Yawn. It's not like the phone will stop working at the strike of midnight. Great spec. Great price.

Software drives a platform. This has always been the case. Anyone that remembers the Texas Instruments TI99/4A home computer will remember that it had great hardware (for the time, first home computer with 16bit CPU). However TI didn't open up things for developers and this meant a lack of software and the platform quickly died.

Now there's a different set of circumstances with Windows Phone.

1. Microsoft came far too late to the party and they'd found Apple and Google had eaten all the cake and already left.
2. This in turn led to a distinct lack of apps and this has always plagued the platform.
3. Microsoft are killing off Lumia and bringing out Surface phone, which will be a premium only product such as with Apple. IOS and Windows Phone are alike, both tuned to the hardware far better than Android could ever hope to be, but also in turn lack the massive customisation capability of Android. Anyway the point is that Microsoft need to rebrand and they are and then they have more than a mountain to climb to try and replicate what Apple have done with the iPhone.

Should you buy this phone? The easy answer is check that it has all the software you require, because you're out on a limb if it doesn't. Also bear in mind as your requirements grow; that lack of apps problem may grow to be a much bigger problem for you.

I miss Nokia.

Soon to become Collectors Items (or junk in the cupboard gathering dust)
Lumia Killed OFF

Well, it's become payable and hasn't uplifted to £64. It's stayed at £14.82 - not happy!

It would appear I'm not the only one this has happened to. Anyone here get the advertised amount?

TCB need to explain themselves!

Anyone got the full £63 from TCB yet? Mine's still tracking at £14.82

You are

A lot of people have trolled me for dissing Microsoft so here's a thank you. Thank you bill gates for selling your lumia 435 at 5 Virgin and 10 t-mobile. Trading in these at cex has enabled me.to buy an android m4 aqua at 29 quid. You see even my 11 year-old nieces don't want them anymore. Please reduce your lumia 550s to a fiver

I can vouch for windows phone being suprisingly slick. shame about the apps, but if you have a tablet or laptop and need something powerful, this phone will compete with the other options and even beat them in most daily activities.

posted from my note 4. because of the app thing :stuck_out_tongue:

Hahahaha Bill Gates?!? Ethical?!? Hahahaha Microsoft will be gone in a year both mobiles and pc this is the phone to avoid. Continuum?!? Hahahahahahahahaha I think you all get the picture

Your forgetting the twenty or so previous years of poisonous promoted pcbs from obsolete pcs or the fact that his over dominance of the computer industry led to antitrust ****. Thank God he didn't see the Google apple phone market or his dominance would've been overwhelming. Pcs are dying and the phone market isn't giving him traction. He doesn't have the so called network effect because he was reactionary not proactive towards it. No one except hard gamers and Office workers will have pcs in a few years time. I am not replacing mine

Camera is really good as are the speakers better sound then Samsung's 700 phone. 263 for this phone is well worth, yes software is little buggy. Could be kept as spare or given to the Mrs.
There is no android phone as good as this at that price range. I'm tempted at that price even though I've owned it previously but didn't feel it was worth it at 400

When my 10 year old saw the screen he said it was clearer than real life if that is possible. Don't quote me I am 47 and boz eyed

I wish I still had my Lumia 800 that was a lovely phone but some scroat nicked it and it was replaced with a 900 which in my opinion was not an upgrade but runs ok still on 7.8. I have a 920 which I am giving to my 10 year old this week after I take delivery of my new 950. I can't wait! I did order a 950xl but it was too big for me so has been returned. This will replace my laptop as well and bearing in mind we have a xbox360,xbox1, Win10 pc and Win10 Ultrabook everything seems to be coming together for Microsoft despite all the scaremongering stories about wp10

No they're not. My wife's Lumia 830 is still working fine and my mum is still using my old Lumia 800 every day! It's like saying iPhone 7s are dead because there's an iPhone 8/9/10 coming out next year.

One of the reasons I was going to get an iPhone 7, in fact the only reason, was to get the 4K video feature (even although the 6S has it).

I see this MS 950XL has 4K video shooting as well - can anyone tell me what its truly like with the built in mic and all? I tend to take a lot of family videos outdoors so this would potentially save me a lot of £££££

Thanks OP for posting.

I'm really having to try very hard to resist buying one to replace my 640xl. :smile: I've used my wife's 950xl and it's just so much nicer.

AVOID TOPCASHBACK Just used them for the first time they confirmed my earned cashback via email and on my account then days later took it back and will not provide me with an explanation. They cost me £10.00 use QUIDCO instead I have used them for years with no problems.

The camera on these is fantastic. I have had my 950 all year and I keep testing it against things like the S7 or G5 in stores. So far the S7 is the only thing to even compare, and I wouldn't say it wins except for slightly faster focus. And it does cost twice as much. Aside from that it has facebook, messenger, a browser, email, alarms, calendar, does texts and phone calls and OneNote. The screen is gorgeous and back cover is removable and a bPay contactless payment sticker will fit inside so I can buy junk food with it. That's pretty much all I want from my phone. If I had to replace it, would still be another 950 because of the camera. Hot deal.

Can you play pokemon go on it?

Arrggh. I bought the 950 last week via TCB and now they're offering £42 cashback. Just my luck. :disappointed:

Same article basically, lazy reporting, so far none have mentioned anything more concrete than this single UK customer who didn't get a warranty replacement for a phone, you can still buy from the Microsoft store. If this incident was true, why haven't more owners hit the same problem? Maybe there's more to the story and perhaps this individual is being somewhat dishonest.

I think we may still have the ditching of Lumia happening and it may even happen in the predicted time-frame, but this article provides no more evidence than what a friend of someone my brother knows, has said.

mike

To be fair to jjabbar this claim about the warranty replacements is appearing everywhere. If you buy one of these 950 XL models then just hope it doesn't go wrong!

Phonearena

p.s. Phonearena is a well respected site in the mobile phone industry.

not looking to rosy... https://mspoweruser.com/report-microsoft-runs-lumia-950-xl-warranty-replacements-uk/

My company has rolled out Microsoft phones to every employee, sadly, I'm self employed and the only other employee is my wife, but being self employed means we don't have time to count the missing apps or worry about less functionality on the existing apps, but for running a business Windows on a phone definitely helps where the business IT systems are all Windows.

mike

After using both I don't think its fair to compare the 2 devices, 950xl is in a different league...

Although both do a great job, 950xl is clearly superior

If you like this phone, wait for surface pro phone.

​This is not true. In many big companies where they already have contract with Microsoft, they are trying to replace iPhones with Windows phones as they are much cheaper, and get free updates unlike Android.

Hp elite x3 comes with snapdragon 820 but double the price.

quick, someone jog him, him, him, him....

Usual Microsoft, even if they have something really innovative coming out there still needs to be software for the platform. Yes they could make available the huge catalogue of Windows software but much of it doesn't translate to a smartphone experience due to the inherent lack of functionality in the software for sharing between apps which is so efficient on a smartphone platform.

The pro-Bill Gates bit was unneeded. The phone itself is sluggish on a lot of things (Had one for work briefly). Its a good offer if you know what youre getting and happy with it.

I've not really had any problems with my 950xl. Bought it on release and Microsoft are constantly pushing out updates for it. The lack of apps on Win Phone has changed significantly over the years with most of the main apps like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram available and others like Steam and even HotUKDeals available. Sure there are some missing but those that are usually have unofficial versions available.

That link wouldn't open, but try this one for the latest rumours (8th Sep).

Surface phone

Well I was talking about Windows 10 not Windows Phone 10.

Anyway here's a link to Microsoft Surface Phones and what's going to be happening there >

ED: Link removed

You're right, the 950 XL is a nice phone that is ruined by the awful OS. If it ran with Android I would be at the front of the queue to buy one!

A decent spec phone. I had the Nokia 1020. Which I really liked but my biggest frustration wasn't the OS but the functionality within the big apps. Like for example when I moved over to android from windows in January 2016 you could delete media from your gallery by just removing it in the conversation in Whats app whereas that wasn't available on windows. Which saved me lots of time. That wasn't the only app that didn't have the full functionality either.

Good price but as a previous WP user I am very disappointed in how Microsoft have failed the platform with their complete lack of strategy and poor implementation across the board.

I miss Nokia.

Mine isn't dead. It still works fine, thank you for asking.

My last Apple phone was a 3GS.. So... WRONG!

Software drives a platform. This has always been the case. Anyone that remembers the Texas Instruments TI99/4A home computer will remember that it had great hardware (for the time, first home computer with 16bit CPU). However TI didn't open up things for developers and this meant a lack of software and the platform quickly died.

Now there's a different set of circumstances with Windows Phone.

1. Microsoft came far too late to the party and they'd found Apple and Google had eaten all the cake and already left.
2. This in turn led to a distinct lack of apps and this has always plagued the platform.
3. Microsoft are killing off Lumia and bringing out Surface phone, which will be a premium only product such as with Apple. IOS and Windows Phone are alike, both tuned to the hardware far better than Android could ever hope to be, but also in turn lack the massive customisation capability of Android. Anyway the point is that Microsoft need to rebrand and they are and then they have more than a mountain to climb to try and replicate what Apple have done with the iPhone.

Should you buy this phone? The easy answer is check that it has all the software you require, because you're out on a limb if it doesn't. Also bear in mind as your requirements grow; that lack of apps problem may grow to be a much bigger problem for you.

Most people here are just interested in finding a good deal. The haters and the fanboys are just a distraction. Hence the OP's comment earlier to mgb20.

Opinions are like a***holes! Proven here.

Looks like we have an apple sheep... Baaaaa.

I wonder how many people keep the same phone for more than 2 years though? I know I do, but most people who frequent this site, judging by the volume of phone deals, seem to replace on a far more frequent level.

But then it's not as though it will suddenly stop working regardless, not to mention, the one big issue if you don't get updates, is security patches and windows 10 is probably architecturally superior to the competitors from a security perspective and vastly lower in terms of demand to hack.

I've had my 950XL for a month or so and am more than happy, very glad I made the choice, but I would advise anyone who is thinking of getting one, to check the reviews and specifications, because it's a marmite phone, if it fits your lifestyle you'll love it, but there are plenty of haters.

mike

So you saying WP10 is dead makes it a fact- who are you, Satya Nadella in disguise????

Wow everybody, you heard it here first!

love windows 10, dont need all the apps on my phone as I us Ipad Mini for that

Stonking deal! is it for the dual sim version too?

Wait, they're dead. Is it legal for them to be selling these phones. I mean, they're dead right.

Oh, did I upset you? Try the FACTS - Windows phones are DEAD!

Windows phones are DEAD

Wish ppl would stop going on abt the os, its great for those who want it. This is a good deal,, i have the 1520, it's great.

Soon to become Collectors Items (or junk in the cupboard gathering dust)
Lumia Killed OFF

​Or so rumour has said for 6months+.... Nothing in stone yet. My fingers are crossed though.... Windows 10 for Mobile has been a massive flop which is a shame cause Windows Phone 7 & 8.1 were lovely...

​True but the S6 has already been superceded by this year's S7, doesn't stop it being a great phone...(battery alone does that, yes).. Better example... The 6S is not obsolete cause the 7 is on the horizon... What I'm saying is tech is designed to be succeeded, this will be succeeded in a year or so yes but get it while its almost stillrelevant at a great price. Heat.

Support for windows mobile 10 ends around mid 2018, wp7 next year

Lacks in mainstream apps also otherwise I might be tempted although there is almost a concern as to how long WP10 will get security updates for!
A real shame as I enjoyed WP7.5 back in the day when it seemed well ahead of the curve.

I have this and although I moan about Windows 10 Mobile alot, the 950xl has got a higher res screen (1440 x 2560) and camera (20Mp) than the iphone 7 and like many Lumia's, can charge wirelessly and take micro sd cards (so you don't have to pay Apple's excessive rates for more storage). Its even got a headphone socket.

If you don't need alot of apps this might be perfect. Unfortunately I do so it breaks my heart.

Many many phones will record 4k video...Even my 2yr Galaxy Note 4 records 4k video.....

This is a bit like the BHS closing down sale: The stock is good, but it's not good enough, and it's a bit "old hat".

Microsoft pays it's Tax Bill? REALLY?
Microsft Tax Avoidance UK