Microsoft has offically announced the Lumia 640 (shown above) after accidentally outing the device yesterday. The Windows Phone 8.1 powered smartphone is an entry level smartphone, that seems to be preparing the market for the arrival of Windows 10. A larger Lumia 640 XL being made available at the same time.
Since Microsoft is all about productivity, the Lumia 640 will have the traditional Office, Outlook, and Skype pre-installed. Which isn’t too surprising considering that these apps have been shipping with other Windows Phone 8.1 devices. The Lumia 640 is a 5-inch smartphone with an impressive 2,500 mAh battery for an extend time between charging. The Lumia 640 XL (shown below) on the other hand has a 5.7-inch display with an even bigger 3,000 mAh battery.
The camera on the back is unfortunately not a Pureview, but the Lumia 640 does have an 8MP camera that features both auto-HDR and dynamic flash. The Lumia 640 XL brings a larger 13MP camera and LED flash to the device.
While both phones ship with Windows Phone 8.1, Microsoft is promising that they will be upgraded to Windows 10 later this year. The company also announced that it will upgrade all Lumia to Windows 10 in due time.
The Lumia 640 will be made available in both single and dual-SIM variants; as well as 3G and LTE variants. This appears to mean that there will be four versions of the Lumia 640, one for each combination of SIM and wireless connection. The Lumia 640 XL will also be available in both 3G and LTE variants.
Both Microsoft Lumia 640 and Lumia 640 XL will be made available in April this year. The Lumia 640 will retail for €139 (about RM560) for the 3G version, and €159 (about RM644) for the LTE variant. The Lumia 640 XL will retail for €189 (about RM 765) for 3G and €219 (about RM887) for the LTE version.
We have some information about the Malaysian release in that we will only be seeing the dual-SIM version of the Lumia 640 and Lumia 640 XL. Additionally, only the 3G model of the Lumia 640 will be making its way to our shores, while the Lumia 640 XL will be available in both 3G and LTE variants. The estimated price is between RM599 and RM899, although we do not have any specific pricing.
Each of these smartphones will also retail with a free one year subscription to Office 365. It isn’t the full subscription, but does allow Office to be installed on one computer and one tablet; which is about enough for the regular consumer. The subscription will also include 1TB of storage on OneDrive.
