Microsoft had included the Lumia 550 at the Windows 10 devices launch event that took place in October, but it wasn’t part of the launch event that happened in India last month. The company had mentioned that the Lumia 550 will be available across select markets and will be the first affordable handset from the company to run on the Windows 10. It seems that Microsoft wants to make available an entire line-up of Windows 10 devices available across different price ranges for this Christmas season. And today, Lumia 550 has been announced in India priced at Rs 9,399.
The Lumia 550 will run Windows 10 out of the box and it heralds with entry level specs with mid-range levee pricing. The device comes fitted with a 4.7-inch 720p display and will draw its power from the age old Snapdragon 210 clocked at 1.1GHz and paired with 1GB of RAM. On the storage front, the Lumia 550 offers 8GB of internal storage along with a microSD card slot that can further accommodate another 200GB. Just like the earlier budget Lumias, the 550 comes clad in a polycarbonate back cover beneath which lies a 2,100mAh battery pack which according to the company promises 17-hours of talk time and can last up to 28-hours on standby.
The camera department is managed by a 5-Megapixel primary sensor and a 2-Megapixel front facing snapper. Connectivity options include the standard 4G LTE support, Bluetooth 4.1 and a MicroUSB port. Before you ask, it does NOT support Continuum for Windows. We are yet to ascertain if Microsoft will introduce the Dual SIM 4G variant in India as sources say it will be initially offering just the single SIM variant.
Windows 10 has been one of the most sought after operating systems across various devices, and it is the first time Microsoft has prescribed to a one Windows for all the devices approach resulting in a richer ecosystem. That being said, the Lumia 550 still lacks the punch as it needs to rival against the much powerful Android devices including the recently launched Xiaomi Redmi Note Prime and Coolpad Note 3 which come fitted with much better hardware. If you want to taste the Windows 10 on a non-flagship phone, than the Lumia 550 might be the only bet, but we still feel the price is beyond sensible from Microsoft India.