Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom, Nokia Lumia 1020: Camera Smartphones Compared
Smartphone Cameras Outperform Point-and-Shoot Rivals
Though there are some excellent smartphones with cameras on them, such as the HTC One and iPhone, other mobile devices may be better known as cameras with smartphones.
The smartphone has revolutionized the camera industry, making the digital SLR type cameras mostly obsolete, unless you're showing off your photo gear. Some professional photographers have relied on the iPhone to give them good quality pictures with adequate lighting and contrast when there's not much time to shoot other than a literal click of the button. It's nice that the iPhone 4, 4S and 5 have that ubercool shutter sound to go with it.
The Nokia Lumia 1020 and the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom are in a class by itself when it comes to photography. According to laptopmagazine.com, both of these 'wonder-cameras' are outfitted with the best camera lenses on any top-notch camera. This is the differentiating factor that sets apart a point-and-shoot camera from one that produces formidable photographs that would not be possible on other cameras.
In case you're wondering, the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom is a variant of Samsung's touted Galaxy 4, but includes a 10x optical zoom and a 16-megapixel camera with a 4.3-inch display - this may not be the ideal display you're looking for but it is close enough at about half the 7" Samsung Galaxy P1000 tablet.
A 4.7-inch device, the Lumia 1020 is dedicated to the Windows Phone 8 platform with a whopping 41-megapixel cam. Here is the 6x optical zoom compromises your vantage points but gives you a sharper image.
Design
In terms of design, the 10xzoom makes the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom a heavyweight, weighing in at 7.3 ounces with the dimensions 4.9 x 2.5 x 1.06 inches with a qHD Super AMOLED screen that does not scratch. But the trend toward larger smartphones is in, as revealed by the size of the iPhone 5. Though the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom is huge in size, it feels like a point-and-shoot camera rather than a smartphone.
But you have to give in to Nokia's Lumia 1020's very sexy design with an AMOLED PureMotion display, while the Samsung Galaxy S4 is more utilitarian. In fact, as Apple Inc. puts out more and more iPhones, these coveted smartphones too will become quite ordinary. Well, you can already thank the Chinese clones for this since they do a pretty good job of just ripping the design from under Apple Inc's rug.
With the parameters 5.1 x 2.8 x 0.41 inches and a weight of just 5.6 ounces, the Nokia Lumia offers an optional camera grip in order to lighten up the smartphone. Samsung went in the other direction, making the smartphone heavier providing a side grip while using a camera.
On the whole, you might say that the Nokia Lumia 1020 looks pretty much the same as the other Lumia's in the product line, but this gives it an irresistible appeal. More than that, it's more pocket friendly.
The Nokia Lumia 1020 sports a bright, colorful, 4.5-inch and 1280 x 768. Images looked spectacular on the 1020′s screen during our tests, as did video. The Nokia's display did, however, prove slightly dimmer than the S4 Zoom, measuring 441 lux to the Samsung's 463. Blacks on the Lumia were endlessly deep and bright whites were blinding. When placed next to the Galaxy S4 Zoom, however, the Lumia's display looked slightly oversaturated.
Specs
Samsung's Galaxy S4 Zoom is equipped with a 1.5-GHz dual-core processor along with 1.5GB of RAM - not bad for a smartphone. The Nokia Lumia 1020 using the Windows Phone 8 OS platform touts a 1.5-GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor with a 2GB of RAM that can run any app you can think of.
Comparing batteries, the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom sports a 2,330 mAh battery pack that is also removable. This is a great option because it costs less to get a brand new battery than to buy a new phone. The batter is slightly below par in comparison with industry standards, clocking in at 5 hours and 9 minutes - an hour short of how long a smartphone battery should last.
The Samsung Galaxy S4 clocks in at a higher performance with a battery cycle of 6:14 minutes on a 4G LTE network. Although Nokia's Lumia comes with a scant 2,000 mAh battery pack, it lasts longer than the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom with 6 hours and 33 mns. The bad part? The Lumia battery is not removable. So when the battery dies, you might have to look for an external source or use it as a pseudo-desktop!