Microsoft launched one after another affordable smartphone. The Lumia 640 seems at first sight an exact copy of the Lumia 535, a budget handset that was fine assessed. That does not apply to the specifications. Of which 640 are better. Thus a good assessment seems guaranteed
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Photo: Microsoft 
Photo: Microsoft First impression
With the Lumia 640 you’ll never steal the show. The design is functional, but makes little impression. The 5-inch screen has a plastic back cover that can be removed for battery, SIM and microSD card to install. The camera protrudes slightly so that the housing is not completely smooth. On switching the screen quality does make an impression.
Hardware
The screen quality is better than you’d expect from a device with a price of € 175. With a resolution of 1280 by 720 pixels, it defeats the 535. Even in bright sunlight the screen performs well, it turns out during the sunny week of testing.
Another specification that the 535 trumps the support of 4G. As more providers offer this speed mobile Internet standard, this is a welcome addition.
The Lumia 640 runs on the familiar 1.2GHz processor with four cores that can also be found in other Lumia’s. The memory is 1 GB. That’s enough to run all applications, but it does not go really smoothly. The message ‘Loading’ me too often appears.
Compared with 535 removable battery is a bit larger at 2500 mAh. That’s enough to last a day, if you’re not constantly playing games, surfing the Internet or stream.
The other specifications can be found here.
Camera
For a smartphone with a price tag of less than € 200, the Lumia 640 a great camera. Probably know at the rear. The resolution of the rear camera is 8 megapixels and there are great pictures to be shot. This applies especially outdoors. In an office environment with fluorescent light the colors are not quite truthful. Also, the camera in low light conditions difficult. A funny trick of the Lumia Camera is the option vibrant images enabled by default state. The camera takes, is taken for the picture, a second picture in which the moving pictures. Users who would rather see a still image, the option to disable the settings.
The camera on the front is a bit disappointing. With a resolution of 0.9 megapixels, you can shoot best selfies nice, but making a detailed picture is not possible.
By default, the Lumia camera has few tricks. It is possible to adjust things like white balance and ISO, but filters and other editing tool little lacking. In the Windows Store, however, are enough photo editing apps.
The camera is also possible to shoot movies in 1080p resolution at a speed of 30 frames per second. The picture quality is fine, but because of the lack of good stabilization of the movies are quite often choppy.
Programs
The Lumia 640 runs on Windows Phone 8.1 Update 2. This update has a some improvements. So we added a search function to the settings menu and it has become possible to set an app which data may be sent to the developer.
The biggest changes, however, will appear later this year when Windows 10 appears. The Lumia 640 will also have to upgrade to this new system.
The biggest disadvantage of Windows Phone is that it is not embraced by developers. New apps usually appear only for iOS and Android. Later then also follows Windows Phone. However, the most popular apps are found just on the Microsoft operating system, such as Twitter, Facebook and Spotify.
Price and similar devices
The Lumia 640 is available online from such € 170. For this amount are not many devices that support 4G and have a large screen with good resolution. Users who are looking for an affordable 4G device can also opt for the older Lumia 635. This unit is about € 50 cheaper, but has a smaller screen with a lower resolution. Even in Android are affordable smartphones to find 4G like the Motorola Moto E (2015) (€ 150) and the second generation Moto G (€ 205).
Conclusion
The Lumia 640 is a very affordable smartphone with good value for money. In particular, the quality of the screen is better than that of the average budget device. With the camera are fine shots to shoot and also the 4G support is fine. It’s not the fastest smartphone and also not the nicest. But if the latter points are not high on your priority list, you have a fine device in the hands
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I have a Lumia 635. A relief after iPhone and Android. Long battery life, fast, stable, really intuitive, good price. All important apps available. The rest of the apps is mostly nonsense. Prima cameras. Everything iPhone and Android pretend is reality for Lumia !!
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It’s just really good equipment. Show what is unfortunately negative. The app’s always whining about. Almost everything is there and not 100 of the same. That’s what you do with other operating systems. And not soon ??? In a year, they are still just as fast as now. On Android niet.En if you want to make a real comparison select devices in the same price range. A Lumia 930 or 1520 (almost a year on the market) beat all high end appliances from Android or Apple.
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I am very surprised at the negative tone of this article. The negativity about this phone I do not recognize at all. I have a Lumia 640 initially purchased as a temporary phone because my iPhone 5s in my holiday was stolen. From the first moment surprised by the performance. Photos much, much better than the iPhone. The software is fast, flexible and truly modern than iOS or Android. Said similar phones do not even come close to this unit. Simply top!
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Well Google Android 1.2 Fabrieken.Ik still crazy from all these brands
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A striking feature of this review is the negative tone, while the real experts (Tweakers etc.) are actually very positive! The best price / quality smartphone on the market, this Lumia 640. The message ‘charge’ basically comes into play only if the internet is poor and very heavy apps. How do you test this we do not know. The battery life is also better than the ‘reviewer’ suggests! A reviewer should expect a little more objectivity, you even suggests that it is an ugly device!
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The lumia 640 bought for my wife. It’s just a hardstikke complete smartfone with LTE (4G) internet. Bull’s-eye. Even with as many apps as an offer that you are dizzy. The communication with windows on the computer is fine.