Microsoft Lumia 640 and Lumia 640 XL

Expected March / April 2015
2nd March 2015

We are used to seeing cheap and cheerful Lumia devices, but the new Microsoft Lumia 640 and Lumia 640 XL take this in a whole new direction with a pair of big-screen devices that look ideally suited for those looking for a great value handset.

The Lumia 640 is a Windows 8.1 smartphone (with an upgrade path to Windows 10) with a 5" 720 x 1280 pixel display, the Lumia 640 XL increases this to a 5.7" 720 x 1280 pixel panel. Inside, both versions have a 1.2GHz quad-core processor with 1GB of RAM, 8GB of flash storage plus a microSD slot and 30GB of OneDrive cloud storage. In addition to all the usual smartphone features such as GPS, WiFi and Bluetooth there is also an FM radio and an impressive array of sensors.

There are a few other differences - the 640 XL has a 13 megapixel primary camera plus a 5 megapixel secondary one, along with a huge 3000 mAh battery. The smaller Lumia 640 has an 8 megapixel plus 1 megapixel arrangement with a 2500 mAh battery.

Both handsets are available in dual-SIM or single-SIM versions in either 3G or LTE variants, so there are potentially four versions of each size in addition to four different colours each. Not all carriers will have all versions however, but that is quite a lot of choice.

The Lumia 640 XL should be available this month with the Lumia 640 following in April. You might be forgiven for these phones are going to expensive, but they are not. The 3G version of the 640 will cost just €140 before tax and subsidy, the LTE version will be a little more at €160. The 3G version of the XL will be around €190, add LTE and you are looking at €220 which is still excellent value.

It's all very well banging out one value handset after another - and there's no doubt that this pair of devices are very appealing - but we haven't seen a high-end device in about a year and the old Lumia 1020 desperately needs an update too. Can Microsoft find something for the fans of their flagship devices as well?