Microsoft Lumia 640 XL review

The Lumia 640's big brother gives a whole lot of screen

Microsoft Lumia 640 XL review
The Lumia 640 XL is the phablet-sized brother of the Lumia 640

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The overall narrative of the Microsoft Lumia 640 XL continues with the camera's capabilities: it's decent but not much more than that. Good lighting conditions lead to good shots, albeit a little under-saturated and noisy when you get right down to the details.

Low-light performance was impressive, though, and shutter speed relatively fast, so when you consider the price I'd say this is a 13-megapixel camera that overperforms for the section of the market it's in.

Nokia Lumia 640 XL review

Weigh it up against the iPhone 6 and you're likely to be disappointed; compare its pictures with snaps taken by similarly priced Android phones and you'll be pleasantly surprised.

The integrated LED flash deserves a mention, too, managing to add light to shots quite nicely without washing them out. Of course, there are better mobile cameras out there, but the Lumia 640 XL holds its own in the photo-taking stakes and isn't going to have your Facebook friends laughing at your attempts to take a nice beach or landscape shot.

The Lumia Camera app that comes as standard with Windows Phone 8.1 offers basic manual controls for ISO, shutter speed, white balance and brightness, so if you want to play around with these settings then the option are there.

I'm not sure the quality of the lens is up to it, but if you know your photography then these settings can help you get better shots.

Nokia Lumia 640 XL review

Macro shots proved no problem for the Lumia camera

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Microsoft Lumia 640 XL review

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Microsoft Lumia 640 XL review

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Microsoft Lumia 640 XL review

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Microsoft Lumia 640 XL review

The Nokia Lumia 640 XL proved a hit with ducks

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Microsoft Lumia 640 XL review

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Microsoft Lumia 640 XL review

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Microsoft Lumia 640 XL review

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David Nield
Freelance Contributor

Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on TechRadar you'll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, PopSci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.