Canadians can now buy an unlocked Lumia 550 Windows 10 smartphone for $189.00

Microsoft's cheapest handset ever is the Lumia 550 which can now be purchased unlocked for CAD $189.00. Featuring a 4.7-inch display (1280 x 720 resolution), all-plastic body, 8GB of storage (expandable to 128GB), 1GB of RAM, 4G-LTE connectivity and Windows 10 (without the 'run your PC  OS from your phone' Continuum feature). The Lumia 550 does offer the Cortana voice assistant, access to Office Mobile and OneDrive plus various Windows 10 Universal apps.

Microsoft seems to have given up on Windows Phone, which now has 1.7 per cent of the global mobile market share. A telling sing is that the company didn't even bother to properly launch or promote the higher end and pricey Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL devices and accessories in Canada.

Who would want this cheaper, non Continuum capable variant? Well, anyone who wants a cheap but hobbled modern Windows Phone on a budget, and who doesn't mind the middling specs (5 MP autofocus rear camera with LED flash, Quad Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 210 processor), should check this out at the Microsoft Store.