Microsoft Lumia 640 XL Dual SIM review: Size matters

Introduction

The Microsoft Lumia 640 XL is one of Miscrosoft's recently announced Lumias and it's also available as a Dual SIM model, which we're reviewing. It's the best equipped smartphone in the Lumia 640 series - it packs a massive 5.7" screen and a 13MP camera. The Lumia 640 is ready to capture new users for Microsoft's mobile platform by offering a smooth smartphone experience on big screen, all with a tantalizing sub-200 euro price tag.

Nokia was well known for its rich lineup of phones, where everyone could find their dream phone. In the new smartphone era the diversity applied mostly to the color options, but today Microsoft is revisiting the past traditions with the new Lumia 640 series, which offers seven different handsets with attractive specs and bargain pricing.

Breaking a pattern is a tough move today, but it seems Microsoft got it right for the most part. You can get a Lumia 640 in a regular 5" size or a 5.7" XL flavor. There are 3G, 3G Dual SIM, LTE and even LTE Dual SIM version of each size, which is very nice - you can opt for the one you need and save some cash in the meantime. And, of course, the paintjob options are as rich as they get - matte cyan, glossy cyan, orange, black, matte white and glossy white.

So, we got the 3G Dual SIM model of the Microsoft Lumia 640 XL, one with a matte white panel. It is noticeably big, but feels really light, the Glance screen greets you at start and the ZEISS logo highlights the rear 13 MP camera. The 5.7" 720p display isn't offering the best pixel density, but it makes up for it with the ClearBlack technology. And while the Lumia 640 series was introduced as the first Windows 10 smartphones, they are still running on Windows Phone 8.1. They will be the first phones on the queue to get the update this summer though.

Key features

• Optional LTE connectivity
• Optional Dual SIM connectivity (3G and LTE models)
• 5.7" IPS display of 720p resolution, ClearBlack display, Gorilla Glass 3
• 1.2 GHz quad-core Cortex-A7 CPU, Adreno 305 GPU, Snapdragon 400 chipset, 1GB of RAM
• Windows Phone 8.1 with Lumia Denim, Windows 10 update coming summer 2015
• 13MP autofocus camera, LED flash, 1080p video recording @30fps
• 5MP front-facing camera, 1080p video
• 8GB of inbuilt storage, microSD card slot, up to 128GB
• Wi-Fi b/g/n; Bluetooth 4.0; GPS/GLONASS; FM radio with RDS
• 30GB of free OneDrive storage
• Free worldwide voice-guided navigation with HERE Drive+
• 3,000mAh Li-Ion battery

Main disadvantages

• Dated chipset
• No secondary microphone
• About 3GB of internal storage available to the user

The Lumia 640 XL has pretty much all bases covered. The Snapdragon 400 chipset is our major concern. It proved a really powerful platform for the Windows smartphones in the past and is still utilized by many. But Microsoft's recent push of new apps and games within the Windows Store may finally raise performance issues on these kind of smartphones.

Microsoft Lumia 640 XL

For a quick roundup of the Microsoft Lumia 640 XL you can check out our video review. It will give you an aggregated view of our written review and if you want the complete picture you can read on.

Coming up next is our unboxing and the inspection of the phone's hardware.