Yesterday Microsoft held a press event for its Windows 10 devices. Announced were the new Microsoft Band, Lumia 950, 950 XL, Surface Pro 4, Lumia 550, Surface Book and Project X-Ray and a few accessories.  Take a look at the video above to see all the devices in action.

Firstly the event was a master class in how to present and create a buzz. If you watched the event you would have been left drooling for everything announced.  However, as good as it appeared the level of detail was absent at times too. For example, Microsoft kept telling us how good everything was but didn’t always show how. The Surface Book was touted as twice as fast as the MacBook Pro, so they showed a video of game play running on the Surface Book instead of actually playing the game. The new Lumia 950’s, no actual camera samples, just that the cameras were great.

If you breakdown the event what Microsoft actually did was create and demonstrate that they are still extremely relevant and have some of the best hardware and software too. In fact just like Apple , Microsoft now own their Eco system from a hardware and software point of view and consequently announced powerful and dominating products. 

Project X-Ray demo was freaking awesome. Virtual reality and holo lens combined. This was shown at the start of the live event to leave people wowed. The Surface Book’s claim as the most powerful laptop ever and twice as powerful as the MacBook Pro is a strong claim. And then the display separates from the keyboard to become a tablet. Of course what Microsoft didn’t tell you was the price for this top end configuration of their Surface Book. I will, it’s very expensive with configuration options totally $2,700. Well for that money it had better be bloody amazing. 

The new phone lineup with the Lumia 550, 950 and 950 XL was all about the flagships and not much about the 550. The new 950’s are fitted with top end specs but again the key standout feature was using the phone connected to a keyboard and display and the Window 10 apps automatically scaling up to be full size. So your phone can be your home computer. Very neat. The flagship phones should cost around £450 and £550 respectively. 

Microsoft also announced their new Microsoft Band. Curved and with more specs and features than the competition. More sensors than their competitors. They also demonstrated just how feature rich Microsoft Health has become and how it now integrates with many third party software services and apps. 

So now you can ditch your Google and Apple devices, and buy the latest phones, health band and laptop from Microsoft and have super top notch hardware. 

One missing point though. What about the apps? We all know the Microsoft store is way behind android and Google but maybe after impressing with its hardware third party developers will rush on board and develop apps that work on any Windows 10 device regardless as to whether it’s a phone, tablet or something else running Windows 10. 

It seems Microsoft has regrouped and come back looking to regain lost ground. Will it? Only time will answer that question.