Microsoft Lumia 640 review: Outgrowing the mold

The 8MP camera is OK

Microsoft Lumia 640 LTE comes with an 8MP auto-focus camera, coupled with an LED flash though it lacks a dedicated camera key. The Lumia camera interface is very familiar - it offers white balance, focus, ISO, shutter speed up to 4s and exposure settings. You can choose between 8MP 4:3 mode and 6.7MP 16:9 samples, there are no other resolution options.

Additionally, you can get more camera functionality via Lenses, such as Cinemagraph (animated photos), Panorama, Refocus, Selfie, etc.

Lumia Camera UI

The 8MP images taken with the Lumia 640 LTE turned out good, with reasonable amount of resolved detail. Contrast is good as is the color rendering, although often the white balance is off. Noise is kept well under control and we are happy with the overall processing.

Microsoft Lumia 640 camera samples

There is a noticeable yellowish tint on the resolution chart, while the color poster came out with wrong white balance half of the time. Still, the 8MP snapper is behaving very well and shows some respectable performance in our photo comparison tool.

Microsoft Lumia 640 LTE in our photo quality comparison tool

1080p video recording

The Lumia 640 LTE camcorder can record video at 1080p@30fps, with a solid 17Mbps bitrate and an unwavering 30fps. Sadly, videos are recorded in a single channel AAC mode with a 160Kbps bitrate and 48KHz.

The camcorder interface is pretty much the same as the still camera. It offers only white balance and manual focus settings, and also allows you to choose the audio bass filter (off, 100 Hz or 200 Hz). Opting for 200 Hz (Strong) will capture much better sound in concerts or clubs.

Camcorder UI • Settings

In video recording, the Lumia 640 performs similarly to its still photography shooting chops. White balance is off and the dynamic range could be better. The level of detail is decent, though.

Here is a 30s sample we've uploaded on YouTube.

Also here is an untouched 1080p@30fps video for you to download.

The Lumia 640 LTE is ready to stand up against the competition in our video comparison tool. Its page will give you information on what to look for.

Microsoft Lumia 640 in our video quality comparison tool