Microsoft has been in the news recently for its endeavours into the Android and iOS ecosystems. It is all with the goal of eventually getting users back into the Windows platform though, which is why new Lumia phones are very important. The Lumia 640 and 640XL were announced at the MWC 2015 about a month ago.
The Microsoft Lumia 640 is the only Lumia device that is available exclusively on Flipkart. Microsoft seems to be trying out the online route with this one. The Lumia 640XL on the other hand is available through traditional retail as well as online.
Build and Design
Being a phablet, the Lumia 640XL is of course the bigger of the two phones, but both retain the traditional Lumia design elements. That said, the bar design doesn't really work for the 640XL, since the 5.7 inch display becomes too big to handle comfortably. The build quality is just as good as ever though.
We found the buttons on the side of the 640XL to be a little difficult to press. You have to press down hard for them to respond. It could be a issue with the demo devices though.
Image: Lumia 640XL (left), Lumia 640 (right)
Display
Both the phones have 720p panels, but the display looks much better on the Lumia 640. This is obvious, since the 5 inch display on the 640 allows for a higher pixel density. The 5.7 inch on the 640XL doesn't really go with the 720p resolution and seems to lack sharpness.
Image: Lumia 640
Connectivity
While the devices announced at the MWC 2015 were LTE enabled, Microsoft has surprisingly kept that aspect out of India. While it doesn't exactly make a difference, since 4G isn't really widespread in the country right now, we can assume that the feature is software locked on the Lumia 640 and 640XL. This means that Microsoft can allow 4G connectivity anytime through a software update. We will confirm this after our full review.
Image: Lumia 640
Camera
While the Lumia 640 has an 8MP rear camera, the 640XL has a 13MP shooter on the back. From past experience, we can tell that both the cameras will be impressive, since the Lumia line has usually maintained a good track record in this area. That said, the 1MP front camera on the 640 is a surprising choice again, since it takes the selfie angle out of the picture, something Microsoft has been pushing in most of its smartphones recently.
Image: Lumia 640XL
Performance
The new generation of Lumia phones have finally been pushed up to 1GB RAM. Although many argue that this is not enough for a smartphone, the Windows OS is a capable memory manager. Both the devices are powered by the 1.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 quad-core SoC.
Image: Lumia 640XL
Battery
The smaller Lumia 640, sports a 2500 mAh battery, while the 640XL is fitted with a 3000 mAh version. This is essential since the larger screen of the XL will require a larger battery. Also, the latter of course allows more space and can hence house the bigger battery.
Image: Lumia 640XL
Operating System
Both the phones run on Windows 8.1, but Microsoft has already promised the Windows 10 update for these two devices. The date is yet to be confirmed though.
Also, Microsoft has bundled a bunch of offers with Ola Cabs and other third parties with these phones. The company's Office 365 platform will also be free for the first year after purchase.
Image: Lumia 640XL
Removable back
Both the 640 and 640XL have removable back panels and your SIM cards and micro-SD cards are house under it.
Bottomline
It is good to have a Windows phablet after such a long time and the added Office 365 pack does make the Lumia 640XL a good option for business users who have to edit documents, spreadsheets etc. on their phones.
The Lumia 640 feels very premium for a device in the affordable segment, but Microsoft could easily have priced this lower, considering that it is exclusive to Flipkart. The Rs. 11,999 pricing makes no sense, especially considering that you can get almost all of the same features in the Lumia 535 for almost Rs. 4,000 lesser.
Here are some more images of the Lumia 640 and 640XL.
The camera module on the Lumia 640 is slightly smaller than the 640XL, but it makes the device look very good.
The Clearblack display looks much better on the Lumia 640 (in picture) than the Lumia 640XL.
The bigger screen of the Lumia 640XL allows for more to be seen on the home screen.
The matte finish back of the Lumia 640XL doesn't feel as good and premium as the glossy version.