We know that Microsoft plans to announce new flagship hardware next month at their scheduled hardware event in New York City.
Those phones are expected to be high end hardware that will support many of the new features in Windows 10 Mobile including Continuum for Phones and Windows Hello.
Concern is also very high on the part of Windows Phone enthusiasts that their current handsets may or may not be able to run Windows 10 Mobile when it is released. Whether or not that happens for various handsets will depend on hardware capabilities but also heavily on the carrier and handset manufacturer choosing to support the upgrade.
Unfortunately, many times those decisions also appear to be financially driven so that those carriers and handset manufacturers can sell new handsets.
It seems Microsoft will try to unofficially support as many handsets as possible with the upgrade to Windows 10 Mobile by offering it through their Windows Insider program like they currently do on a wide selection of handsets.
Moving forward Microsoft has now published a set of hardware specifications for Windows 10 Mobile devices that give us some idea of the range of devices we could feasibly see Microsoft's new mobile operating system running on in the future.
The type of devices listed on this page are in three categories.
Value Phone: Low cost device which features Cortana.
- Supports entry level SoC (System on Chip)
- 1GB RAM and 4-8GB storage with SD card option
- 3.5" to 5" WVGA/FWVGA/Quad HD screen
- Dimensions: Less than 10.5mm and 136g
- 1400 mAh battery or larger that supports one day of active use
- 3G (LTE/Cat 3) cellular; 802.11b/g/n wireless; microUSB, 3.5mm jack; BlueTooth LE
- 5MP rear and .3MP front facing cameras
Premium Phone: Premium device which supports Cortana, Windows Hello and Continuum for Phones.
- Supports premium SoC
- 2-4GB RAM and 32-64GB storage with SD card option
- 4.5" to 5.5" FHD/WQHD screen
- Dimensions: Less than 7.5mm and 160g
- 2500 mAh battery or larger that supports one day of active use
- LTE/Cat 4 or higher cellular; 802.11b/g/n/ac wireless; USB; 3.5mm jack, Bluetooth LE; NFC
- 20MP rear camera with OIS and flash; 5MP front facing camera
Value Phablet: Small tablet device that supports Cortana and Windows Hello.
- Supports mid tier SoC
- 2GB RAM and 16GB storage with SD card option
- 5.5" to 7" 720p+ screen
- Dimensions: Less than 10mm and 175g
- 3000 mAh battery or larger that supports one day of active use
- LTE/CAT 3 cellular; 802.11b/g/n/ac 2x2 wireless; USB 3.0 type-c; 3.5mm jack; Bluetooth LE; NFC
- 5MP rear and .3MP front facing cameras
While these specs are listed as recommended by Microsoft, which means manufacturers can choose to exceed them, it will be interesting to see exactly what manufacturers bring to retail for Windows 10 Mobile.
Of course, the larger question is which manufacturers will choose to bring Windows 10 Mobile handsets to market.
