Nokia today launched its new Flagship phone Nokia Lumia 1020 (Quick Review) in India today, although it has chosen to remain tight lipped as far as pricing is concerned. This device has its USP as the 41 MP camera which can be safely considered the very best. The only Android device which comes close in satiating the incredible Smartphone camera consumer need is the Xperia Z1 (Quick Review) from Sony with its 20.7 MP camera. So where do best of Nokia and Best of Sony stand against each other? Let’s compare these titans head to head !
Display and Processor
Sony Xperia Z1 features a 5 Inch LCD Display with Full HD 1080p resolution, giving you a pixel density of 441 ppi. The Display technology used is TRILUMINOUS display along with X-reality engine and the result is sharper display with more natural color reproduction.
Nokia Lumia 1020 sports a 4.5 Inch AMOLED PureMotionHD+ Display. The PureMotion HD+ is Nokia’s term for 1280 x768 pixel displays in place of traditional 1280 x 720 p HD displays. The contrast and colors adapt according to the ambient light which enhances outdoor visibility. Another feature of this display is ClearBlack technology. This reduces the amount of reflected light by using polarizing filters and thus increases outside visibility and gives you darker darks.
Thus both of the smartphones bring in loads of display technology or marketing terms, both these displays will be quite vibrant but if you love to watch movies and videos on your smartphone quite often, the bigger 5 Inch display might suit you better. The Xperia Z1 display is protected by Shatter proof and scratch-resistant glass and is water and dust resistant too. Lumia 1020 has its display protected by Corning gorilla glass 3.
Sony Xperia Z1 is powered by Qualcomm MSM8974 Snapdragon 800 processor which is best in business and beats 1.5 GHz Dual core Snapdragon S4 Plus processor in Lumia 1020 any day. Xperia Z1 will outperform Lumia 1020 as far as speed and gaming performance is concerned.
Camera and Memory
Both of these smartphones have been marketed as magnificent camera devices. Both lead the MP count on their respective O.S. platform but Nokia Lumia 1020’s PureView camera is better and leads on MP count as well.
The Nokia Lumia 1020 camera comes with Optical image stabilization which Xperia Z1 lacks. Both of these cameras have a common down sampling feature. Lumia combines 7 pixels to form a ultra pixel in the down sampled sharper and noiseless 5MP image. Xperia Z1 down samples 20 MP images to 8 MP images.
Lumia 1020 has bigger 1/1.5” sensor size compared to 1/2.3” sensor size in Xperia Z1. The lens quality of Carl Zeiss lens and Glens in both the devices can be considered equivalent. Ultimately the 6 stack lens camera with 41 MP sensor from Nokia beats Xperia Z1 camera comfortably.
Lumia 1020 comes with 32 GB internal memory and 2 GB RAM. The internal memory is not expandable but will be sufficient for most users. The Xperia Z1 comes with 16 GB of Internal storage and 2 GB RAM. The internal storage however, can be expanded to 64 GB using a MicroSD card.
Battery and Features
Nokia phones are popular for their build quality and long battery standby times. Lumia 1020 with its 2000 mAh battery is no exception to these expectations. You will get a talk time of around 13 hrs on 3 G and standby time of up to 384 hrs. Sony Xperia Z1 with its 3000 mAh battery will provide you with better standby time of 850 hrs and 3G talk time of up to 15 hrs. Both these smartphones will provide you ample battery backup but out of the two numbers clearly favor Xperia Z1
Xperia Z1 is water and dust resistant for up to 1.5 meters for up to 30 minutes. This implies that you can takeout your phone to attend calls even while bathing or when stuck in heavy rains. You can do cool stuff like use your phone to read messages while in shower without any fear. This is both a fun feature and a useful functionality
Sony Xperia Z1 operates on Android 4.2 jelly bean operating system which is ages ahead of Lumia’s Windows phone 8 operating system. Windows phone 8 is just not there yet and will be a deal breaker for many power users who desire much more than a good camera on their device.
Key Specs
| Model | Sony Xperia Z1 | Nokia Lumia 1020 |
| Display | 5 inches full HD | 4.5 Inch 1280 x768 PureMotion HD+ |
| Processor | 2.26 GHz quad core Snapdragon 800 | 1.5 GHz Snapdragon S4 Plus Dual core |
| RAM | 2GB | 2 GB |
| Internal storage | 16GB expandable by up to 64GB | 32GB |
| OS | Android v4.2.2 | Windows Phone 8 |
| Cameras | 20.7MP rear, 2MP front | 41MP rear, MP front |
| Battery | 3000mAh | 2000 mAh |
| Price | 44,900 INR | to be announced |
Conclusion
Nokia Lumia 1020’s camera is better and there goes the main reason why people will pay the hefty price for this smartphone. Sony Xperia Z1 has an edge over Lumia 1020 with regards to Android operating system and faster chipset. If you are a camera enthusiast and only use general purpose apps on your device, Nokia Lumia 1020 will be the right option for you. Other than that Sony Xperia Z1 will provide you with better features and Android operating system with a “not bad at all” camera to go with them.
