The Microsoft Lumia 640 Review
by Brandon Chester on June 9, 2015 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Microsoft
- Mobile
- Lumia
- windows phone 8
Battery Life
One thing I distinctly remember about the Samsung Focus is much of an improvement the battery life was compared to the original Galaxy S. Windows Phone 7 was a very well tuned OS, and it managed battery life very well. When the first waves of Windows Phone 8 devices were launched, I heard complaints about battery life, and I was very surprised. The Lumia 930 review here at AnandTech confirmed that there were issues with battery life on at least some Windows Phone 8. However, the Lumia 735 achieved a very respectable battery life in our web browsing test. With both of those results in mind, I was very curious about how the Lumia 640 would fare when it comes to battery life.
As always, our first test is the WiFi web browsing battery life test. Since this Lumia 640 is locked to Cricket Wireless, I'm unable to also test it on LTE, which is unfortunate. However, Qualcomm's radios have evolved to the point where there's only a very small difference the between power usage with a good LTE signal and WiFi.
With a 9.5Wh battery and Snapdragon 400, I had expected the Lumia 640 to last much longer in this test. It shares many components with the Lumia 735, including the SoC, yet the Lumia 735 lasts significantly longer. I can only attribute this to display power usage, and even that seems strange as the Lumia 735 uses an OLED panel which will consume a lot of power when displaying the large white areas of web pages. To ensure there wasn't any sort of issue, I re-ran the battery test and achieved roughly the same result. 8 hours is not the lowest result we've seen, but it's ultimately disappointing when you consider how long other budget devices like the Moto E can last.
In GFXBench's battery test we see that the Lumia 640 sits between the Lumia 735 and the Moto E. However, it should be noted that although these three devices achieve a much longer battery life than other devices, this is a result of their relatively low performance during GFXBench T-Rex HD.
One observation that doesn't show up during out battery tests is idle battery life. During my time with the Lumia 640, I noticed that Windows Phone seems to have an abnormally high battery drain when devices are idle. Even though I was only able to use it on WiFi and had no cellular connection when I wasn't at home, I still found myself having to charge it in the early evening. The Lumia 640's battery life is certainly better than devices like the ZenFone 2 and Lumia 930, but it definitely doesn't compare to the Moto E and the Moto G.
Charge Time
The Lumia 640 ships with a 5V, 0.75A charger. This is a lower wattage than the 5W chargers that ship with most phones, and it's significantly lower than the high power chargers that are now reaching as high as 18W. Something worth noting is that at least with the North American Cricket Wireless version I received, the cord on the charging block is permanently connected, so you can't separate the block and the cable like on most devices.
With its relatively slow charger, the Lumia 640 has a fairly long charge time. It's actually the fastest of our group of low end devices though, with the Moto E being noticeably longer, and the Lumia 735 being substantially longer at 5.57 hours. Not including a super fast charger is obviously done for cost reasons, but I do wish these devices would ship with at least a 5W charger. Thankfully, if you do have 5W charger it will charge the Lumia 640 faster than the one included in the box.
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lolstebbo - Tuesday, June 9, 2015 - link
"Since this Lumia 640 is locked to Cricket Wireless, I'm unable to also test it on LTE, which is unfortunate."Why would the 640 being locked to Cricket prevent you from testing it on LTE?
Brandon Chester - Tuesday, June 9, 2015 - link
Because I'm Canadian.milkod2001 - Tuesday, June 9, 2015 - link
MS has less then 5% mobile market share...What will break this curse?
1) another crappy low end phone? - NO
2) high end Samsung / Apple like specs phone with better camera, mSD+rem. battery? - YES
(MS needs to make killer phone people will talk about and think about getting )
3) fixing missing apps -YES
(MS as giant software company can not make the same in house apps as most popular Android / iOS apps? Or just pay developers to make the same apps for Windows Phone? How pathetic is that?)
colguy1 - Tuesday, June 9, 2015 - link
Don't you think MS has not attempted to do that? Back in 2013 MS created a very beautiful Youtube app. I used it for a week in my Windows Phone. But Google made sure that it was removed from the windows phone store. Well known Windows Phone developer Rudy Huyn created an amazing client app for SnapChat. But when SnapChat removed all 3rd party apps, it removed this app too. This SnapChat app was miles better than the first party apps in iOS and Android. The developer requested many times to work with him to whitelist the app and get it in the Windows Phone store. But no response from the SnapChat. MS created a Pebble app and demoed it to the Pebble guy.. Little bit of google search will tell you what happened next.. It is not just entirely MS fault for the lack of apps.jakoh - Thursday, June 11, 2015 - link
I can say to for no 3, the new cross compiling feature in windows 10 which will allow Java or Objective C to be compiled for Windows will help.Harry_Wild - Thursday, June 18, 2015 - link
Microsoft needs to get out of the U.S. carrier exclusivity agreement with their high end models. Many people now go with unlock international models that live in the U.S. Total bizarre that Microsoft's home market; they screw the consumer in flavor of the carrier!mockyboy - Tuesday, June 9, 2015 - link
I need a new non-contract phone and have been considering an Iphone. I have a Lumia 521 right now and even as a casual phone user it's gotten way too slow.The thing is whether the Iphone is worth the 5x higher price than the 640. I can get the 640 and an Ipad Mini for around 420 and still save $200. And I work from home, so honestly I'm really not a heavy phone user. The 640 seems like it would be fine for everyday needs, and the few apps I want I can get a Ipad Mini for.
StormyParis - Tuesday, June 9, 2015 - link
Frankly, I'd get a Moto E or G instead. Here's Anand's Moto E conclusion: http://www.anandtech.com/show/9129/the-moto-e-2015...mockyboy - Tuesday, June 9, 2015 - link
I hadn't considered those, thanks. Although for some reason I've been avoiding Android. I have no idea why. Maybe because I heard bad things about their low end phones, but based on that review I guess that's changed.Callum S - Tuesday, June 9, 2015 - link
Either that or get a Lumia 640 and Surface 3 with accessories for about the same price as an iPhone by itself. I do however seem to be addicted to OneNote though :-)Understand completely in regards to not being a heavy phone user. It doesn't matter how powerful they get, for actually getting stuff done, there is no comparison to using either a mouse and keyboard or a stylus (for diagrams and notes). Until of course phones are at stage where they can be docked and or properly utilise other input methods like the notebooks and tablets can today.