The Lumia 640 XL is the elder sibling of the Lumia 640, and is Microsoft's latest phablet device that packs in decent specifications for a mid-range smartphone. The Lumia 1520 and the Lumia 1320 were the last two large screen Windows Phone devices, and while they were very popular, the 6-inch display was a little unwieldy for many.
Unless you don't prefer a large screen device, the 640 XL is for everybody really - the casual user looking for a great Windows experience with a nice camera or the business user looking for productivity on the move.
Unless you don't prefer a large screen device, the 640 XL is for everybody really - the casual user looking for a great Windows experience with a nice camera or the business user looking for productivity on the move.
Design:
The Lumia 640 XL is a large 640, and carries almost the similar design. The 640 XL sports a 5.7-inch display, just a fraction smaller than the Lumia 1320/1520, but that seems to make all the difference. With the overall design, that size hits the sweet spot for a phablet and while you obviously can't get everything done with just one hand, it works pretty well for most tasks and doesn't look like a giant monolith slapped to your cheek while you're taking a call.
At the back, there's a camera hump that reminds me of the Lumia 1520. The battery is removable, and the back panel opens up for the microSIM card slots and the microSD card slot. Unlike the 640, the 640 XL sports a matte finish at the back. It's great, because a glossy device of this size would be quite slippery to hold. Despite the size, the 640 XL feels great in the hand and makes for a solid grip.
For a phone with pretty good camera credentials and a large size, I hate the lack of a physical camera shutter button. Otherwise, it's another solid Lumia with a great build quality for a mid-range device. There's nothing new, but there are no compromises either. And as I've said before, Nokia/Microsoft are known to make amazing devices with a great finish.
At the back, there's a camera hump that reminds me of the Lumia 1520. The battery is removable, and the back panel opens up for the microSIM card slots and the microSD card slot. Unlike the 640, the 640 XL sports a matte finish at the back. It's great, because a glossy device of this size would be quite slippery to hold. Despite the size, the 640 XL feels great in the hand and makes for a solid grip.
For a phone with pretty good camera credentials and a large size, I hate the lack of a physical camera shutter button. Otherwise, it's another solid Lumia with a great build quality for a mid-range device. There's nothing new, but there are no compromises either. And as I've said before, Nokia/Microsoft are known to make amazing devices with a great finish.
Hardware:
The internals of the Lumia 640 XL are identical to the Lumia 640, and while they are nothing remarkable on paper, the Windows Phone experience is smooth and everyday usage with navigating between apps, multi-tasking, and Web browsing is a breeze. Casual games of course run great, while graphic-intensive games like Asphalt 8 also don't stutter or lag. Granted the graphics are not like the Lumia 1520, but the nice, large display makes for a great experience.
Powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 1.2 GHz quad-core processor with 1GB RAM, the device packs in 8GB internal storage - expandable up to 128 GB via a micro SD card.
Powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 1.2 GHz quad-core processor with 1GB RAM, the device packs in 8GB internal storage - expandable up to 128 GB via a micro SD card.
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| Lumia 640 XL to the left vs Lumia 640 to the right. |
Except for the internal storage and a higher megapixel front camera, the specs are almost identical to the Lumia 830 along with the 640.
The 5.7-inch HD display has the same resolution as the 5-inch 640 despite the larger size leading to quite a drop in the PPI count (259 PPI). A Lumia 640 next to the 640 XL definitely looks sharper, although the IPS LCD on 640 XL is not bad at all. The colors are bright and sharp, and the viewing angles are pretty good. There's Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection and Microsoft's sunlight readability enhancements.
An important thing to note is that the Lumia 640 XL available in India is a 3G dual SIM device, and does not have the LTE capability unlike some other country variants.
The stellar battery life of the Lumia 640 XL is one of the underrated highlights of the phone. The 3000 mAh battery with the 720p 5.7-inch display allows for over a day of battery life easily, and casual users might just stretch it to two days - a rarity these days.
An important thing to note is that the Lumia 640 XL available in India is a 3G dual SIM device, and does not have the LTE capability unlike some other country variants.
The stellar battery life of the Lumia 640 XL is one of the underrated highlights of the phone. The 3000 mAh battery with the 720p 5.7-inch display allows for over a day of battery life easily, and casual users might just stretch it to two days - a rarity these days.
Software:
The Lumia 640 XL and the Lumia 640 are the only phones in the market right now that ship with the Windows Phone 8.1 Update 2 out of the box.
It's not a major update after Denim, but the all-important Settings app gets a much needed visual makeover. As yet, the list of settings was an endless, random scroll, but these are now categorized in groups. Individual settings can now be navigated to using the categories, or searched for, or pinned to the Home screen.
One of the highlights of the Denim update, the Lumia 640 XL includes the Lumia Camera 5.0 app. It's a surprise inclusion since the app has been a part of only the more-expensive Lumia devices that feature the PureView camera goodness. The Lumia 640 XL doesn't have a PureView camera, but it benefits a lot from the Lumia Camera apps.
Needless to say, the Lumia 640 XL is Windows 10 ready, and will get an upgrade when Windows 10 is ready and available.
It's worth highlighting that the Lumia 640 XL bundles a free one-year subscription to Office 365, allowing you to use the Office suite on your PC/Mac as well as your tablet, apart from this Windows Phone device of course.
It's not a major update after Denim, but the all-important Settings app gets a much needed visual makeover. As yet, the list of settings was an endless, random scroll, but these are now categorized in groups. Individual settings can now be navigated to using the categories, or searched for, or pinned to the Home screen.
One of the highlights of the Denim update, the Lumia 640 XL includes the Lumia Camera 5.0 app. It's a surprise inclusion since the app has been a part of only the more-expensive Lumia devices that feature the PureView camera goodness. The Lumia 640 XL doesn't have a PureView camera, but it benefits a lot from the Lumia Camera apps.
Needless to say, the Lumia 640 XL is Windows 10 ready, and will get an upgrade when Windows 10 is ready and available.
It's worth highlighting that the Lumia 640 XL bundles a free one-year subscription to Office 365, allowing you to use the Office suite on your PC/Mac as well as your tablet, apart from this Windows Phone device of course.
Camera:
Apart from the obvious larger size, the Lumia 640 XL sports better camera than the Lumia 640, and the rear camera in fact is one of the stand out features of the 640 XL. It's no PureView, but the 13MP shooter sports a Zeiss lens unit. It makes for a terrific camera at its price point, and the Lumia Camera app offers a great level of manual control not found in most stock camera apps including features like Rich Capture and Lumia Moments.
The Lumia 640 XL captures great detail in the images, even in low light conditions. The photos are bright and vivid, and the color reproduction is pretty good too. It's a great all-round camera, but if you're using features like Rich Capture, taking a photo and the processing takes some annoying extra seconds.
The 5MP front camera isn't something special but capable of taking decent selfies and 1080p videos - pretty good given the price point of the phone. The rear camera also does a decent job of shooting casual videos at 1080p at a continuous 30fps with auto-focus.
Verdict:
The Lumia 640 XL is not a high-end smartphone, but offers an incredible value for money. The solid Windows Phone experience with a pretty good rear camera makes for a solid package that I could recommend to anybody looking for a sub-Rs 20,000 smartphone. Available in cyan, orange, black, and white, the 640 XL is a pretty good middle of the pack offering at Rs 15,499. Granted it is pretty big, and if that's not your cup of tea, you should look at the Lumia 640 or maybe the older Lumia 730.
For those of you who are interested in the younger sibling. Lumia 640, you might want to take a look at my review here.
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