Rumors regarding Microsoft Lumia 650 have been erupting for quite some time now but the tech giant never confirmed the existence or the development of such a device. However, recently the company CMO foolishly confirmed the launch of this upcoming Windows 10 handset. Mary Jo Foley of ZDNet asked a question regarding the Lumia 650 during the Windows Weekly Podcast.
In response, Microsoft CEO Chris Capossela declared that a release date hasn’t been announced yet. This clearly indicates that this device will release soon. This statement by Capossela means that the company is indeed working on a budget-friendly Lumia device.
Earlier rumors regarding the Lumia 650 revealed that this device will release in early 2016. People can expect the device to be released sometime in January or February. Further rumors suggest that Microsoft will be marketing this device as a business and enterprise centric device. The device is in fact a ‘premium budget phone’.
This smartphone will be sold by Cricket Wireless starting April 2016. This device will come with a 5.0inch display along with a 720p HD resolution. Under the hood, the device is powered by a quad-core (Snapdragon 212) Cortex-A7 processor running at 1.3 GHz.
The processor is further paired with a decent 1GB of RAM. In terms of memory configuration, the device will have 8GB of internal storage and supports further expansion with a microSD card. It is believed that the device will sport an 8 megapixel shooter at the rear and a 5 megapixel front camera.
After the launch of Lumia 950, Lumia 950XL and Lumia 550, Microsoft is preparing for the launch of its next flagship smartphone and this is the Lumia 850. Meanwhile, after the launch of 550, Microsoft is gearing up for the launch of the Lumia 650. Earlier, we saw an image depicting the upcoming model and recently, a few more renders have shown up as well.
These renders are not actually leaked. Instead, they are being touted to be based on the internal Microsoft slides for the phone. They are not the official images but at the same time, these renders are highly reflective of the final product.
The 650 will become official in January or February. The device will be marketed mainly towards companies and will be considered to be an affordable business phone. Furthermore, this will also be the successor to Lumia 640.
The Lumia 650 will have a metal frame and include white and black variants. We have no idea whether it will be picked up by other carriers, besides Cricket or whether it will launch in other parts of the world.
In the end, it seems like the people who are waiting for the Lumia 650 are finally about to witness it. The device is finally real and upcoming. Ubergizmo reported that the handset was first introduced as a rumor and people were not certain whether it is true or not. We saw a lot of renderings of this device online but ever since then, it is yet to be confirmed.
However, things have changed after the recent declaration by Chris Capossela, the CMO of Microsoft. His subtle announcement clearly declared the existence of this device. As a result, fans have started speculating about the possible launch date of this device.
Reports indicate that this device could be leaked during the Consumer Electronics Show that will take place on January 2016. It was noted by News Independent that it will probably be released during the Mobile World Congress in February 2016.