Microsoft Lumia 640 – better got even better

The Lumia series is becoming very difficult to keep track of. With subtle change in the numbers, there are quite a number of  models in the Lumia stable that can easily confuse you. So let me try and explain the rational here. It starts with the 4xx series, which is the most basic entry level Lumia and the 5xx are the budget mobiles. The 6xx series are serious about technology while trying to keep the price low. The 7xx and 8xx series are gradually growing higher in the tech spec offering, while the 9xx and the 10xx are the flagship Lumias. The preceding model in the 6xx series, the 630 had 512 MB RAM and when there is Windows 10 in the horizon, which needs 1 GB of RAM as a base requirement, the 640 is an essential successor. The 640 XL is a bigger cousin and we will talk about it in another article.

The Lumia 640 has a 5 inch clear black display with 720p resolution. It is powered by a Snapdragon 400 chipset with a quad core processor clocked at 1.2 GHz. It does not have 4G LTE connectivity. It has 1 GB of RAM and 8 GB of internal storage with ability to expand memory using microSD card. It is a dual SIM device. The rear camera is a 8MP shooter while the front facing camera is a 1MP shooter. The batter is user replaceable and has 2500 mAh power.

Design
The design of the Lumia 640 is nothing new that we haven’t seen in the Lumia lineup. Nothing much has changed since a long time in the Lumia design department. Again, Lumia never disappoints when it comes to quality of construction. The material used is plastic, but it feels solid to hold and handle. Though certain colors like the orange I got for review has a glossy finish, the device is not slippery. The right side has the volume rocker and the power button placed conveniently. They have good tactile feedback. The left side has nothing and the bottom has the USB socket. The top has the 3.5mm audio jack while the back has the 8MP camera with a single LED flash and a single hole for the speaker. The speaker gets easily obstructed when placed on a flat surface. The Camera lens is protected by a small lip. The back cover is removable and when removed, reveals the 2500 mAh batter and the dual SIM slots along with the microSD card slot which can be expanded by upto 128 gb. The back cover fits in perfectly when you but it back. When is cover is on, it feels like a unibody design

The front has the 5 inch display and the 1 MP front facing camera is on top of it along with the proximity and ambient light sensors. The ear piece is comfortable while answering calls. Below the display is the mic for telephony. The windows navigation menu is on-screen and I am not a big fan of on-screen menu. I always prefer off-screen or physical menu, which is so old school of me, but that is always convenient. On-screen menu helps to reduce the cost of the device and also makes it possible to have a larger screen and a smaller mobile. Its a matter of getting used to, I believe. There is no noise cancelling mic here. Lumia 640 is designed for a purpose and is designed with a budget in mind. The construction quality is a statement that says budget mobiles don’t have to compromise on quality.

Display
The display is 720p LCD screen. It is 5 inch diagonally and the display is very crisp. The 640 XL uses full clear black display polazisers while the Lumia 640 doesn’t utilize it fully. It is something they call the CBD lite. The outdoor or direct sunlight readability suffers because of the CBD lite.  The viewing angles aren’t that great too. The Lumia 640 has the Glance screen option and to those who are new to Windows mobiles, Glance displays your notifications when the screen is off.

Camera

The camera is a pleasant surprise on this budget device. It comes with the New Lumia Camera 5 out of the box and this version has got a lot of improvements. The switch to front camera is now very easy because of its placement. It was hidden underneath the setting earlier and now its a welcome change. Also we have Rich capture which is nothing but HDR that determines the scene and decides the settings. It does not have image stabilization of any kind. The focusing is quick, but it can be a pain at times to point the focus at selected subject. I recommend turning off live images, as the images from live images are of lower resolution and of lower quality. The image output is good both under ample light and low light conditions. But the color output is totally washed out. The colors look faded, but the details of the image are clear. I would have really loved the camera if the saturation and contrast levels would have been better. The camera is also able to capture pretty decent 1080p resolution videos. For the price of Rs 11999, this is a good camera.

Check out the camera samples here

Performance and Battery

As with any Windows mobile, it has been proved over and over that the Windows Mobile Phone OS can run smoothly and effectively with bare minimal specifications. Well, the Lumia 640 has got specs better than bare minimal and obviously the performance is smooth and there is no lag in the UI. Unfortunately I never got to install any games to test the performance, but am confident that it will have a smooth performance when it comes to any graphic intensive application. The battery is a 2500 mAh battery and it lasts for well over day under normal usage conditions.

User Interface

The mobile is running on Windows Phone 8.1 update 2. It is not much different from earlier versions visually, but the settings app has been grouped. Selecting any of the group title will bring up the list to choose. Also you can pin individual setting to the tile page. There are a few pre-installed apps like the Flipkart app or the Fitbit app. But they can be uninstalled at will.

Verdict

I may sound a bit rhetorical when I say it is the best budget device ever, but that is what Lumia does. They just keep making better phones in the price band. It has got the right specification, great camera, mature UI, decent pricing and battery life. If I need to find anything to crib about this device, that would be the speaker and the placement of the speaker. I would recommend the Lumia 640 to anyone who is looking to buy a good smartphone.

Video Review