The Microsoft Lumia 550: A Windows 10 handset for under £100.

With the release of the Lumia 550, we see Microsoft offering the first budget handset to run on Windows 10. But with a price point under £100 can it really live up to the Windows expectations?

The Lumia 550 is a light and resource efficient handset, with an impressive 4.7 inch display offering 720p resolution, and a sharp pixel density of 315ppi. It matches up to previous generation Lumia handsets, with LTE support and a sleek minimalistic polycarbonate casing. We can’t help but notice a similarity to the Lumia 640 in terms of spec, and the latest flagship Lumia 950 in terms of exterior styling.

Under the hood:

Running on Snapdragon 210 chipset, with quad core 1.1 GHz Cortext A7 CPU and Adreno 304 GPU the handset has decent specs for the price point. There is 1GB of RAM and 8 GB of in built storage within the handset, however the Lumia 550 does offer expandable memory via a microSD slot.

Cameras:

Cameras include a 5 megapixel rear offering, with auto-focus, 7 2.4 aperture, LED flash and 720p video recording (at 30 frames per second). On the front is a 2 megapixel camera, 480p.

Connectivity:

Connectivity includes 4G (also impressive for the price), Wifi, Bluetooth 4.1, GPS/GLONASS/Beidou and FM radio.

Measurements and Battery Life:

Microsoft’s Lumia 550’s dimensions measure up at 136.1 x 67.8 x 9.9 mm and 142 grams in weight. Equipped with a 2100 man Li-Ion battery, the 550 promises up to 14 hours of talk time and up to a whopping 670 hours standy.

Windows 10:

The Lumia 550 is one of the first handsets to come with Windows 10 Mobile out of the box, which is extremely generous considering the price. The usage is very similar to that in the Xbox One’s Windows 10, and the interface has a familiar feel thanks to the tiled homescreen. But we can’t help but notice that nearly 5GB out of the 8GB storage is taken up by the new OS (leaving us very grateful for that expandable micros SD slot). You’ll also be able to enjoy Microsoft’s new web browser, Edge, on the handset too, which offers some nice new features such as bookmark sync and reading mode.

Conclusion:

All in all the Microsoft Lumia 550 is a great choice for those looking for the benefits of Microsoft Windows 10 mobile without the hefty price tag of the Lumia 950XL and 950.

Here’s the specs at a glance:

Size: 136.1 mm x 67.8 mm x 9.9 mm
Weight: 141.9 g
Memory: 8 GB (expandable via MicroSD card)
User data storage: In device, OneDrive cloud storage, App and data storage on memory card
Display: 4.7 ”, HD720 (1280 x 720), TrueColor (24-bit/16M), LCD, 315 ppi
Battery capacity: 2100 mAh
Standby time: up to 28 days
Talk time (4G): up to 17 h
Music playback time: up to 60 h
Wi-Fi network browsing time: up to 10 h
Video playback time: up to 7.1 h
User interface features: Glance screen, Tactile feedback, Vibrating alerts, Voice commands
Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 210, Quad core
Main camera: 5.0 MP, Auto focus, 2 x digital zoom, 1/4 inch digital zoom, f/2.4, LED flash
Other Camera features: Auto and manual exposure, Auto and manual white balance, Automatic photo upload to web services, Full resolution photo and video upload, Full screen viewfinder, Geotagging, Touch focus
Front camera: 2 MP, f/2.8, : Still image capture, Video call, Video recording
Main camera video resolution: 720p (HD, 1280 x 720)