The 5.2-inch Microsoft Lumia 950 has finally hit the shelves, but does the Microsoft offering live up to its promise? Will the new Windows 10 Mobile-powered smartphone be able to entice Android and iOS users and get them to convert?
We take a look at what the reviewers are saying - if the Lumia 950 lives up to the hype or disappoints.
Techradar is impressed by the smartphone and its new features such as Continuum and the Iris scanner.
"The Lumia 950's feature set speaks far louder for why you should buy one than if it were clad in an anodized aluminum shell. The screen is super sharp and vibrant, the camera looks to be one of the better phone snappers in 2015 and it's got gobs of storage," says Techradar's Joe Osborne.
Osborne also highlights some of the phone's features in his review, particularly Windows 10's new Hello feature, which makes use of iris scanning technology to unlock the phone. For Osborne, Windows Hello, along with the other features, "help set Microsoft apart from the herd."
As for the phone's Continuum feature, Osborne says that it "allows the Lumia 950 to do what no other can: power a pure PC experience from just one (albeit powerful) USB-C port."
CNET'S Jessica Dolcourt does not seem very impressed by the Lumia 950 and while she does not give the smartphone a thumbs down, she believes that the "average" device will offer little reason for Android and iPhone users to make a switch to Windows.
"I do believe there are some people who will like the Lumia 950, which is good from a hardware perspective, if not terrific. I do enjoy Windows 10's visual update, even though it's a minor boost that doesn't add much substance, and the camera takes pleasing photos. Still, it's hard to recommend the 950 and all it represents," notes Dolcourt.
Ars Technica's Peter Bright echoes Dolcourt's sentiments and believes that the Lumia 950 is unlikely to lure new users. The smartphone is also on the expensive side and does not excite him. He also feels that Microsoft should have bypassed the iris scanner and opted for the fingerprint sensor instead.
"If the Lumia 950 were more keenly priced then it might be easier to get excited about it," says Bright. "For Windows Phone fans (and I am one), this phone, or its bigger brother, is much needed and very welcome. But this is not a phone that is likely to win over new converts. It does its job, and it keeps the platform ticking over. The struggle to attract new users, however, remains."
While the performance and battery life of the Lumia 950 are great, reviewers have the common grouse that the device's distinguishing feature - Continuum - only works with a few apps. Dan Seifert from The Verge also feels that the Lumia 950 does not live up to expectations.
"It [Microsoft] could have pulled out all of the stops and produced a phone that was visually impactful, wildly innovative, and truly riveting compared to anything else to make up lost ground," Seifert says. "The Lumia 950 is, unfortunately, none of those things."
Seifert adds that though the phone has some "newer guts" in it and that the OS the phone runs on has a number of interesting features, there's really nothing in the Lumia 950 "that would drive anyone but the most die-hard Windows fan to buy it."
