Microsoft Lumia 640 and Lumia 640 XL official at MWC 2015
Microsoft announced two new Lumia smartphones at the Mobile World Congress being held in Barcelona in Spain. The Redmond revealed the Lumia 640 and Lumia 640 XL running Windows Phone 8.1, with a guaranteed update to Windows 10 later this year.
The two Lumia devices were launched by Stephen Elop, the ex-MS, ex-Nokia CEO who was transferred to Microsoft as part of the acquisition of Nokia’s Devices and Services business.
Quickly moving on to the specs, with the Lumia 640 first:
- Windows Phone 8.1
- 5 inch IPS LCD display, HD resolution, 1280×720 pixels, ~297 PPI
- 1.2 GHz quad core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor, Adreno 305 GPU
- 8 MP camera, LED flash, 1080p at 30 FPS; front facing 1 MP 720p camera
- 1 GB RAM, 8 GB internal memory, expandable up to 128 GB with microSD card
- Dual SIM 3G/4G LTE, Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, DLNA, FM Radio
- 2500 mAh battery
As was the tradition with Nokia launches, Microsoft has maintained it and revealed availability and pricing details. The 3G version will cost €140, while the LTE version will be €160.
Now onto the Microsoft Lumia 640 XL:
- Windows Phone 8.1
- 5.7 inch ClearBlack IPS LCD display, HD resolution, 1280×720 pixels, ~259 PPI
- 1.2 GHz quad core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor, Adreno 305 GPU
- 13 MP camera, LED flash, 1080p at 30 FPS; front facing 5 MP 1080p camera
- 1 GB RAM, 8 GB internal memory, expandable up to 128 GB with microSD card
- Dual SIM 3G/4G LTE, Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, DLNA, FM Radio
- 3000 mAh battery
The Lumia 640 XL is decidedly the better version of the two devices in almost all aspects. It improves on the Lumia 1320, but creates quite a lot of confusion in this category. Either way, it is a good device at the price that Microsoft has set for it. At €190 for the 3G version and €220 for the 4G LTE version, it’s quite a good deal.
Microsoft will be giving away 1 year of Office 365 subscription, 1 TB of OneDrive storage and 60 minutes of Skype Wi-Fi calling free per month. Sounds like a really good bundle.
