Is it worth upgrading from 640 to 950?

[chrisb1977]

As the title suggests I'm considering upgrading to the 950. I know the 950 is higher spec in every department but will I really notice any difference? If anyone has any experience of both handsets their input would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Jcmg62]

Re: Is worth upgrading from 640 to 950?

I'd say yes, it's absolutely 110% worth upgrading to the 950. It's simply the best phone out there for windows 10 mobile and will be futureproof for the many W10 updates that are going to arrive in 2016.

If you're planning on staying within the Windows Mobile ecosystem for the next 2-3 years it's an excellent investment. In terms of noticing differences, there I'd say yes without a doubt.

The 640 was built with Windows 8.1 in mind, whereas the 950 was constructed from the ground up to take full advantage of Windows 10 features. The 640 also has 1GB RAM, while the 950 has 3GB. Again, that additional RAM is going to come in very handy when future Windows 10 features roll out

That said, I'd offer this cautionary tale; I've been with Windows Phone since day 1 and there's no question that W7, 8 and 8.1 were all more stable and better polished mobile platforms than Windows 10 currently is.

I'm very confident that W10 is going to become a vastly improved platform over the next 12 months but it does need a lot of polishing. Don't get me wrong, it's plenty stable, has loads of awesome features and is a beautiful OS, but you ought to know that in some ways it still feels beta, even on the 950.

I don't want to put you off; I use the 950 as my daily phone. I work it hard and it performs brilliantly 99% of the time, but it does occasionally glitch.

In a nutshell, if your a Windows Phone fan, the 950 will make you a happy camper

 

[chrisb1977]

Re: Is worth upgrading from 640 to 950?

Thanks that's just the sort of response I was hoping for. I currently have W10 running on my 640 and on the whole it's good, bit sluggish and sticky when scrolling but generally I like it a lot.

 

[Zachary Boddy]

The screen on the Lumia 950 is noticeably sharper, brighter, more vivid, just better in every way. You'll also get an amazing camera that just completely blows the Lumia 640 away, while being faster and easier to use at the same time. Then you'll have a phone that is generally faster than your Lumia 640. Yes, the Lumia 640 is smooth and great to use, but there is still a difference between the mid-range and the high-end with Windows 10 Mobile and the Lumia 950 is the second most powerful Windows phone of all time.
I have the Lumia 640 and it's a great little device but the Lumia 950 does still feel nicer in hand, and seems to have higher quality polycarbonate. And plus you're getting features like Windows Hello which is neat.

 

[mjrtoo]

I bought a 640XL instead of a 950XL, because for that kind of money it's not worth it to me. The 640 is a great midrange device. Maybe when the surface phone comes out I'll make another change.

 

[_Emi_]

As the title suggests I'm considering upgrading to the 950. I know the 950 is higher spec in every department but will I really notice any difference? If anyone has any experience of both handsets their input would be greatly appreciated.

the only real thing here is the camera, so if you are going to take photos and you want them to look nice on low light and all that, 950/XL would be the best choice. about the performance and all, Windows 10 runs really nice on 640, extremely well even if it doesn't have official firmware and this and that.
but I think they key factor for your decision should be the camera... Camera on 640 is not bad, but it's not great especially if your light is not natural, also front facing camera is not that great on 640 either, it does the job for videochat though.


The other stuff is better on 950, but it's just something like I don't care much about it like how the screen looks like, I usually use the phone on low brightness and put medium whenever I need to see something clear. so I never cared about screen so much.

the other factors are Windows Hello and Continuum, for some it's useful and for others it isn't. so you should really think about it.

if you are a person who doesn't take many photos, don't do videochat, don't really care about hello or continuum, what would be the point of getting 950? in some cases you might see it performing better, but it's not like it makes magic and it's a noticiable difference.

Last time I saw how 550 is slower than a 535 on Windows 10, but in the end you could notice the difference because it was side to side. but both performed well, and 640 was little faster but not too much.
so what I mean is performace should not be the key thing here, maybe on games or something 950 will do better, I really don't play games so I don't care. but on lunching apps and all, it seems it's not like you will get too much improvement.

so I would say If you have money and you care about photos and want to get really nice photos and all... just the camera is worth the price, if you don't care about photography, or hello, or continuum, then... I don't know any reason to get it.
My decision for a 950 is the camera, my personal experience, so it might be different for you. but I don't think performance would be the key reason for an upgrade, not even the screen size since it's only 0.2" but the camera and then continuum. and that's it.

 

[xandros9]

Duplicate threads merged.

 

[boltman2013]

I say no... at $29 the 640 is best BFB and the 950 does not add much at $549 at 19X the best price

There will be other handsets no rush for the 950, 640 is awesome

 

[fdalbor]

It all depends on what you want to do with your phone; be it 640 or 950. If the 640 does everything you want to with a phone then the answer is no, stay with the 640 until it does not serve you. When you start not being able to do what you want to do with a phone then consider the 950. Then the answer becomes is it worth 10 640's for one 950. The 950 is going to be around for awhile so its not like if you don't buy it today you will never be able to get one. Waiting, you will probably get a better 950 without some of the problems they are having now. But if you have the extra money and have nothing else to spend it on. Why not? The 950 would perform better than the 640, that is a fact. 10 times better, probably not.

 

[chrisb1977]

Thanks for everyone's input it's greatly appreciated. As for what I use my phone for the answer is pretty much everything. Calls, texts, emails, social networking, i also take a fair few photographs. When I'm at work I use excel a lot when I'm out of the office. With this in mind the upgrade is tempting.

 

[raycpl]

I'm in agreement with no-no-applesux (great name!!), 950/950XL is the best WP out there, and it future-proofed for two years (I'm betting on WP staying around longer that that, no matter what those nay-sayers spout)
.. but the bottom line is always what suit us best, our budget, our demands and what bargains are available....

 

[TLRtheory]

As long as you don't get a defective unit, I'd say it's absolutely worth it.

Lumia 640 to 950 was the route I went. I upgraded from the Lumia 640 because, though it was stable and had superb battery life, the SD400 just wasn't cutting it for all the gaming I want to do... that and I've always wanted to have something like my Lumia 1520 that wasn't so damn big.

Don't know if I got lucky to just go in and pick one up off the shelves the day of release and have it be bug-free, crash-free and restart-free Lumia 950 has been PERFECT for me.

Windows 10 mobile needs to have WordFlow working in the few places it reverts back to the tap typing, Messaging+Skype is only a half realized dream without it being fully integrated on desktop, and they REALLY gotta get moving on HCE... but otherwise I'm feeling quite positive about W10.

...and of course I'm very glad to have the 950 itself. The screen is very #TeamCrispy, and (after a very quick tweak) has awesome colors, the camera is simply superb for snapping and shooting, after the 535/635/640 I'm SO damn glad so see the camera launch buttons aren't gone for good, it handles high-res 3D gaming very smoothly, they didn't use 32GB internal storage as a reason to cheap out of giving us expandable storage, and it actually fits in my damn pocket. It's a cooling salve for all the things that burned me about the Lumia Icon/1520 and 930.

 

[Jcmg62]

As long as you don't get a defective unit, I'd say it's absolutely worth it.

Lumia 640 to 950 was the route I went. I upgraded from the Lumia 640 because, though it was stable and had superb battery life, the SD400 just wasn't cutting it for all the gaming I want to do... that and I've always wanted to have something like my Lumia 1520 that wasn't so damn big.

Don't know if I got lucky to just go in and pick one up off the shelves the day of release and have it be bug-free, crash-free and restart-free Lumia 950 has been PERFECT for me.

Windows 10 mobile needs to have WordFlow working in the few places it reverts back to the tap typing, Messaging+Skype is only a half realized dream without it being fully integrated on desktop, and they REALLY gotta get moving on HCE... but otherwise I'm feeling quite positive about W10.

...and of course I'm very glad to have the 950 itself. The screen is very #TeamCrispy, and (after a very quick tweak) has awesome colors, the camera is simply superb for snapping and shooting, after the 535/635/640 I'm SO damn glad so see the camera launch buttons aren't gone for good, it handles high-res 3D gaming very smoothly, they didn't use 32GB internal storage as a reason to cheap out of giving us expandable storage, and it actually fits in my damn pocket. It's a cooling salve for all the things that burned me about the Lumia Icon/1520 and 930.

Hi, you mentioned making a "tweak" to get the screen looking awesome.....could I ask what that tweak was please? I'm already happy with my 950 screen but if there's a way to get even more out of it I'd be keen to know. Thanks, John

 

[TLRtheory]

Hi, you mentioned making a "tweak" to get the screen looking awesome.....could I ask what that tweak was please? I'm already happy with my 950 screen but if there's a way to get even more out of it I'd be keen to know. Thanks, John

Probably already heard this one with everyone talking about it: Settings -> Extras -> Color Profile - > Vivid

 

[v535]

Which is better? VW Golf or Ferrari/Lamborghini? Big & Deep pocket: Ferrari/Lamborghini. Smaller pocket: VW Golf

 

[etad putta]

I would wait a while. CES is right around the corner, see if any other manufacturers jump on the Windows mobile train. 950 isn't going anywhere for a while and may be a little overpriced.

 

[chrisb1977]

Will there be an official windows 10 released for the 640? I'm currently running an insider build which works well for the most part but does have a couple of annoying little bugs.

 

[libra89]

Will there be an official windows 10 released for the 640? I'm currently running an insider build which works well for the most part but does have a couple of annoying little bugs.

Yes, it is one of the phones said to be upgraded to Windows 10 when it is out.

 

[chrisb1977]

After a lot of consideration and taking in to account everything that I've learned in this thread I think that I will hang on to my 640. I'm due an upgrade with EE in October so I'll see what is available then. My 640 out performs my HTC One M8 and I'm finding windows phone much better than android. Thanks again for everyone's input and advice.

 

[kristalsoldier]

I worked on a similar principle. I had the option of giving my 640 XL 3G DS and going for a 950XL. Instead I bought another 640XL 4G DS and gave away the 3G version. Why did I not buy the 950XL?

Firstly, because of the price. I do like the way the 950XL looks though. I find it to be understated and a device that tries to make content standout over the device.

Secondly, after getting onto the Insiders Ring, I downloaded and installed W10M and now have moved to the latest version. I find that the 640XL is like a new device. Granted 1GB RAM, but it sure as hell does not feel like it. And while I am not a great app user, I do have some core apps which I use and I push my device a lot during the day (banking, email, calendar, reddit, telegram, whatsapp, news apps, OneNote, camera etc.). The 640 XL has performed admirably except that I notice that the battery life was a bit better on 8.1.2.

Thirdly, in my assessment, MS is treading water a bit with their WP efforts at this point. Why do I say that?

Firstly, because releasing the 950 and the 950XL with buggy OS was not cool and that too at premium price. Assuming MS is a rational entity (which I believe they are), I think they had no choice but to release these phones now! It felt like the schedule to release was forced onto them.

Secondly, the OS has not been stabilized. This is supposed to happen sometime this month apparently and whatever parts are problematic will be dealt with in Redstone which will be available sometime in the middle of the year.

Thirdly, I am now quite certain that MS will release another set of flagships towards the end of the year and there is a good chance that they may have a Surface branding. Yes, they will be expensive, but MS won't trifle around with the brand by releasing a well designed and well spec'd device with buggy software. And, anyways, by then, the OS, I expect would have stabilized.

And, while it is never a good idea to defer purchases in the tech domain in anticipation of a better device in the future, in this instance, my calculated guess is that instead of spending the kind of the money the 950XL commands at the moment, it is better to settle for a vastly lesser spec'd device but one that is reliable and responds well to W10M as it currently stands.

Thus, my going for the 640XL (and it is a brilliant device, btw!!!).