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Microsoft unveils mid-range Lumia 640 and Lumia 640 XL at MWC 2015

By James Lu - on 2 Mar 2015, 5:47pm

Microsoft unveils mid-range Lumia 640 and Lumia 640 XL at MWC

Lumia 640 XL

Microsoft announced two new additions to its Windows Phone mid-range line up today with the announcement of the 5-inch Lumia 640 and the 5.7-inch Lumia 640 XL. Both phones sport 1,280 x 720-pixel resolution displays, giving the 640 and 640 XL a screen pixel density of 294ppi and 259 ppi respectively. Powering both phones is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 quad-core 1.2GHz processor, with 1GB RAM. Internal storage on both phones is just 8GB, but both have microSD slots for expandable storage.

The 5-inch Microsoft Lumia 640.

Other than display size, the main difference between the phones are their cameras. The 640 has an 8MP autofocus rear camera with and a 1MP front-facing camera with a wide-angle f/2.4 lens, while the 640 XL has a 13MP autofocus camera with Zeiss optics, and a 5MP fixed focus front-facing camera. The 640 XL's larger size also creates room for a larger battery; 3000mAh to the 640's 2500mAh.

The larger 5.7-inch Lumia 640 XL.

Microsoft has also been able to squeeze in some extra sensors, normally only found on its higher-end models. Both phones include proximity and ambient light sensors, as well as digital compasses.

Design-wise, the phones follow other Lumia handsets with black fronts, on-screen buttons, and colorful wraparound polycarbonate shells in a choice of orange, cyan, black, and white.

As a nice addition, both the Lumia 640 and Lumia 640 XL will come with a one-year subscription to Office 365 Personal, which includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote, not just for the phone itself, but also on one PC (or Mac), and one tablet of your choice, plus 1TB of OneDrive storage, and 60 free minutes of Skype Unlimited Worldwide calling per month.

"Our newest Lumia devices build on our momentum in the affordable smartphones space," said Jo Harlow, corporate vice president for Phones at Microsoft. “With the Lumia 640 and Lumia 640 XL, we continue to make innovation accessible to more people. We have packaged competitive hardware with innovative Windows software and Microsoft services to help you achieve more, wherever and whenever you want.”

The Lumia 640 XL will roll out globally in March, with the 640 following in April. Both models will be available in single-SIM and dual-SIM LTE and dual-SIM 3G variants, although exact availability will depend on market. The Lumia 640 is estimated to be around €139 (~S$212) for the 3G model and €159 (~S$243) for the LTE model. The Lumia 640 XL will be around €189 (~S$289) for 3G and €219 (~S$334) for LTE.

We'll post another update in the future once we get word on exact dates for local availability and pricing. Till then, enjoy our ongoing MWC 2015 coverage!

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