14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft presented the new Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL on October 6 as part of a hardware event in New York, and although the devices were not available for purchase immediately (but only for pre-order), the company brought demo units in stores to let everyone try them out and decide whether they should buy one or not.
This strategy can really pay off if done right because it helps stir up enthusiasm and interest among the Windows Phone community, but it turns out that there’s a problem with the demo units that forced Microsoft to pull them all and bring them back to the company.
WinBeta reports that Lumia 950 XL phones in all Microsoft stores have been sent back to the Redmond headquarters because of an undisclosed issue, which apparently doesn’t have anything to do with software.
Not a software issue
Some people initially thought that it’s all because Microsoft wants to install a newer version of Windows 10 Mobile on these devices, as it gets closer to finalizing development of the operating system, but since it’s not something related to software, it appears that a much more serious issue is actually affecting these devices.
Obviously, the software update could also be performed in stores, so all signs point to either a manufacturing issue or a hardware problem, but with Microsoft remaining tight-lipped on this, it’s hard to tell exactly what happened.
Microsoft’s Lumia 950 XL, which is now displayed as “coming soon” in Microsoft’s online store, comes with a 5.7-inch WQHD display, a 20-megapixel camera with ZEISS optics, 32 GB of storage and support for microSD cards of up to 200 GB. It runs Windows 10 Mobile, but the current demo units are powered by a preview version of the operating system, as Microsoft continues work on it until the devices actually ship.
This is projected to happen in November, before all Windows Phone users get the upgrade to Windows 10 in December.
This report is not yet confirmed and we've reached out to Microsoft for a confirmation, so we'll update the article should we receive an answer.
Update: Microsoft confirmed for us that it pulled Lumia 950 XL demo units from the store, but the company hasn't said anything about any issue that might be affecting these models.