• Michael
• On February 16, 2016

Which would you rather have?

Microsoft has just unveiled its first phone for 2016. The Lumia 650 is being positioned as a business-oriented device with premium design, but let’s see how the new model compares against the old Lumia 640.

Externally, there is quite a lot. The Microsoft Lumia 650 comes with a better design, thanks to an aluminum diamond cut frame, slimmer profile and less weight. The 650 also has a front-facing speaker and a variant with a while front panel – something never seen in a Lumia before. Both phones do not have capacitive navigation keys and a dedicated camera shutter.

Another major difference between the Lumia 650 and the Lumia 640 is the screen. For the new model Microsoft uses an AMOLED panel, while the Lumia 640 has an LCD.

On the inside, the specs haven’t changed as much as expected from a phone that should be a logical successor to the old Lumia 640. Microsoft has doubled the internal storage, but kept the amount of RAM and the main camera intact. What is a bit disappointing here is that the Lumia 650 and Lumia 640 should have very similar performance thanks to comparable processor units – the old mid-range Snapdragon 400 in the Lumia 640 versus the new low-end Snapdragon 212 for the Lumia 650.

In terms the camera performance, both phones have an 8-MP camera with f/2.2, 28mm, autofocus and LED flash, but the front-facing shooter of the Lumia 650 is better – a 5MP wide-angle. Unfortunately, the Lumia 650’s processor supports only 720p video recording, while the one-year old Lumia 640 can record 1080p videos…

Then there are a few other odd things – the old Lumia 640 has a better GPU (Adreno 305 versus Adreno 304 for the Lumia 650), larger battery and costs significantly less than the Lumia 650. At the moment you can order the LTE-capable Lumia 640 for around €153, SIM-free, while the Lumia 650 is €229.

To recap, lets see the main advantages of both phones below:

Microsoft Lumia 650 Advantages:

• premium design, AMOLED screen
• 16 GB of memory
• wide-angle 5MP front camera
• Windows 10 Mobile out of the box

Microsoft Lumia 640 Advantages:

• better GPU
• cheaper to buy
• the main camera can record 1080p videos
• larger battery

Which phone would you buy right now? Let us know in the comment section below.