First Impressions: Lumia 650

Earlier this week, Microsoft introduced the Lumia 650 – the company’s new Windows 10 Mobile device aimed at business customers. Thanks to the folks over at UnlockedMobiles, we were able to get our hands on a Lumia 650 today. If you want to get a Lumia 650 for yourself, you can get it from Unlocked Mobile today by heading over to this link.

Now, let’s talk about the Lumia 650. For those unfamiliar, the Lumia 650 comes with a Snapdragon 212, a 5-inch display, and an 8MP rear camera. The device’s specs aren’t very impressive for the price, especially the processor. Additionally, despite being a “smart choice” for businesses, the device does not support Windows 10 Mobile’s best productivity feature: Continuum for phones.

The Lumia 650 comes with the usual Lumia packaging. Just like the Lumia 950 XL, Lumia 950 and the Lumia 550’s packaging, the Lumia 650 comes in a pretty simple box which you can easily slide open. Opening up the box, you will be greeted with the device itself and some literature which you probably won’t read. Then, you will be able to find the charger, battery, and that’s it. Out of the box, the Lumia 650 comes with Windows 10 Mobile Build 10586.11 – however, the February Cumulative Update (build 10586.107) is already available for download on the device.

When you take out the Lumia 650 from the box, you will be able to take a closer look at the device’s beauty. For those who don’t know, the device includes a metal frame which makes it look and feel a lot premium than it really is. I have used a Lumia 950 XL previously – and unsurprisingly enough, the Lumia 650 feels a lot better than the Lumia 950 XL, thanks to the metal frame around the device.

One thing I really like about the Lumia 650 is how light it feels in the hands. The device is even lighter than my Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, and of course, the iPhone 6s Plus. It’s so light that you might think it’s a dummy unit or you forgot to put the battery in (that’s exactly what I thought, and even after putting the battery in, the device still feels light).

The display of the Lumia 650 is…decent. It isn’t anything impressive, but it’s just OK. Colors aren’t very bright, but the blacks are quite nice thanks to the ClearBlack display. I experienced an issue with the Lumia 650’s display already – the display suddenly started acting weird, stopped responding to touch interactions and the device rebooted itself. It seems like Microsoft is yet to learn from the feedback from the early Lumia 950, 950 XL users as the 650 also seems to include the weird reboot issues.

It is worth mentioning that the Lumia 650 comes with a front facing speaker, which is definitely a plus as we don’t get to see many affordable devices with a front facing speaker.

As for the camera of the Lumia 650, Microsoft included an 8MP rear camera and a 5MP front camera. The cameras on the Lumia 650 are quite decent – of course, the picture quality isn’t very impressive, but it should not disappoint you, considering the fact that it’s an affordable device. And the front camera is also pretty good. I feel like the selfies taken with the front camera look very “real”, which is, of course, a very good sign.

The performance on the Lumia 650 is OK, and that’s probably because of the Snapdragon 212. Don’t expect games to run smoothly on the device, and you will also experience some lag when multitasking. Microsoft could have possibly put a Snapdragon 410 on the Lumia 650, which would improve the performance of the device. We will take a closer look at the device’s performance in our full review, until then, here are some images of the Lumia 650:

We will have an in-depth look at the Lumia 650 in our full review, which will be coming in a few weeks. Until then, tell us what you think of the Lumia 650 in the comment section below. If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch with me on Twitter @mehedih_!