MWC 2015: Hands On With Microsoft Lumia 640

The news of its existence might have been accidently leaked out just before Mobile World Congress 2015 kicks off earlier this week but nevertheless, here is one of Microsoft’s star for this year’s edition of MWC: the brand new Lumia 640. As you might able to tell from its name, the Lumia 640 is a lower mid-range model within Microsoft’s Lumia smartphone family.

One could also notice Lumia 640’s position through its technical specification which includes 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 quad-core processor, 720p HD resolution for its 5-inch display, 1GB of RAM, 8GB internal storage, 8-megapixels rear camera and 0.9-megapixels front camera. That being said, the Lumia 640 still has an excellent build quality which is one of the long standing legacy that Microsoft has acquired from Nokia.

Additionally, the phone’s removable back cover also features an interesting design which made the cover looks like as if it is made of two separate layers. However, this only applies to covers with glossy finish which feels rather slippery on my hands. Don’t get me wrong though, it is still a solid product nonetheless.

Meanwhile, the Lumia 640 has also carried a number of capabilities that are considered as premium features within the Lumia family. These features include the ClearBlack display, Glance screen, and the support for Rich Capture in Lumia Camera app.

Not to forget, the device is also equipped with 2500mAh battery that apparently able to provide maximum 3G talk time of 17.5 hours and standby time up to 36 days. At the same time, Microsoft is also offering free 1-year subscription of Office 365 Personal for each purchase of Lumia 640 which adds further value to the device.

While we don’t have any firm pricing and release date for Lumia 640 in Malaysia at the moment, early info that we received suggested that it might arrive in Malaysia this April with a price tag that might ranges between RM 599 to RM 899. In addition to that, the Malaysian variant will feature LTE dual SIM capability which supports maximum download speed of 150 Mbps and upload speed of 50 Mbps.

Through Lumia 640, it seems like Microsoft has once again attempt to compete in the aggressive lower mid-range market by offering well-built product that is coupled together with value-added features. I believe it is still going to be a challenge to convince consumers to pick up Lumia 640 anyway since there are quite a number of factors that might discourage them such as the 1GB RAM and 8 GB internal storage which is rather small by today’s standard.