Microsoft announces Lumia 640 and Lumia 640XL, will come to India in April

Microsoft on Monday announced two new Lumia phones. Dubbed Lumia 640 and Lumia 640XL, both are mainstream phones, aimed at consumers looking to buy a smartphone for around $150 (Rs.9000). They will be available in various countries, including in India, in the early April.

For now Microsoft has only announced global prices of these devices. The 3G version of the Lumia 640 will be available for Euros 139 while the 4G version will sell for Euros 159. The Lumia 640XL will be sold at Euros 189 and Euros 219 for the 3G and 4G version, respectively.

Both phones will use Windows Phone 8.1 but would be updated to Windows 10 when the new operating system in available in the last quarter of this year.

Stephen Elop, who heads Microsoft's devices division, said that Windows 10 is going to be the core idea around which Lumia devices will be built. Also, the new devices will all be integrated with various Microsoft services. For example, the one-year subscription for the Office 365 will be offered for free to Lumia 640 and Lumia 640XL buyers. This would also allow Lumia 640 owners to use Office on personal computer.

This subscription also includes 1 terabyte of storage on OneDrive and 60 minutes of Skype calling per month to landlines in over 60 countries and mobile phones in eight countries.

"Windows is our home and this is where you will experience the best of Microsoft," said Elop.

Lumia 640 has a 5-inch screen with 720p resolution. It uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 processor, has 1GB RAM, 8GB internal storage and 2500mAh battery. Support for microSD card is provided. The rear camera in the Lumia 640 uses a 8-megapixel image sensor. The phone has a 1-megapixel front camera.

The Lumia 640XL uses a bigger 5.7-inch screen, although the resolution remains the same 720p. Internally it is similar to its smaller sibling but the imaging hardware is given a boost. The 640XL comes with a 13-megapixel rear camera.

In terms of hardware, the Lumia 640 and the 640XL look well equipped to take on the competition. However, concerns remain with the Windows 8.1 and availability of apps for it. Android, especially the Lollipop version, is simply better as well as more-used operating system.

On Monday, Microsoft did not announce details of any flagship Lumia phones. The company has not come up with anything after Lumia 930, which itself was an evolutionary device compared to the Lumia 920, in the high-end market and a lot of Lumia phones were hoping to hear something about the next high-end phone from the company.

But Elop said that the company would first finish work on the Windows 10 for phones before coming up with the new high-end phone. "Throughout the year you will see announcements on Windows 10 and next Lumia devices… The flagship Lumia phone will be launched later this year when Windows is ready (for the market)," he said.