Which Lumia should I go for? Lumia 640 or Lumia 650 (or maybe 930)?

[mosharraf96]

I have been using my Lumia 525 for a long time and as Microsoft decided not to give away Windows 10 Mobile on my Lumia 525, I decided to go for a new device.

Pros for Lumia 650:

1. OLED dispay
2. Better Front Camera
3. Better design and aluminium frame
4. Newer processor
5. Newer and better GPU
6. Higher Clock rate
7. Better front camera

Pros for Lumia 640:

1. High end processor than Lumia 650
2. SensorCore
3. 4X camera digital Zoom
4. Backside-illuminated image sensor
5. 1080p video recording resolution
6. Higher battery capacity
7. Better review

I like to take photos with my mobile and most of the time I edit photos and use mobile slightly rougher than average person. As I like to take picture, I am pretty much determined to know some question related to camera:

1. Which one will be better camera on low light? Does Backside-illuminated image sensor is exclusive on Lumia 640 or 650 does this feature too?

2. Lumia 650 has lower series of processor but it is latest and has higher clock speed, on the other hand Lumia 640 is old but better end processor (Snapdragon 400 series). Which processor will handle big apps efficiently and faster? I want to know the difference in time.

3. Is SensorCore does any magic?

4. Overall performance of which camera will be better? 2 year old Pureview, Carl Zeiss lens plays any vital role between latest cameras (The main question regarding Lumia 930)?

5. Does any of the camera has front flash?

6. Will battery play a significant role between these phone? I want to have 45% charge left after a medium usage of 12-14 hour?

P.S: I am not talking about Lumia 640 XL. Has anyone ever used Asus Zenfone 2 Laser ZE500KL? Can you tell me about that mobile's camera?

 

[Guytronic]

I'd also look at the Lumia 830.

I have the Asus ZF2 non laser.
It's OK as long as you don't expect the world from it.

Good luck with the search.

 

[pankaj981]

To clear your doubt somewhat...the 640 does not have a BSI sensor. And from what reviews have been saying, the camera on both the devices are more or less the same. The 650 has better quality pictures but the 640 has better quality video recording.

 

[mosharraf96]

To clear your doubt somewhat...the 640 does not have a BSI sensor. And from what reviews have been saying, the camera on both the devices are more or less the same. The 650 has better quality pictures but the 640 has better quality video recording.

Thank you for your feedback. Well, I am the person who posted this thread. I am not that interested about video quality. I am more interested in camera. As you are saying about BSI, Microsoft's official specs does say that 640 LTE has BSI. The only reason I am asking for BSI is, I hang around after evening so, it is somewhat crucial for me to have low light performance. So I wanted to know does it have BSI.

 

[Laura Knotek]

Thank you for your feedback. Well, I am the person who posted this thread. I am not that interested about video quality. I am more interested in camera. As you are saying about BSI, Microsoft's official specs does say that 640 LTE has BSI. The only reason I am asking for BSI is, I hang around after evening so, it is somewhat crucial for me to have low light performance. So I wanted to know does it have BSI.

Thanks for joining our community. :smile:

There are a lot of folks here who have expertise with the devices you've asked about. You might want to hang around longer, though, since many of the folks in the US are sleeping now as it 03:42 on the east coast in the US.

 

[tonygt92]

I had a 525 for two years, now shifted to a 1520 as it has a memory card slot, got a used one for a decent price, the camera is good and you get dual led flash, but close up and macro photography is better with the 525 as you can get closer to the subject, with the 1520 camera you have to keep a distance of 10 cm to focus, low light photography is good too and the pureview/zeiss lens setup is better than the smaller sensors in 640/650, battery backup is also excellent for normal usage with 3G net on full time.
i had also gotten a 640 to replace the 525 but its display cracked with the screen still intact while in my pocket (might be due to screen glass flex) and the cost they quoted to replace it at Nokia/MS service centre was about 6k INR, also the back panel got a bit squeaky at one corner too,
so went for the 1520, took a bit of time to get used to large screen but now it feels like home, plus the superior built quality after coming from the 525, is a pleasure to use.
So if you are not interested in a second hand buy, my advice is to go for the 650, it looks premium and might be more durable. I haven't used the 650 but with the newer processor and led screen, it should be more battery efficient than the 640.

 

[mosharraf96]

I'd also look at the Lumia 830.

I have the Asus ZF2 non laser.
It's OK as long as you don't expect the world from it.

Good luck with the search.

I am also digging for L830. My main question is, is it worth going for a 2 year old phone. So, basically my question is "Is a latest inferior series CPU/GPU's performance is greater than the older superior series CPU/GPU's performance? That is where I am facing my dilemma. Asus's official website gives stunning advertisement about their mobile's camera quality and whatnot. Where Microsoft just gives specs and some feature about cortona and nothing else. They fail to give broad description about camera.

 

[mosharraf96]

I had a 525 for two years, now shifted to a 1520 as it has a memory card slot, got a used one for a decent price, the camera is good and you get dual led flash, but close up and macro photography is better with the 525 as you can get closer to the subject, with the 1520 camera you have to keep a distance of 10 cm to focus, i had also gotten a 640 to replace the 525 but its display cracked with the screen still intact while in my pocket (might be due to screen glass flex) and the cost they quoted to replace it at Nokia/MS service centre was about 6k INR, also the back panel got a bit squeaky at one corner too,
so went for the 1520, took a bit of time to get used to large screen but now it feels like home, plus the superior built quality after coming from the 525, is a pleasure to use.
So if you are not interested in a second hand buy, my advice is to go for the 650, it looks premium and might be more durable.

Well, looks like you are my type. Lumia 525 is a great phone but I got bored and want to try Windows 10. I have no intention to go more than 5.0 inch display as my palm is not that big and it looks bad when I hold an over-sized phone. I appreciate your advice. L650 is indeed premium looking. :amaze:

 

[tonygt92]

If you are going for an 830, hardware performance might not differ that much from the 650 in real world usage, also the 650 supports LTE too,
but the camera performance of the 830 should be better than the 650 with a better lens and sensor setup, so it all boils down to your priorities

 

[mosharraf96]

If you are going for an 830, hardware performance might not differ that much from the 650 in real world usage, also the 650 supports LTE too,
but the camera performance of the 830 should be better than the 650 with a better lens and sensor setup, so it all boils down to your priorities

This is where I get stuck about choosing between a 650 and a 830. I will wait for a month for better review for camera of 650. As I stated above, I am trying to differentiate between latest technology vs old technology but better camera lens.

 

[pankaj981]

Thank you for your feedback. Well, I am the person who posted this thread. I am not that interested about video quality. I am more interested in camera. As you are saying about BSI, Microsoft's official specs does say that 640 LTE has BSI. The only reason I am asking for BSI is, I hang around after evening so, it is somewhat crucial for me to have low light performance. So I wanted to know does it have BSI.

Thanks for correcting me, looks like the 640 does have it though in real life scenario I haven't seen anything spectacular with it's camera. Anyways, that makes the 650 camera quality better than the 640 since you're not interested in the video quality. The FFC on the 640 is bad and takes grainy pictures while the 650 has a better one. Plus it will benefit from all the firmware improvements that the 640 may not. If you've the money then go for the 650 for better support. IMO it may not be the best bang for buck device at this time though.

 

[scottinmd]

I saw some comments that the 640 line will NOT be getting the newest versions of Win10. You may want to confirm that before buying. (If it is important to you)

 

[Karen DeGregory]

I have the 830 and the 640. The 830 takes better pictures and has a camera button as well. Since the 830 is on the list for WM 10, it wouldn't be a bad choice if you can get a used one at a good price.

 

[BenLumia]

Hey, I'm using Lumia 640 LTE atm. It is really good phone tho, performance is really good (Windows 10), camera is good too.... A lot to mention. But im thinking about getting Lumia 650 too. 650 has more Front camera Megapixels, and kinda faster than 640. And its the latest Lumia.

 

[pankaj981]

I saw some comments that the 640 line will NOT be getting the newest versions of Win10. You may want to confirm that before buying. (If it is important to you)

It is already getting the latest version on WM10 via Insider today.

 

[mosharraf96]

Hey, I'm using Lumia 640 LTE atm. It is really good phone tho, performance is really good (Windows 10), camera is good too.... A lot to mention. But im thinking about getting Lumia 650 too. 650 has more Front camera Megapixels, and kinda faster than 640. And its the latest Lumia.

How is your battery's life going on? Are you sure that performance will be better? I'm going to wait for a month to see if there will be any price cut or any other possibly for new device roll out.

 

[mosharraf96]

Thanks for correcting me, looks like the 640 does have it though in real life scenario I haven't seen anything spectacular with it's camera. Anyways, that makes the 650 camera quality better than the 640 since you're not interested in the video quality. The FFC on the 640 is bad and takes grainy pictures while the 650 has a better one. Plus it will benefit from all the firmware improvements that the 640 may not. If you've the money then go for the 650 for better support. IMO it may not be the best bang for buck device at this time though.

Microsoft really killed this sub flagship device Lumia 650 with higher price and mediocre spec. It is actually not a worth mobile to upgrade. But I have been using my phone for a long time. Never crossed my mind to choose a Android but now I have to go through Androids too. Never felt so much hesitation to choose a mobile.

 

[pankaj981]

Microsoft really killed this sub flagship device Lumia 650 with higher price and mediocre spec. It is actually not a worth mobile to upgrade. But I have been using my phone for a long time. Never crossed my mind to choose a Android but now I have to go through Androids too. Never felt so much hesitation to choose a mobile.

Well I'm going through a similar situation now with my 1520 though I'm not hard pressed to upgrade. Either stick with an awesome 6 inch phablet that does everything smoothly as intended but is hard to handle sometimes or move on to a 950/XL that has been unstable overall (from all the forum posts).

Regardless, if camera is all you want then 650 is it. If you want to upgrade to a flagship device with more awesomeness for a comparable price then your options would be 730/735, 830, 930, 1520 (best features for the price but bulky and big).

 

[GrayW0lf]

move on to a 950/XL that has been unstable overall (from all the forum posts).

As a recent owner of both a 950 (my wife's phone) and a 950 XL, I can say that both phones can be quite stable with 10586.164 or unstable with Redstone. They are good devices in need of an OS worthy of them.

 

[mosharraf96]

Saying me to buy L950 is as saying me to sell my kidney. Can't afford such expensive device.