them is out of my mind.
Anyway: the phone is really solid and sleek. So BIG display but still extremely compact and confortable to hold in one hand too, the back is NO "plasticky" at all, it's slightly rugged and so solid it seems the same magnesium used for Surface line while holding it. It's still very light for its size (much lighter than my 920) and very thin (MUCH thinner than my 920). If no one tells you that's "polycarbonate", and you just hold it, it looks and FEELS a Premium device, with just the advantages of a better resistence and Qi charging. Period.

The new volume rockers are a bitt odd at first, but they respond nicely, and after 20 minutes become the new normal.
Removing the back cover it's a bit difficult the first time, and my Nano-Sim was a bit difficult to "click" in position, but after a few tries I was up and running without problems.

Display
This is the best smartphone display I ever seen till now. It feels like you're watching on an animated brochure/paper (when on max brightness) and not a screen, colors are perfectly calibrated, and darks are darker than a black hole. Black virtual nav-bar just MELTS with real black lower bezel, so it feels it always was hardware (and it fastly became the new normal too). On 100% Max brightness with no automatic brightness it feels the best setting for me, and for everyday usage. On automatic it's a bit too dim for me. It is really a GLORIOUS display. No artifacts or problems for me.

Performance and Heat
The first phase of setting all up does NOT represent how the phone acts on normal everyday usage. 34+ Apps updates were processing in background on first sign-in, while W10M was asking me to fine tune settings, and while I was downloading Maps data, and doing many other configurations. All of that still remaining fast and responsive, with just a bit "warm" (never HOT) around the whole phone (and not only on a single area). My 920, in the same circumstances, would have burned my hand
After all the initial setups, and after it settled down, the phone is "Cold-LittleWarm" 80% of the time even after 30+ minutes of usage, and "Just Warm, Never Hot" during the other 20% heavy usage.
No "Resume/Loading" screens (except 1 or 2 times on the VERY first configuration of Camera or some app, and then Gone forever).
Everything is snappy, fluid, responsive 99% of the time. Very rarely some animations drop, but I think it's OS related, not an hardware limit. It will be patched for sure.

Overall: Snapdragon 810 + Liquid Cooling = Epic Win for Microsoft, I would say. :angel:

Camera
This is the second GLORIOUS selling point of this device. The Camera on this phone blows away the competition with a blink of an eye. Camera starts and shoots photos istantly, even 10-15 consecutive fast shots., with UNBELIEVABLE details (even zooming).
I disabled "Rich Capture" but left Auto-Flash and Auto-Quality enabled for best results, and instantaneous Camera Roll viewing.

Those are my first Lumia 950 XL shots (early morning in Turin), so judge for yourselves:

Simply stunning.

OS/Apps
There are still some little quirks here and there, but I prefer W10M 1000x times over WP8. Much more elegant, well organized, efficient, and featured. It's a mature ecosystem now, and it's the same OS everywhere.
Devs have no more excuses.
I already had all the apps I needed on my 920, so I have them too here, and now they work 5x time faster and better. Seeing 4K/60fps video smoothly with "myTube", on this screen, is truly something special, and not possible on other phones. Hope Microsoft will bring the first Official updates to fix just some little annoyances (see later), but it's already a finished product right now for me.

Windows Hello
Yeah, the first time you set it up is not so accurate. But after some calibration (with different angles, lights and environment conditions, with glasses on and of, on a completely dark room), NOW it's really something magic.
It succeded all my 15-20 tries, and today at work my collegues simply jaw-dropped on the floor with those results (especially on glasses on).

It's magical!

Battery life
After the initial setup, battery seems a solid improvements over my 920.
With 100% Max Brightness, a lot of photo shots, listening to music, browsing with Edge, and some tinkering with the device: battery dropped from 100% to 66% in approxymately 4-5 hours. Not bad at all.

Plus: cable-charging from 0% to 53% in 27 minutes is INSANE. Qi charing still works on my first Nokia Qi charging plate in bundle with 920 launch, obviously slower than cable.

Continuum
Haven't tried it for now. I tried via Wireless to my Xbox One, but I haven't managed. Sorry
Waiting for my free Continuum Dock, already reedemed on MS Store Italia through "Lumia Offers" app redeem code anyway.

On the (very short) Negative side:

-W10M OS is still a bit rough: some animations freeze or dropped frames on rare occasions (for example: rotating the phone while updating store apps), upper bar volume icon temporarely disappearing, Groove Music sometime stuck on starting playlist and just some little things. All easy fixable with next OS update anyway;
-Removing the back cover and inserting the Nano Sim was a bit clumsy;
-The Italian version has Earphones in the box! -> Unfortunately they SUCK: very poor quality, and unconfortable to put on. Already replaced with good ones.

P.S.
Oh, the Italian version is Single-SIM variant. No Dual SIM, so no double icons/tiles problem


OVERALL
Lumia 950 XL IS the best Lumia ever made, and IS the real first Microsoft Premium-Flagship on the market. This IS the "Surface-Quality Phone" we're all waiting for, so don't be misleaded by biased "journalists": this is the real deal. If you want to wait for a new "Surface Phone", you will probabily wait another year for a Lumia 960 XL (with Snapdragon 820 inside it), or a business-focused Phone variant that will be lesser than 950 XL for normal everyday usage.

So:
If you're already "All-In" in Microsoft new ecosystem: Go.Buy.This.Phone.NOW
If you're not, well: this is time to seriously think about it.

 

[rodbostock]

Nice review Paolo! Keep us updated on how you find it after using it for a bit longer.

 

[tobiaswallberg]

I think this review helped me decide between the 950XL and Nexus 6P! Time for some "new" and exciting after a couple of years with Android.

 

[elindalyne]

Your review pretty much echo's my opinions of the phone. It's a great phone.

 

[rory753]

I bought the lumia 950 XL from the Microsoft store here in Seattle on the Wednesday before thanksgiving. After a few days of use, I thought I'd give my review. Where I'm coming from is a 640 xl dual sim, and before that, a lumia 830 where the screen shattered.

Looks and feel:
I have to say, after having the cyan and orange phones, I really like to have an understated phone that has the ability to change every so often. I like having a little bit of a bold color every now and then, but definitely not for an extended period of time. the 830 and 640xl is great, since it has the removable back that can cheaply and easily swap the back case. the 950 xl also has this, however, the only replacement back case currently available are the mozo accessories. These are beautiful cases, but also really expensive compared to buying a stock cover off of ebay (generally around 5-10 for a 640xl). I may get one down the line, but for now, will be with the stock cover.

I don't fall into the camp of people who thinks this feels cheap. the difference between the the 640xl and this is definitely noticeable. there is no creakiness. they've put a fair amount more fasteners to ensure the removable case doesn't really feel removable. the tolerances are much tighter then the lower end phones. Yes, it uses a plastic back, but the overall feel of it is uniform and not modular. I do wish the edges were curved, but that is definitely not something I'm missing from the other curved edge phones I've had.

The button placement is weird. I now have to think about whether I'm hitting the power or volume keys. I don't understand why Microsoft decided to so this, but it's just weird. the buttons themselves actually look nice, but the placement is just kind of weird. I guess this is a way to differentiate.

Phone Calls/Network performance
I'm on T-mobile in the Seattle area, which means we just got band 12 turned on. having the 640xl was a great step, since the band 12(700mhz) means i can actually get reception in my work building. before, with their band 2(1900mhz) or 4(1700mhz) I couldn't get reception inside my building, but now, i get LTE all the way in. The 950 XL has band 12, and I'm seeing the same connecting performance I did before.

Dual sim on tmobile has meant no visual voicemail. Let's be clear, I still have voice mail, but i have no visual voicemail. I've experienced this with my 640 xl dual sim, and now i have it on my 950 xl. i don't understand why this is. My current work around is to have my phone number forwarded to a skype number, and have Vox translate it into a text. it works OK, but I think it's far from ideal. My hope is that Microsoft is working to make a better messaging service, where the messenger app actually gets the voicemail.

One thing I've been wanting to test out is the mobile hotspot. I tried it yesterday, but was unable to get it to connect to my surface 3. I'm going to have to try renaming the hotspot, since it's using the old name from my 640xl (via the restore). I've had issues with the wifi hot spot in windows 10 for a while on the 640 xl, so if there are still issues, I'm going to blame windows 10, and not the device.
Update: after changing the mobile hotspot name from the restored one my surface 3 was looking for to a new unique name, everything works the way it should and better then what it was on the insider preview for the w10m. I can just connect to the phone without even opening up the phone like i was able to previously.

Performance
believe it or not, this actually performs much better then a 640xl and the 830. I know, hard to believe, right? but it does. ok, that's meant to be a joke, but it's been almost 2 years since microsoft has released anything with something above an SD400 processor and 1 gb of ram. the only time that i've had to wait is with the iris scanner to find me.

Taking photos is awesome. It's amazing with the super quick speeds to get the camera started and capture a really good photo. I've been able to get some really nice shots in all different light. also, i finally have slow motion capture in the video camera. i've been waiting on that one for a while, and honestly is one reason I've thought about jumping ship. but it's finally here.

The screen is nice, but I'm not one to really review that. I was perfectly fine with the resolution of the 830, and I feel that a 300ppi is about perfect. anymore then that I feel is a waste of battery. I think having the capability to drive larger screens is pretty nice, though. I've seen the iphone screens and the amazon fire phone screens, where the background floats behind it. that's pretty cool.

Doing basic task feel fine. I've been on windows 10 as an insider for a while, and so was fine with the new UI. I will say that the addition of "Gadgets" is pretty cool. I don't know if this is an offshoot of device manager or what, but it's nice. the first time I plugged in headphones, a dialog came up and asked "do I always want to use this app with this device?" and i can set it to podcast lounge(best podcast app ever). now, everytime i plug in my headphones, it opens podcast lounge. also, whenever i connect the phone with a bluetooth device, it can open a specific app, like groove music.

I've played with continuum via miracast and a bluetooth keyboard, and I think it's actually a pretty fun way to get a larger screen out of the phone. I can switch between apps, and it looks like a windows 10 desktop, just like they said. I think miracast is a weak link like always, since there was some herky jerky display issues. I hope there are some more apps that come out to make it more useful. I also want this type of device to be my 5 year old's first computer(when she's old enough). I'm suffering from (what I'll call) legacy issues, where I do have a desktop and a surface 3 and a phone, so i don't really need another way to process the things appearing on those screens. but to be able to have 1 device and just a simple screen for all the others, that would be awesome. I feel a lot of people are going to suffer from this legacy issue with continuum, but i hope that this service keeps around, and it keeps getting better.

I have yet to connect it to anything via the USB. I'm going to be interested to see what charging or file transfer rates are like, although i rarely tranfer stuff via usb, since it syncs all to the cloud.

Cost/Is it worth it?
Yes. the only difference I see between this and the other high end phones is the amount of apps available. I must be in some weird phone limbo, but i don't see the shortage of apps as a reason to undersell the phone. I know that's what every tech journalist keeps reminding people about why they shouldn't buy a windows phone or the value of it should be seriously reduced, but I have absolutely no need for "snapchat". which is the only app that i've seen people point to in the news about why they shouldn't buy a windows phone. 1 app. that's not a million apps. and it's certainly not enough to make me sway from windows phone.

I can find apps to edit photos or videos. there are plenty of games to choose from. I can read a book. watch a video. I have an instagram client. I have a messenger client. I honestly don't know what I would look for if i got an iphone over the windows phone. maybe the wallet app, but i don't think that's mature enough to make me want it.

 

[VoynaZ]

Lumia 950 XL





https://flic.kr/p/BmQjJC

Pros:

• Very Fast
• Amazing Screen
• Great Camera
• Windows Hello (Been working for me flawless so far, love this feature)
• Removable battery
• Replaceable back shell
• Expandable memory

Cons:

• Rear speaker sound quality could be better (I’m coming from the S6 Edge which had a nicer speaker)
• Can’t pin individual albums to the start screen
• Email embedded images not showing (Fixed after a hard reset of the phone)
• Very little first party accessories available at the moment

My Review:

To start I picked up my Lumia 950 XL at my local Microsoft store Thursday. I’ve been a big fan of Windows Phone since Nokia launched the Lumia 800 and I’ve owned many Lumia’s since then. (900, 920, 1020) I recently switched to the S6 Edge from my Lumia 1020 mainly because I wanted a change in phone and was getting impatient with Microsoft taking their time releasing a new Lumia product. Loved the S6 Edge due to the design being original and functionality wise it was great. One thing I missed greatly from my 1020 was the camera and the simplicity of Windows Phone.

My biggest concern switching back to Windows Phone was obviously the app gap. I was also surprised Microsoft went with the plastic shell. Now that I have the phone in my hand I must admit it does feel like a premium device and dealing with the app gap wasn’t as big of an issue as I thought. First off I do like that the back shell is replaceable since I’m not a fan of putting cases on my phones and the fact that later down the road the shell can be replaced is great. I love the way the phone looks and the placement of all the ports, camera housing and button layout is perfect. Now for the app gap: I thought this was going to be a bigger issue than it really is. Coming from android I had an app for banking and every store I shopped at. Now that I’ve organized everything on my Lumia 950 XL I’ve still got all the major apps I enjoy (Facebook, Vine, Shazam, Audible, TuneIn and Goal Live) and for my banking/shopping apps I have all the mobile sites bookmarked. These mobile sites work exactly the same as the android apps I was comfortable with if not better/faster in the Edge browser. I thought opening Edge and picking my bookmarks would be a hassle but I really find it just as fast as having a list/folder of dedicated apps.

I’ve read mixed things from other users on the battery life of the Lumia 950 XL and I will admit I was concerned my first day using it. I unplugged it from a 100% charge at 7AM and by 1PM I was down to 35% battery. Once I got home that day and gave the phone another full charge and it seems to me a though the battery has leveled out and is now providing me with a full days use (talking, texting, browsing the internet and playing with various apps). I have no complaints in the battery department.

Next I’d like to provide my opinion of Windows 10. First off I think Windows Phone 10 is a step in the right direction. It has a few things I think need improving but overall it is a great experience. Browsing the internet, reading articles and multitasking has been a great with the Lumia 950 XL. I have yet to experience any slow down while switching between videos and internet tabs. Google images finally loads properly unlike in my past experience with Windows Phone 7 and 8. I also like how Microsoft added a general search bar in almost every section of the phone to allow finding setting and apps faster. I’m a little disappointed in a few minor things, one of which is the Outlook client not displaying embedded images in emails right away(once I hard reset the phone the problem was resolved). My other disappointment which isn’t a major issue would be that I cannot find a way to pin a specific album to my Start page. On my old windows devices I liked having my camera role album pinned to the start menu. I’m assuming there might be a way to do this but I have yet to find it. I also found it strange that in order to enable sounds/notifications of email messages I had to activate it in the Outlook app. Meanwhile to choose which sounds the app used you would go to your Notifications options in the phone settings. Overall I do like all the additions Microsoft added in Windows 10 and I’m hoping it keeps on improving.

Lastly I’d like to state what I think of Windows Hello and the camera on the Lumia 950 XL. First off I had my doubts about Windows Hello and didn’t try it out right away. I tested it out Saturday and so far I love it. It hasn’t given me any issues and has worked for me with and without my glasses constantly. I’ve made purchases in the Microsoft/Groove Store and the Xbox app using Windows Hello to verify me with zero issues. Overall one of my favorite new feature of the phone and I don’t miss the finger print scanner from my S6 Edge after using Windows Hello. Highly recommend trying this feature out if you pick up a 950 or 950 XL. Now for the main feature that pushed me to switch back to a Lumia: The camera. So far I’ve only taken a few photos and I will say I’m impressed with the camera on the 950 XL. I find the quality very similar to my old 1020 and I like the editing tools that Microsoft provides. It really makes it difficult to take a bad picture. The other thing I really missed after I switched to the S6 was the lack of a dedicated camera button which Microsoft didn’t leave out. It really makes a huge difference using a camera on the phone and provides you with more control. Overall I am very happy with the camera on the 950 XL so far.

Overall after a week of using this phone I am very happy with it. I would recommend it to anyone who has been a fan of Windows Phone/Lumia devices. I would also recommend it to anyone who is looking for a phone with a great camera, amazing screen and wants to try the Windows OS.

 

[dgurvits]

One word...REFRESHING

So i finally got my hands on a 950XL..no intentions to keep it..as i am too app dependent..but i did want to play around with it

I have to say it is a nice refreshing experience..i like things that look good

I always liked the concept of Windows Phone and the metro apps..it always appealed to me more then Android

The Phone and OS looks sharp..everything works fairly well

I have to say..Windows Hello?? This may sound strange..but i feel like an ***** using it..who want to stare directly at the phone for a brief amount of time to just unlock it..this one i think Microsoft threw out there to just be different

Some things are a little slow, like searching for apps in the store..but overall i really liked the experience of Windows 10 on the phone

2 sims and threw my card in there and it even prompted me to start saving to the card..nice touch

Also turning off the phone it shows the next appointment and reminds you..also nice touch

I kind of like the plastic back..feels toy like..but solid and should handle drops much better then my aluminum iPhone

The apps is the deal breaker..interestingly the store offered a lot of my go to apps..the issue is they were all third party and were paid..so testing them to see if they would remotely work is not happening

Flipboard works really well
Watch ESPN does also

Its a great alternative to the big 2....i really enjoyed my time with the 950XL and Windows 10 mobile

 

[rollindice]

Lumia 950 XL

View attachment 118196

View attachment 118197

https://flic.kr/p/BmQjJC

off topic question for you, is that a business card holder on your key ring for car? where did you get from, looks neat

 

[VoynaZ]

off topic question for you, is that a business card holder on your key ring for car? where did you get from, looks neat

It's a wallet actually. I've had it a few months(wanted something really small) it's perfect if you have about 8 cards and a few bills it's perfect. It's called a Trove TROVE Wallets - TROVE.CC

 

[rollindice]

It's a wallet actually. I've had it a few months(wanted something really small) it's perfect if you have about 8 cards and a few bills it's perfect. It's called a Trove TROVE Wallets - TROVE.CC

Thanks so much,gonna put through order soon ,less bulk

 

[mutant 9]

Did a video review of my 950xl and some comparison between my 1520.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7VYwDTVOLQ

 

[SinrOne]

Hello!

I bought Lumia 950XL yesterday here in Rovaniemi(in Lapland)/Finland whilst on holiday.

This is my first ever Windows phone, so.. Why would i buy a WP? I am really much into technology and i have never been scared to try out new things. My old phone was Xperia Z2 which i loved, but it started to get green pixels and eventually blue areas into its screen and decided to give a chance for Microsoft.

Unboxing was simple, box looked neat and imo very well designed. They also included extra USB-C cable, which was very nice.
Lifted the phone out of the box and it felt light, simplicity of this phone suits for me and sure, materials used arent the most expensive and maybe thats bad in Someone's mind, but im okay with it, in white this phone looks nice.

Setting up the phone was easy enough, but problems occured immediately when i started downloading/updating/installing apps. Some apps didnt want to update, some didnt start to download and market works quite badly at times, Lumia offers failed so bad that i had to reset the phone to get it to work.. Transfer my data didnt work at all.. And i just ended up with multiple links to gmail on contacts.

After reset and free Dock order, i managed to get everything i wanted for the phone. Windows seems relatively easy to use after Android, sure theres problems like if you tick away automatic control for brightness, and use the button in quick menu for brightness, phone crashes. Things like these are hopefully going to get fixed but its okay, new platform.

Camera on this phone is great, i dont really know much about photography, but photos ive taken look great. I removed live photos because that isnt something i like that much, in the other hand, phone "edits" the photos abit after youve taken them and it performs well in my book.

Im quite pleased with this phone, some downsides like ive mentioned are :

Marketplace is very unstable and performs very poorly at times.

Battery life is not so great, runs out fairly quickly when browsing and taking photos.

Phone gets pretty hot.. It doesnt seem to get hot everytime when in heavier use, maybe it can be fixed with future updates.

Still, im really loving this phone, it looks great, size is perfect, camera stunning, windows 10 on phone is really fresh compared to android, even with its faults. Wish me luck, hoping for this OS to get far.

 

[hingethunder]

Pocketnow 950XL Review

If you haven't yet seen the Pocketnow 950XL review it's probably the most balanced, fair and honest article I have seen of the phone - it's worth a look.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMNgfEVk8oo

 

[Ryujingt3]

Thanks for the great review.

I received my Lumia 950 XL from Microsoft Store Italia this week-end, and I played (a lot) with it for 2 days.

Here's my detailed Review:

Design and Overall build quality
When I first opened the box, and kept the phone in my hand, my initial reaction was: WOW. And that was genuine. It was the same "WOW" I said when I first held my Surface Pro 3, so it says a lot about the REAL quality of this phone. How can "Tech Press" like The Verge and many others say and write so much bull***t without no one suing them is out of my mind.
Anyway: the phone is really solid and sleek. So BIG display but still extremely compact and confortable to hold in one hand too, the back is NO "plasticky" at all, it's slightly rugged and so solid it seems the same magnesium used for Surface line while holding it. It's still very light for its size (much lighter than my 920) and very thin (MUCH thinner than my 920). If no one tells you that's "polycarbonate", and you just hold it, it looks and FEELS a Premium device, with just the advantages of a better resistence and Qi charging. Period.

The new volume rockers are a bitt odd at first, but they respond nicely, and after 20 minutes become the new normal.
Removing the back cover it's a bit difficult the first time, and my Nano-Sim was a bit difficult to "click" in position, but after a few tries I was up and running without problems.

Display
This is the best smartphone display I ever seen till now. It feels like you're watching on an animated brochure/paper (when on max brightness) and not a screen, colors are perfectly calibrated, and darks are darker than a black hole. Black virtual nav-bar just MELTS with real black lower bezel, so it feels it always was hardware (and it fastly became the new normal too). On 100% Max brightness with no automatic brightness it feels the best setting for me, and for everyday usage. On automatic it's a bit too dim for me. It is really a GLORIOUS display. No artifacts or problems for me.

Performance and Heat
The first phase of setting all up does NOT represent how the phone acts on normal everyday usage. 34+ Apps updates were processing in background on first sign-in, while W10M was asking me to fine tune settings, and while I was downloading Maps data, and doing many other configurations. All of that still remaining fast and responsive, with just a bit "warm" (never HOT) around the whole phone (and not only on a single area). My 920, in the same circumstances, would have burned my hand
After all the initial setups, and after it settled down, the phone is "Cold-LittleWarm" 80% of the time even after 30+ minutes of usage, and "Just Warm, Never Hot" during the other 20% heavy usage.
No "Resume/Loading" screens (except 1 or 2 times on the VERY first configuration of Camera or some app, and then Gone forever).
Everything is snappy, fluid, responsive 99% of the time. Very rarely some animations drop, but I think it's OS related, not an hardware limit. It will be patched for sure.

Overall: Snapdragon 810 + Liquid Cooling = Epic Win for Microsoft, I would say. :angel:

Camera
This is the second GLORIOUS selling point of this device. The Camera on this phone blows away the competition with a blink of an eye. Camera starts and shoots photos istantly, even 10-15 consecutive fast shots., with UNBELIEVABLE details (even zooming).
I disabled "Rich Capture" but left Auto-Flash and Auto-Quality enabled for best results, and instantaneous Camera Roll viewing.

Those are my first Lumia 950 XL shots (early morning in Turin), so judge for yourselves:

http://s4.postimg.org/4jvkvd1f1/WP_20151130_08_17_52_Pro_LI.jpg

http://s4.postimg.org/l537b0sj1/WP_20151130_08_47_27_Pro_LI.jpg

http://s4.postimg.org/pppdpyc8d/WP_20151130_08_48_16_Pro_LI.jpg

http://s4.postimg.org/qhs1p5gfh/WP_20151130_08_54_10_Pro_LI.jpg

Simply stunning.

OS/Apps
There are still some little quirks here and there, but I prefer W10M 1000x times over WP8. Much more elegant, well organized, efficient, and featured. It's a mature ecosystem now, and it's the same OS everywhere.
Devs have no more excuses.
I already had all the apps I needed on my 920, so I have them too here, and now they work 5x time faster and better. Seeing 4K/60fps video smoothly with "myTube", on this screen, is truly something special, and not possible on other phones. Hope Microsoft will bring the first Official updates to fix just some little annoyances (see later), but it's already a finished product right now for me.

Windows Hello
Yeah, the first time you set it up is not so accurate. But after some calibration (with different angles, lights and environment conditions, with glasses on and of, on a completely dark room), NOW it's really something magic.
It succeded all my 15-20 tries, and today at work my collegues simply jaw-dropped on the floor with those results (especially on glasses on).

It's magical!

Battery life
After the initial setup, battery seems a solid improvements over my 920.
With 100% Max Brightness, a lot of photo shots, listening to music, browsing with Edge, and some tinkering with the device: battery dropped from 100% to 66% in approxymately 4-5 hours. Not bad at all.

Plus: cable-charging from 0% to 53% in 27 minutes is INSANE. Qi charing still works on my first Nokia Qi charging plate in bundle with 920 launch, obviously slower than cable.

Continuum
Haven't tried it for now. I tried via Wireless to my Xbox One, but I haven't managed. Sorry
Waiting for my free Continuum Dock, already reedemed on MS Store Italia through "Lumia Offers" app redeem code anyway.

On the (very short) Negative side:

-W10M OS is still a bit rough: some animations freeze or dropped frames on rare occasions (for example: rotating the phone while updating store apps), upper bar volume icon temporarely disappearing, Groove Music sometime stuck on starting playlist and just some little things. All easy fixable with next OS update anyway;
-Removing the back cover and inserting the Nano Sim was a bit clumsy;
-The Italian version has Earphones in the box! -> Unfortunately they SUCK: very poor quality, and unconfortable to put on. Already replaced with good ones.

P.S.
Oh, the Italian version is Single-SIM variant. No Dual SIM, so no double icons/tiles problem


OVERALL
Lumia 950 XL IS the best Lumia ever made, and IS the real first Microsoft Premium-Flagship on the market. This IS the "Surface-Quality Phone" we're all waiting for, so don't be misleaded by biased "journalists": this is the real deal. If you want to wait for a new "Surface Phone", you will probabily wait another year for a Lumia 960 XL (with Snapdragon 820 inside it), or a business-focused Phone variant that will be lesser than 950 XL for normal everyday usage.

So:
If you're already "All-In" in Microsoft new ecosystem: Go.Buy.This.Phone.NOW
If you're not, well: this is time to seriously think about it.

 

[QOAM]

Hate to say so but after 12 hours I decided to return the phone. I like my 1020 better and I like my iphone 6 Plus better. I do NOT like iOS and prefer windows 8.1 to windows 10 but the deciding factor was the temperature of the phone. I like the 'cool' feel of the metal on the iphone and the Lumia gets too warm .. Any warm temperature I wouldn't like, but this was annoying. I imagine on a hot Florida day it would be awful .. I never spoke on the phone, just text, and I knew it was not for me .. Will try the Surface phone maybe when it comes to be ...

 

[ajj3085]

Hate to say so but after 12 hours I decided to return the phone. I like my 1020 better and I like my iphone 6 Plus better. I do NOT like iOS and prefer windows 8.1 to windows 10 but the deciding factor was the temperature of the phone. I like the 'cool' feel of the metal on the iphone and the Lumia gets too warm .. Any warm temperature I wouldn't like, but this was annoying. I imagine on a hot Florida day it would be awful .. I never spoke on the phone, just text, and I knew it was not for me .. Will try the Surface phone maybe when it comes to be ...

Not a detailed review, and returning a phone because it gets a little warm seems silly, especially before things have a chance to settle.

 

[Mark Kaplan]

Those of you with heat issues, mine went away completely on my XL with the latest firmware update.

 

[Lumious]

I LOVE my 950 XL it is the best phone i ever owned. The fact that it has a replaceable shell is brilliant! I put the MOZO brown leather back on it and it looks amazing. And i never have to worry about damaging the phone because i can always get a new back that comes with the sides, the ports, the side buttons, thats so cool! Anyway i dont identify with all the mixed or negative reviews because i have virtually zero issues with my 950XL even on the software side. I upgraded to .29 and put the firmware update on it and i have no bugs or glitches except the notification tray failed to come down and the lock screen failed to time out- once.

The phone is light, sleek, and i think it feels premium even with the polycarbonate construction. The fact that it has a removable battery, expandable storage, and replacement back is totally worth it.

Camera is excellent.

Continuum works fine but i really have no use for it.

If you can put up with the lack of apps and that is not a concern for you then i recommend this phone 100%. And not because i am Windows Fan Boy or something, i am. But if this phone sucked or i had problems with it, i would be the first to say it. When Windows 10 came out i had tons of probelms with it and wasnt afraid to be vocal about it. This phone is just great, period.