REVIEW: Microsoft Lumia 640

These are my thoughts on the Lumia 640 which I received through a Connects trial. You can think of it as an Xbox gamer’s short review. I’ve had the pleasure of using the Microsoft Lumia 640 for the past two weeks courtesy of Connects. Throughout my two-week trial, I decided that I would use the 640 as my primary phone, so I put my 1020 aside…after all, it has to do everything you’d expect, right?

So firstly, a little about the new Lumia…the Microsoft Lumia 640 is among the first of a new type of Windows Phones. No longer will you see the Nokia branding, instead Microsoft has put their own stamp on it solidifying their presence as the dark horse in the smartphone market.

In the past, budget devices used to be notoriously bare bones and thus always felt like cheaper products. Microsoft appears to be sweetening the deal with the Lumia 640. The phone includes 30 GB of free OneDrive storage and a one-year subscription to Office 365.

Although the above extras are certainly nice additions, it’s the surprisingly impressive specifications that grabbed my attention especially at the £129.99 SIM-free price. The specifications are as follows:

• 5-inch screen
• 720P screen with 294 ppi
• Quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor clocked at 1.2GHz
• 1 GB RAM
• 8 GB internal storage (MicroSD slot offering support for cards up to 128 GB)
• 8 MP Camera
• Removable 2500 mAh battery

The design of the 640 is very minimalistic. It’s plastic yet still very sturdy. It comes in at only 145 g, which is amazing as my Lumia 1020 often felt on the heavy side. I had the orange version for my trial and often people commented on how good it looked on a phone and it even got mistaken for one of those iPhone 5Cs (at less than half the price), whether that’s a good or bad thing…I’ll let you decide.

There are of course front and rear cameras…so good news, you can take selfies with ease if that’s your thing. The camera’s certainly not to be sniffed at. With the flexibility of a Lumia camera, you can ensure that you get the best settings for any shot. With that said, you’ll notice a decrease in quality if you come from a Lumia 1020 with its 41 MP camera, but that’s to be expected. Check out some of the shots I took with the Lumia 640 below.

No more can you underestimate the mid-range Lumias. In my two weeks of using the phone as my primary device, I did not miss my Lumia 1020 once…and that’s really significant.

As an avid Xbox gamer, I wanted to see if the 640 could play the latest Xbox games on the store. With the 5-inch HD display, quad-core processor and 1 GB of RAM, I was excited to find that it’s more than capable of playing a wide range of exhilarating and addictive Xbox games straight from the store. If you are picking up the Lumia 640 and are looking for some great Xbox integrated games here are my picks.

Asphalt 8: Airborne

Some of you may be already familiar with the Asphalt series from Gameloft, and Airborne is very much what you’d expect from a handheld racer. It boasts 47 high performance cars including the likes of top licensed manufacturers such as Lamborghini and Ferrari.

The audio seems great but greatly benefits from a portable speaker or headphones.
Asphalt 8: Airborne also comes with 8 seasons which is packed with 180 events in career mode and jammed with in-game Xbox achievements.

It is available to download now from the Windows Store for free.

Make it Rain: The Love of Money

Make it Rain from Game Troopers is a brilliantly simple yet addictive game, which often leaves you ferociously thrusting your finger back and forth over your screen while pulling strange poses. So…the game is not one for a family dinner with the in-laws. I learned that the hard way.

You start by swiping and swiping then some more swiping, then more…I think you get the gist.

The money starts to pile up then it’s down to you how you invest your money. Maybe you’ll invest in a lemonade stand and first but that’s not going pay the mortgage is it? So the more you play the more you earn, and the more you earn the more you invest. The goal is simple, keep making it rain and compete against your friends in leaderboards that sync with your Facebook friend list (if allowed).

The achievements are simple enough and yet still offer a bit of a challenge as they frequently requires you to invest in certain businesses or earn a certain amount of money.

Download it now for free from the Windows Store. Yes, this one’s free too.

Angry Birds: Star Wars II

I was never one for Angry Birds but somehow add Star Wars to it and some nicely animated cutscenes for the story and I’m on it. Angry Birds focuses on the prequels and it is down to you to use the force for good against the greedy Pork Federation or choose a much darker path as it tempts you to join the Pork Side. That sounds as deadly as it does delicious.

Rovio Entertainment have done a great job of capturing the essence of a well-loved franchise without compromising the addictive gameplay that the smash hit formed its fan base from. The game is perfect for a few minutes on the tube or during lunch break…with integrated Xbox achievements it makes it even more compelling as it allows you to bump your gamerscore up away from home.

Halo: Spartan Assault and Spartan Strike

I put both Spartan Assault and Spartan Strike together as both are equally brilliant. I feel both deserve space in your game collection.

Microsoft Studios have given Lumia owners a very rich and action-packed Halo series. You explore the origin of the Spartan Ops program, encounter Promethean and Covenant enemies in a collective of over 60 missions between the two games. You battle through jungles, cities and more in an attempt to hinder the aliens’ plans to take over Earth.

One of the great things about both Spartan Assault and Spartan Strike is that if you purchase it once, you can play across compatible Windows devices such as a Surface Pro or PC. You can download both of them for around £4.60 each in the Windows Store today.

If you’re here, like us you’re probably passionate about gaming and Xbox itself. This brings me to another point…the Lumia 640 is the perfect Xbox companion. You essentially take Xbox with you wherever you go. Everything like your Xbox Live avatar and gamer profile is with you on the go. You can send and receive messages to your friends straight from your gamertag when you’re out, then use Xbox SmartGlass at home to control your Xbox and access second screen options such as a real time map in Battlefield 4.

It truly feels like Xbox is built into the ecosystem…and I love it. The OS comes with 8.1 and is Windows 10 ready due to it being in the newest bracket of phones. The tiles are great to customize and having Cortana integrated just sweetens the deal.

In conclusion, the Lumia 640 is a brilliant device, especially for the price. The phone has some serious oomph to run everything you’d ever need. The 640 doesn’t have any bells and whistles such as a 41 MP camera sensor, but it doesn’t need it.

An Xbox gamer looking to get a phone that allows them to play Xbox titles will love their games like Halo: Spartan Strike. Newcomers simply looking to switch mobile platforms but don’t want to spend hundreds on a new device will love the fact it can do so much for so little. So, whether you’re only just thinking about trying out Windows Phones or you’re a #winphan veteran, I couldn’t think of a better option at this moment in time.

On the basis of what the phone offers in terms of productivity and fun against the cost of the device, I’m very happy to give the Lumia a well-deserved 8 out of 10.

Have you picked up the Lumia 640, or are thinking of getting one? Let us know in the comments below.

For great Lumia related content feel free to follow the lovely team over at Connects.

^Jack (@Jack_XboxMAD)