A few weeks ago, Microsoft introduced its latest budget Windows 10 Mobile-powered smartphone, the Lumia 650 via a press release. The phone comes as a successor to Microsoft Lumia 640, which was unveiled in April last year. The Lumia 650 was recently spotted on Amazon India complete with price and availability details ahead of the official announcement. The listing by a local retailer on the e-store suggested that the Redmond-based tech giant is all set to launch the Lumia 650 in India.
The Microsoft Lumia 650 is being touted as a perfect business smartphone by the company. However, it lacks some of the key important features of the Windows 10 Mobile including support for Continuum. If you are a Lumia 640 user, and looking to upgrade to the Lumia 650, let’s put these devices on the table and compare their specs.
Microsoft Lumia 650 vs Microsoft Lumia 640: the successor vs predecessor
Design
The Microsoft Lumia 640 sports a matte plastic design with replaceable colourful back panels. Since it is a budget offering, Microsoft has used a plastic chassis on the smartphone, instead of going for a premium metal design. The phone measures 8.8mm around the waist and tips the scale at 145 grams. Its successor, the Lumia 650, on the other hand comes with a slimmer 6.9mm body, which is lighter at 122 grams than its predecessor. The phone looks more premium than the Lumia 640 as it offers a premium diamond cut and anodised aluminium frame. Its back is also replaceable with the colour of your choice. So in the designing front, the Lumia 650 certainly looks more appealing than its predecessor.
Display and OS
The Microsoft Lumia 640 gets a 5-inch LCD display with ClearBlack linear polariser. The screen offers a resolution of 1,280 x 720 pixels and a pixel density of 294ppi. The Lumia 650 also offers the same screen size, resolution and pixel density, but instead of an IPS LCD panel, it utilises a better AMOLED screen panel that delivers better media experience. The Lumia 650 also gets a layer of the scratch resistant Corning Gorilla Glass 3 on top. Software-wise, the Lumia 640 runs Windows Phone 8.1 Update 2, and is scheduled to receive the Windows 10 Mobile update in the coming weeks. The Lumia 650 on the other hand runs Windows 10 Mobile out of the box, which offers several new software features when compared to the Windows Phone 8.1 update.
Configuration
The Lumia 640 was released with a 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor, aided by 1GB of RAM. The Lumia 650 on the other hand is backed by a slightly slower 1.3GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 212 processor, coupled with 1GB of RAM. For storage, the Lumia 640 gets 8GB of internal memory, which can be further increased up to 128GB by inserting a microSD card. The Lumia 650 offers a higher 16GB of internal memory, and accepts much higher up to 200GB of microSD cards for further memory expansion.
Camera
When it comes to the camera, the Microsoft Lumia 640 and Microsoft Lumia 650, both the smartphones are equipped with 8-megapixel primary snappers with f/2.2 aperture and LED flash. However, when it comes to the front shooter, the Lumia 640 offers a 1MP fixed focus camera, while the Lumia 650 gets a much better 5-meg front-facing snapper for quality selfies. The Lumia 650’s camera app is also loaded with several Windows 10 Camera Rich Capture options. So the Lumia 650 is a clear winner in the camera segment.
Connectivity and Battery
In terms of connectivity, the Microsoft Lumia 640 comes in 3G and 4G LTE-enabled variants, but Microsoft only launched the 3G edition of the phone in India. Apart from 3G, its other connectivity options include dual-SIM slots, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, A-GPS and micro-USB 2.0. The Lumia 650 on the other hand offers 4G LTE support, a single-SIM slot, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and NFC as well. The Lumia 640 is fuelled by a 2,500mAh battery, while its successor, the Lumia 650, gets a much smaller 2,000mAh unit. So the Lumia 650 wins in the connectivity department, but loses the game to the Lumia 640 in the battery section.
Conclusion
The comparison of the Microsoft Lumia 640 and Lumia 650 reveals that the Microsoft Lumia 640 is still a decent budget Windows Phone smartphone. The phone offers a clear display, a powerful processor, decent configuration, decent camera specs, and a large battery. Its successor on the other hand brings the latest software features found in the Windows 10 Mobile update, better camera specs, better connectivity options and an improved design, but offers a mediocre battery life. As for the pricing, the Lumia 640 is available on the online stores for around Rs 9,000, while the Lumia 650 will be available for around Rs 16,600, so the choice is yours.