After first launching in Europe in December, Microsoft’s Lumia 550 has officially made its way to the US.
The Lumia 550 is now available from Microsoft’s US online store for $139. In exchange for your Benjamin, Jackson, Hamilton, Lincoln, and four Washingtons, you’ll get a Windows 10 Mobile device with a 4.7-inch 1280x720 display, quad-core Snapdragon 210 processor, 5-megapixel rear and 2-megapixel front cameras, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of storage, and a microSD slot for added storage space. The whole package is powered by a removable 2100mAh battery.
The Lumia 550 is an entry-level smartphone, especially when compared to Microsoft’s other recent Windows phones, the Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL. Windows has typically run well on lower-end hardware, though, and so I’d expect the Lumia 550 to run fine with most everyday tasks. With the Lumia 550, Microsoft is targeting folks that want a low-cost smartphone to do basic things like browse the web, check email, and so on, with the goal of building out the Windows user base by targeting a broad audience whose primary concern is price, not platform.