Gadgetory

they're the first new Windows Phone flagships in a very long time and we're going hands-on with what Microsoft is calling the most productive phones you've ever picked up for Pocket now I'm Michael Fisher with Adam Lane behind the camera at Microsoft's New York City Windows 10 event here with the first look at the Lumia 950 and 950 XL you might look at the aesthetic differences here and wonder why we're covering these in one video and that's because aesthetics aside these are very similar devices the cameras for example are exactly the same modules despite looking entirely different each is a 20 megapixel PureView camera with carl zeiss optics optical stabilization a triple LED natural flash and 4k video recording while the front-facing shooters are five megapixel wide-angle cameras topping out at 1080p video whichever cameras you use you've got a dedicated camera button on the side of the phone which we're pleased to see make a return here up front is the IR spotlight necessary for Windows hello which identifies you based on looking into your eyes as long as you hold the phone up high enough each phone incorporates quad HD AMOLED displays microSD expansion a removable battery high-speed USB type-c for a 50 percent charge in 30 minutes of charging Wireless recharging and each of these of course runs the mobile version of Windows 10 meaning that you can use the phone as a phone or as a hub for a desktop computing experience Windows continuum was one of the coolest demos we saw here today and while we don't know how well it'll translate to real-world usefulness the fact that both of these phones can be used as full-fledged pcs is really cool where the phones differ most significantly is in size the XL is predictably larger and it carries a proportionately larger battery 3340 versus the smaller phones 3000 milliamp hours it's also got a Snapdragon 810 processor instead of the Snapdragon 808 a Gorilla Glass 4 instead of Gorilla Glass 3 and it's 5.7 inch display is larger than the 5.2 inch panel on the smaller phone the big one doesn't win in all departments though Microsoft is telling us it only packs Qi wireless charging while the smaller 950 it will also support PMA if you're a geek the biggest difference will be in thermal dissipation the 950xl packs what Microsoft calls a liquid cooling system it's a heat pipe that uses a liquid transfer medium to carry heat away from the processor and that plus the magnesium frame should keep the Snapdragon 810 nice and cool in theory the smaller phone doesn't have that cooling system in place the software is still non-final here and we weren't able to play much with the new features coming in Windows 10 mobile so will content ourselves with impressions of the hardware in short these are nothing we haven't seen before that's not a dig at the specs they're certainly compelling phones if you're a Windows fan then the chassis czar nice and thin and light with comfortable polycarbonate from some angles they even look it's fine but the industrial design here exudes 2013 these phones are pretty plainly leftovers from the Nokia pipeline and at an event where Microsoft's other offerings are so groundbreaking it's tough to get too excited about these unfortunately the world doesn't really need another excuse not to get excited about Windows Mobile so hopefully these blow us away when it comes time for our full review these devices will be available starting in November for between 549 and $649 depending on size this is just an early hands-on from the Windows 10 devices event in New York City folks stay tuned to pocket now for further coverage and check out our hands-on time with the new surface products the new band and everything else Microsoft is showing off today till next time this has been Michael Fisher with Adam Lane behind the camera thanks for watching and we'll see you soon