Microsoft Lumia 650 release date and price
It was rumoured to launch on 1 February but Microsoft waited until 15 February. Nevertheless, the Lumia 650 is here and official. Microsoft has confirmed that the Lumia 650 will go on sale on 18 February, ahead of Mobile World Congress 2016. We’re told it will have an ERP (estimated retail price) of £150-160. Clove has a price of £169 for a SIM-free Lumia 650. Meanwhile, MobileFun has it for £160. What we don’t know is whether the Lumia 650 will be the last Lumia, which is what Windows Central claimed in its report. It said it is ‘likely the last Lumia for the year’ and goes on to say that it has heard ‘multiple times’ from sources that it is indeed the last Lumia. Microsoft is reportedly going to focus its attention on the flagship ‘Panos phone’ which will be part of the Surface family. This could be the Surface phone which has been rumoured for a long time and is tipped to arrive this autumn.
The firm told The Verge that it wanted “consistency across design” with its devices, loosely suggesting that the Lumia brand might not be used. What Microsoft has said for now is: “the team and I [Samuli Hänninen] are working tirelessly to make sure that we do our best to give you the most productive phones on the planet.”
Microsoft Lumia 650 specs and features
Getting back to the Lumia 650, whether or not it’s the last Lumia, it features a thin and light design – 6.9mm and 122g – plus there’s a polished, diamond cut and anodized aluminum frame which you don’t even get on the flagship Lumia 950 range. The phone still has a removable battery (2000mAh) and expandable storage, though. As per rumours, the Lumia 650 offers a 5in AMOLED screen with a 720p resolution. Inside is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 212, a quad-core Cortex-A7 CPU clocked at 1.3GHz. There’s 1GB of RAM to run Windows 10 but the device doesn’t feature Continuum.
Storage is double the rumoured 8GB so you get 16GB and that Micro-SD card slot which we already mentioned – you can add up to 200GB with it. Rumours about the Lumia 650’s cameras were correct including an 8Mp rear camera (1/4in sensor, 28mm, f/2.2 aperture), and on the front is a 5Mp sensor. The Lumia 650 offers 4G LTE (with Cat 4) and there’s 11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.1, NFC, A-GPS and an FM radio. Unlike the Lumia 950 phones, the Lumia 650 uses a Micro-USB port, not the reversible Type-C. A list of the main specs are below and the Lumia 650 will be available in matte black or white. • Windows 10 Mobile • 5in 720p AMOLED display • Qualcomm Snapdragon 212 processor • 1GB of RAM • 16GB of storage with micro SD expansion • 8Mp rear with LED flash • 5Mp front-facing camera • 2000mAh removable battery • 6.9mm • 122g Tech Advisor’s Reviews Editor, Chris has been reviewing all kinds of tech for over 10 years and specialises in audio. He also covers a range of topics including home entertainment, phones, laptops, tablets and more.
