Lumia 640 arrived

[nerp]

Windows 10 is the best on slower hardware, by far. Very fast and responsive. Impressive.

 

[lopri]

I saw this phone first time today. They did not have one in stock so I had to place an order. It was a kind of a worry-free impulse buy - for $30! Wow, that is a lot of hardware for the price. I would have believed if it were $150. The screen was gorgeous and performance was acceptable during the 5 minute testing.

It is sold as ATT Go phone, but I already found an easy unlock method which means the phone should work with any GSM network. It is not going to be anyone's daily driver, but for a spare phone that lets you taste what Windows Mobile is, it is a great deal. If you do not care for apps but just phone calls, texting, and web browsing, it might be the best deal that is out there right now.

 

[lopri]

I read about just-released Lumia 650, and I do not know if that can be considered an upgrade over Lumia 640.

640 Spec Sheet
650 Spec Sheet

Notable differences

• 650 is approx. 2 mm thinner than 640.
• 650 comes with 2000 mah battery, 640 with 2500 mah
• 650 sports AMOLED screen, 640 LCD.
• 650 rocks Snapdragon 212 w/ Adreno 304, 640 rocks Snapdragon 400 w/ Adreno 305. (Both Cortex-A7, 1.30 GHz for 650 and 1.20 GHz for 640)
• GSM Arena rates 650's endurance at 55h, 640's at 76h.

So they stuck (likely dated and inefficient) AMOLED screen on the 640, trimmed the thickness by reducing battery capacity by 20% (thus endurance), then changed the model number from 640 to 650 and doubled the price. That is a recipe for success for sure.

 

[tsupersonic]

@lopri, it's a bit disappointing that the 650 is a half-assed successor to the 640. What makes the 640 truly unique is the price...They were selling these as low as $6 at Walgreens, to $30 on the Microsoft store. I mean for the money, it is the best damn phone out there.

I hate the push for thinner phones. I'd rather have a bigger battery! AMOLED is really nice screen technology, especially with the dark themes in WM10. Not sure why they decided to downgrade the specs - disappointing...

 

[poofyhairguy]

@lopri, it's a bit disappointing that the 650 is a half-assed successor to the 640. What makes the 640 truly unique is the price...They were selling these as low as $6 at Walgreens, to $30 on the Microsoft store. I mean for the money, it is the best damn phone out there.

Agreed. A few weeks ago I got a clearance Walgreen's Lumia 640 to play with and I liked it so much with Windows 10 I put my sim in it. The screen and camera are amazing for a phone so cheap. It's nice not having a phone in a case for once.

 

[quikah]

I think the front camera is improved on the 650, not sure if the back camera is. At the clearance price of the 640 in the US, it is not a worthwhile upgrade.



I have a 925 and 640, there are times I miss the amoled of the 925, but the 640 screen is surprisingly good.

 

[RossMAN]

@lopri, it's a bit disappointing that the 650 is a half-assed successor to the 640. What makes the 640 truly unique is the price...They were selling these as low as $6 at Walgreens, to $30 on the Microsoft store. I mean for the money, it is the best damn phone out there.

I hate the push for thinner phones. I'd rather have a bigger battery! AMOLED is really nice screen technology, especially with the dark themes in WM10. Not sure why they decided to downgrade the specs - disappointing...

Agreed.