Microsoft Lumia 640 First Look: Super Hardware, Redefines Budget Smartphone Segment

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It's been a while since we've seen a decent mid-end phone come out of Microsoft's Lumia series, but today at MWC Microsoft has announced its brand new handset in the form of Lumia 640.

 

The Lumia 640 will be taking design cues from Microsoft's Lumia 535. In fact, its design is identical to the company's previous generation phones with colorful exteriors. The new mid-end phone uses a near identical unibody-like design and glossy rear.

 

Rating:
4.0/5

Microsoft Lumia 640 First Look

Just for your knowledge, the Lumia 640 has a 5-inch, 720 x 1,280 resolution display, a 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor, paired with 1GB of RAM and 8GB of storage. It has an 8-megapixel camera, alongside a dynamic LED flash, and there's a 1-megapixel shooter as well.

Running on Windows Phone 8.1 with Lumia Denim update, the device will see the Windows 10 OS in the coming months. Another cool thing about the Lumia 640 is that it comes with a one-year subscription to Office 365.

The Lumia 640 seems like a budget smartphone with no compromise. It features a capable 5-inch display, intuitive Windows Phone 8.1 and powerful imaging optics.

Microsoft Lumia 640 First Look

We got a chance to play around with the Lumia 640 at the Mobile World Congress (MWC). Here are our first impressions.

Microsoft Lumia 640 First Look: Form Factor, Design, Display and Operating System

At first glance it looks to be very similar to the Nokia Lumia 630, the phone it replaces. The new Lumia 640 takes the Lumia 630 design and refines it. The company sticks to brightly colored exteriors; however, the quality of the finish is so much enhanced.

Microsoft Lumia 640 First Look

The demo version we tried out had a glossy finish, which shouldn't be seen as a major problem. The brightly colored rear back can be removed, and you'll notice a removable battery and a microSD card slot for storage expansion. The volume and power buttons are on the right-hand side, the headphone jack on the top and the micro-USB port down on the bottom.

Microsoft Lumia 640 First Look

Measuring just 8.8mm thick and weighing 145g, the Lumia 640 is of course slightly heavy, but it's comfortable to hold.

The 5-inch 1,280x720 IPS screen uses an IPS panel, so colour accuracy should be noticeably high. While we've yet to put the device through our rigorous screen tests, the 5-inch screen certainly looked rich and vivid. Notably, the touch screen is very responsive.

Microsoft Lumia 640 First Look

The Lumia 640 launches with the Windows Phone 8.1 mobile OS with Lumia Denim update. You'll indeed get all the standard features and premium apps on the Lumia 640. Microsoft's core Office apps; Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote are pre-installed on the Lumia 640, which is great for SMEs and students. In addition, the device comes with one-year subscription to Office 365.

Microsoft Lumia 640 First Look: Processor, RAM and Connectivity

As mentioned earlier, the Lumia 640 is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor coupled with 1GB of RAM and 8GB of native storage, which can be expandable up to 128GB via a microSD card. It's a step up from the Lumia 630 in all areas, giving you a new device that should be faster. The device certainly felt quick and snappy. We'll have to wait and see how it fares under longer-term testing, once it gets launched in India.

Microsoft Lumia 640 First Look

Connectivity options on the Lumia 640 are fairly standard. Notably, it has NFC built-in. The phone will arrive in both 3G and 4G versions. The device come in both single -SIM and dual-SIM flavors.

Microsoft Lumia 640 First Look: Camera and Video

Microsoft Lumia 640 First Look

The Lumia 640 has an 8-megapixel camera on the rear and a 1-megapixel front facing camera. While we couldn't take too many shots, pictures certainly showed plenty of detail and noise was kept at a minimum. Let's keep reminding us that the Lumia 640 is a mid-end device, so don't expect great shots.

Microsoft Lumia 640 First Look: Battery and Early Verdict

There's a larger 2,500mAh battery in the Lumia 640, expanded over the 1,830mAh of the Lumia 630. That should lead to all-day performance.

Microsoft Lumia 640 First Look

The Lumia 640 may not be a top-notch handset, but there's still plenty to like here. As a budget phone, it offers a complete package in this price range. The Lumia 640 is more powerful and has a larger battery, so should be a better performer in daily use.

Microsoft Lumia 640 First Look

However, it noted that the competition is rather tough in the entry-level segment, with players like Motorola and Xiaomi continues to offer pathbreaking hardware. We'll bring you our complete verdict as soon as we get our hands on a review sample.

With inputs from Akansha Srivastava

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