Microsoft Lumia 640 XL: Australian Hands On

So there’s a new big Lumia which is being flogged off for cheap, and while that doesn’t sound particularly exciting, the Lumia 640 XL is Microsoft’s best deal yet.

Side-by-side: Lumia 640 (left) versus the Lumia 640 XL (right)

It runs Windows 8.1 out of the box, but Microsoft has promised to upgrade it to Windows 10 later on in the year. And it’s that support that makes it great.

You see, Microsoft wants to make the Lumia 640 XL sort of a best-in-class device. The sort of device where you get a taste of everything that the One Microsoft strategy can give you.

When you buy it, Microsoft gives you a free one-year Office365 license, which in itself is awesome. That’s around $80 in value right there. On top of that, Microsoft will give you a whole freaking terabyte of free storage in OneDrive (good luck filling that up), and 60 Skype World Minutes per month to call anyone you like internationally for an hour.

Plus, you also get an additional Office365 license for your Mac, PC or tablet so you can live the cloud computing dream.

You get freebies with loads of different devices, but I think these are the most practical bonuses yet thanks to Microsoft. It’s awesome. Not to mention the fact that the phone is also pretty great. You know, if you’re into Windows phones.


The gorgeous cyan on the Lumia 640

The 720p screen is a little dull, but you’re able to fit in a great deal of content on the 5.7-inch panel. It’s thick and sturdy, and comes with a removable back. The removable back means you can change the colour to orange, white, black or cyan (get the cyan, it’s gorgeous), or remove the battery, which is handy.

The camera is definitely up to snuff, early tests show that it captures fine details beautifully, if a little under-saturated. It also comes pre-loaded with the new Lumia Camera app usually reserved for flagship devices, and that’s great.

And it’s cheap: 189 Euro for 3G and 219 Euro for 4G. I really hope this comes to Australia!

It’s going on sale globally “soon” according to Microsoft.


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