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Nokia Lumia 1520 VS Nokia Lumia 1020 Comparison Review

Nokia Lumia 1020 (Quick Review) has undoubtedly got the best smartphone camera in the world. The second best thing out there is Nokia Lumia 1520(Quick Review) recently launched at Nokia World in Abu Dhabi. This phone brings with it several other features and is expected to cost slightly less. Let’s put them head to head to find out which one is a better choice for you.

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Weight and Dimensions

Nokia Lumia 1520 weighs 209 grams and has body dimensions of 162.8 x 85.4 x 8.7mm. It is significantly heavier than 158 gram Nokia Lumia 1020, but it balances the weight well. The device didn’t feel heavy when we compared them head to head. With body dimensions of 130.4 x 71.4 x 10.4 mm, it is also slightly thicker.

The front body design follows the same design language and some changes are there on the back panel to incorporate the different size camera sensors.

Display and Processor

Nokia Lumia 1020 sports a 4.5 Inch Super AMOLED display with dark blacks (The blacks can’t be differentiated from the black panel at the sides). The display resolution is 1280 x 768 and it comes with the PureMotion HD+ label which is Nokia’s term for 1280 X 768 HD display. The pixel density will be 331 ppi which is sufficient to avoid any pixilation to naked eyes. The display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3.


The Nokia Lumia 1520 has a Similar Super AMOLED display which is 6 Inches in size and sports Full HD 1080 p resolution which shoots up the pixel density to 367 ppi. The display is quite big which lets you enjoy the multimedia content even better. It is one of the best displays that we have seen in terms of color contrast, brightness and viewing angles. The display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3\2.

Both of these displays will come with Nokia ClearBlack Technology which improves outside visibility by eliminating refracted light using polarizing filters. Nokia Lumia 1520 provides with an extra column of tiles on the large screen due to its vast size and that can be quite handy.

As far as processor is concerned Nokia Lumia 1520 is the winner. It is powered by 2.3 GHz Quad Core Snapdragon 800 processor with Adreno 330 GPU. The processor is fast and best Snapdragon SoC out there and provides advantages of better GPS chip and USB 3.0 connectivity.

Nokia Lumia 1020 is powered by Dual Core Snapdragon S4 clocked at 1.5 GHz and assisted by Adreno 225 GPU. Nokia has worked in close coordination with Microsoft and Qualcomm to manage a 41 MP camera on a S4 chipset.

Camera and Memory

Both of these phones showcase Nokia’s expertise in smartphone PureView camera optics. The Nokia Lumia 1520 comes with a f/2.4 aperture 20 MP sensor camera at the back capable of Full HD video recording at 30fps. This phone comes with 4 microphones which will give you directional audio while recording Videos.

The camera supports 2 x lossless zoom, Carl Zeiss Optics and features Optical Image Stabilization to counteract Motion Blur. A front camera of 1.2 MP is also present which can record 720p HD videos for good quality video calling.

The Nokia Lumia 1020 provides with a Mammoth 41 MP camera with 6 Stack Zeiss lens assembly. The complete lens assembly moves to provide Optical Image stabilization. The F/2.2 aperture camera with large sensor size of 1/1.5” is capable of 4 x lossless Zoom while taking Images and Videos. You can read details of Nokia Lumia 1020’s camera on our article “The Fascinating Nokia Lumia 1020 Camera”.

The Internal memory of Nokia Lumia 1020 is not expandable and you will be stuck with 32 GB storage. The Nokia Lumia 1520 offers 16 GB and 32 GB storage variants and also MicroSD support up to 64 GB. Thus in this regards Lumia 1520 is much better. Both of these phones will provide 7 GB of SkyDrive Storage and 2 GB RAM.

Battery and Other Features

Nokia Lumia 1520 comes with 3400 mAh battery with built in support for wireless charging, which we have seen only in Nokia Lumia 920 so far. The Nokia Lumia 1020 comes with a 2000 mAh battery which supports wireless charging via the camera grip case with external pins. The phone will give you ample talk time of about 18 hours on 2G. Though you won’t have any battery issues with any of these phones, we expect Lumia 1520 to last longer with moderate usage.

Both of these phones run on Windows Phone 8 operating system and new apps like Nokia Story teller and Nokia Refocus will make their way to Lumia 1020 as well. The Nokia Camera App in Lumia 1520 combines the features of Nokia ProCam App and Nokia SmartCam App which debuted on Lumia 1020 and Lumia 1520. So on the software front all the important features will be passed on from one to another.

Key Specs

Model Nokia Lumia 1020 Nokia Lumia 1520
Display 4.5 inch HD 6 Inch Full HD
Processor 1.5 GHz Dual Core Snapdragon S4 pro 2.3 GHz Quad core Snapdragon 800
RAM 2GB 2GB
Internal Storage 32 GB 16 GB/ 32 GB, microSD support
OS Windows Phone 8 Windows Phone 8
Cameras 41 MP/ 1.2MP 20 MP/ 1.2MP HD
Battery 2000 mAh 3400 mAh
Price 49,900 INR approx $750

Conclusion

Nokia Lumia 1020 has the best camera you can get, but for everything else Nokia Lumia 1520 is better with second best camera, faster processor, flexible storage option and bigger display. Nokia will soon bring support for raw image files on Lumia 1520 and Lumia 1020 on public demand and those who are interested in that amount of camera details will surely opt for Lumia 1020, for everyone else Lumia 1520 is a better (and less expensive) option.

Nokia Lumia 1020 VS 1520 Comparison Review [Video]

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Deepak Singh

The Author spent a significant chunk of his formative years resisting technology. He now keeps an eye on where the world is heading to, and drives a passive pleasure from this indulgence. His passion to write, learn and improve drives him each day. When his day ends, he enjoys the pleasant languor and detoxifies with family. You can connect with him on and Twitter