Quick comparison: Lumia 550 vs Lumia 650

Which is best for you?
We compare the last two phones by Microsoft, both running Windows 10 Mobile out of the box. The Lumia 550, priced around EUR105, is positioned in the very low-end segment, while the Lumia 650 is twice as expensive as the Lumia 550 – EUR225. The question here is which model is best for you? Is the Lumia 650 twice as good as the Lumia 550? Find the answers below.
Design
Lumia 550 is heavier and chunkier than the Lumia 650. The latter has a metal trim around the sides, and despite the bigger screen the phone is significantly lighter than the 550. In terms of design and feel, the Lumia 650 is a clear winner here. The phone even looks more premium than the flagship Lumia 950 line-up.
Screen
Lumia 650 has a 5-inch AMOLED screen, while the Lumia 550 boasts a 4.7-inch display. Both phones offer an HD resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels, which is OK for affordable devices. However, the 650 packs a superior screen with wider viewing angles, more vibrant and punchy colors. Another advantage of the Lumia 650 over the 550 is the front-facing speaker, so you have sound directed towards you.
Performance
The weakest point of both phones is the processing power. The Microsoft Lumia 550 features a quad-core Snapdragon 210 CPU ticking over at 1.1 GHz, backed by 1 GB of RAM. The Lumia 650, on the other hand, uses a slightly better processor – the Snapdragon 212 that sports four 1.3GHz cores. Both the Lumia 650 and 550 are capable enough for all daily tasks and Windows 10 Mobile feels quite smooth, but once you open resource-consuming games you may see dropped frames. Considering the price of the 650, we think that Microsoft had to use a better processor for this phone. At least the company decided to double the internal storage – 16GB for the Lumia 650 vs 8GB for the 550. The battery life is similar on both models.
Camera
On paper, the Lumia 650 has a better rear and front-facing camera, but if you want some good-looking photos, neither phone is for you. There is a big difference between the front-facing cameras. The Lumia 650 includes a 5-megapixel wide angle sensor for much better selfies, while the 550 packs a modest 2-megapixel sensor for low-quality snaps.
Conclusion
Overall, the Microsoft Lumia 650 is clearly the better choice, but considering the fact that the phone is twice as expensive as the 550, and the performance is quite comparable, we can recommend it to people who want a premium-looking phone at yet affordable price. If you don’t care about the look, then the dirt-cheap Lumia 550 is still a great option to try Windows 10 Mobile.