Review of the red-haired Windows smartphone from among the middle peasants. Appearance and usability

Microsoft Lumia 640 LTE.

Life gets easier.

Traditionally modern.

While retaining the best features of its predecessors, the Lumia 640 LTE remains in trend. Qualcom Snapdragon 4-core processor, 5 '' screen with Glance splash screen and capacious battery 2500 mAh will allow you to work as long as you need. Well, when it's time to rest, two excellent cam ...

The device works with Micro-SIM cards all GSM operators.

Microsoft Lumia 640 LTE.

Stylish, vibrant, recognizable Lumia design. Built-in Microsoft Office on a brilliant HD display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3.

Life gets easier.

Open the box and turn on your Lumia 64 ...

The device works with Micro-SIM cards of all GSM operators.

Microsoft Lumia 640 LTE.

Stylish, vibrant, recognizable Lumia design. Built-in Microsoft Office on a brilliant HD display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3.

Life gets easier.

Open the box and turn on your Lumia 640 LTE to see the full array of free Microsoft services included, ready to go. Keep in touch with family and friends, enjoy instant access to your pictures on OneDrive, edit files in Microsoft Office, wherever you are. Finding the best work-life balance just got easier.

Traditionally modern.

While retaining the best features of its predecessors, the Lumia 640 LTE remains in trend. Quad-core Qualcom Snapdragon processor, 5-inch screen with Glance screensaver and a large 2500 mAh battery will allow you to work as long as you need. Well, when it's time to relax, two excellent cameras will not let you get bored either while walking around the city or at a party with friends.

Take pictures with amazing clarity.

Do you want to relive the moments that are dear to you? Capture them easily in superior quality with the Lumia Camera app and the 8MP main camera, save 30GB of free space on OneDrive and enjoy them whenever you want. During free HD video calls on Skype, the wide-angle front camera allows your family and friends to see everything around you.

Absolutely new approach to your favorite applications.

Watch your favorite apps and games come to life on the 5 '' HD display. Choose from hundreds of thousands of apps in the growing range of "Store" Windows Phone": From Trip Advisor and Instagram to WhatsApp and Candy Crush Saga. They are always available and safe.

Important little things.

These are the details that make a huge impact. The convenience of Notification Center and the magic of live icons - the simplicity of Windows Phone will ease your daily routine so you can devote yourself to what you love.

The range of "Windows backgrounds" has been expanded with the following models. Lumia 640 has four variants: single SIM and 3G, single SIM and LTE, dual SIM and 3G, dual and LTE. Also presented to the public were four variants of the Lumia 640 XL with a similar combination of distinctive features. The younger model Lumia 640 is equipped with a 5 "screen, while the Lumia 640 XL has a slightly larger screen - 5.7". Considering that all smartphones will be sold at the same time, and the options with one and two SIM-cards will have the same price, then the question involuntarily arises: what, in fact, were Microsoft marketers thinking? The Lumia lineup is already overflowing with devices, and you can only figure out how one of them differs from the other if you read the lists of characteristics and compare them line by line. The release of four pairs of smartphones with the same price and the only difference in the number of SIM card slots does not make the process of choosing a mobile companion any easier. Why market identical smartphones with support for one or two SIM card slots with the same price tags at all? After all, it is clear that, all other things being equal, buyers will give preference to models with support for two SIM-cards.

Be that as it may, at the time of writing the review on the Microsoft website there was information about only four variants of the smartphone: 640 LTE, 640 DS LTE, 640 DS 3G and 640 XL DS 3G. Further in the text of the review, the abbreviation "DS" means support for two SIM-cards. Several body colors are available for all variants of the smartphone: white, black, red and blue. Some of them were in stock, others were available by reservation only.

The basis for the devices of the Lumia 640 family is the SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon 400, all smartphones are equipped with 1 GB of RAM 8 GB of flash memory. The display type is the same for all models (the diagonal is different), but the main cameras of the 640 and 640 XL are different: 8 Mp and 13 Mp matrices, f / 2.2 and f / 2.0 optics, respectively. The front cameras also differ: a 5MP Full HD wide-angle camera for the Lumia 640 XL and 0.9MP HD for the Lumia 640. Naturally, the larger 640 XL has a more powerful battery: 3000 mAh versus 2500 mAh. And one more difference: models with LTE support are also equipped with an NFC module.

The hero of this review is a smartphone in the Lumia 640 DS 3G variant.

Features of smartphones Microsoft Lumia 640

• SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 MSM8926, 1.2 GHz, 4 cores ARM Cortex-A7
• GPU Adreno 305
• Operating system Microsoft Windows Phone 8.1 Update 2 Lumia Denim Pack
• Touchscreen 5 ″, IPS, ClearBlack, 1280 × 720, capacitive, multitouch, Corning Gorilla Glass 3
• RAM 1 GB
• Inner memory 8 GB
• Nokia Lumia 640 3G model: 2G GSM (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz), 3G WCDMA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz)
• Nokia Lumia 640 LTE model: 2G GSM (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz), 3G WCDMA (850, 900, 1700, 1900, 2100 MHz), 4G / LTE (bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 17, 20, 28)
• Data transmission GPRS, EDGE, HSPA + (up to 42 Mbps), LTE (up to 150 Mbps)
• Wi-Fi 802.11b / g / n, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC
• GPS / Glonass / BeiDou, accelerometer, magnetometer (compass), gyroscope, proximity sensor, light sensor
• FM radio
• Cameras: main 8 megapixel (autofocus, flash), additional 0.9 megapixel
• Removable battery 2500 mAh
• Dimensions 141.3 x 72.2 x 8.8 mm
• Weight 145 g

For comparison, the table shows the characteristics of the last few Nokia models in the version with LTE support.

	Microsoft Lumia 640	Nokia Lumia 735	Nokia Lumia 830	Nokia Lumia 930	Nokia Lumia 1520
Screen	5 ″, IPS	4.7 ″, AMOLED	5 ″, IPS	5 ″, AMOLED	6 ″, IPS
Permission	1280 × 720, 294 ppi	1280 × 720, 312 ppi	1280 × 720, 294 ppi	1920 × 1080, 441 ppi	1920 × 1080, 367 ppi
SoC	Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 MSM8926 @ 1.2GHz (4x ARM Cortex-A7)			Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 @ 2.2 GHz (4 core Krait 400)
GPU	Adreno 305			Adreno 330
RAM	1 GB	1 GB	1 GB	2 GB	2 GB
Flash memory	8 GB	8 GB	16 GB	32 GB	32 GB
Memory card support	there is	there is	there is	No	there is
Operating system*	Windows Phone 8.1				Windows Phone 8
SIM format **	Micro-SIM	Nano-SIM
Communications		2G / 3G / 4G, Wi-Fi 802.11b / g / n, Bluetooth, NFC	2G / 3G / 4G, Wi-Fi 802.11a / b / g / n, Bluetooth, NFC		2G / 3G / 4G, Wi-Fi 802.11a / b / g / n / ac, Bluetooth, NFC
Battery	removable, 2500 mAh	removable, 2220 mAh	removable, 2200 mAh	non-removable, 2420 mAh	non-removable, 3400 mAh
Cameras	rear (8 MP; 1080p video), front (0.9 MP)	rear (6.7 MP; 1080p video), front (5 MP)	rear (10 MP; 1080p video), front (0.9 MP)		rear (20 (5) Mp; video 1080p), front (1.2 Mp)
Dimensions and weight	141 x 72 x 8.8mm, 145g	135 x 69 x 8.9 mm, 134 g	139 x 71 x 8.5mm, 150g	137 x 71 x 9.8mm, 167g	163 x 86 x 10.6 mm, 209 grams
Average price***	T-12206544	T-11030519	T-11030194	T-10771306	T-10548283
Retail Offers Nokia Lumia 640 DS LTE	L-12206544-10

* OS version is indicated at the time the device appeared on the market
** The most common SIM card formats are described in a separate article
*** average cost at the time of reading the article

Equipment

The smartphone comes in the traditional packaging for the current generation of Lumia devices. The structure is assembled from two boxes, the inner part fits into the outer cover. There is not much information on the parameters of the smartphone on the packaging, it is all presented in the form of a few icons. Some details about the characteristics of a particular smartphone model can be found from the text and abbreviations from the sticker glued to the package.

The mobile computer that visited the editorial office only had a charger and documentation. Based on information from Microsoft's website, Lumia 640 buyers will receive just such a modest set of accessories.

Appearance and usability

There are several typical skin options for Lumia smartphones. The first group includes strict rectangular (in plan) devices with chopped sharp edges. Devices of the second group also differ in faces that intersect strictly at an angle of 90 degrees, but their body is made of plastic, not metal. Finally, the third extensive group includes models with rounded, smoothed body contours and smoothly merging edges. Most of the third category are also made of plastic. Obviously, cutting and turning metal at right angles is still easier than shaping it round or curving.

The current hero of the review belongs to the third category of Lumia smartphones. Smooth body lines and colored plastic give the Lumia 640 a somewhat frivolous look, but such is the long-standing trend of Nokia / Microsoft designers. They love cheerful and cheerful tones in their devices, and we can only praise them for that. For lovers of austere style, there is a black and white back panel.

The Lumia 640 looks good at first glance, but the devil is in the details. And the longer you work with your smartphone, the more, unfortunately, you discover such frustrating moments.

The main, main, almost ultimatum design flaw of the Lumia 640 is extremely slippery plastic. Perhaps the current hero of the review is the most "unstoppable" in the bad sense of the word smartphone from those that have been in my hands. The lacquered back and sides of the Lumia 640 transform the smartphone into a bar of soap. Nothing helps - neither a sufficiently large width of the edges, nor a significant surface area of ​​the rear panel; the smartphone still strives to slip out of hand every now and then. There can be no question of using the device in transport, and even more so doing something there with one hand: one extra push - and the Lumia 640 will go from the palm of your hand towards the center of the Earth. What made the Microsoft designers choose such a material for the body of the review hero is understandable, but what allowed the engineers to agree with them is difficult. Most Lumias use much less slippery soft-touch plastic, which feels like rubber. However, judging by the appearance of the recently announced Lumia 435, slippery plastic is a long-term trend in the creativity of Microsoft developers. It is sad. Well, in order to finally close the topic of the plastic back of the Lumia 640, I note that, as befits a lacquered surface, it perfectly collects fingerprints, traces of touches and scratches.

Considering the above, it would be necessary not to dwell in detail on how the smartphone lies in the palm of your hand. But if we abstract from the lacquer plastic or imagine that the owner of a mobile computer has a very rough skin or the surface of a smartphone is covered with a layer of dirt, then the following should be noted: in terms of dimensions, the Lumia 640 fits perfectly into a medium-sized palm. The smartphone has to be held firmly, and the fingers have something to catch on - the wide side edges help. When working with a smartphone, the power button is located just under the thumb of the right hand. The relatively light weight of the mobile computer does not cause discomfort or fatigue.

It is difficult to operate the Lumia 640 with one hand, but if you really want to, you can. The main obstacle in this is not a large display, but, as already mentioned, slippery plastic. A mobile computer fits in a pocket of trousers and a shirt without any problems.

There are no complaints about the quality of materials and workmanship of the Lumia 640. Plastic does not look cheap, does not crunch or creak, the back panel of the smartphone does not bend, backlash of parts and extraneous sounds are absent when shaking.

Moving on to the next unpleasant aspect of the Lumia 640's look and feel - the wide gap for the phone speaker. When the smartphone was in the office, a certain amount of dust had already accumulated in this deep container. Over time, there will be even more of it if you do not pay due attention to its cleaning. But the earpiece hole isn't the only dust and dirt collector on the Lumia 640's bezel.

The same depth but much smaller hole is provided for the microphone, which is located at the bottom of the screen. It will be really difficult to clean anything out of it. This "deep" list ends with a gap between the protective glass of the display and its plastic rim.

The entire front panel of the Lumia 640 is made of Corning Gorilla Glass 3. Beneath it are the display, front camera lens, light and proximity sensors. Highlighted touch buttons Lumia 640 does not have control over the system, they are replaced by virtual counterparts.

The back panel of the smartphone covers its entire body, overlapping all the side edges. This design of a mobile computer is also called a "boat". The construction is sturdy, but it can be very inconvenient if you need to access the battery compartment. The Lumia 640 is one such case. In order to more or less quickly disconnect back panel, you have to put quite a lot of pressure on the lens of the main camera, holding the smartphone by the upper edge of the case. No nail recesses or other aids are provided. We simply press on the lens, the body is squeezed out, a millimeter of plastic appears, we hook it with our fingernail and separate the two parts further. It is clear that this is far from the most reliable solution, and to alleviate the fate of the camera glass, only the rarity of the operation itself of replacing the battery, SIM card or memory card during normal use of the smartphone helps.

Back the rear panel of the Lumia 640 fits seamlessly. Replacing the memory card and SIM-cards is possible only when the battery... If one of the Micro-SIM cards gets stuck, you can push it with your fingernail or other handy means through a special hole in the case. Judging by the fact that in almost every new smartphone, recesses and holes for pushing SIM-cards began to appear, their jamming in the connectors is quite common.

There are holes for the camera lens, LED flash, main speaker and connectors on the back of the smartphone. There are repeaters for the keys. WITH inside the covers are glued with three rubber dampers and a black sticker instead of the NFC antenna, which this Lumia 640 does not have.

The plastic keys on the right edge of the Lumia 640 control the volume and power of your mobile computer. Strange, but Microsoft engineers did not provide a traditional button for camera control in Lumia 640. The shape of the keys is flat, the size is sufficient for comfortable control of the smartphone blindly. Extra comfort is provided by long key travel and a distinct click when pressed.

The left side of the Lumia 640 is left blank. There is a headphone hole on the top of the smartphone. At the bottom is a lone Micro-USB-compatible connector for the sync and charge cable.

So the Lumia 640's looks and build are mixed. With the general tradition of design and execution, in the current hero of the review there are many small and one major flaw in terms of the exterior. Let's be honest: the smartphone is inconvenient to use, it is very slippery. Lumia 640 should be immediately hidden in a case or replaced with a back cover, for example, a cover with a front curtain and a card holder.

Screen

The Lumia 640's display options are as follows: IPS matrix, resolution 1280 × 720 pixels (HD), 5 ″ diagonal, dot density - 293 dpi. The picture on the screen of the review hero is clear and colorful, individual pixels are invisible.

The display of the smartphone is protected from damage by Corning Gorilla Glass 3. The brightness of the backlight is adjusted manually and automatically.

The capacitive sensor of the Lumia 640 confidently detects up to four simultaneous signals. If there are five or more signals, he begins to confuse them, the signals begin to disappear, and the behavior of the sensor becomes inadequate.

Detailed expertise using measuring instruments conducted the editor of the "Monitors" and "Projectors and TV" sections Alexey Kudryavtsev.

The front surface of the screen is made in the form of a glass plate with a mirror-smooth surface, resistant to scratches. Judging by the reflection of objects, the anti-glare properties of the screen are no worse than those of the Google Nexus 7 (2013) (hereinafter simply Nexus 7). For clarity, here is a photo in which a white surface is reflected in the turned off screens (on the left - Nexus 7, on the right - Microsoft Lumia 640, then they can be distinguished by their size):

The screen of the Microsoft Lumia 640 is slightly darker (brightness in the photos is 97 versus 111 for the Nexus 7). The tripling of reflected objects in the Microsoft Lumia 640 screen is very weak, which indicates that there is no air gap between the outer glass (aka the touch sensor) and the matrix surface (OGS-type screen - One Glass Solution). Due to the smaller number of boundaries (such as glass / air) with greatly different refractive indices, such screens look better in strong ambient light, but their repair in the case of cracked outer glass is much more expensive, since the entire screen has to be changed. On the outer surface of the screen there is a special oleophobic (grease-repellent) coating (very effective, better than that of the Nexus 7), so fingerprints are removed much more easily and appear at a slower rate than in the case of regular glass.

When displaying a white field in full screen and when manual control brightness its maximum value was 385 cd / m², minimum - 3.4 cd / m². The maximum value is quite high, and given the excellent anti-glare properties, the image on the screen should be clearly visible in bright daylight. In complete darkness, the brightness can be lowered to a comfortable level. With brightness control, everything is quite complicated. Firstly, on a separate page, the user can select one of three profiles with fixed brightness levels and turn on the mode with automatic brightness adjustment according to the ambient light level (the sensor is located to the right of the front camera eye).

Secondly, on another separate page (near the end of the list of applications and settings), you can go to the next level page and there, for manual mode, adjust the brightness levels for these three profiles.

And for the automatic mode, the degree of sensitivity is adjusted on this page:

Further, for the automatic mode (in it, when the ambient light conditions change, the screen brightness both increases and decreases) for three conditions, we give the screen brightness values ​​for three positions of the sensitivity slider (at minimum, default and maximum). In complete darkness in automatic mode, the brightness decreases to 3.2, 12 and 25 cd / m², respectively (the first value is too low, the other two provide an acceptable reading comfort from the screen in complete darkness); in an office illuminated with artificial light (about 400 lux), the brightness is set at 80, 250 and 385 cd / m2 (the first two values ​​can be considered appropriate), in a brightly lit environment (corresponds to lighting on a clear day outdoors, but without direct sunlight - 20,000 lx or slightly more) - rises to 385 cd / m² in any case (maximum, which is expected). As a result, this function works more or less adequately and allows the user to make adjustments to its work. Note that there is an option in the settings, the inclusion of which supposedly improves readability in bright light. It is not clear what actually changes this setting, since when it is activated, the backlight brightness does not change, and visually nothing changes on the screen either - even in bright outside light, even in the dark. At any brightness level, there is no significant backlight modulation, so there is no screen flickering either.

This smartphone uses an IPS-type matrix. The micrographs show the typical IPS subpixel structure:

For comparison, you can see the gallery of photomicrographs of screens used in mobile technology.

The screen has good angles view without significant color shift, even with large gaze deviations from the perpendicular to the screen and without inverting shades. For comparison, here's a photo where Nexus 7 and Microsoft Lumia 640 are displayed identical images, while the brightness of the screens was initially set at about 200 cd / m2 (across the white field across the entire screen), and color balance on the camera forcibly switched to 6500 K. Perpendicular to the plane of the screens is a white field:

Note the good uniformity of brightness and color tone of the white field. And the test picture:

The color rendition is good and the colors are saturated on both screens, the color balance differs insignificantly. Now at an angle of approximately 45 degrees to the plane and to the side of the screen:

It can be seen that the colors did not change much on both screens, but in the Microsoft Lumia 640 the contrast decreased to a large extent due to the strong black highlighting. And white box:

The brightness at an angle on both screens has noticeably decreased (at least 5 times, based on the difference in exposure), but in the case of the Microsoft Lumia 640 the drop in brightness is slightly larger (the brightness in the photos is 227 versus 230 for the Nexus 7). When deviated diagonally, the black field brightens strongly and acquires a yellowish tint or remains approximately neutral gray. The photos below demonstrate this (the brightness of the white areas in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the screens is the same for the screens!):

And from a different angle:

When viewed from a perpendicular view, the uniformity of the black field is good:

Contrast (approximately in the center of the screen) is normal - about 750: 1. The response time for the transition black-white-black is 23 ms (13 ms on + 10 ms off). The transition between gray tones of 25% and 75% (based on the numerical value of the color) and back takes 37 ms in total. Constructed from 32 points with equal intervals by the numerical value of the shade of gray, the gamma curve did not reveal a blockage either in highlights or shadows, and the exponent of the approximating power-law function turned out to be 2.14, which is close to the standard value of 2.2, while the real gamma the curve deviates little from the power-law dependence:

The color gamut is close to sRGB:

The spectra show that the matrix filters mix the components together to a moderate extent:

As a result, the colors visually have a natural saturation. The grayscale balance is good as Colorful temperature not much higher than the standard 6500 K, and the deviation from the blackbody spectrum (ΔE) is less than 10, which is considered an acceptable indicator for a consumer device. At the same time, the color temperature and ΔE vary little from shade to shade - this has a positive effect on the visual assessment of the color balance. (The darkest areas of the grayscale can be ignored, since there is no color balance. of great importance, and the error in measuring color characteristics at low brightness is large.)

Going to the second (far) page with screen settings and choosing the next level of nesting - page Color profile- the user can select one of the preset profiles or a profile in which the color rendition can be adjusted with the sliders for color temperature, hue and saturation.

The last slider slightly changes the color gamut. Pregnant Bright we get:

Pregnant Natural we get:

Profile cold- increased color temperature. Profile standard described above graphically and measurements. Profile bright- increased color saturation. Let's go to the profile additionally... Note that fine tuning using the calibrator is significantly complicated by the lack of numerical indication of current values ​​and the ability to choose own image for demonstration at the top of the screen, or at least just a large section of the white field on this page. The numerical result of the correction is shown in the charts above with the caption Corr. There are some improvements, but not fundamental ones. You can stop at the default selected profile standard.

Let's summarize. The screen has a sufficiently high maximum brightness and has excellent anti-reflective properties, so the device can be used outdoors without problems, even on a sunny summer day. In complete darkness, the brightness can be lowered to a comfortable level. It is also acceptable to use the mode with automatic brightness adjustment, which works adequately. The advantages of the screen include an effective oleophobic coating, no flicker and no air gap in the layers of the screen, as well as sRGB color gamut and good color balance. Significant disadvantages - low stability of black to deviation of the gaze from the perpendicular to the plane of the screen. Overall, however, the screen quality is high.

Sound

The Microsoft Lumia 640 has two speakers and one microphone. The phone speaker, which is located at the top of the bezel of the mobile computer, is loud and good quality sound. Even with strong external noise, the interlocutor's voice will be clearly distinguishable.

The Lumia 640's main speaker is located at the bottom of the back of the smartphone. Its volume is also high, but the sound quality is average. At maximum power and with plenty low frequencies he begins to wheeze noticeably.

For the main speaker, there is only one hole in the back cover of the smartphone, and even a small diameter. As a result, the speaker is very easy to muffle if you cover the hole with something. The sound volume becomes almost zero, only vibrations continue to pass through the smartphone body.

The Lumia 640 did not come with a standard headset, so the quality of the headphone output of the smartphone was tested in conjunction with the Sony MDR-XB30ER wired headphones. Subjectively, the sound quality turned out to be excellent. There was no distortion even at the maximum comfortable volume. It was not possible to reach the maximum possible sound power level - it became scary for the hearing. Thus, with good headphones, the Lumia 640 is perfectly suited for listening to music in any setting.

The volume of the sound in the smartphone changes both programmatically and using two keys on the left side of the device. To play music in the memory of a mobile computer, a regular Xbox Music audio player and a MixRadio program, a streaming radio service client with a paid subscription option for unlimited listening to audio compositions, are installed.

The headphones connected to the Lumia 640 act as an antenna for the smartphone's built-in FM radio. It doesn't work without headphones. The receiver management software has a standard appearance. She can automatically search for stations, stations you like can be collected in a list or placed on the desktop in the form of tiles. Supports RDS technology and audio output to the main speaker of the smartphone.

Camera

As already noted, the Lumia 640 and Lumia 640 XL smartphones are equipped with different cameras... In the tested mobile computer, models with 8 Mp and 0.9 Mp sensors were installed for the main and additional cameras, respectively. The physical size of the main camera sensor is 1/4 inch. The f / number of the camera's optical system is f / 2.2, the focal length is 28 mm. The camera is equipped with an autofocus system. For shooting in low light conditions, an LED flash can be used. Video recording is carried out with a resolution of 1080p.

The f / number of the optical system of the additional camera is f / 2.4. There is no automatic focusing system. Video recording is carried out with a resolution of 720p.

It's a shame that the Lumia 640 doesn't have a traditional camera button. Perhaps the manufacturer makes it clear that for photo experiments it is better to look for another model of smartphone.

Shooting is controlled by the application Lumia Camera... There are no serious delays when activating the camera, the start of the application takes just over a second.

In addition to the Lumia Camera app, the Lumia 640 has several other photography-related programs: Lumia Stories, Lumia Moments, Lumia Live Photos, Lumia Selfies, and Lumia Photo Studio.

	The shooting quality of the front camera is consistent with 1 megapixel.
	Good sharpness across the field and across plans. It's nice that the trees practically do not merge.
	Branches and even grass are well worked out. The sharpness in the distant shots is good.
	In low light, the camera does quite well.
	Good sharpness across the field and across plans. Not all 13-megapixel cameras are capable of working out the grass in the same way, even in the foreground.
	The camera copes with macro photography.
	The text has been worked out well.

Perhaps, the camera has no obvious drawbacks, except for the low resolution of the matrix. But she fulfills her 8 megapixels in full. However, we have already seen all this in previous non-top smartphones of the Lumia line: a good module and a fairly clean program. Despite the fact that the module is different here, it inherited the best qualities of its predecessors. And this is not surprising: why try to change what has already been successful. The camera successfully combines good optics, a decent sensor and a reasonable moderate program. And it is difficult to find more precise words than “just a good camera” to describe it. For artistic and documentary photography, it is quite suitable.

Software

The Microsoft Lumia 640 smartphone runs on Microsoft Windows Phone 8.1 Update 2 with the Lumia Denim package. In the future, all devices in this series should receive a firmware update based on the upcoming Windows 10 OS.

Traditionally for Microsoft / Nokia devices, a large number of additional software is preinstalled in the Lumia 640. The list includes Microsoft applications: Office, OneNote, OneDrive, Skype. Together with the smartphone, the user gets 15 GB of space in cloud storage OneDrive for any data storage and another 15 GB for backup photos. Also, when buying a smartphone, it is provided free subscription for Office 365 services for a period of one year.

Onsite navigation and map services: Here Drive + and Here Maps. But Here application For some reason, Transit was absent in the memory of the hero of the review, but it can be easily installed from the Microsoft application store.

For those who like to take pictures of themselves, others and the surrounding reality, the developers of the smartphone have provided as many as five different applications.

Domestic specifics did not pass by the Lumia 640: instead of Cortana assistant when clicking on special button the Yandex search is called, in addition to the Facebook client, the smartphone has an application of the VKontakte social network, reading lovers can use the client of the virtual bookstore Liters: Read!

Telephone part and communications

All variants of Lumia 640 smartphones are capable of working on 2G and 3G networks. The following frequencies for GSM networks are supported: 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz. For WCDMA networks: 850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz. The maximum download speed of data in the 3G network is 42.2 Mbps.

Smartphones supporting LTE networks additionally work with the WCDMA 1700 MHz band. LTE support includes the following frequency ranges: LTE FDD B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, B7, B8, B12, B17, B28, TD-LTE B38, B40. In LTE Cat 4 networks, the maximum download speed is 150 Mbps.

Smartphones with two SIM card slots operate according to the Dual Standby scheme: in standby mode both communication channels are active, in the phone call mode the second channel is disabled, the smartphone is “out of range”. Only one SIM-card can work in fast 3G / 4G networks, the second channel is always connected to the 2G network. You can switch between the two channels for data, messages and phone calls without turning off the power of your smartphone.

Tests of the tested Lumia 640 have shown reliable operation of the cellular module. The 3G network was defined both in Moscow and in the Moscow region. The data transfer rate in the WCDMA network turned out to be significantly lower than the declared maximum theoretical, but for loaded cellular networks metropolitan area this is normal.

The Bluetooth 4.0 module in the Lumia 640 has a large number of work profiles. In conjunction with the Sony MW1 wireless stereo headset, two of them were tested: A2DP and HSP. The support turned out to be at the highest level: playing music with broadcasting track titles, answering phone calls with the transfer of not only the phone number, but also the name of the interlocutor from the contact list of the mobile computer.

At home Wi-Fi networks with a TP-Link TL-WR1043ND router as an access point, the smartphone demonstrated a data exchange rate of 40 Mbps.

The LTE Lumia 640 models also have an NFC module. A smartphone with support only for 3G networks, which had been in the editorial office, was deprived of it.

But all Lumia 640 variants interact in the same way with systems satellite navigation... The smartphone receiver receives a signal from the GPS, Glonass and BeiDou satellites. A-GPS technology helps you find satellite signals and determine the approximate location of your smartphone based on data from cell base stations and Wi-Fi networks.

Performance

The basis for the entire family of smartphones Lumia 640 served as the well-known and used in countless devices platform Qualcomm Snapdragon 400. There is no exact data on which chip modification is installed here - most likely, it is MSM8926. The platform includes four ARM Cortex-A7 computing cores, maximum frequency which work is 1.2 GHz, and the graphics processor Adreno 305. The chip is made according to the 28 nm process technology.

RAM in all modifications of the Lumia 640 is installed in 1 GB, flash memory - 8 GB. Of these, 3.3 GB is occupied by the operating system and pre-installed applications... Additional space for music, photos and videos can be obtained using the card microSD memory, cards up to 128GB are supported. The Lumia 640 does not support external USB storage.

Introduced almost two years ago, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 SoC was originally intended for the mid-range smartphone segment. Since the premiere, its performance and capabilities have been well studied, there is no need to wait for any revelations. Unfortunately, in all respects, it is inferior to modern SoCs, even at a budget level, but, as the example of the Lumia 640 shows, its capabilities are sufficient for new devices even in 2015. In fact, most of the current line of Nokia / Microsoft Lumia devices use this platform in its various variations.

Let's see what marks the hero of this review received in performance tests.

	Microsoft Lumia 640	Nokia Lumia 735	Nokia Lumia 830	Nokia Lumia 930	Nokia Lumia 1520
	4 × 1.2 GHz Adreno 305 5 ″ 1280 × 720 2500 mAh	4 × 1.2 GHz Adreno 305 4.7 ″ 1280 × 720 2200 mAh	4 × 1.2 GHz Adreno 305 5 ″ 1280 × 720 2200 mAh	4 × 2.2 GHz Adreno 330 5 ″ 1920 × 1080 2420 mAh	4 × 2.2 GHz Adreno 330 6 ″ 1920 × 1080 3400 mAh
AnTuTu (points, more is better)	11719	11917	12001	25036	25473
MultiBench 2 CPU (points, more is better)	16,121	15,838	16,072	31,492	29,749
MultiBench 2 Graphics (points, more is better)	44,674	45,958	46,539	47,636	48,766
PhoneMark (points, more is better)	900	806	816	1946	1774

There is nothing new in the test results, we have the same familiar platform.

The GFXBench graphics benchmark results table shows two values ​​for each of the tests. This is due to the fact that in onscreen mode the application generates an image with a resolution of 720p, and in offscreen mode - 1080p.

Let's move on to testing the JavaScript processing speed of the browsers built into smartphones.

* Smartphone passed Octane 1.0 benchmark

While the Lumia 630 raised some questions from Windows Phone fans regarding the improvements over the previous generation, the Lumia 640 was a significant step forward as it gave users an improved experience for the same affordable price... Your attention review of the smartphone Microsoft Lumia 640- an affordable Windows Phone 8.1 device with a 5-inch screen.

Specifications:

• Windows Phone 8.1 with Lumia Denim and Windows 10 ready.
• The body is made in blue, orange and white.
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 1.2 GHz processor with 4 cores.
• The screen is 5 "HD 1280x720, IPS LCD, 294 ppi, protected by Gorilla Glass 3. The Glance function is supported.
• 1 GB random access memory.
• 8 GB storage + support for memory cards up to 128 GB.
• 8MP rear camera with autofocus, f / 2.2, shooting 1080p 30fps video + flash with support for Dynamic Flash and HDR.
• Front-camera 1MP wide-angle and f2 / .4 + 720p video recording.
• Bluetooth 4.0, A-GPS GLONASS, WiFi 802.11 bgn.
• Accelerometer, proximity sensor, light sensor.
• Battery 2500 mAh.

Equipment.

Like the rest of the lumia smartphones on Windows Phone 8.1, the Lumia 640 comes in a small, thin box, which is austerely packed. Although the quality of printing and materials is pleasant and expensive, the equipment is very scarce. You will find a smartphone inside, neatly wrapped in a film, a battery for it, a charger and user documentation. There is no headset included, but USB cable does not detach from the charger. Thus, when purchasing a Lumia 640, you need to take care of purchasing a separate USB sync cable.

This was done in order to save on price, but it is very difficult to essentially assess such extreme savings. And the materials of the charger are extremely cheap and we are not even afraid of the word, disgusting to the touch. I was only pleased with the long charging cable. If we have no complaints about the lack of headphones, we need to do something with chargers and a USB cable, since in 2015, such greed is simply unacceptable.

Design and appearance.

The Lumia 640 inherits the best smartphone design traditions from Microsoft. The concept of the body is made in the style of a "bath". The body of the smartphone is pulled out of the back panel, which completely encloses the device, thus protecting its back and edges. In the event of a fall and damage to the case, you can easily change the back panel and again give the gadget the look of a new device.

These panels can be of four colors - blue, as in our review, white, orange and black. All four options are made of glossy plastic and have a proprietary feature. The body is painted in two layers, the upper one is translucent. This creates an extremely entertaining effect, especially when viewed from a backlit view of the device. It seems as if the outline of the smartphone glows beautifully. Such a coloring is very pleasing to the eyes, although it is noticeable only in orange and blue colors.

The case is very pleasant to the touch. The smartphone is quite large (since the diagonal is 5 inches), but it cannot be called heavy. The Lumia 640 is the type of device that fits comfortably in your hand, although if you have had experience with smaller devices before, the size of the Microsoft Lumia 640 will take some getting used to.

Not without drawbacks in the case. Since the glossy design is used here, the smartphone is very slippery and constantly strives to slip out of your hands. So be careful when using the gadget with one hand. An unsuccessful grip can result in a fatal fall.

Plus, the Lumia 640 is very fond of fingerprints. As soon as you wipe the device and pick it up again, it will be completely covered with fingerprints, grease and other delights that a glossy smartphone suffers from. Although the screen has an oleophobic coating, it is very difficult to erase prints and it is better to always have some kind of napkin or scarf with you. The disadvantages can also be attributed to the not the most convenient design for removing the back cover. You need to pull on the top edge, thus bending the cover. Language will not turn to call it comfortable. Fortunately, we do not pull on the battery cover very often.

Finally, in some places there is a backlash in the case and you can feel how the lid is being pressed. This trouble is global in nature. We've been able to spend time with several Lumia 640s, and all have felt a lack of solidity. It is noteworthy that in each device, the place of the backlash may differ. In our case, for example, the lid is pressed in the area of ​​the upper left corner. Strains.

Ergonomics.

As you already understood, the cover of the device is removable. A 2500 mAh battery is located under it. About the time autonomous work will be mentioned in a separate part of the review. Now we are only interested in the fact of having a removable battery. This solution is very good, since it allows you to replace a damaged or poorly working battery with a newer one. On the other hand, it is not entirely pleasant that to change SIM cards, and even more so, a memory card, you need to take out the battery. This is inconvenient, especially since it is very difficult to remove the back cover.

The rear panel of the device received a minimum of elements. Above is a camera peephole with a single LED flash, Microsoft lettering and a small hole for the speaker. It is quite loud and it is difficult to miss the incoming event. However, we do not recommend lowering the volume level outdoors and constantly monitor it. It's a shame that Windows Phone still doesn't support sound profiles, but they say it will appear in Windows 10.

Speaking of sound, it is also worth mentioning the ability to adjust the equalizer, activate the headphone amplifier and the ability to mute an incoming call by turning the device face down. These functions can be activated from the "audio" section of the settings.

The side ends are simply decorated. On the right side there are two keys - a double volume rocker and a power button. There is no camera shutter button here, and this is very inconvenient, since the physical key allows you to start the camera even on a locked screen. In this case, to start the camera, you need to turn on the screen and pull the notification curtain from the lockscreen and start the camera from it. This is the most quick way launch the camera from the locked screen.

The left end is free of any controls or interfaces.

At the bottom there is a microUSB port, and at the top there is a 3.5 mm output that sticks out beautifully from the bend of the case. The earpiece speaker is located at the very bottom of the front panel, at the junction of the main body and the panel. Top left is the front-facing camera, earpiece, proximity / lighting sensors, and the Microsoft logo.

Display.

The screen is good. You might even say very good. A 5-inch IPS-matrix is ​​installed here, covered with a tempered glass Corning Gorilla Glass 3. To increase the depth of contrast and black color, Microsoft equipped the device with a proprietary ClearBlack polarizing layer. It allows not only to improve color reproduction, but also to increase the readability of the screen in bright sunlight. The resolution here is rather mediocre - 1280x720 pixels. The pixel grid has a density of 294 ppi. This produces an almost coveted Retina effect. But even though it is almost 300 pixels per inch, the dots are visible. They can be seen on the Glance splash screen and circular app elements. But at the same time, the pixels do not eat away the eyes, as on the Lumia 535, which uses a qHD-resolution on a 5-inch matrix.

There are no particular complaints about the viewing angles. Almost from any angle, the screen retains its saturation and traditional colors, and the matrix backlighting is practically invisible.

Since we are dealing with a lumia smartphone, there is a flexible adjustment of many screen parameters. So you can adjust the color rendering of the display in the special section "Color Profile". There you can adjust color balance, color temperature and color saturation. There are also predefined sets of "standard", "rich", "cold" and "manual".

You can adjust not only the color rendition, but also the brightness of the screen. If you are not satisfied with the brightness values ​​or you have a complaint about automation that responds to intensity control, brightness profiles are at your service. I was pleasantly pleased with the ability to twist the brightness to such minimums that it is difficult to read from the screen even in complete darkness. This allows you to save energy in special situations and to work comfortably with the device even in pitch darkness.

There are other branded gadgets as well. After locking the screen, you can watch the Glance screensaver, which displays the clock and notifications, and you can wake up the device by double tapping on the screen. Moreover, with a double tap, you can turn off the screen by clicking on an empty space in the navigation bar.

Please note that on-screen keys are used here, therefore the navigation bar will take away useful screen space. But you can hide it at any time by making a short swipe from the bottom. The back panel is called in the same way. The keys have a tactile feedback that can be turned off if you don't like it. Overall, the onscreen keys are more of a burden than a useful feature. They take up space on the screen, and the finger constantly strives to press not the application control buttons, but the system control buttons. Get ready for the fact that instead of calling the keyboard in the ringer, you will press the home key and so on. It's inconvenient, but you can get used to it. By the way, the navbar can be white, black or the color of the theme.

Iron and characteristics.

The Lumia 640 is beautiful and enjoyable. But inside you will not find such colorful options. It has a very outdated Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor with four cores with a frequency of 1.2 GHz, 1 GB of RAM and 8 GB of storage. In the synthetic AnTuTu test for Windows Phone, the Lumia 640 scored a modest 11,659 points. Quite mediocre, but significantly better than the Qualcomm S4 smartphones found in the second generation Lumia smartphones. The performance gain is noticeable in many, even standard, applications. Taking the smartphone out of the box and turning it on, you will find that out of 8 GB of storage, about 5 GB is available. The system is quite large and immediately takes up more than 3 GB. When buying a Lumia 640, take care of purchasing an SD card. By the way, cards up to 128 GB are supported, so there should be no memory problems, especially considering that Windows Phone allows you to install games and applications to an SD card without "dancing with tambourines."

Performance.

Lumia 640 - workhorse... It was created for those users who do not bother with complex and heavy games and are satisfied with the basic tasks for which modern smartphones are created. You will not find absolutely any problems with the smooth operation of interfaces, the speed of scrolling and launching ordinary applications. It all works quickly and smoothly. Average games without heavy graphics will run just as efficiently and enjoyably with high FPS.

But when it comes to heavyweight gaming, the euphoria of the device dies down a bit. So it was possible to achieve adequate FPS in GTA: SA only after lowering the resolution and drawing distance to the minimum values. In Dead Trigger 2, you can only set the average values ​​of the graphics (FPS remained at a very high level with nice graphics), and in Asphalt 8 it sits in FPS in places. For ultimate Windows Phone gaming, you might want to look at the Lumia 930 as it is the only Windows Phone (1520 more) to feature a Qualcomm 800 processor rather than a 200/400 processor. This is the problem with lumia smartphones. Here either Snapdragon 200/400 or a flagship smartphone. There is no middle ground.

In general, there are no complaints about the performance of the Microsoft Lumia 640. You should understand that you are buying a device that is not designed for hard games. Be reasonable in your expectations and then you will not be disappointed.

Two sim cards

Almost all are inexpensive Windows Phone smartphones from Microsoft have a two-symbol version. The Lumia 640 is no exception. Under the cover you will find two slots for micro-sim cards, and the system itself has a number of tweaks for comfortable work in this mode. For each SIM card, you can assign a separate phone and message tile. This separate applications with a separate journal and register, so you can always keep everything in order. Work separately, house separately. But you can also combine. If you don't like multiple phone tiles or messages on the home screen, the system allows you to use one tile for both SIM cards.

In each section of the phone there is a SIM card switch, which allows you to choose from which SIM card the call or SMS will be made. It is convenient and you will hardly ever mix up SIM cards. There is also an additional add-on with which you can enable forwarding from one SIM card to another. Useful opportunity if you consider that one radio module is used here.

Among Lumia settings The 640 also has an option to filter SMS messages and incoming calls. Thus, you can quickly get rid of an unwanted caller, his call or messages.

Operating system and its features

The operating system used in the Lumia 640 is Windows Phone 8.1.2 Update 2. It hasn't brought many changes compared to Update 1. With detailed list changes you can find in our. It should only be noted that this update has already appeared order in the phone settings. They no longer evoke quiet horror. There is sorting by categories, the ability to quickly jump to the desired item, as well as search. Configuring Windows Phone is finally easy.

The home screen and the possibilities for its personalization consist in changing the size of tiles, moving them, changing the background and the accent theme.

Otherwise, this is the same Windows Phone that we have known for several years. You can arrange tiles of different sizes on the home screen and group them into folders. Since this is a large 5-inch device, there is no option to select two or three rows of tiles. Only one option with three rows is available to the user. The tiles can be filled with a solid color or a picture of your choice. They display small information from applications - the number of missed notifications, news headlines, the text of incoming messages / mail, missed calls, photos, and so on. There is also a notification center, where switches with customizable parameters are located (WiFi, airplane mode, brightness, orientation lock, and so on) and the notifications themselves. It is invoked by the traditional swipe from above. Also important is the fact that the Lumia 640 will receive Windows update 10 is one of the first. This was announced by Microsoft themselves and in the fall of this year, you will receive an updated new generation operating system from Microsoft for free.

Connections and sensors.

The smartphone has received a number of connections it needs. There is Bluetooth 4.0 and WiFi. Also, Microsoft finally realized that proximity and lighting sensors are not a subject for economy and they should be the default in even the cheapest gadgets. It is good that these sensors are present in the Lumia 640. Unfortunately, the smartphone does not have the NFC chip that was present in the Lumia 620.

You will also find here an interesting SensorCore sensor that collects information about your movement and the number of steps taken. You can view this information in the "traffic data" setting. There you will see the statistics of your movements, as well as a detailed map. The peculiarity of the sensor is that it uses very little battery to measure data. You can't say that this is just a killer feature, but it brings some interest and variety to the use of the device. After all, it is always interesting to know the details about your activity throughout the day.

Data from SensorCore can be streamed to supported applications. For example, the MSN Health app uses data from a movement sensor to track the number of steps taken.

Camera

Although we have a budget Lumia in front of us, the camera is installed here is very good. The Lumia 640 boasts an 8MP sensor with autofocus and one LED backlight. The aperture here is F / 2.2, which can be considered an indicator above average. Due to the wide aperture, more light enters the matrix and, as a result, the camera shoots better in dark conditions, and also gives out better background blur.

The Lumia 640 takes pictures using the Lumia Camera app. This powerful tool that allows you to get the full potential out of your camera. The application launches very quickly, the focus is also fast, and the delay between shots is minimal. There are many modes and possibilities for shooting. You can take a photo in a fully automatic mode, then the camera itself will select the optimal picture parameters, but there is also a completely manual mode. It allows you to adjust the white balance, focus manually, adjust the ISO (range from 64 to 3600), adjust the shutter speed and adjust the exposure. For the latter, there is a bracketing mode with the ability to take 3 or 5 photos in steps from -0.5 EV to +0.5 EV, from -1 EV to +1 EV and -2 EV to +2 EV.

Not many people know, but the Lumia Camera app also has a TimeLapse mode. It's in the timer section (2 or 5 seconds). To activate Timelapse, you need to check the box "Shooting will be performed every 2/5 seconds until you press the camera button again." To create a ready-made video, the resulting images will have to be processed already in the computer with the appropriate software.

The video is shot in Full HD, 30 FPS, but there is an option to downgrade to 720P. Note that you can change video settings while recording. You can manually change focus while shooting, change white balance and correct exposure. It may not be done in the most fluid way, but these opportunities open up more creative possibilities for you than other representatives of this price segment... I was also pleased with the presence of an audiofilter for low frequencies from 100 to 200 Hz.

Speaking about the quality of the pictures, it should be said that the Lumia 640 fully fulfills the money invested in it, but at the same time it does not show anything super cool. The photos are of quite adequate quality with normal sharpness and color rendition. The camera suffers from some noise in auto mode, so full manual mode with ISO 64-200 is recommended. If you set the values ​​higher, the matrix starts to make noise, and the noise reduction turns the details of the image into a smeared mess. There is also a complaint about the contrast of the image, but all this can be easily corrected in the editor. Unfortunately RAW files are not supported.

Fully automatic mode

ISO 64 - manual mode

But when it comes to good lighting and low ISOs, the Lumia 640 takes good pictures that are pleasing to the eye:

I was pleasantly pleased with the focal length of the camera. Macro can be shot up to 1 cm without the need for manual focus. The camera clings to the picture even almost point-blank, which opens up new possibilities for amateur photography.

In low light, the Lumia 640 can have a lot of noise, but here the proprietary dynamic flash mode can come to the rescue. Flash in smartphones has long been (and will continue to be) more of a pampering than a useful tool for shooting. Shooting an LED flashlight "in the face" flares the frame, makes the eyes red and disfigures rather than improves pictures. So Microsoft came up with a mode that lets you take a photo with a flash and then manually adjust the amount of light that gets into the photo. You can see how it works:

It is worth saying that this function works very well and what initially seems hopelessly lost takes on a completely different look after adjusting the flash intensity. Dynamic Flash really enjoyed using it. Please also note that the camera itself will determine the optimal amount of light and offer you four processing options: automatic, no flash, flash (maximum light) and manual setting. Thumbnails are included so you can quickly see what your photo looks like with, without and with flash.

Without flash, with a tripod, fully automatic mode.

Fully automatic, tripod, Dynamic Flash off.

With flash, with a tripod, Dynamic Flash is on, the amount of light is edited.

There is also a front camera with a wide angle and 1 megapixel resolution. It's hard to say anything about her. She can take selfies, and to improve the picture, Microsoft suggests special application Lumia Selfie. But the pictures are pretty mediocre. There is no autofocusing in the camera, so you can't shoot a lot of yourself. The camera supports 720p video, so Skype video calls are ideal for use.

Summing up the camera, we can safely say that Microsoft smartphones were, are and will be the best in terms of cameras. In what other inexpensive smartphone, you will find such ample opportunities. Exposure bracketing, live photos, dynamic flash, a wide range of manual adjustments for both stills and videos, abundant post-processing capabilities, and more. Yes, the camera is not perfect here, but its flaws are hidden by abundant software capabilities.

Autonomous work.

A smartphone with a 5-inch screen requires a very large battery. Today it is difficult to call a 2500 mAh battery large, but it is quite enough to ensure that from morning to evening, your Lumia 640 does not remember the power outlet and charger... The latter has an output of 0.75 A, so charging takes a very long time. There is no wireless charging, so you can only charge the Lumia 640 using traditional methods.

In normal smartphone use, about 35% of the battery remains until the end of the day. These are excellent indicators. This charge will be enough for the whole night and morning, but we are all accustomed to the fact that no matter how the smartphone holds the battery, we still put the phone to charge at night. If the phone runs out at an unexpected time, the built-in battery saver application will rush to your aid. It allows you to limit the operation of applications and thus reduce the load on the processor and reduce power consumption. Under load, the battery can be dropped in half a day or less. Everything will depend on how intensively you use the gadget and for what purposes. If you play games regularly, then prepare yourself to have to look for an outlet by the middle of the day. As for talking on a cellular connection, listening to music and taking photos, the Lumia 640 proves to be a fine fellow, being very careful about the built-in battery.

Verdict.

We liked:

• Beautiful design of the case.
• Large screen with a good matrix.
• Good sound quality
• Balanced approach to price / performance
• SensorCore availability
• Nice rear camera with great functionality.
• Smoothness and speed of the system
• Get the latest software and get Windows 10 first.

We didn't like:

• Lid backlash and difficulties in opening.
• Extremely poor delivery set.
• Mediocre front camera.
• Outdated processor and, as a result, not the most best performance in difficult games.
• Prints. Thousands of them.

Microsoft Lumia 640 is an inexpensive smartphone in a body of bright colors (orange and blue are available from bright ones, and classic black and white ones from calm ones) running Windows Phone 8.1 with the latest version of Lumia Denim firmware. For potential buyer may be interesting for the fast interface, high-quality (by the standards of the price category) camera and LTE support.

How good is the case?

To say that the Microsoft Lumia 640 smartphone is beautiful is to say almost nothing about its appearance. Even if the device cost twice as much, its appearance would still compare favorably with competitors. And so - just a white swan among the ugly ducklings. In the body of the smartphone, the manufacturer repeats the trick that Nokia once tried on budget line Asha - connects two types of plastic. The upper layer is transparent and bright (in our case, we are talking about orange), the lower one is opaque, matte, calm and lighter.

All other elements - and this is the area around the screen on the front panel, buttons for adjusting the volume and turning on the screen, the camera peephole - are black as night. Perfectly matched contrasting colors and, as always, decent materials.

This time the keyboard is on-screen. Only there is no possibility to change the arrangement of the keys (well, or they hid it).

Glossy orange plastic does not give away fingerprints.

Whether it's the screen - all in divorces from morning to evening. However, he has a better situation than the long-liver Lenovo A5000. He looks even more sloppy, like you're not my hands.

Note that there are no camera launch buttons here again - apparently, Microsoft considered it a rudiment and abolished it. Taking into account the fact that in Windows Phone the camera is launched not from the locked screen, as in other OS, but after going through the full unlocking procedure, this is a big omission. I hope and expect that it will be somehow solved.

This time the case lid does not crunch, although it is also removable. Beneath it are slots for two microSIMs, for one microSD, and a place for a tiny battery. Without removing it, you will not be able to install the cards. However, you won't have to persuade the battery to get out of its cell for a long time - according to the old tradition, started by Nokia, it falls out here on its own, as soon as you open the lid. Be carefull!

In general, Microsoft has done very well with the case this time: both beautifully, and without squeaks and backlashes, and practical (at least at first glance). Although the size of the device is far from Thumbelina - it also has wide frames around the screen, and the body could be thinner - it was very convenient and pleasant for me to use it - you take it in your hands and don't want to let it go.

And what about the sound?

In my review of the Lenovo A5000, a classmate of this model, I mentioned that it is inferior to the Lumia 640 in terms of sound in headphones. Yes, it really is. But you shouldn't expect any super-clear sound from the Lumia 640, it's just slightly better than that of a regular budget employee. Some Meizu flagship of recent years with a separate sound chip will give it one left. But the smartphone will simply laugh at any cheap Android "s under $ 200. But the speakers here are ordinary - like everyone else.

And what is the screen?

The smartphone has a 5-inch HD display with a polarizing layer. The matrix here is IPS. The first thing I noticed about the Microsoft Lumia 640's screen was its responsiveness. For that kind of money, manufacturers usually offer something in between “what a horror, how to use it” and “does it react badly to touch or it seemed? The hero of this review does not raise any questions at all. There is a problem with oleophobic coating, there is no support for gloves (at least in the menu), auto brightness works well, calibration is at a level between "normal" and "very good". That is, the colors are cold out of the box, but you can shaman something in the settings to an almost perfect state. The color gamut is approaching the sRGB space.

The display settings of the smartphone in this version of Lumia Denim have changed slightly. You can't tweak anything manually here, but you can choose one of the color modes.

The menu now has such a strange option as "bright light", which makes it easier to read the screen in bright light, as well as "brightness profiles". If the presence of the first function is understandable, then the second one sincerely surprised me. The fact is that when measuring the screen with a colorimeter, it showed a strangely low brightness value - 251.523 cd / m2. It surprised me a lot - after all, under the sun, even the brightest, the display is perfectly readable. As it turned out, the backlighting options were severely curtailed in the menu, but in reality the same cherished fad - "bright light" saved the situation (but the colorimeter was no longer at hand when I discovered this). The minimum brightness value can also be screwed on, although at night I did not experience any problems with the auto light switch on.

What else has changed in the interface?

I no longer noticed any significant changes in the firmware - even new applications did not appear, which is strange. Nokia loved to be so amused. There is also a grouping by sections in the settings, as in Android. Only this does little to save the situation - the settings menu, as it was illogical and inconvenient, remains the same. Is that why there are three different places left for the screen settings? So I don’t know.

Learn more about Windows interface Phone 8.1 with Lumia Denim firmware can be found in this review.

Does he work for a long time?

You probably noticed in the photos of the case that the battery of the smartphone is small. It hides 2500 mAh - which can be considered an average for a model with a 5-inch display. My smartphone normally asked for charging once every couple of days. On a couple of rare days, when I used the camera most intensively, I could literally discharge myself before my eyes while shooting and end up living the day. That is, there are no surprises with autonomy. About the same amount of batteries hold for Android gadgets with similar characteristics.

How fast does it work?

Windows Phone in the low to mid price bracket always has the advantage over Android in the form of a fluid interface. The Lumia 640 is no exception. If you pick up any other smartphone for the same money, then the difference in smoothness will be noticeable so good that it will become difficult to believe that these are two devices at the same price. Although applications here are typically slow to start, and the camera starts forever - as in any Windows friend Phone, except for top models. Which, however, have not appeared on the market for a long time.

There is plenty of information about the Microsoft Lumia 640 "stuffing": inside there is a Qualcomm MSM8926 Snapdragon 400 with four Cortex-A7 cores (1.2 GHz) - not a leader in the middle class, frankly speaking. But not lagging behind either, 1 GB of RAM and graphics here is the Adreno 305.

So why is the camera good there?

The Lumia 640 has an 8MP main camera and a 1MP front camera. The first thing that attracts attention is that the camera seemed to shoot a little faster. You can still download it additional applications... But the shooting results show that, for example, there is no sense in a separate HDR mode.

This time I very actively used the opportunity to take "live" photos. At first by accident, because I did not pay attention to the questions that the camera asked at the first start, and agreed to everything. Then I discovered this feature in the gallery and was very impressed. Lumia takes pictures and records another couple of seconds video to them - the result is obtained even without sound, but very "live". Even if there is no person in the frame, some kind of dynamics is still felt in it. As it turned out, you can see live photos not only on a smartphone - on a computer it is also quite a doable task. Opened with a regular VLC player. Only this all happens so quickly and abruptly that you do not have time to consider anything. And the camera shoots just fine at night - all sorts of illuminated sights, for example. Well, in the afternoon it is good. Head and shoulders above any budget Android. Even, as it seemed to me, it can easily “make” the majority of Androids of the middle segment. The same Lenovo, for example. Keeps behind the main camera and the front one. Healthy complexion, everything is in focus, everything in the frame is beautiful - in general, a great thing for selfie lovers, even though it is only 1 megapixel as stated in the specifications.

You can view pictures in original resolution in a separate gallery.

What are the alternatives?

Of all the smartphones that have come through my hands in this price range (there weren't many so far, but I continue to study them), the Lumia 640 makes the best impression so far. If you have no prejudices against Windows Phone or a special, deep attachment to Android, then I would recommend taking this particular model. Among Android devices, only models with a large battery (Lenovo A5000, P780) can attract attention, but they are not so pleasant to work with. There are problems with the screen, the camera is weaker, the sound is worse, the body is not that interesting. You can also look at new LG products - Magna and Spirit - or something fresh from Samsung. This is if you need exactly Android. If it's just a cool smartphone for little money, then, in my opinion, Microsoft Lumia 640 is still the best deal.

In the dry residue

To be honest, I didn’t expect Windows Phone to give me so many pleasant emotions. Apparently, the fact that I used the Lumia 640 at the same time with the Lenovo A5000 played a role. According to user experience - heaven and earth. Yes, Lenovo has advantages in the form of a great battery and a more developed ecosystem, yes, there are other smartphones with this OS with good characteristics, but their manufacturers allow themselves to blunder on the details. Lumia 640 is a smartphone in which every detail is good: appearance, fast interface, best camera on the market, good autonomy. Therefore, if having Android OS on board is not for you a prerequisite, I would recommend this particular model in the purchase in the price category up to 4000 hryvnia (or 10,000 rubles).

4 reasons to buy Microsoft Lumia 640:

• very beautiful and comfortable body;
• high-quality and responsive display;
• fast interface;
• the best camera in this price range.

1 reason not to buy Microsoft Lumia 640:

• for some reason, you are looking for a device on a different platform.

In March 2015, Microsoft at the MWC 2015 two budget smartphones: Lumia 640 and Lumia 640 XL, equipped with a Snapdragon 400 processor (already known to us from Lumia 630, 730, 830). The hero of our review will be the "youngest 640" which is sold in our retail in 3 versions: 3G DS, LTE and LTE DS.

At our disposal (thanks to Microsoft) came the Lumia 640 3G DS in a bright orange color, which was actively used for two months as the main phone.

Design and Ergonomics

The Lumia line of devices has always delighted with the proposed colors, from the already familiar classic to the bright "youth", the 640th is no exception in this regard. In our market, the model is available in 3 colors (white, orange, blue) with glossy plastic coatings and one matte black.

It is noteworthy that the coating of the “glossy 640s” is two-layer, the first layer of colored plastic on top is a layer of transparent, adds a “zest” to the design, it looks especially beautiful when the backlight illuminates the edges of the smartphone (many think that the phone is just wearing a transparent case).

Unfortunately, the kit does not include an additional replaceable panel in a classic color, as was the case in the 535 and 630/635. Externally, the design of the smartphone resembles a logical continuation of the two previous lumines: 625th and 630th. The plastic of the 640th lumiya itself is pleasant in terms of tactile sensations, but in the glossy version it strives to slip out of the hands. Also, after a while you notice how good the plastic collects fingerprints and small scratches on the case.

The Lumia 640 does not cause any complaints about the build quality and the very "constructive" (by the way, new luminescent models, besides China, are assembled in Vietnam). When you first remove the back panel, I recommend that you look at the instructions right away, since the panel fits snugly and without knowing what angle to pull and where to press, you have to suffer or, even worse, break something.

The 640 itself is quite light and thin, pleasant ergonomics and my favorite size of up to 5 ", as a fact, the convenience of using the smartphone with one hand, all the controls are easy to reach with one finger.

The lack of a camera button and on-screen buttons has become commonplace for a budget lumiya. The rest of the elements are as usual in their places. On the top there is a 3.5 mm headset jack, on the bottom there is a micro-USB.

On the right side there is a volume rocker and a lock button.

Lumia 640 display

The Lumia 640 has a 5-inch HD display (1000: 1 contrast ratio at 100% brightness) made using IPS technology with a ClearBlack polarizing filter and protected by Gorilla Glass 3. The pixel density is 294 ppi, which is quite enough for most situations, from working with small text to watching videos and playing games.

The sensor works great, supports up to 10 simultaneous touches and wake up on double tapu... Unfortunately, in the cold season you cannot work with it with gloves, the smartphone does not support this function. The possibilities of "Glance Screen" are also limited, it will not be possible to display an image or a weather forecast.

The 640 has a pleasant color rendering, but the colors go into "cold tones", it becomes noticeable if you put another device next to it, in our case it is with the same color profile.

The display is bright enough, but only at right angles; the brightness drops noticeably when the viewing angle is changed.

Under direct sunlight, the information remains quite readable, but the smartphone does not reach its older counterparts, although there is "ClearBlack".

Lumia 640 screen in the sun

Lumia 640 battery life

The battery capacity of the 640th lumiya is 2500 mAh. Under normal use, the smartphone's charge lasts for almost two days (The maximum time that he lived with me was 2 days and 20 hours). With active use, the smartphone is more than enough for daylight hours.

When watching an online video, the smartphone was discharged to 16% in 8 hours (I managed to watch 8 episodes of "Daredevil")

Sound

With the volume reserve of the 640th lumiya, everything is fine - external speaker loud enough, you will hear the bell in most cases. It is better not to rely on a "vibration", we can barely feel that it is noteworthy that when you click on the navigation elements, the return from the "vibration" is much stronger than during a call. The earpiece speaker is very loud. maximum level sound, your interlocutor will be listened to for the company and other people.

The headphones have a pleasant sound with a good volume margin, sufficient to drown out the noise of the subway.

An advantage was the presence of an equalizer, which allows you to make the sound more rich and individual. As in the Virtual surround, if in the 535th it still made the sound more pleasant, then in my opinion in the 640th this function degrades the sound ...

Photo and video capabilities of the Lumia 640

The main camera of the Lumia 640 has a resolution of 8 megapixels with a matrix size of ¼ "and an aperture of f / 2.2. The focal length of the camera is 28 mm, the minimum focal length is 10 mm.

Lumia 640 Photo Capabilities Overview

The front camera has a resolution of only 0.9 megapixels with an aperture of f / 2.4. There are not enough stars from the sky, but there will be enough for communication on Skype.

I was pleasantly surprised by the main camera of the smartphone, which I did not expect from budget smartphone... There is HDR! Which is dubbed as the "optimal shot", video focusing during shooting and a minimum ISO 64 (great to shoot at that ISO in the daytime).

It can be seen that Microsoft is working on "Lumia Camera". White balance produces correct results in many cases, both day and night. But echoes of the past sometimes appear in the frames - the camera begins to go into warm colors (yellow), this is especially noticeable when it is cloudy.

In good light, the camera delivers an excellent result for its price range. In the dark, the result is quite good, if you find a fulcrum and set the shutter speed, the camera will take a good, detailed picture.

Handheld shooting becomes a weak point (the absence of a "stub" speaks for itself, you have to be more static and hold your breath 🙂), an acceptable result for night shooting ISO up to 500, then there is a noticeable drop in quality.

Sample photos taken with Lumia 640

You can view the originals of the photos in our communities, on social networks:,

One of the "interesting things" of the 640 was the camera's "optimal shot" function, which operates in two auto modes. In good lighting conditions, an HDR image is created; in poor lighting conditions, the "dynamic exposure" mode is activated. Which, in the end, we can customize to our taste.

It is noteworthy that when shooting in this mode, two jpg and nar files are saved on the phone. If we rename the nar file to rar, then in the end we get an archive, when opening which, we will find three files with jpg resolution (EV0, NaturalHDR and ArtisticHDR) when shooting in HDR and two files with "dynamic exposure" (Extra1GoodLight and ReferenceGoodLight)

Examples of photos with the optimal frame

WP_20150512_17_21_44_Rich

Video

The Lumia 640 camera records video from maximum resolution 1920х1080 / 30 frames with a bit rate of 17493kbps and sound quality of 48000 Hz, mono, 156 kb / s (more sound settings are available in Lumia Camera beta)

In principle, the video quality is good, but there is not enough stabilizer, even a slight tremor of the hands is noticeable during recording (in Windows 10 they promise a software stub, which will undoubtedly give new life device and smoother autofocus). Now "AF" is very twitchy and nervous, it becomes noticeable when focusing during shooting. White balance, unlike a photo, is much more likely to produce an incorrect result.

Lumia 640 video samples

3G / Wi-Fi Data Transfer Test

Two SIM cards work simultaneously in a smartphone, and you can put 3G data transfer on any of them as the main one (in previous models, only one SIM card could work in a 3G / 4G network).

If you are faced with a choice, which version is better for you to take 3G or LTE - it is better to add a little and (now with an annual subscription to Office 365 as a gift). In many cities, 3G cells are overloaded, and simply with a reserve for the future.

Wi-Fi performance was tested in the Moscow metro, and the result is quite good.

WiFi
3G vs 4G

Health and fitness

The Lumia 640 supports SensorCore, dramatically expanding the Health & Fitness app by adding a pedometer and lowering the energy bill for walking distance. I love this application and always observe the steps taken, I try to take more than 10 thousand steps a day. How much do you walk a day?

Games and performance

The smartphone has Snapdragon processor 400, which is already familiar to us from a number of devices and produces exactly the same results with slight fluctuations for better or worse.

Multiple test results

Antutu. Basemark OS II. Multitouch Test.

In fact, the devices work much faster than their predecessors (920/1020). This is noticeable both in the speed of launching applications and in the operation of the system itself. I think with Windows 10 it will be even more noticeable.

The Lumia 640 performs well in most games on the marketplace. In heavy games (like GTA) it is quite playable at medium settings.

Summing up the review

Pros of the Lumia 640 3G DS

• Bright and interesting design.
• Nice camera.
• Support for two SIM cards.
• Autonomy.
• Loud earpiece and good sound in headphones.
• Price.

Flaws

• Marked case.
• The inability to work with a smartphone with gloves.

- an excellent phone in terms of price / quality ratio. WITH beautiful design and good functionality, the lumiya was pleasantly surprised by the speed of operation and autonomy, a camera with HDR and good image quality. A smartphone without childhood illnesses out of the box, 100% ready to go straight to work!