Why You Can Trust CNET The cheap Lumia 650 has more metal than the pricier Lumia 950 (hands-on)
Microsoft's entry-level Windows 10 phone may look slicker on the outside, but when it comes to internal power, the 950 is still king.
You wouldn't expect a lower-end phone to look flashier than its higher-end compatriot, and that's the Microsoft Lumia 650's biggest surprise.
The 5-inch Windows 10 phone has an aluminium frame, while the Lumia 950 and 950 XL have a plastic casing, despite being seriously high-end under the hood. We got our hands on with the new phone at Mobile World Congress held in Barcelona, Spain.
Shop for Microsoft Lumia 650 (black)
See all pricesThe materials swapperoo seems counter-intuitive to us -- why give a device that costs just $200/£160/AU$299 the metal frame while the significantly costlier flagship phones bear the budget feel?
Unlike the pricier and higher-end Lumia 950 and 950 XL, the 650 dips into entry-level specs.
To be clear, it's just the frame that's metal here on the Lumia 650. The backing is still plastic, so you can remove it to get to the Micro SD slot and removable battery, which are both nice things to have in a phone these days.
The phone felt incredibly light in the hand and was easy to pocket. Its AMOLED display is a nice touch, making colors appear rich and contrast high. When you look closely at its rims, you can see the chamfering on the phone's metal edges.
Still, at this price, you're not packing in top-of-the-line components.
- 5-inch OLED display at 1,280x720 resolution
- 142 mm by 70.9 mm by 6.9 mm and 122 g (5.5 by 2.8 by 0.27 inches and 4.3oz)
- 1GB RAM
- 16 GB storage with Micro SD Card up to 200GB Qualcomm Snapdragon 212 quad-core processor running at 1.3 GHz
- 2,000 mAh
- Category 4 LTE
- 8-megapixel rear camera and 5MP front facing
- Black and white colors
What's missing?
Continuum is arguably the killer feature of Windows 10 phones, letting you get a PC-like experience when you connect your device to a big screen. The 650 doesn't support Continuum. It doesn't even have the USB-C port you'd need if you wanted to use the Microsoft Display Dock accessory, instead having Micro USB for charging and connectivity.
Also absent is Window Hello, which uses the front-facing camera module to unlock the phone by scanning your eyes. The technology propping up both these signature features adds to a handset's cost. Leaving them out helps keep the 650's price down.
That Snapdragon 212 CPU won't be setting any speed records and 2,000mAh is not the largest battery either, although the low-resolution screen and aforementioned chipset aren't exactly power hungry.
Who's going to use it?
In launching the phone, Microsoft hyped up its enterprise and business capabilities, but support for Continuum would have added a bigger benefit for business users. Instead the phone seems firmly aimed at the budget conscious looking for a 'my first Windows Phone' experience.
Personally we'd like to see Microsoft get a solid Windows flagship to wow the crowds before popping out $200 phones, but that means that as reviewers who love seeing the latest and greatest, we're clearly not the core audience here -- Microsoft has long had an interest in growing its base among buyers of affordable phones.
Right now, the Microsoft Lumia 650 sells in 'select European countries', with the phone available in Australia from May 23.
This story originally published February 16, 2016 and updated February 23, 2016.