Windows looks great and typically runs really well, even on lower-end phones, but it’s a tough OS to recommend due to its poor app ecosystem. Windows 10 may be the ultimate version of Windows, but that doesn’t erase the mobile platform’s long legacy of lacking popular apps, games, and services. And as has long been the case, it’s going to be really, really difficult for Windows to hold its own against Android. With a couple of very similar handsets squaring off here, certainly operating system is going to be the biggest differentiator.

Considering Lumia’s strong track record here, we’re inclined to believe the Lumia 950 XL will be a standout shooter, where we don’t have that assurance yet with the Nexus 6P. Rather than pop a giant number on the box – it has a 12.4-megapixel sensor, by comparison – the 6P packs larger 1.55 µm pixels, which let more light in and potentially capture better, clearer shots. Meanwhile, the Nexus 6P tries something a little different. The Lumia line is long known for having strong cameras and lenses, and even with Microsoft in the driver’s seat now, we have a feeling it will be a good one. The Lumia 950 XL has a pretty standard-sounding phone camera, albeit with a big number attached: it’s a 20-megapixel PureView back shooter, with optical image stabilisation, a triple-LED flash, and ZEISS optics. So we’ll resist the urge to pick the larger number and have that be the only deciding factor. As we’ve learned time and again, a larger megapixel count doesn’t necessarily mean better photos from a smartphone camera.

Microsoft display dock specs