Nokia's premiere smartphone offering the Nokia Lumia 1020 is out on the market and has already received some positive reviews. It is especially targeted to those smartphone users who like to have really good camera capabilities with their phone. In this regard, this Windows Phone 8 powered device boasts a 41MP camera. Yes, that's not a typo! Utilizing such a high end camera should result in fantastic pictures, so, let's take a deeper look at the phone's specs and see if it delivers.
The Lumia 1020 has a 4.5 inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 332 ppi. It runs on a 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor with 2GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage which unfortunately cannot be increased. While these specs aren't necessarily mind blowing, the phone runs quite fast and one of the unique features of this phone is its ability to have a viewable screen even in direct sunlight. This is something we have yet to see in many other smartphones and is definitely a major plus for this device.
In terms of the overall design the power, volume and shutter buttons are located along the right edge while on the bottom of the phone there is the speaker and a micro usb charging port. One major drawback I found with this phone however, is the camera lens on the back. The lens is quite large as one might expect and as a result of this the phone has a piece jutting out at the back. This can be a bit irksome when handling the phone and certainly trying to rest it flat on any surface is not possible.
This smartphone comes with a 2300mAh non removable battery which is a bit disappointing. Even though you do get a full days use with this phone without having to recharge, making it non removable similar to the HTC One does hurt the power users among us. Nokia has estimated that you can get about 13 hours of talk time and approximately 16 days of standby usage out of this phone.
Okay, so let's get to it. The main reason for this phone is undoubtedly the camera. It comes with a staggering 41MP rear camera with optical image stabilization, a Xenon flash and 6x digital zoom. The zoom on this camera is fantastic. The quality of the picture stays true and clear even at a very high zoom. Furthermore, two pictures are actually taken at the same time when you press the capture button. One of the pictures is the full res version and the other is a 5MP version. The smaller resolution picture is the one that you can then send to family and friends immediately through the usual internet resources. The full resolution pic however, can only be accessed later by plugging the phone through the usb into a computer. In addition to its camera capabilities this smartphone also takes 1080p video recordings.
Let's now move on to the apps. The Windows app store itself has about 160,000 apps currently available and while that's quite a large number, it pales in comparison to Android and iOs. In terms of camera apps there's the Pro Camera app, Creative Studio and Smart Camera among others. Utilizing the Pro Camera app you can manually adjust settings such as ISO, flash as well as the exposure.
Overall it could be said that in terms of the camera capabilities, this phone has no peers in the current market. Certainly, Nokia has targeted the camera enthusiasts with this particular smartphone offering and I don't think they will be disappointed. However, the less than stellar apps and the inability to expand the storage do count as drawbacks. In terms of availability, it's only available with AT&T for $299 on a two year contract. Yes, it is a pretty big commitment but as I said earlier if the camera is your main focus then this phone is definitely for you.
* Images courtesy piercedavid
