Microsoft Lumia 640 XL

Microsoft goes large

VERDICT

Microsoft's mid-range phablet is certainly affordable, but lacks the improvements of Windows 10 for phone at the moment.

PROS:

• Cheap
• Large battery
• Bright screen
• Feels good to hold

CONS:

• Only Windows Phone 8.1 for now
• 1080p on a 5.7-inch screen

This is a flash hands on review to give you the chance to see what the phone is all about as soon as possible. Stay tuned as we'll be expanding and upgrading this review very shortly with more info.

Microsoft used its presentation at MWC 2015 to announce the launch of the Lumia 640, its latest foray into the midrange market, along with its phablet-sized bigger brother, the Lumia 640 XL.

The Lumia 640 XL will be available globally in April, and the 3G version will go on sale for 189 (around £137, $211, AU$272). The 4G LTE version will retail for 219 (around £159, $245, AU$315), both of which are reasonable prices. Microsoft has indicated that it wants businesses to go for the Lumia 640 XL because they could get three handsets from the price of one of its competitor's flagships.

With a screen size of 5.7 inches, compared to the 5-innch display of the 640, the Lumia 640 XL is one of Microsoft's largest smartphones, just shy of the Lumia 1520's 6-inch behemoth.

Although the size of the screen is increased with the Lumia 640 XL, the resolution remains the same at 1080p, which means the smaller Lumia 640's screen is sharper thanks to an increased pixel density.

However during my time with the Lumia 640 XL, Windows Phone 8.1 - an upgrade toWindows 10 for Phones is promised later this year - looked good on the larger handset.

I noticed that the performance of Windows Phone 8.1 was fine on the Lumia 640 XL, if nothing spectacular. Considering the the mid-range specifications, which include a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 SoC with a quad-core 1.2GHz CPU and 1GB of RAM, this should come as no surprise.

We've heard that the internal storage will be 16GB, though Microsoft has yet to confirm this. I was told when I spoke to a Microsoft representative that this storage can be expanded with a MicroSD card (up to 128GB), or via a subscription to the OneDrive cloud storage service.

Despite its size the Lumia 640 XL is comfortable to hold, though that may be because I have been using a Nexus 6 recently. If you've never held a phablet phone before, the increase in dimensions could come as a shock.

The Microsoft Lumia 640 XL was light and felt good in the hand, and the larger body has meant a 3000mAh battery is included, a decent increase over the Lumia 640's 2500 mAh battery.

The rear camera is 13MP, and slightly protrudes from the back of the phone. It's more pronounced than the iPhone 6's bulging snapper, and means that if you're a fan of lying your phone face up and flat on a table, the Lumia 640 XL's design could prove annoying. There's also a front facing camera, though Microsoft was coy about the details, promising only that it will be 'great for Skype'.

If you fancy a phablet sized smartphone but don't want to pay the high prices of that many, such as the Nexus 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, demand, then the Microsoft Lumia 640 XL could be of interest, though the lower resolution and current lack of support for Windows Phone (though Microsoft promises this will change with the 'Universal Apps' platform) might be a few too many compromises.

·         Check the rest of our MWC 2015 coverage

 Source : http://www.in.techradar.com/

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