Gadgetory

we've already seen the new Lumia 950 Windows Phone back at Microsoft's new york city launch event what we haven't seen is how well it performs on the big screen i'm michael fisher with pocket now and i'm here to give you a quick look at the lumia 950 the smart phone that's also a computer unboxing our press kit is a little different than what the typical buyer will experience Microsoft has bundled the display dock and its accompanying cables with our phone to make using continuum a little easier and it's also thrown in a folding Bluetooth keyboard we picked up our HP monitor and Microsoft arc Mouse separately the rest of the included accessories are your pretty standard fare because this is an AT&T device our unit came with an activated AT&T SIM and the usual death start a - let's talk about the phone itself real quick its light coming from the BlackBerry Prive and the oneplus X before that I feel like it's almost too light the polycarbonate body Vokes the feel of my trusty old Lumia 1020 but not the presence and it also lacks the few luxury touches of metal we saw in the 8:30 and 9:30 twosome that'll be a disappointment others might like the simplicity less debatable is the Lumia 950 s significant spec bump microsoft says it built the phone to satisfy longtime Windows Phone fans first and it's quad HD display really does the new Windows 10 interface and justice the new windows might not be as edgy or as bold as Windows Phone 7 was when it debuted five years ago but on an OLED screen like this it really pops with smooth animations and slick new apps like the redesigned outlook couple that with a removable battery and memory card a really promising camera with professional-grade controls old friends like wireless charging and new additions like the iris scanning windows hello and you can understand why Windows fans are pretty excited for this sucker the real excitement though starts when you let windows break out of this tiny little box plug the display dock into a monitor plug the phone into the dock and pair it up with a keyboard and mouse and the Lumia 950 becomes essentially a Windows 10 computer this is continuum and if you use it for a few minutes you start to understand why Microsoft is positioning it as a key differentiator getting some work done in Word or OneNote checking the calendar and outlook and and taking a break with some Bob Ross on YouTube and controlling all of it with the same interface you're used to seeing on a PC all that is great and when you realize it's all being done through the smart phone sitting on your desk with its little Snapdragon 808 processor it's freaking mind-blowing and it's fun to find means of getting around the still serious app gap like running a Google Hangouts session in the browser or using the same feature to watch Netflix on the big screen even though the Netflix app isn't yet continuum ready it's kind of amazing what you can do with just a browser that's not to say it's a perfect experience not by a long shot I've only been using the 950 for a day or so and already I've got a pretty long list of complaints memory cards won't mount screenshots won't save there's no double tap to wake and 25 minutes of reading a text only article in the browser busted my battery down by 11 percent also not all of the continual workarounds work out those hangouts conversations only lasted a volley or two before the page had to be reloaded making it basically useless despite its high number to brand name the lumia 950 is in some ways a prototypical product thanks to the still young Windows 10 the in depth criticism and analysis will come later on as we make our way toward the full review but you don't need to spend much more than an afternoon with this phone to understand why some people think it's a game changer we've been calling smartphones pocket computers for over a decade at this point but I don't think I ever fully appreciated that appellation until I saw the Lumia 950 morph from handheld to desktop right before my eyes to borrow a term from another computer maker out there it felt kind of magical and to see that coming from Microsoft and that's pretty cool we know you've got questions for us folks to join us for the pocket and weekly podcast on Friday November 20th a few hours after this video goes live we'll take your questions live on the air if you miss it not to worry we'll host it at pocketnow.com for later playback follow us on social media so you don't miss it pocket now is that pocket now and I am at captain two phones till next time this has been michael fisher who wrote this whole script on the lumia 950 using continuum what a world thanks for watching folks we'll see you next time