Microsoft Lumia 950 review: Legendary Edition

3. Display, battery life, connectivity

Display

The display of the Microsoft Lumia 950 is one of the highlight features, alongside the chipset and new operating system. The diagonal is quite reasonable at 5.2", but the resolution got a massive boost to QHD - 2560 x 1440 pixels. This means that despite its ample screen real estate, the AMOLED panel offers a superb 564ppi.

The Lumia 950 has only modest maximum brightness (328nits) if you have the brightness control set to manual, but as soon as you switch to Auto, the phone will push the brightness all the way up to 628nits given the environment is bright enough.

Another positive remark we have about the screen is excellent color rendering. The average DeltaE is only 1.9, which is perhaps the lowest average we've seen on a mobile phone. You have got to remember that anything below 3 is considered calibration-level color accuracy so we're really happy with the fact that Microsoft provides such color accuracy out of the box.

Display test	50% brightness			100% brightness
Display test	Black, cd/m²	White, cd/m²	Contrast ratio	Black, cd/m²	White, cd/m²	Contrast ratio
Microsoft Lumia 950	0.00	105	∞	0.00	328	∞
Microsoft Lumia 950 (max auto)	-	-	-	0.00	626	∞
Nokia Lumia 930	0.00	149	∞	0.00	347	∞
Nokia Lumia 1520	0.22	263	1174	0.43	522	1207
Samsung Galaxy S6	0	208	∞	0	363	∞
Samsung Galaxy S6 max auto	-	-	∞	0	619	∞
LG G4	0.09	108	1240	0.43	532	1238
OnePlus Two	0.16	180	1139	0.30	399	1334
Apple iPhone 6s Plus	0.10	150	1563	0.43	590	1382
Xiaomi Mi 4c	0.08	121	1613	0.28	452	1609
HTC One M9	0.15	175	1180	0.44	534	1221

Under direct sunlight, the Lumia 950 retains excellent contrast and stays legible even in brightly lit environments.

Sunlight contrast ratio

Nokia 808 PureView
4.698
Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
4.615
Samsung Galaxy E7
4.485
HTC One A9
4.274
Samsung Galaxy A3
4.241
Samsung Galaxy S6 edge
4.124
Samsung Galaxy S6
4.124
Samsung Galaxy Note5
4.09
Samsung Galaxy Note 4
4.033
Apple iPhone 5
3.997
Samsung Galaxy Note 3
3.997
OnePlus X
3.983
Samsung Galaxy A5
3.895
Samsung Galaxy J7 outdoor
3.879
Samsung Galaxy J2 outdoor
3.873
Samsung Galaxy A8
3.859
Apple iPhone 6
3.838
Motorola Moto X (2014)
3.816
Samsung Galaxy Note Edge
3.799
Apple iPhone 6s
3.783
Meizu Pro 5
3.781
Vivo X5Pro
3.706
Samsung Galaxy A7
3.679
Oppo R5
3.678
Samsung Galaxy K zoom
3.675
Nokia Lumia 930
3.567
Apple iPhone 5s
3.565
Samsung Galaxy S5
3.549
Nokia Lumia 735
3.547
Motorola Nexus 6
3.543
Apple iPhone 6s Plus
3.53
Alcatel Idol X+
3.527
Microsoft Lumia 950
3.512
Apple iPhone 5c
3.512
Samsung Galaxy Alpha
3.509
Oppo R7 Plus
3.499
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
3.487
vivo X5Max
3.472
LG G Flex2
3.465
YotaPhone 2
3.453
Samsung Galaxy J7
3.422
Motorola RAZR MAXX
3.42
Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III
3.419
Meizu MX5
3.416
Samsung Galaxy S5 Active
3.406
Nokia Lumia 925
3.402
Gionee Elife S5.5
3.386
Samsung I9505 Galaxy S4
3.352
Oppo R7
3.32
Samsung Omnia W
3.301
Samsung Galaxy J2
3.235
Motorola Moto X Play
3.222
Samsung Galaxy S5 mini
3.174
Samsung I9000 Galaxy S
3.155
Samsung Ativ S
3.129
Samsung I9190 Galaxy S4 mini
3.127
Samsung Galaxy S4 zoom
3.118
LG Nexus 5X
3.092
Huawei Mate S
3.073
Nokia N9
3.069
Microsoft Lumia 640 XL
3.065
Apple iPhone 6 Plus
3.023
Samsung Galaxy Note
2.97
Samsung Galaxy Premier
2.958
Sony Xperia Z1
2.95
HTC One S
2.901
Lenovo S90 Sisley
2.892
Sony Xperia Z5
2.876
Samsung I8730 Galaxy Express
2.861
BlackBerry Q10
2.856
Samsung I9100 Galaxy S II
2.832
Sony Xperia Z3+
2.824
HTC Desire Eye
2.815
Gionee Elife S5.1
2.812
Samsung Galaxy S II Plus
2.801
BlackBerry Z30
2.79
Sony Xperia Z5 compact
2.784
Meizu MX4 Pro
2.765
LG V10
2.744
Sony Xperia M5
2.69
Sony Xperia ZR
2.672
Huawei Ascend P1
2.655
Xiaomi Mi 4i
2.641
Sony Xperia Z3
2.618
Sony Xperia Z3 Compact
2.616
Sony Xperia T3
2.609
BlackBerry Passport
2.595
Xiaomi Mi 4c
2.574
Microsoft Lumia 640
2.563
Nokia Lumia 900
2.562
Motorola Moto G 4G
2.546
HTC One Max
2.537
Sony Xperia Z5 Premium
2.525
Nokia Lumia 720
2.512
HTC One
2.504
Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
2.503
Motorola Moto G
2.477
vivo Xshot
2.465
Sony Xperia Z
2.462
Xiaomi Mi 4
2.424
Samsung Galaxy S III mini
2.422
Lenovo Vibe Z2 Pro
2.416
LG G Flex
2.407
Huawei Honor 7
2.406
ZUK Z1 by Lenovo
2.382
HTC Desire 820
2.372
HTC One (M8)
2.371
Meizu MX4
2.366
Motorola RAZR i
2.366
Meizu m1 note
2.362
Sony Xperia ZL
2.352
HTC One M9
2.334
LG G4
2.317
Samsung Galaxy Note II
2.307
HTC One E9+
2.305
HTC One (M8) for Windows
2.291
Oppo R1x
2.281
Oppo Find 7a
2.279
Alcatel One Touch Hero
2.272
Apple iPhone 4S
2.269
HTC Desire 600 dual sim
2.262
Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
2.253
Nokia Asha 311
2.25
Sony Xperia C4 Dual
2.235
Xiaomi Mi Note
2.234
Motorola Moto G (2014)
2.233
LG Nexus 5
2.228
Huawei P8
2.196
Nokia Lumia 820
2.193
HTC One (E8)
2.185
Oppo N3
2.181
Nokia Lumia 920
2.17
Huawei Honor 6
2.169
Xiaomi Redmi Note 2
2.166
OnePlus Two
2.165
HTC One X
2.158
Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML
2.149
LG Aka
2.145
Nokia N8
2.144
Nokia Lumia 620
2.142
Archos 50 Diamond
2.134
Nokia 515
2.134
HTC Desire 500
2.129
Sony Xperia C3 Dual
2.12
Xiaomi Redmi Note
2.119
Sony Xperia acro S
2.119
Nokia Lumia 1020
2.103
Oppo Find 5
2.088
Huawei P8lite
2.078
Sony Xperia SL
2.078
Nokia Lumia 630
2.056
BlackBerry Z10
2.051
Moto G 3rd gen max manual
2.026
Huawei Ascend Mate7
2.024
Samsung I9295 Galaxy S4 Active
2.022
Apple iPhone 4
2.016
HTC One mini
2.003
Xiaomi Mi 3
2.001
Huawei Ascend P7
1.992
LG G2
1.976
Sony Xperia E4g
1.972
OnePlus One
1.961
Oppo R819
1.957
Sony Ericsson Xperia ray
1.955
Lenovo Vibe X2
1.952
Sony Xperia Z2
1.944
Sony Xperia E3
1.943
Nokia Lumia 1320
1.941
HTC One mini 2
1.94
Samsung Galaxy Camera
1.938
Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime
1.935
Sony Xperia J
1.932
Acer CloudMobile S500
1.931
ZTE Blade S6
1.927
LG Nexus 4
1.926
LG G Pro 2
1.922
Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3
1.913
Nokia Asha 308
1.911
HTC Butterfly 2
1.905
Sony Xperia T
1.894
BlackBerry Leap
1.892
Meizu m2 note
1.892
Nokia Lumia 830
1.887
HTC Desire X
1.878
HTC Windows Phone 8X
1.873
HTC Butterfly
1.873
HTC Butterfly S
1.867
Huawei Ascend P6
1.865
Huawei Ascend Mate
1.845
LG G2 mini
1.838
LG G3
1.82
Nokia Lumia 1520
1.813
HTC Desire 616 dual sim
1.797
Sony Xperia V
1.792
HTC Desire 816
1.783
Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
1.772
HTC Desire 700 dual sim
1.769
ZTE Nubia Z9 mini
1.759
Sony Xperia U
1.758
Meizu MX3
1.754
LG Optimus G
1.753
Sony Xperia T2 Ultra
1.74
Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact
1.735
Acer Liquid Jade S
1.734
Sony Xperia SP
1.733
LG Optimus 4X HD
1.691
Oppo Find 7
1.691
HTC One V
1.685
BlackBerry Q5
1.682
LG Optimus Vu
1.68
Asus Zenfone Selfie
1.68
Motorola Moto E (2nd Gen)
1.675
Xiaomi Mi Pad 7.9
1.672
LG Optimus GJ
1.666
ZTE Nubia Z9
1.659
LG Optimus 3D Max
1.658
HTC Desire V
1.646
Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2
1.632
Samsung Galaxy Ace 3
1.622
Microsoft Lumia 532
1.615
Jolla Jolla
1.605
Microsoft Lumia 435
1.598
Sony Xperia Z Ultra
1.578
Sony Xperia go
1.577
Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 I8160
1.566
Samsung Galaxy Core
1.563
LG Optimus G Pro
1.552
Motorola Moto E
1.545
LG Optimus 3D
1.542
Nokia Asha 302
1.537
Samsung Galaxy Core Prime
1.507
BlackBerry Curve 9320
1.488
Sony Xperia M
1.473
Oppo N1
1.47
Sony Xperia E4
1.467
Meizu MX 4-core
1.462
Nokia Lumia 610
1.432
Samsung Galaxy S Duos
1.4
Microsoft Lumia 535
1.393
Sony Xperia M2
1.393
Samsung Galaxy Grand Neo
1.393
Samsung Galaxy Grand 2
1.38
Sony Xperia E1
1.372
Nokia Lumia 625
1.371
Gigabyte GSmart G1355
1.361
Sony Xperia L
1.351
Xiaomi Redmi 1S
1.35
Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8
1.35
HTC Desire 510
1.34
Sony Xperia M2 Aqua
1.331
Sony Xperia miro
1.324
Samsung I9082 Galaxy Grand
1.321
Samsung I8530 Galaxy Beam
1.315
Xiaomi Redmi 2
1.311
HTC Desire C
1.3
Nokia X
1.291
Sony Xperia C
1.283
Nokia Asha 503
1.281
Nokia Asha 501
1.27
LG Optimus L7
1.269
Nokia Lumia 510
1.268
Samsung Galaxy Fame
1.245
LG Optimus L9
1.227
Meizu MX
1.221
Samsung Galaxy Young
1.22
Sony Xperia E
1.215
Nokia XL
1.204
Sony Xperia E dual
1.203
Asus Memo Pad 7 ME176C
1.198
Samsung Galaxy Pocket
1.18
Nokia Asha 305
1.178
Nokia Asha 306
1.175
Sony Xperia neo L
1.169
Sony Xperia tipo
1.166
Nokia Lumia 520
1.161
Samsung S6802 Galaxy Ace Duos
1.148
Samsung Galaxy mini 2
1.114

Battery life

Microsoft has put a beefy 3,000mAh battery inside the Lumia 950, a solid capacity for a 5.2" device. The phone supports fast charging and can recharge up to 50% of the battery capacity in just 30 minutes. Wireless charging is available, too.

In our battery test the Lumia 950 scored a 48h rating, which means you can count on two days if you do an hour each of calling, browsing and video playback a day. The phone does average across all of the separate tests and in the standby endurance (about a week).

Such usage pattern is of course entirely artificial, but we've established it so our battery results are comparable across devices.

Our proprietary score also includes a standby battery draw test, which is not featured in our battery test scorecard but is calculated in the total endurance rating. Our battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you want to learn more about it.

Connectivity

The Lumia 950 supports 13 or 14 LTE bands (market dependent), there is rich 3G and quad-band GSM support, too. The phone uses a nano-SIM card to tap to cellular networks.

The rest of the wireless connectivity features include dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac support. There is also support for Bluetooth 4.1, GPS and GLONASS, plus an FM radio. Wireless screen mirroring is available via the Miracast protocol.

The Lumia 950 is Microsoft's very first device to support USB Type-C - it's a new reversible connector for USB that builds on top of USB 3.1.

If you like to use USB OTG or USB Host, you should either get the Microsoft's Display Dock or other compatible accessory or adapter.

The Microsoft Display Dock

The dock also allows you to connect the phone to an external monitor and is the backbone for enabling the full-blown Windows Continuum experience. Make note that you can also use Continuum over the standard wireless Miracast protocol or connect the phone directly to the display via a USB-C to HDMI adapter.

In these cases however, you would not be able to use a wired mouse and keyboard or enjoy the USB host functionality the dock provides. You could use a wireless mouse and keyboard that connect over Bluetooth. There is also the concern about charging.

We'll discuss Continuum more in our dedicated section.

Windows 10, by the way, offers a very handy app called Gadgets, which is very similar to Sony's Smart Connect app. It allows you to set your device to do a variety of things - like launch an app - whenever you connect an accessory like a headset, dock or a charger.

Gadgets app

Next Page » 4. Software overview

3. Display, battery life, connectivity

Reviews Microsoft Lumia 950 reviewPage 3