Microsoft working on another bland budget phone: the Lumia 650

Scorpus

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The past few generations of mid-range and budget Windows Phones haven't been particularly amazing, and it seems like Microsoft wants to continue that trend, with the company currently readying the Lumia 650 as a new entry-level smartphone.

A render of the Lumia 650 has leaked via Teiba, revealing an uninteresting design that's a basic iteration of past Lumia handsets. The picture suggests the phone will feature a front speaker and dual-SIM connectivity, although not much else can be determined from a simple image of the device's front.

Rumored specs for the Lumia 650 include a 5.0-inch 720p display, a Snapdragon 410 SoC, 1 GB of RAM and 8 GB of internal storage. Again, these specs aren't revolutionary in the budget segment at all, so Microsoft will face some stiff competition against the likes of the Motorola Moto G 2015 and Asus Zenfone 2.

Compared to Microsoft's other recent budget Windows Phones, the Lumia 550, you're getting a faster SoC (up from a Snapdragon 210) and slightly larger display (up from 4.7-inches) if you choose the Lumia 650. Camera info hasn't been revealed, but nothing about the Lumia 650's other specifications suggests it will be particularly amazing.

There's no word on when Microsoft might officially reveal the Lumia 650, though you can expect it will launch with Windows 10 Mobile on board. Considering we're already seeing renders of the device in the wild, it's looking likely that the phone will be announced in the early parts of next year, possibly at MWC 2016.

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It looks just like any other smartphone around today and they all look uninteresting to me. Manufacturing materials and specs differ but they all look the just same, a rectangular block.
 
It looks just like any other smartphone around today and they all look uninteresting to me. Manufacturing materials and specs differ but they all look the just same, a rectangular block.
I agree. Windows phone does have the advantage that it runs better than android on low end hardware, but android is the better OS hardware permitting.
 
I agree. Windows phone does have the advantage that it runs better than android on low end hardware, but android is the better OS hardware permitting.
I'm just talking about looks here. At a glance all phones look exactly the same apart from the BB Privvy when the keyboard is exposed. The OS of choice is up to the user choice and Windows clearly looks a lot different.
 
Supposedly all of these designs we're still seeing are "Nokia" left overs. Panos Panay (the guy who leads the Surface division) is now leading all hardware engineering for Microsoft devices. So if we're still seeing this kind of boring stuff com Summer/Fall 2016 --- then yeah, that's all Microsoft.
 
First, this article, if you could call it that, easily qualifies as the Tech Spot non-story of the year. Secondly, as most people know, especially the peeps who fall into the geek and nerd category, beauty is only skin deep.
 
Scorpus The Entertainer said:
The past few generations of mid-range and budget Windows Phones haven't been particularly amazing, and it seems like Microsoft wants to continue that trend, with the company currently readying the Lumia 650 as a new entry-level smartphone.
I sense a smidgen of rebuttal here.
 
Ummm. A moto g (3rd gen) costs like $180. I purchased a Lumia 640 with 1gb ram, 8gb storage, 8mp with flash and 294 ppi 5" screen for $29.99 with no plan. You could get lumia 640 for $59.99 right now. I unlocked it for $1.99 too. I have a moto g but the lumia 640 price was too good to pass and it even does some things better than my moto g. I dont think the new lumia 650 is gonna cost $180.
 
I like the Lumia phones, but they should consider shatter resistant glass.
 
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