Microsoft Lumia 640

Microsoft does budget phones incredibly well, and with almost an identical spec this Lumia 640 is a strong rival to the £149 Moto G if you’re prepared to go down the Windows Phone- rather than Android route. Successor to the Lumia 630, the 640 adds some useful improvements, yet it comes in at the same £129 price SIM-free.

And why wouldn’t you go down the Windows Phone route? A criticism of Windows Phone has long been its lack of apps. This is a situation that is improving all the time – indeed, as we’ll discuss later in this review we were pleased to see one of our go-to benchmarks, GFXBench, is finally available in the Windows Store – and there are workarounds for accessing Google services on Windows Phone for which there are no apps.

We like Microsoft’s mobile operating system. Windows Phone is bright, it’s colourful, and it’s something different to the iconled home screens of iOS and Android, with tiles that update with information in real-time. Once you’ve become familiar with its layout, it’s easy to use.

Microsoft adds several of its own apps, and a key selling point of the Lumia 640 is its year’s free Office 365 subscription (worth £60), which can also be enjoyed on two other devices. One of the perks of Office 365 is 1TB of free OneDrive storage, which is handy since only 8GB comes on the Lumia 640, although there is also a microSD card slot that can accept up to 128GB.

Compare it to the Lumia 630 and this Lumia 640 is quite an upgrade. The phones share the same 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400 chip, so performance remains distinctly mid-range, but the 640 has had a slight boost with the doubling up on RAM to 1GB. The camera loads much faster under Lumia Denim and, although it’s still reasonably basic, it now features an 8- rather than 5Mp lens and adds an LED flash, while video recording is possible at 1080p rather than 720p. Microsoft has also added a selfie camera to the front of the Lumia 640, which lets you take advantage of Skype. The screen is improved too, both in size and resolution, and Microsoft has upped the still-removable battery capacity from 1830- to 2500mAh.

Whereas previously you needed to pay an extra £20 for the Lumia 635 if you wanted 4G LTE connectivity, the Lumia 640 LTE can handle it out of the box. As before two versions of this phone are available: the Lumia 640 reviewed here, and the Lumia 640 XL. The XL is in essence the same phone, but with a larger 5.7in display and improved cameras (13Mp at the back and 5Mp at the front). It costs an extra £90, though, at £219 SIM-free.

Design and build

The design is very similar to that of the Lumia 630 and 635, a little larger and heavier yet slightly thinner, with the same matt-finish case in black, or glossy in blue, orange or white, that sits comfortably and securely in the hand. This case is removable, but wraps around to the front, resulting in a solid feel that won’t creak or flex under pressure.

It’s simple and unassuming, a slab of plastic with a slightly curved rear and rounded edges. There’s a gaping hole on the rear for the small speaker, and the rear camera and headphone jack protrude just enough to spoil the Lumia 640’s smooth surface, but still it’s a good- if basic-looking phone for the money.

As before, the screen is covered by tough Gorilla Glass 3, with cutouts top and bottom for the earpiece and microphone. It’s a larger sheet of glass, though, since Microsoft has upgraded the Lumia’s display not only in size but also resolution. Whereas the Lumia 630 and 635 feature a 4.5in 854x480 ClearBlack IPS panel, the 640 has a 5in HD (1280x720) screen, which results in an improved pixel density of 294ppi.

As such, browsing the web, watching videos and even playing the odd game is now a far more enjoyable experience on the Lumia 640. The screen is not without fault – some backlight bleed issues are still visible – but it’s a vast improvement and noticeably sharper than that of the 630.

At the top of the screen is something entirely new: a selfie camera. And it’s not the only change Microsoft has made in the photography department: around the back is an LED flash and, although the difference isn’t visible, an upgraded 8Mp camera. There’s still no dedicated camera button, though, and around the sides you’ll find only a volume rocker and power button, headphone jack and a Micro-USB charging port.

Hardware and performance

Microsoft hasn’t particularly focused on performance in its upgrading of the Lumia 640. And that’s fine, since the 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 quad-core processor is nothing spectacular but capable enough for day-to-day use, especially at this price. Microsoft has, however, doubled the RAM to 1GB, which brings the Lumia 640’s spec into line with the latest Moto G.

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