Microsoft Lumia 950 XL Specifications, Tests and Review

The Microsoft Lumia 950 XL has a height of 151.9 mm, a width of 78.4 mm and a thickness of 8.1 mm. The weight of the phone is 165 g.

The screen size reaches 5.7" inches. With a large display, phone offers a great experience for watching videos, playing games and reading. The best phones today are 6.5'' or more. They have the advantage of a large display area that allows you to see more content than with conventional display sizes. Owing to OLED technology, the display offers a true representation of colours, especially black. The resulting contrast is significantly higher and colours appear more vivid. OLED technology is now part of most smartphones, while LCD displays are becoming a thing of the past in mobile phones. OLED displays also have lower power consumption compared to LCD technology.

Display Resolution of Microsoft Lumia 950 XL is 2560 x 1440 pixels. A higher display resolution is a prerequisite for a sharper image. The standard for mid-range phones today is a Full HD resolution of 1920 × 1080 px. Cheaper phones, which usually have a smaller diagonal, have an HD resolution of 1280 × 720 px. Smaller resolutions can only be found in older models. Best phones, on the other hand, have a 4K resolution of 3840 x 2160 px. Display´s pixel density is 518 ppi and represents another significant factor affecting image sharpness besides resolution. The higher the value, the sharper the image. Average value is currently about 350-400 ppi, which guarantees a fine and sufficiently sharp image. Finest modern phone displays reach 450 ppi and above.

Microsoft Lumia 950 XL is equipped with Qualcomm Snapdragon 810. The number of processor cores is 8. It is a number of cores that plays an important role in evaluating the performance of phone as it is responsible for computing operations. Smartphones already commonly have a core count of around 4 to 8. Multi-core processors can perform better and reduce the processing time of a request to a minimum, which is reflected in the responsiveness of the phone, e.g. in the speed of opening applications. The processor frequency indicates how many instructions phone can process in 1 second. The higher the frequency, the better the performance. Standard processor frequency range today is between 1.8 GHz and 2.8 GHz. Microsoft Lumia 950 XL reaches the frequency of 2 GHz.

The phone´s internal memory capacity is 32 GB. The size of the internal storage determines e.g., how many photos, songs, movies, or applications you can store on your phone. This memory capacity is ideal for those who have a few basic apps and a few dozen photos on their phone. If you don't expect to use your phone to play games or need to store high-resolution photos, this size should be sufficient. There is almost no probability you're likely to see this low capacity on new smartphones. The standard memory today is around 64 and 128 GB. The best phones have internal memory of 256 GB or more. Luckily, most smartphone manufacturers nowadays offer models with different memory sizes to suit every user.

An additional option to increase the storage capacity of this model is to insert a memory card.

RAM memory of the Microsoft Lumia 950 XL is 3 GB. Most powerful phones currently have an operating memory of 12 GB or more, which is especially useful for demanding users such as gaming enthusiasts. Normally, phones nowadays have 6 to 8 GB of RAM, which means that the phone can easily handle normal operation and more demanding applications. Operating memory of less than 4 GB is found in lower-end phones or older models, and they are suitable for low-end users who don't use demanding applications and have the phone more for basic use.

The rear camera of the Microsoft Lumia 950 XL has only one lens. Single lens is more typical for older phones or lower-end phones with lower quality cameras. The rear cameras of modern phones nowadays are usually equipped with two, three and sometimes even five rear camera lenses. The resolution of the main lens is 20 Megapixel. Higher resolution does not necessarily mean super high quality photos. Furthermore, it depends on the pixel size but also on other important factors. The aperture of main lens reaches F/1.9 value. The best phones have a lens with an aperture of up to F/1.5, where more light can pass through sensor and photos will be of a high quality even in low light conditions. However, lenses with apertures around F/1.8 to F/2.2 are the most common. The lower the number after the slash, the better the photo quality. An undeniable advantage is the optical image stabilisation, which makes image significantly more stable without any loss in quality. Cheaper phone models are equipped with electronic stabilisation, which has a negative effect on the resulting image quality.

Front camera
The front camera of phone Microsoft Lumia 950 XL has one lens. This number of lenses is standard on most smartphones nowadays. The main front lens is designed as a Wide-angle lens. The resolution of front lens reaches 5 Megapixel. Again, it should be noted that resolution is only one of several other significant factors that affect resulting quality of a photo. The main lens is also equipped with aperture of F/2.4.

The battery size of Microsoft Lumia 950 XL is 3340 mAh. Nevertheless, battery capacity is not the only factor that affects the phone's battery life. For example - the size of the display, the performance of the processor, the use of data functions and, of course, the intensity of use of phone in general all have a significant impact on battery life. Standard for most smartphones today is a battery capacity of around 4500 to 5000 mAH. Phones with this battery size usually guarantee a phone life of at least 1 day. Older or cheaper smartphone models can then reach battery capacities typically around 2500 mAH and below. With this capacity, you may find that if you use your phone heavily, you may need to recharge your phone during the day.

Standby time is 288 hours and it expresses the maximum time your phone can last on a single charge when you are not actively using it. Talk time, or we can say battery life when making calls, then indicates amount of time your phone will last from a full charge if you are constantly on a call. Microsoft Lumia 950 XL is provided with a talk time about 1500 minutes. Many users will also welcome the wireless charging feature. Wireless charging keeps your phone from overheating and also protects the connector from wear and tear. On the other hand, it does cause some power loss.

Microsoft Lumia 950 XL supports 4G. 5G connectivity, which is slowly replacing standard 4G connectivity, is still more the preserve of the latest phones. The operating system in this case is Windows 10.

Fans of modern technology will appreciate NFC function, which allows, among other things, contactless mobile phone payments, but also finds other uses in connectivity, such as unlocking the door or loading the menu in restaurant using the NFC tag. Basic connectivity standards also include Bluetooth 4.1, making it easy to communicate wirelessly with other devices such as headphones, tablets, speakers and smartwatches.