Late last month, Chris Capossela, Microsoft's chief marketing officer, confirmed that the Microsoft Lumia 650 is real and now leaked photos delivered visual cues about it, as well.
Microsoft already released a number of Windows 10 smartphones, the Lumia 550, 950 and 950 XL, respectively. Tech enthusiasts commended the latter two for being high-end phones, and the Lumia 550 showed that it has the potential of becoming the go-to device in the developing markets.
The Lumia 550 sports a Snapdragon 210 CPU, a screen capable of displaying 720p resolutions, 1 GB of RAM and packs 8 GB of internal memory, practically placing the gadget in the low-end segment.
The upcoming Microsoft Lumia 650 fills the gap between the rather affordable, modest Lumia 550 and the pricier, top-notch Lumia 950 and 950 XL devices. In other words, the Lumia 650 aims to be a mid-range smartphone.
However, earlier rumors about the Lumia 650's specs underlined that the device will be only slightly better than its cheaper variant.
It has a 5-inch, 720 x 1,280 pixels LCD, while the processing power comes from a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 210 SoC that gets backed by 1 GB of RAM. The main snapper is an 8-megapixel camera that comes with an LED flash, while the selfie snapper is a standard 5-megapixel cam. Based on the leaked photos, it is hard to tell if there is a button dedicated to taking photos.
Voices familiar with the manufacturing process hinted that the Lumia 650 sports a 2,000 mAh battery, which puts it below the cheaper Lumia 550. On the upside, the next Windows 10 smartphone should be able to charge wirelessly.
Thanks to VentureBeat, everybody knows how the final shelf-variant of Lumia 650 will look like and what it will host under its hood.
Leaked photos of the commercial prototype reached the site, and the end result is quite pleasing. Based on the leaks, Microsoft paid attention to the overall design tendencies and upped the ante in terms of shape and materials. The Lumia 650 features a metal edge, and speculations can be made that the aluminum finish extends to the back of the device.
The Windows 10 smartphone loses some of its appeal due to its modest specs, as the entry-level CPU and non-existent LTE capabilities can turn it into a second choice for some users.
According to VentureBeat's Evan Blass, the device does not seem to be a significant upgrade over Lumia 550.
If the rumors prove true, this might be bleak news for Nokia and Lumia fans everywhere.
After Microsoft took over Nokia's Devices and Services division, the smartphone business went downhill for the Finnish-American partnership. A vast number of Nokia employees were sacked as a result of the poor financial results.
There is a high chance that the Lumia 650 heralds a moment everyone knew was coming: the end of Microsoft's smartphone business. Sources from the company pointed out that it started to focus a lot more on the next-gen devices that come from its Surface division.
If you are one of the future Lumia 650 (codename "Saana") buyers, know that no official information exists on the release date of the mid-range handset from Microsoft.
