Photos of the alleged prototype of the Microsoft Lumia 950 XL, believed to be the next flagship smartphone device from the Redmond tech firm, have surfaced online. Shared by a Chinese website called WPXAP, the images show the device encased in a black protective cover.  

While Microsoft has not released a statement to confirm or deny the validity of the photos, The Verge is confident that the images are accurate. In its report, the tech website says that Microsoft is in the middle of testing but it is using the casing to prevent leaks. 

Previous reports about Microsoft's plans for its mobile phone manufacturing arm say that two new smartphones will be unveiled in late September or during the early days of October. One of them is the Lumia 950 XL, which will come with a 5.7-inch screen, while the other one is the smaller 5.2-inch Lumia 950. Both devices will reportedly feature the new Windows 10 Mobile operating system

The upcoming smartphones is speculated to boast a 20 megapixel camera sensor. The bigger device will come out with a Pen stylus similar to the Microsoft Surface tablets and will also have a new line of covers that comes with circular holes that will offer enough views for notification. 

Other reported features of the upcoming Lumia 950 XL include a Snapdragon 810 SoC with 64-bit hexa-core processor, an iris scanner (infrared) that can be used for Windows Hello, 3 GB of RAM, 32 GB of internal storage with built-in microSD card slot, a 20-megapixel PureView rear camera with triple LED flash, a 5-megapixel wide-angle front-facing camera for video calling and selfie shots, a 1 mm silver ring located inside the circumference at the built-in black camera pod, a power-packed 3300 mAh removable battery, Qi wireless charging with flip cover, as well as the next-generation USB Type-C.