Microsoft has launched two new smartphones that offer decent specs and design at even more decent prices. The Lumia 640 is a 5 inch phone with a 720p display, a quad-core processor, and a starting price of about $160 without a contract.
The larger Lumia 640XL has a 5.7 inch, 720p screen and a starting price of $210.
Both phones run Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8.1 with Lumia Denim software. Later this year Microsoft will roll out software updates bringing Windows 10 to the phones.
Both phone also come with a 1-year subscription to Microsoft Office 365 (which includes 1TB of cloud storage with Microsoft OneDrive) and also feature Skype and Nokia HERE Maps.
The Lumia 640 has a 1.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 quad-core processor, an IPS display, 8GB of storage plus a microSD card slot, an 8MP rear camera with auto-focus and an LED flash, and a 1MP fixed-focus front facing camera. The 5 inch phone has a 2500 mAH battery.
The larger model has the same processor, storage, and screen resolution, but a bigger display, a 3000 mAh battery, a 13 MP camera with ZEISS optics, and a 5MP front-facing camera.
Microsoft plans to launch the Lumia 640XL first. It’ll be available later in March for about $210 if you opt for a 3G model or about $240 for a 4G version.
The 5 inch Lumia 640 will be available in May for about $160 for a 3G Lumia 640 or $180 for a 4G phone.
I’m glad Microsoft is keeping the affordable phablet around. I noticed Cricket sold out of the 1320 and took it off the website. I hope these have removable batteries like the 635. That’s a nice feature that’s getting harder to find.
Auto buy for me. Can’t Wait.
If it wasn’t for the lack of dedicated camera button! I use it all the time ;/