ICYMI: Microsoft Lumia 650 Now Available to Preorder in the U.S. and Canada

When Microsoft announced the Lumia 650, they didn’t make any hype about it that it would be unveiled at some special event. Rather doing something like that, the company decided to unveil the device in a blog post which caught the attention of a lot of people. Now, however, in case you missed it, the Washington-based company has gone even lower-key with the launch of preorders for the 650 in the U.S. and Canada by not even writing up a quick article on their blog explaining that it’s available.

And even though all of the above is true, it hasn’t stopped anyone from gaining details on the launch of pre sales for the new budget-friendly Windows 10-powered phone. Here’s what you need to know:

Cost

The Lumia 650 in the U.S. will run you $199 for a SIM-free off-contract model, while in Canada you’ll have to fork up $199 CAD. This price is really nice to see coming from such a beautiful phone, however obviously there are cutbacks Microsoft had to make to get the cost down. Next let’s look at that reason, which is just the specs.

Specs

The specs of the Lumia 650 aren’t mind-blowing on any level, as the phone is powered by a Snapdragon 212 with 1GB of RAM. Interestingly, the Luma 640, which is what the 650 is supposed to be a sequel of, has a Snapdragon 400 with 1GB of RAM. It’s unclear why Microsoft added a less powerful chip in the 650, however it’s most likely to get that price waaaay down.

Here’s a rundown of all the specs:

5-inch AMOLED with HD (1280x720px) resolution and Gorilla Glass 3
Quad-core 1.3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 212 processor
1GB RAM
16GB onboard storage (plus microSD card support up to 200GB)
8MP rear camera with autofocus, LED flash and 720p video recording at 30fps
5MP front-facing camera with continous autofocus, ‘video light’ and 720p video at 30fps
Bluetooth 4.1
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n with support for Wi-Fi calling
4G LTE connectivity (bands 1, 3, 7, 8 and 20)
NFC support
microUSB 2.0 with Type B connector
Removable 2000mAh battery
142 x 71 x 6.9mm; 122g

Of course there are some key areas where the 650 outperforms the 640, like the display department, with the 650 having a 5-inch 1280×720 AMOLED display while the 640 has simply a 5-inch 1280×720 HD display. However, there isn’t much left to determine this is the sequel to one of Microsoft’s best Lumias ever. What the call basically comes down to is real-world performance and comparison.

Availability

Microsoft will begin shipping the Lumia 650 on April 1st to both the U.S. and Canada to customers who preorder. Carrier availability in North America is unclear as of now, but recent reports claim that the 650 could be coming to Cricket Wireless in the near future.

> Preorder the Lumia 650 for $199 in the U.S.