Microsoft confirmed through a video announcement that the Lumia 640 and its bigger sibling, the Lumia 640 XL, are getting the Windows 10 update. The announcement was made by Ossi Korpela, General Manager of Microsoft based in Scandinavia.
While it is true that all devices that run Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1, and all Windows Phone 8 and Windows Phone 8.1 handsets are getting the new OS upgrade at no extra cost, not all features of Windows 10 will be available on each and every device. One of the reasons is based on hardware requirements of the recently announced Windows Hello and Continuum for phones.
Both the Lumia 640 and the Lumia 640 XL were announced at the MWC event that took place in Barcelona in March this year. The smaller Lumia 640 features a great 5-inch screen and high-performing camera. The device is great for anyone who is in the market for a budget phone that can be used as an alternative to Android. The device runs the latest Windows Phone 8.1 version, along with the Denim software release. It includes notable features such as a pull-down panel that displays incoming notifications and new settings such as Wi-Fi and screen brightness.
The Lumia 640 XL boasts a 5 megapixel front-facing camera and an 8 megapixel main camera. Other key features include a 5.7-inch LCD screen, 1.2 GHz Snapdragon 400, pre-installed Microsoft Office, microSD slot for memory expansion of up to 128 GB and 3,000 mAh removable battery. It comes with a free Office 365 subscription of up to one year, along with 1 TB of cloud storage. Skype users can take advantage of Microsoft's offer of 60 free minutes of Skype calls each month, which comes also with the purchase of one of the devices.
The pricing of the Lumia 640 is at $155 for the 3G version and $177 for the LTE variant. The Lumia 640 XL is priced at $211 and $244 for the 3G and the LTE variants respectively. Other markets may have varying prices, but the gap shouldn't be that big.
Microsoft revealed the launch of Windows 10 back in September 2014. Two months later, the company announced that all Lumia Windows Phone 8 devices would be getting the upgrade to Windows 10.
Photo: Karlis Dambrans I Flickr
