Microsoft Lumia 950 XL & Display Dock Review

Table of Contents

Performance and Benchmarks

With Windows 10 and the latest hardware, one could expect that this smartphone would be a beast, and it is. The phone never stuttered, and it was always running at high frame rates beyond 30 fps. It does start to slow down a little bit when you plug into the Display Dock, but that’s really understandable.

Microsoft Lumia 950 XL (12)

And if there’s another issue here in performance, it’s probably that apps occasionally restart. We wish apps would instantly switch when we need them to, but aside from that, all is fine.

Call Quality and Connectivity

Call quality with the Lumia is actually very solid. The other end of the line could hear us well, and I think that’s also due to the crispy sounding microphones Microsoft placed on this thing. On our end, everything sounded fine too.

This Microsoft Lumia 950 XL supports dual SIM connectivity, and we’re able to get a really good signal. The WiFi radios on this thing are exceptional too, as I could get a stable connection where most of my gadgets would disconnect.

Battery Life

And here we are – the last impressive feat of the Lumia 950 XL – the battery life.

Microsoft Lumia 950 XL (6)

The Microsoft Lumia 950 XL is rocking a removable 3,340mAh battery, and it lasted days on standby connected to the internet, and it lasted me for more than a day with my minimal to average use. Finally, we ran it through our battery test of looping video at 50% brightness, no audio and Airplane Mode, and we were able to drain 100% to zero in 13 and a half hours.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, the Microsoft Lumia 950 XL is at its core, impressive hardware packaged with limiting software. I controversially think that this would be a lot better if it ran iOS or Android, because the main problem is that you still can’t really do much with Windows 10 on mobile, even if Microsoft provides a Display Dock.

If you want amazing hardware in almost all aspects, fast performance, and if you’re a heavy Office mobile user, then the Lumia 950 XL is for you. Sadly, you’re going to have to wait on the software to improve. The good thing with that is, Microsoft can just fix that problem through an update, but seeing Windows’ track record on mobile, I’m not counting on it anytime soon.

I hope I’m wrong though.

The Microsoft Lumia 950 XL is priced at Php32,990USD 562INR 47,657EUR 535CNY 4,094, while the Display Dock is at Php3,390USD 58INR 4,897EUR 55CNY 421.

Microsoft Lumia 950 XL specs:
5.7-inch (2560 x 1440) ClearBlack AMOLED display, 518ppi
Corning Gorilla Glass 4
2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 octa-core CPU
Adreno 439 GPU
3GB RAM
32GB internal storage
up to 200GB via microSD
20MP PureView Camera w/ Carl Zeiss optics, triple LED flash
5MP front camera
Dual-SIM (Nano-SIM)
4G LTE, 3G HSPA+
WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
Bluetooth 4.1, A2DP
GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS
NFC
FM Radio
USB Type-C
3,340mAh battery
Windows 10
151.9 x 78.4 x 8.1 mm
165 g

What we liked about it:

Amazing display
Loud quality speakers
Crisp microphones
Impressive camera for images & video
Long-lasting battery life
Windows Hello works intuitively
Display Dock is great for heavy Multimedia and Office Mobile users

What we didn’t like:

Uninspiring Lumia Design
Microsoft Store is still lacking
Windows 10 Mobile & the Display Dock needs some work

Bob Freking

Bob Freking occasionally contributes articles to the website. He is a UST Graduate of Commerce & Business Administration, Major in Marketing Management, and a full-time Sith Lord with three dragons.

7 Comments

Sean says:

9 years ago

LOL no the red light isn’t a light and it doesn’t use the ffc to check your eyes. The red light is an iris scanner. Better fix that on the post.
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saint says:

9 years ago

am I the only one here to miss to know what price this phone is?
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Bob Freking says:

9 years ago

Added the price: the Microsoft Lumia 950 XL is priced at Php32,990, while the Display Dock is at Php3,390. Thanks!

Easy E says:

9 years ago

Sad to hear that a software company is so bad in updating its own mobile operating system software.
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wired_boy says:

9 years ago

i’m waiting for their alleged “surface” phone coming maybe this year… then i might just buy a windows phone.
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jared says:

9 years ago

nope. Review your review.

That red LED is not the front facing camera scanning your face. It is an infrared light that scans your iris – a biometric advantage of Windows Hello.

Continuum ALSO supports WIRELESS KEYBOARD AND MOUSE. The Lumia 950XL can also work over Miracast.

Notifications on Windows 10 on desktops flow through the right side of the interface. Same as with the experience on Continuum. Do you really think you can swipe down from top to bottom on your display if Continuum is on?

On Continuum, you can use your Lumia as a touchpad or keyboard. You can STILL use your Lumia AS A NORMAL PHONE while continuum is in the works.

Universal Windows 10 apps works on your mobile phone and expands its UI if fired on a bigger display. Which means continuum is positioned to work this way should developers build Universal apps on Windows 10. Not much like Microsoft’s problem to me as they already set the playing field. Its just the developers that holds themselves back from the Windows ecosystem.

No mention of OneDrive integration? How about Rich capture mode when you can select the amount of flash you have AFTER taking the photo? How about the USB-OTG functionality which finally arrived via USB-Type C?

I can feel that this review lacks the basic expectations for Windows 10 Mobile under the Lumia 950 and 950XL.
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Bob Freking says:

9 years ago

Updated the review, thanks for spotting those.

While it’s true that notifications in Windows 10 come from the side it’s still messy to have even on the desktop. Having a status bar on top with Continuum may still confuse some people that notifications are there. Not all, but it’s confusing design.

And the universal Windows 10 apps are still partly a problem with Microsoft. They can’t sell me a Php3,390 Surface Dock without much Continuum apps; it’s unrealized potential.