You probably haven’t thought about Windows phones in a while. After all, why would you? The last Windows Phone handset to be released was the Microsoft Lumia 650 in 2016, so it’s been a good eight years since anyone has been able to buy one. But that doesn’t mean that Windows phones don’t still have a cult following, and one of those followers, Proloy Karmakar, came up with a pretty interesting mock-up on X (formerly Twitter) of what a Windows phone might look like today.
Reimagining the Classic Tile Layout
In the mock-up above, you can see the classic tile layout with a modernized interface that seems inspired by the design language of Windows 11. There’s a new set of app icons that seem pulled directly off a desktop, along with widgets that Microsoft really began to spearhead on phones and now incorporates into Windows 11. Naturally, you get all the default Microsoft apps that you can get on the desktop, including the Microsoft Store, Calculator, Control Panel, Photos, and others.
Dedicated Copilot App and Productivity Features
A couple of interesting things to call attention to is that there’s a dedicated Copilot app in the mock-up, which would almost certainly be the case if Microsoft released a Windows phone in 2024, especially with all the fuss happening around Google Gemini and Apple Intelligence, not to mention the new Copilot+ PCs.
We can also imagine that a Windows Phone in 2024 would have a big productivity angle and incorporate the multitasking and stylus features that Microsoft attempted with the Surface Duo and Surface Duo 2. Then there’s the gaming side of things — we wouldn’t be surprised if the theoretical Windows phone doubled as an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate gaming handheld, letting you stream games on the go. Technically, you can do this on Android and Apple phones already, but it’s almost certain that Microsoft would have made it a big part of the branding.
Overall, this is a pretty interesting look at what a Windows phone might look like today if Microsoft was still interested in making them. If you want to take a closer look at the mock-ups, they’re available in high quality on Figma.
