The 5.7-inch Lumia 640 XL (S$429) comes with Windows Phone 8.1 with Lumia Denim, a 13-megapixel rear camera and 3000mAh removable battery. Wee Wu Neo from The Neo Dimension checks out the affordable phablet from Microsoft Devices.
The Lumia 640 XL will be available in matte cyan, orange, black, and white.
The Lumia 640 series features the first Microsoft-branded LTE smartphones since the acquisition of Nokia Mobile.
By the look of its price and hardware specification, the Lumia 640 series exhibits almost identical performance to the Android Motorola MotoG.
The Lumia 640 XL with its 3000mAh removable battery. Photo credit: Wee Wu Neo.
This review covers the Lumia 640 XL, the Windows Phone phablet in the Lumia 640 series.
Design and Build
The Lumia 640 XL measures 157.9 x 81.5 x 9.0mm and weighs 171g.
It is bigger and heavier but slightly thinner than its predecessor Lumia 630 and Lumia 635.
Power button and volume control buttons on the right side of the Lumia 640 XL.
The volume control and power buttons are all on the right side of the phone and are distinctively placed apart with the power button towards the middle but there is no dedicated shutter button for the camera.
At the back, there is a camera hump.
The bright plastic back cover case (mine was white) is pleasing to the touch, and the workmanship is solid, but it does not give a premium feel.
Bend any corner of the plastic cover to open so you can replace the battery, add the micro-SIM card and slot in a micro SD memory card if you want to.
The plastic cover is replaceable so there is no need to buy a cover to protect the phone.
Display
The 5.7-inch HD display of the Lumia 640 XL has the same 1280 x 720 resolution as the smaller 5-inch Lumia 640 (S$299).
Delicious noodles. Photo taken by Wee Wu Neo using the Lumia 640 XL.
The Lumia 640 XL therefore has a lower pixel density of 259ppi (pixels per inch) compared with the 294ppi of the Lumia 640.
So the display of its smaller sibling actually looks slightly sharper.
Despite that, the colors on Lumia 640 XL are bright and sharp, and the viewing angles of the IPS LCD screen are pretty good.
The Corning Gorilla Glass 3 screen is also equipped with Microsoft’s sunlight readability enhancements.
Performance
The Lumia 640 XL is positioned as an affordable device and hence does not offer top notch hardware performance when compared with the flagship models of Android smartphone makers and Apple iPhones.
Daylight photo of the Concourse in Singapore. Photo taken by Wee Wu Neo with the Lumia 640 XL.
Powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 1.2 GHz quad-core processor with 1GB RAM, the device ships with 8GB internal storage, expandable up to 128 GB via a micro SD card.
As a first time user of a Windows Phone smartphone, I found the Windows experience surprisingly smooth and pleasing.
Switching between apps, multitasking and web browsing do not exhibit any lag or memory overload on the device.
Unlike other Android phones I have used before, I don’t frequently check on the battery status on this phone simply because there is no need to!
Packed with removable 3000 mAh battery, a fully-charged Lumia 640 XL survives through 2 days of heavy web browsing, conference calls and “YouTub-ing” before I have to put it back to charge.
Camera
The Lumia 640 XL comes with a 13-megapixel rear snapper and I’m seriously impressed by the quality of the optics in the Lumia 640 XL.
On auto mode, the phone captures sharp and natural shots that easily rival other smartphones in the similar range.
Nightshot of the Singapore skyline by Wee Wu Neo using the Lumia 640 XL.
The camera also produces reasonably good quality night shots.
Up-close shots are particularly impressive, with the lens picking up almost every last shred of detail especially under outdoor conditions.
The Lumia 640 XL has a 5-megapixel wide angle front camera.
Microsoft Office 365
The Lumia 640 and Lumia 640 XL also comes with a one-year free subscription to Office 365 Personal, which includes the latest Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote) on the Lumia as well as on one PC or Mac and one tablet.
“Jam and bread”. Photo taken by Wee Wu Neo with the Lumia 640 XL.
With the Office 365 Personal installed, users will receive an additional 1TB of OneDrive storage, and 60 Skype world minutes
Keeping all your works in the cloud, Office 365 helps in your productivity by offering the ability to work on-the-go.
Once you are connected into the internet, all you need is a browser to view and edit your documents.
Currently, it supports all commonly-used browsers such as Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Google Chrome and of course Window’s IE.
Limited App in Microsoft’s Ecosystem
The shortage of Apps is a main hurdle for mobile phone users switching from Android or iOS to Windows Phone.
Sunset at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. Photo taken by Wee Wu Neo with the Lumia 640 XL.
For the past 3 weeks, I hardly found any apps or games in the app store that interested me, apart from popular apps such as Facebook and Whatsapp.
The ecosystem is still pretty limited and even the popular instagram app is still running Beta on Windows Phone.
Verdict
The Lumia 640 XL is not positioned as a high-end phalet but offers an value-for-money alternative in the competitive smartphone market.
Lumia under Microsoft Devices
Since its acquisition of the mobile devices division of Nokia, Microsoft has adopted a different approach in tackling a smartphone market dominated by Android and iOS, focusing more on the developing market.
In November 2014, Microsoft announced the first Microsoft (non-Nokia) branded Lumia device, the Microsoft Lumia 535.
The device was first released in India and soon followed by other countries in late 2014 and early 2015.
The good-enough hardware performance and decent good quality back-facing camera makes the Windows Phone experience on Lumia 640 XL an excellent one.
Price-wise, the performance of Lumia 640 XL has exceeded my expectations.
Without a doubt, this is a phone that worth considering if you are looking for not-so-expensive phone that can help you get your work done well at the same time keeps you entertained.
Now, should you ditch your Android or iPhone for this?
I would not recommend that.
Android and iOS still give a more comprehensive App ecosystem which gets updated frequently with latest apps and games.
Furthermore, there is still the learning curve to overcome before you could get used to the Windows Phone interface.
Frequent travelers who do not want to risk of losing their expensive iPhone may consider getting the Lumia 640 XL as their “travelphone”.
After all, it is still a smartphone that can deliver pretty much what an iPhone could but costs so much lesser.
Tags: Lumia, Lumia 640, Lumia 640 XL, Microsoft, Microsoft Devices, Nokia, reviews, smartphones
Thanks for loaning the phone!
Hey you’re welcome Wee Wu. Thanks for the review!