Microsoft will announce the Lumia 650 on February 1 with little fanfare

The Microsoft Lumia 650 is finally getting its official announcement. Windows Central has been following new on the business-orientated phone for a few months now noting that it is likely the last Lumia for the year.

Multiple sources have confirmed that Monday, February 1 Microsoft will reveal details about the device, including pricing and availability, through their official blog. The news is somewhat expected as the phone is not exactly worthy of a press event and Microsoft is likely going to keep their presence at Mobile World Congress low-key.

Lumia 650 Specifications (unofficial)

  • Windows 10 Mobile
  • Colors: Matte White or Matte Black
  • 5-inch 720p display
  • Snapdragon 210 or 212 processor
  • 1GB of RAM
  • 8GB of storage with micro SD expansion
  • 5MP front-facing camera; 8MP rear with LED flash
  • No wireless charging (could change)

Windows Central had commissioned some unofficial renders of the phone to be made by @PhoneDesigner and you can see the gallery below.

Lumia 750 and Lumia 850? Unlikely

Speaking of Mobile World Congress, there have been reports of a 'Lumia 750' or 'Lumia 850' also being announced at that event. We are still sticking to our claim that both of those phones were cancelled back in July of 2015 and we have seen no concrete evidence of that having changed. In fact, if those phones were coming it would seem to make more sense to hold off on the Lumia 650 announcement for a few weeks and announce all the devices at once at Mobile World Congress. That, however, is not what is happening.

Some sites have reported on a device labelled RM-1182 as being certified in various countries like China and Indonesia. The Lumia 850 was RM-1180 before being cancelled, and it is unclear exactly what RM-1182 is at this time. Having said that, none of our sources knows of an RM-1182, and we have heard multiple times that the Lumia 650 is the last Lumia. Instead, Microsoft will be focusing on the flagship 'Panos phone', which is expected to be part of the Surface line later this fall. RM-1182 could be a regional variant of a new mid-range phone, but that is still unconfirmed.

Microsoft so far has not announced plans for Mobile World Congress, but Windows Central will be there to cover the event including any other Windows Phone announcement from Microsoft partners.

No word on pricing and availability of the Lumia 650. Microsoft is likely to clear that up on February 1.

Daniel Rubino
Editor-in-chief

Daniel Rubino is the Editor-in-chief of Windows Central. He is also the head reviewer, podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been covering Microsoft since 2007, when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, laptops, next-gen computing, and watches. He has been reviewing laptops since 2015 and is particularly fond of 2-in-1 convertibles, ARM processors, new form factors, and thin-and-light PCs. Before all this tech stuff, he worked on a Ph.D. in linguistics, watched people sleep (for medical purposes!), and ran the projectors at movie theaters because it was fun.