Microsoft has cut 20% off the price of its Lumia 640 and Lumia 640 XL in the UK

It's been 16 months since Microsoft released the Lumia 640 and Lumia 640 XL in the UK, after unveiling the two Windows Phone 8.1 handsets at Mobile World Congress in March 2015. At launch, the Lumia 640 was priced at around £129.99 SIM-free, but was available for as little as £99.99 on contract-free pay-as-you-go plans; the larger Lumia 640 XL was sold for £219 SIM-free.

With the launch of its newer x50-series Lumia handsets running Windows 10 Mobile, Microsoft has been reducing the price of its older devices. The Microsoft Store has continued to sell the Lumia 640 for £129.99 in recent months, but earlier this year, it slashed 27% off the 640 XL's price, reducing it to £159.99. Now, the company has cut the price of both devices by a further 20%.

The Lumia 640 XL has fallen in price by an additional £32 to £127.99, and is available in black, orange, cyan, and white gloss. The Lumia 640's price has been reduced by £26, bringing it down to £103.99; just two colour options are available for that device - orange and black.

According to the small print on the product listings, this new pricing is a "special offer" which is due to end on September 30. But given that Microsoft is now clearing stocks of these last-generation handsets, it seems very unlikely that they'll ever return to their previous prices.

Key specs of the Lumia 640 include:

5-inch ClearBlack IPS LCD with HD (1280x720px) resolution and Corning Gorilla Glass 3
Quad-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor
1GB RAM
8GB onboard storage (plus microSD support up to 128GB)
Backside illuminated 8MP rear camera with LED flash and 1080p video recording
1MP front camera with 720p video recording
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 4.0
NFC
Ambient light sensor, accelerometer, proximity sensor, magnetometer and SensorCore
Removable 2500mAh battery
141.3 x 72.2 x 8.8mm; 145g

The Lumia 640 XL shares many of the same specs, but differs in these aspects:

5.7-inch ClearBlack IPS LCD with HD (1280x720px) resolution and Corning Gorilla Glass 3
Backside illuminated 13MP rear camera with ZEISS optics, LED flash and 1080p video recording
5MP front camera with 1080p video recording
Removable 3000mAh battery
157.9 x 81.5 x 9mm; 171g

Both the Lumia 640 and Lumia 640 XL are eligible for an official upgrade to Windows 10 Mobile, including the latest Anniversary Update, when its rollout eventually begins.

The two devices scored highly in our reviews last year, thanks to a compelling blend of decent performance, impressive displays, strong battery life and solid build quality. Be sure to read up on the two handsets if you're thinking of buying one:

Source: Lumia 640 / Lumia 640 XL (Microsoft Store)