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iPhone 6 vs Microsoft Lumia 950: What We Know So Far

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You’d be forgiven for assuming that Microsoft has stopped trying to compete with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. To be honest, the company hasn’t done anything meaningful in the high-end smartphone area for a year. The last iPhone rival running Windows Phone to be made by Microsoft was the Nokia Lumia 930, a device that began its life on store shelves early in 2014 as an exclusive for American carrier Verizon. Just two weeks ago Microsoft laid off thousands of workers left over from purchasing Nokia’s phone business. Allegedly, there’s an iPhone 6 rival named the Lumia 950 coming.

Microsoft plans to continue making Windows phones, but in a way that delivers quality iPhone competition instead of the tidal wave of low-end and mid-range handsets that were available before.

iPhone-6s-vs-iPhone-6-3

Read: Killer Microsoft-Made iPhone 6 Alternative Coming

Microsoft has confirmed that it plans to introduce new Windows Phones this year, but hasn’t said anything specific about the devices. This week, reports from Windows Central revealed some specifications and features for Microsoft’s iPhone 6 rival. Here’s how the iPhone 6 and what’s being called the Lumia 950, stack up against the competition.

Again, this is based on speculation and reports, not anything we’ve heard from Microsoft directly. Things can and likely will change as we get closer to release.

iPhone 6 vs Microsoft Lumia 950: Design & Internals

For anyone who has looked into purchasing a Windows Phone in the past, the rumored 950 design will come across very familiar. This recent report indicates that the Lumia 950 will have a completely polycarbonate body. Both Nokia and Microsoft have released smartphones with complete polycarbonate bodies in the past so this is nothing new. It is shocking that Microsoft is going this route with the Lumia 950 though.

Nokia-Lumia-930-Powerful

Last year’s Lumia 930 has a polycarbonate back similar to the casing rumored for the Lumia 950.

The iPhone 6 and even the Lumia 930 — this phone’s direct predecessor — mix in metal and premium materials for a high-end feel. Losing that sounds like a step in the wrong direction. We don’t know anything about the angles are contouring of the phone’s case. It could have tapered edges like low-end Lumia Windows Phones. It could also have a boxy, rectangular shape like the Lumia 930.

Allegedly, the Lumia 950 will have a 5.2-inch OLED WQHD display with a resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels. That’s a long way of saying a gorgeous high-definition display that’ll have deep blacks. A six core Snapdragon 808 processor and 3GB of RAM will allegedly power the Lumia 950, making it very potent. 32GB of storage, a 5 megapixel wide-angle front-facing camera, 20 megapixel rear-facing camera are inside too.

iPhone-6

By comparison the iPhone 6 includes an IPS 4.6-inch IPS display with a resolution of 1334 x 750 pixels. Inside the iPhone 6 is an Apple A8 processor with just 2 cores and 1GB of RAM. If the reports are accurate, the Microsoft Lumia 950 is at least internally more robust than the iPhone 6.

iPhone 6 vs Microsoft Lumia 950: Extras

Using the iPhone has never been about raw horsepower though, and that’s where Microsoft needs to catch up. Stepping away from raw power for a second, the iPhone 6 has Apple Pay with NFC support and a fingerprint reader that makes getting into a breeze. The Lumia 950 is dead in the water if Microsoft can’t offer alternatives or doesn’t show up on store shelves with something unique. Rumors say it will.

Windows 10 is Microsoft’s latest operating system and it comes with some Windows Hello technology that lets users sign in with little effort. The Lumia 950 won’t have a fingerprint reader, but will have an Iris scanner to take advantage of Windows Hello. That’s at least one thing Microsoft learned. Wireless charging is coming too, but will require a separate cover to take advantage of it. The iPhone 6 doesn’t have wireless charging, but the Lumia 930 did. It’s another downgrade, strictly speaking.

Allegedly, the Lumia 950 will abandon the standard microUSB port for a USB Type-C port that’s closer to what Apple uses in its devices. The changes lets the Lumia 950 pull of its most impressive feature yet on paper: Continuum.

Read: Microsoft Reveals Stunning Windows 10 for Phones Feature

Allegedly, the Microsoft Lumia 950 will let users plug into a $99 accessory and get a full Windows 10 desktop experience. We’re talking the same Windows apps as a notebook or tablet, running directly from the Lumia 950. Microsoft demonstrated a feature exactly like this called Continuum back in April.

Should You Get Excited?

We know too little in the way of facts to declare you should wait for the Lumia 950  or that the Lumia 950 is better than the iPhone 6. By the time Microsoft announced the device It’ll be September or October, around the same time we expect an iPhone 6s from Apple.

Still, it’s a good idea to have the Lumia 950 on your radar. With robust internals and a truly cool Idea, it is worth looking into before you make your next buying decision. That is, if you own a Windows PC already.

20 Comments

20 Comments

  1. frankdentdmd

    07/25/2015 at 7:53 am

    I’ve had the (then top of the line) Lumina 925 since August 2013 and have been tremendously satisfied with this handset… EXCEPT…. a BIG exception… it’s phone is average or below average. People always compliment me on my photos… it has PhotoShop Express, and I can do some amazing things… but I DO miss my Windows HTC HD7 at times. It had a killer phoneset which ran circles around my Nokia. I hope they don’t forget to put a good phoneset into this phone.

  2. Steven Bourque

    07/25/2015 at 8:10 am

    Fairly good article and I think, unlike other articles on the web, not bias to one side over the other. I do believe, based off of rumors though, that the 950x may have internal wirless and the 950 needs an add on cover or something. Continuum will not need the $99 accessory but, like with a PC, adding a dock/accessory makes it easier. If the phone does come without at least a metal frame (some plastic like back plate is ok) then I agree it will feel like a downgrade from premium. Lastly I am not sure your final statement is really necessary. Owning a PC allows tons more integration of apps and other features (reminders, calendar, …) but hardly a necessity.

  3. Bryan

    07/25/2015 at 8:45 am

    The plastic body is going to ruin the product’s and Microsoft’s reputation for being able to produce premium phones.

    You don’t go up again the iphone’s build quality with P l a s t i c.

    I believe this will be the last of the Lumia “premium” phones. If, and that’s a big IF, Microsoft continues to produce phones after this, they will take on the Surface branding and will use much higher quality materials.. The 950 is simply what they have now to release and its the same Nokia design as all the others. Its a bridge to a better quality device coming as a reference design in the next year or so.

    Bryan

    • R Warder

      07/25/2015 at 10:27 am

      There is one advantage of that plastic… robustness.

      I’d rather drop a Lumia than an iPhone anyday of the week.

      • Ben

        07/25/2015 at 3:31 pm

        exactly, I agree!

    • Hubert Hammack

      07/25/2015 at 7:42 pm

      Lumias don’t use cheap plastic like Samsung’s previous efforts. The polycarbonate in the Lumias is very high quality, very strong, completely rigid, and doesn’t flex or bend. The Lumia feels absolutely fantastic in the hand. So I completely disagree with your post, and just because they use polycarbonate does not mean Microsoft can’t make an aluminum phone with world class build quality.

      • Sean O'Brien

        07/26/2015 at 7:47 am

        Agreed. My Sister has a Samsung Galaxy S5 (at least, I think it’s a 5, but they’re all the same so it’s tough to know for sure), and it really is comprised of cheap components and cheaply-built. I expected an Acura TL from an Asian manufacturer like Samsung (and I know, Samsung is Korean, not Japanese, but you get my point) but instead got a Pontiac Aztec. I know people love them, but it’s because of the specs, not the feel and look. Conversely, people love the iPhone because of looks, not specs, since the current offerings are behind those of even my 2 year-old Lumia 1520 which brings me to my point. Aside from AT&T mandating removal of the Qi wireless charging from the 1520, it had the best of both worlds. True, it is made of plastic, but it is not cheap and feels absolutely AMAZING in the hand. It feels grippy, but not sticky. Slick, but not slippery. And it is a robust phone that doesn’t bend. Unfortunately, what you are saying, Antonio P and Bryan, about people wanting metal components for a new “flagship” and ruling out a new Microsoft Lumia flagship if it ends up having a polycarbonate backplate is true. It really is a shame because that’s such a superficial reason to rule out a phone. However, anyone who rules it out for that reason would probably never give up their precious iPhone anyhow. But, Antonio P: I don’t think releasing these new flagship in polycarbonate will forever kill Windows Phone. I see what you are getting at, but I just can’t see that happening. The new Lumia flagships will speak for themselves, and a polycarbonate body is not a step in the wrong direction. Technically, it may not be a step UP, but everything else about the phones’ hardware will be, which includes the software now that Windows 10 is a part of the upcoming equation. I think this phone is going to be quite successful. At least, it will definitely be a success for a Lumia, relatively speaking. And I think it will even go further than that by having more universal appeal than the current stable of NOKIA Lumia’s. I believe it will be a success overall and the start of bringing Microsoft mobile and the Lumia line into the mainstream for a brand new day. I see good things ahead for Windows Phone and Microsoft as a whole starting on July 29th. Here’s hoping, anyhow.

        • ANTONIO P

          07/27/2015 at 11:03 am

          Thanks for your reply. I wish success to Nokia, Lumias and WP. By the way, these new phones will come with the Nokia logo, is it right?
          Let me say: LONG LIFE LUMIA!

          • Sean O'Brien

            07/29/2015 at 2:24 am

            No, I don’t believe so. The rumored 950 XL isn’t even going to have “Microsoft” written on the back like the few new Microsoft Lumia’s released to this point do. It supposedly will have the same mirror Microsoft logo as the one on the Surface 3. I guess, in that fashion, they are aiming to compete with Apple by simply having a logo on the backplate of their phones rather than the company name across it. Behold:

            https://www.windowscentral.com/lumia-950-xl-cityman-fan-renders

            Just so you know–and the article says this, as well, but just so nobody misses it–these pictures were created for Windows Central and that is all. They are not an official leak in any capacity and were rendered off of leaked information. However, according to inside sources, apparently the phone renders in the picture look just like the real things and that is good news to me because I love what I’m seeing in those pictures.

          • Sean O'Brien

            07/29/2015 at 8:49 am

            Anybody concur?? Anyone else like the renders of the upcoming 950 XL??

  4. Antonio P

    07/25/2015 at 12:30 pm

    I do believe that plastic will kill once and forever the Microsoft’s phones. For the average consumer, a high end device means a shiny glass and a metal body. In other words, it’s far more important a good looking device than its internal specs characteristics.

    • Bryan

      07/25/2015 at 2:53 pm

      That’s exactly my point.. Regardless of the benefits of Plastic (weight, durability, wireless charging, etc) consumers will simply see plastic and and the 1st thought will be about how cheap it feels and looks and they’ll move on.. or stay with their heavy and fragile but meticulously engineered and designed iphone.

      • Hubert Hammack

        07/25/2015 at 7:43 pm

        Have you actually held a phone like the Lumia 1520 or the Lumia 930? There is nothing cheap feeling or looking about them. They feel extremely high quality.

        • Sean O'Brien

          07/26/2015 at 8:08 am

          Very true, as I said about my beloved 1520 in my reply to another one your comments, Hubert. I think, however, that what Antonio P and Bryan are getting at is that, now that Apple has “raised the bar”, proverbially speaking, on what a “premium” phone is made of and feels like, OEMs who want to enter that segment (see HTC One M8) need to make their handsets out of “premium” quality materials in order to compete with the iPhone. And by “compete with the iPhone”, I mean to compete for their customers and other flagship segment potential consumers. Sad, but true. The mere existence of the current iteration of the iPhone is indisputable PROOF that this phenomenon exists. iPhone buyers truly do care more about form (“premium” metal body and their cherished Apple logo) than function (1 GB of RAM as compared to my 2 year-old Lumia 1520’s 2 GB’s, among other things). Still, I think Microsoft Lumia’s can win the day when they release these upcoming flagships; polycarbonate or not. Whatever they end up being made of, they will distinguish themselves as serious players in the premium segment, at the very least, which is a great–and very necessary–first step in the right direction for Windows Phone. LONG LIVE LUMIA!!

    • ben

      07/25/2015 at 3:28 pm

      that’s a load of TOSH, because the world does not evolves around Apple and not all people think Apple. They are some quality high end with polycarbonate, Lumia 1520, don’t call it plastic. Don’t take rumors, as a fact too because we don’t know what the phone looks like, some say its going to be full metal, some say full carbonate. So both Bryan and Antonio, don’t take non-facts as facts, because its not.

      • Antonio P

        07/25/2015 at 4:03 pm

        Ben, you are right about facts and non-facts. I only think that most people do not know to distinguish a cool design (in my point of view Nokia’s) from a predictable design (glass and metal, like Apple, Sony, Samsung…). I am a Nokia fan since the beginning of mobiles and now I own a L930. I just want that Nokia continues to make good and beautiful and cool phones. By the way, I mentioned “plastic” meaning “non metal or glass”.

        Have a nice week end. Peace on earth.
        PS: Sorry for any grammar mistake. English is not my mother language.

  5. PM

    07/25/2015 at 3:10 pm

    Infront I want to say that I had a lot of different phones Appel, Samsung, HTC, and also one with Windows Phone

    on it.

    And I liked each of them in there own way, but :

    I hear everybody just talking about the outside material.

    And as allways there is more to a thing than it’s outside.

    A shit phone (meaning hardare and software inside the phone) in a nice shell ist still shit.

    A good phone in a bad shell on the other hand may be the underdog but it is still good.

    (metaphorically speaking now )

    It’s like you buy a car, some people just like it to look good and they just take it out on special occations to maybe

    show off! (everyones choice themselves, life your life, be YOURSELF)

    I prefer my ride more likely to be safe, fast & usable in my everyday life!

    (metaphorically speaking end)

    But that is just me speaking here.

    So the shell may be a point on how the Windows phones are going to sell,

    I much rather produce an underdoog myself than a show off.

    At this point I realice this may sound offensive for some

    !!! It isn’t intendet this way !!!

    Just want to add that I don’t want to say anything bad about Appel or any other mobile phone producer

    here.

    From what I here people who make movies or music themselfs Appel might be the better choice for you.

    I myself have not that much knowlege in these kind of programs or where they run better.

    But come on let’s first see it and more impotant what it can handel / do.

    Starting new topics:

    1.)

    I myself like to keep a phone longer than one or two years.

    But with bad hardware and so fast growing software,

    phones with bad hardware are almost to no juse after a few years.

    So I myself will appreciate each PIXEL, each Mb RAM, each MHz CORE and each Gb additional and build in

    space for my DATA!

    So even more massive software is going to be abel to run on this phone.

    2.)
    (XL)
    I heard somthing about the CPU is going to be the same as in the HTC one and they would have problems with

    it getting realy hot.

    I myself have made better experience with hot plastic shells than hot metal shells

    3.)

    Benefits of being in the Microsoft Universe :) !

    And here in the very END of my text

    I liked the text above it just seemed very pessimistic so maybe you can see my text as some kind of an addition

    looking a little more on the positive and with this leveling it toi maybe to realistic.

    • PM

      07/25/2015 at 3:15 pm

      Sorry for gramma and spelling.

      English isn’t my mother language.

      And I tend to start writing in a flow without dot, comma and without clear structure. :)

  6. Curtis Quick

    07/25/2015 at 5:21 pm

    I would rather have a durable carbon fiber shell than a bending metal one. I have accidently dropped my Lumia 1520 many times and it still looks great.

  7. vijay

    03/10/2016 at 9:16 am

    I want to buy a mobile so that suggest iPhone 6 lumia 950 Sam s6

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