Dual-SIM Nokia Lumia 638 available for pre-order in China

The Nokia Lumia 638, a dual-SIM varient of the Nokia Lumia 630, is available for pre-order on Shanxi Mobile. The phone is available for ¥1,199 ($192). The phones will operate on China Mobile, of which Shanxi Mobile is a subsidiary.

Unlike the Lumia 630, the Lumia 638 supports 4G/LTE, like the Nokia Lumia 635. The 638 also has double the RAM of either device, sporting 1GB instead of 512MB. The phone runs WIndows Phone 8.1, with a 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor, and appears to have the same 4.5-inch screen as the 630 and 635.

Chinese customers can pre-order the device right now.

Source: Shanxi Mobile via: NokiaWPblog

Joseph Keller
70 Comments
  • Good budget phone.....
  • Wait... Is this China-only? We've a habit of seeing US-only things but...
  • it could sell like a hot cake in india if launched at 192$ which i suppose is around 12k rs.!!it would have been even better if it had camera flash and tagged at 14k!!
  • Agree. I wish MS could make it happen...
  • i want it!
  • Damm I want it now in India
  • Should come in next month in India
  • What makes u say that?
  • Oh this variant is never coming to India.. In fact this is a china only model..
  • This is what was required in Lumia 635 if not in 630... Atleast one should have 1 gb of ram, n suddenly a quad core processor with 1 gig of ram seems a winner... Make this fone available in India for 11k INR, blockbuster
  • This will sell like hotcakes at 11k, in India. 512mb ram is a deal breaker for a lot of customers, not just gamers. How I know? Read any online store reviews like flipkart's. People don't really know how smooth WP can go even on low ram devices. RAM is one of the minimum things most consumers look into while buying phones.
  • Seriously? I'll the only that I even know of in all my friends that even knows what mp cam phones have, or even phone names, the average consumer could care less about specs than you think as long as it works, but maybe that's just the USA.
  • To be honest, people care a lot about specs at least here in India. They think twice before spending even on low or mid end phones.
  • Average consumers look for the price. Not the specs.
  • Yeah. That's why i said. See Moto e, priced much lesser than this yet has great specs.
  • Yes Gautam u absolutely nailed it. Before going to buy any mobile people do search on gsmarena or fonearena about the device. N moreover wp is not so popular than android that people will blindly take it.
  • "Before going to buy any mobile people do search on gsmarena or fonearena about the device" Yes, most of the people, specially the young ones (the majority, obviously!) "N moreover wp is not so popular than android that people will blindly take it." Yes, that's right, Android flaunts everywhere no matter how it hurts us. Even low standard companies like Lava, Karbonn, Xolo etc survived because of Android (which was licensed by Google freely and which was a much needed task Microsoft had to do loooong ago!). Android's popularity and global acceptence is it's one big example of "trust". Yes I know what you're thinking right now, we all know how trustworthy google is, but then, this is where a company stands after popular "marketting" and intelligent "localization". MS lacks both and needs to boost up. I'm still waiting for MS's answer to Moto E.
  • I guess MS doesn't care about which mobile they should target and compete with. They just launch mobile on there own. I don't think they even consider people thoughts and demands.
  • Its really difficult to survive in this way at least now when its a highly competitive era. Samsung understood the market strategy long ago and thus succeeded. And Android  succeeded because of Samsung. MS needs to be serious when releasing phones, now, when it'll be known not just for the OS but OEM as well.
  • Moto E have the worst specs ever (very weak screen, weak camera, 4GB internal storage). The only supposedly great spec is the RAM but not even that because android lags with 512MB and needs 1GB to be properly smooth. WP does not need 1GB to be smooth.
  • very weak screen - It has Corning Gorilla Glass 3, 4.3 inches qHD weak camera - 5 MP is enough for low end phones 4GB internal - So what? It has 32GB expandable RAM - 1GB RAM is enough for this phone, dual core processor, clocked at 1.2GHz + 400MHz Adreno 302 dedicated for graphics itself And you think it has the worst specs ever? Honestly, I can't imagine a better phone at 7000 INR from a brand like Motorola. Agree for the part you said WP does not need 1GB to be smooth.
  • -The Moto E screen has low quality color reproduction, not so good viewing angles and not so good daylight visibility compared to the Lumia 630-635 (ClearBlack helps a lot). -The Moto E camera is not so good because it doesn't have auto-focus. The Lumia 630 does have. -4GB internal is extremelly crippling. A lot of consumers don't buy memory cards and they will get annoyed when they can't install more than 2 games and keep all their apps. Getting a sd card adds another cost to the phone and are always slower than internal memory. Also moving apps to the sdcard is not user-friendly and sometimes doesn't work or the app developer blocks it (getting around this usually requires rom hacks or installing another rom). The Lumia 630 8GB will deliver a better user experience and it supports sdcards also up to 128GB. -The CPU + GPU combo on the lumia 630 is also better. It is a quadcore 1.2Ghz with the Adreno 305 which makes it faster in every way compared to the Moto E. Yes, the Moto E has worst specs. That's why it is slighly cheaper. :P
  • Well, I've used one in my hand i didn't notice any bitterness in its color quality or viewing angle. ClearBlack surely is a plus point for Nokia devices but you can't expect something like that in such a low price. Leaving the auto-focus part aside, it does take good pictures, even in low light. It makes much lesser noise. (check out in gsmarena) I don't know a single customer who has a expandable memory of 32gb and would use his internal memory that too just 4gb. SD cards doesn't cost that much you can get one at 5% the cost of Moto e. A rooted device can be easily used to move apps easily, almost all developers allows to do so except a few obviously. Quad core can't do anything great with a ram limiting it all the time. 630 still doesn't have dedicated graphics memory, does it? And remember Moto e is just for 7k while Lumia 630 is for 11k, you can get a new feature phone at 4k.
    My argument is simple, 630 is a good device. But it still lack features compared to Moto e which is such a low end device.
  • How about this? http://m.gsmarena.com/micromaxs_upcoming_wp_81_phone_detailed-news-8664.php
  • If this rumour comes true, its a jump start from Micromax! Going by specs, it looks like a high end device, its indeed a monster at this price! :P I'm curious how much juice can they put up into a low end and low priced device. Because that's where marketshare mostly belongs ;)
  • Reviews will tell how it goes. A cracker jack of a deal when compared with Lumia 930
  • LOL! Right! Its a good opportunity for micromax to prove themselves.
  • This specification should be in the international too ! or rather the real 630 to begin with.
  • Now..i thought wp got a real nice budget phone...i think we still need flash in itwill be perfect...when it will be available in India...
  • Indian will never have such series, they don't listen to us what we want from wp, not every fone is going to b 520 n expect it to b a hit, people are not fool
  • absolutely include flash with a price hike of few dollars!!around 14 k in india!!
  • I find Lumia 1320 to b the most affordable device of all which completes each n every aspects of our aspiration.
  • yup thats what i think..but for me its little oversized(i suppose for many of us)they could have decreased the screen size and included better camera!!
  • Yeah but I feel its 1520 mini in some sense, people who require large display, perfect for them
  • Yup! Gamers and movie lovers (on phone) should get this!  Not for me though ;)
  • ^THIS! I'm still waiting for Lumia 930. I could buy 1520, I love the specs but the size! It's too big a phone for my hands :/ I've a friend who recently bought 1320, he's really happy with his purchase because he uses his 520 as basic phone for calls and 1320 for all his media needs. But in my case, I'd like to use it primarily. So still waiting for 930...
  • And this blue is exclusive for China??
  • Come to India!!!!! ⌒.⌒
  • 1GB, now that's what I'm talking about!
  • Yeah 1 gig of ram now that's some solid specs hope it arrives in India if flash was also added it would have been awsome but still now it looks like a upgrade to Lumia 620!
  • US(no flash 512 mb ram)=635..china(no flash 1gb ram )=638..india(flash 1 gb  ram)=640!! now anybody needs front facing cam somwhere??
  • Lol, front facing cam I don't need, I have laptop for that...
  • I wonder if that cool dark blue shell would fit the 630/5...
  • You guys want those features, just get a better phone. Stop complaining, Microsoft won't hear you on this site.
  • What phone do you have?
  • They want a Windows phone with dual SIM that has better features.
  • There is no Shanxi Mobile - just like you don't say Verizon New York.
  • Why only now???
  • Suggestion India Specific Lumia 400: Lumia 525 with 4.0 Inch Display Price 6.5K without Camera Lumia 525 Price 8K Lumia 425:Lumia 525 with 4.3 Inch Display and Dual SIM: Price 10K Lumia 630(Single and Dual Sim Option): Price 10.5K/11.5K  Lumia 640 Upgraded 630(Single and Dual Sim Option)  with 1 GB RAM, Primary 5 MP Camera with Flash and secondary camera. Price 12.5K /13.5K Lumia 645: LTE Version of Lumia 640(Single and Dual Sim Option) Price 14K /15K Lumia 640 SuperNova(Single and Dual Sim Option) LTE Version of Lumia 640with 1 GB RAM, 5 Inch Display,Primary 5 MP Camera with Flash and secondary camera. Price 16K /17K Lumia 725 (Single and Dual Sim Option) with all the specs of Lumia 720 and 1GB RAM Price 17K./18K Lumia 725 SuperNova (Single and Dual Sim Option) (Lumia 725 with 5 inch display) Price 19K/20K. Can Replace Lumia 1320 Lumia 1320 Supernova(Single and Dual Sim Option) : Lumia 1320 with 8MP camera Price 22K/23K Lumia 825 (Single and Dual Sim Option) Upgrade of Lumia 820. Price 25K/26K Lumia 825 Supernova (Single and Dual Sim Option) Lumia 825 with 5 Inch Display  Price 28K/29K Lumia 935(Single and Dual Sim Option) : Windows 8.1 version for Lumia 925 with MicroSD support. Price 30K/32K Lumia 935 Supernova(Single SIM): Lumia 935 with 5 inch screen: 34K Lumia 1520 36K Lumia 1520 Supernova Lumia 1520 with 5 MP Front Camera. 40K Lumia 1020 Supernova Lumia 1020 with 5.2 Inch Screen 42K Lumia 1025 Lumia 1020Supernova with  8 MP Carl Zeiss Lens Screen 45K Lumia 1030 Lumia 1025 with 6 Inch Display Supernova has been chosen resembling Nokia Supernova Series.   Samsung will die if Microsoft can launch these products within 10-12 Months
  • That is way too many models for one country
  • Some of them can be disguised in form of some other OEM like Micromax, but wp major Oem is nokia, and for android it's Samsung, LG, HTC, Lenevo.. I think the above products should be on world wide basis, like 635 for India, n 638 for china.
  • kaafi mehnat ki hai wasim bhai!!!absolutely...i will choose 725!!
  • Lot of work but its wishful thinking.. Which would never come true.. Even on a global scale..
  • Wow that was nice, iOS and android markets will blow up like a "Supernova"
  • Great list. Greeat specs! I wish even half of these could come true... But that's not gonna happen anytime soon... :(
  • This what we want!!! 4G, dual sim, 1Gb Ram
  • +638
  • This I want - is this coming to Europe?
  • in a container... Soon... Lol
  • Why isn't this phone available in India? I believe this phone sports TD-LTE (on 2300 MHz band), which is the only available LTE technology in India as of now.
  • goood 638
  • Who'll buy it anyway in China? China loves android right? Release in India and I'll be in a queue...
  • No Chinese loves WP, its a rising market. Even at my site when Chinese come, I see Lumia 1520 in all of their hand.
  • These days Customers buying smart phones are intelligent and they consider RAM as one of the criteria during selection of phone. Microsoft must launch phones with minimum 1 GB RAM and should have 4.5 to 5 inch display. No phone below 4.5 inch display should be lauched. Headset and Data cable must be part of phone package. In Lumia 630 both these components are excluded.
  • Well said!!! Headset and Data cable must be part of phone package. I know plenty of people who didn't bought the phone just because they had to spend extra bucks for the headset and data cable. Excluding them(especially headset) was one of the most stupid decision of the decade.
  • This must be CDMA....would it work in India for Tata/reliance...that would be great...hope we get unlocked versions online on ebay
  • Damn right!
  • Whaaa???This one has 1 gb ram???Damn you China.
  • I think you meant to say, damn you Nokia/Microsoft.
  • One SIM+ 1GB Ram+ L630= I want that phone!