Microsoft quickly answered HTC and Samsung's introduction of new phones by putting out two new phones of its own Monday, USAToday reports.

Microsoft will soon offer two new Lumia handsets for sale, the Lumia 640 and 640 XL.

The two new Lumia phones will be follow ups to last year's Nokia Lumia 635 and the 2013 Nokia Lumia 520, both very popular Windows Phone 8 smartphones.

Both phones are geared toward the low-to-mid budget customer. The Lumia 640 will cost about $177 off contract and the 640 XL will cost about $244 off contract.

The new Lumias will be offered in several color choices and will be equipped with quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processors. Both phones will come with 1 GB of RAM and big HD screens.

The Lumia 640 will feature a 5-inch HD screen with a 5 megapixel (MP) rear camera and a 1 MP front-facing camera.

The Lumia 640 XL will be much larger and feature a 5.7-inch HD screen with a 13 MP rear camera and a 5 MP front-facing camera.

Only 8 GB of storage will be included internally, but with a microSD card slot, that can be expanded to 128 GB.

Another great feature included with the new Lumia phones is 30 GB of OneDrive storage. This can be activated by turning the camera roll backup feature on.

A one-year subscription to Office 365 Personal gives users access to the PC, Mac and tablet versions of Office, Excel and Powerpoint and 1 TB of more storage.

Microsoft will release the 640 XL to stores in March and the 640 in April. Both phones will come with Windows Phone 8.1, but Microsoft promises an upgrade to Windows Phone 10 once it is released.

Nokia was the first to introduce the Lumia handets, but these two new Lumia models will not carry the Nokia name because Microsoft acquired Nokia's smartphone business last year. That means all future Lumia phones will be called Microsoft Lumia.

For the price, both Lumia phones are an attractive option for buyers who do not wish to sign a new contract.

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