Nokia Lumia Icon vs Lumia 1520 vs Sony Xperia Z1 specs comparison

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Nokia Lumia Icon vs Lumia 1520 vs Sony Xperia Z1 specs comparison
Nokia Lumia Icon is finally upon us as a Verizon exclusive, and with it the prayers of Lumia 1520's awesome specs but in a more manageable body, have seemingly been answered. Or have they?

With a 5.39 x 2.79 x 0.39" body, against the 6.41 x 3.36 x 0.34" on the 1520, Nokia Icon is certainly much more compact than the 6" phablet, but how about if we pit it against another 5-incher, like the Xperia Z1, which also sports a high-res camera. Well, the things here look pretty good for the Lumia as well, since the Sony handset measures 5.69 x 2.91 x 0.33" - taller and wider than the Icon. Of course, it is also thinner, waterproof, and with a more premium chassis materials, despite having almost the same weight as the Lumia's 5.86 oz.

On the display side of things the Icon sports 441ppi pixel density, as much as the Z1, but its ClearBlack AMOLED screen with high brightness mode and excellent viewing angles is much superior to the poor viewing angles on Sony's phone, and it can also be operated with gloves on, just like the panel on the 1520. As for the processing power and memory - all three phones are loaded with fast Snapdragon 800 chipsets and 2 GB of RAM. Sony's phone offers 16 GB of internal storage, compared to 32 GB on the Lumias. It also adds a microSD slot for expansion, but so does the 1520, leaving the Icon with the embedded amount of memory only, though 32 GB is usually enough for most purposes.

The cameras is where it's at with those handsets, as all sport 20 MP units, but the PureView ones in the Lumias sport Zeiss lens and optical image stabilization, making low-light photography superior to what the Z1 can produce. In addition, Nokia's handsets sport the record four HAAC microphones each, grabbing a great distortion-free stereo sound to go with your videos, even at loud metal concerts. Too bad that the Icon is a Verizon exclusive for now, but we hope to see its equivalent make a global march, too.

Nokia Lumia Icon Nokia Lumia 1520 Sony Xperia Z1

Design

Dimensions
5.39 x 2.79 x 0.39 inches
137 x 71 x 10 mm
6.41 x 3.36 x 0.34 inches
162.8 x 85.4 x 8.7 mm
5.69 x 2.91 x 0.33 inches
144.4 x 73.9 x 8.5 mm
Weight
5.86 oz / 166.0 g 7.37 oz / 209.0 g 6.00 oz / 170.0 g
Resistance
Water, Dust; IP58
Features
Notification light
Keys
Right: Volume control, Camera shutter, Lock/Unlock key Right: Volume control, Camera shutter, Lock/Unlock key Right: Volume control, Camera shutter, Lock/Unlock key
Colors
Black, White Black, Yellow, Red, White Black, Purple, White

Display

Size
5.0-inch, 71.04% screen-to-body 6.0-inch, 70.95% screen-to-body 5.0-inch, 64.52% screen-to-body
Type
AMOLED IPS LCD, 600 nits TFT
Resolution
1920x1080px, 441 PPI 1920x1080px, 368 PPI 1920x1080px, 441 PPI
Colors
16 777 216 16 777 216
Protection
Corning Gorilla Glass 3 Corning Gorilla Glass 2
Features
Scratch-resistant glass, Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor, Polarizing filter

Hardware

System chip
Snapdragon 800 8974-AA Snapdragon 800 MSM8974 Snapdragon 800 MSM8974
Processor
Quad-core
2200 MHz
Krait 400
Quad-core
2200 MHz
Krait 400
Quad-core
2200 MHz
Krait 400
GPU
Adreno 330 Adreno 330 Adreno 330
Memory
2GB (LPDDR3)/32GB 2GB (LPDDR3)/32GB 2GB (LPDDR3)/16GB
2GB/32GB
Storage expansion
microSDXC up to 128 GB microSDXC up to 64 GB
OS
Windows Phone Windows Phone Android (5.1 Lollipop, 5.0 Lollipop, 4.4.2, 4.4, 4.3, 4.2.2)

Battery

Type
2420 mAh, Li - Polymer 3400 mAh, Li - Ion 3000 mAh, Li - Ion
Charging
Qi wireless charging

Camera

Rear
Single camera Single camera Single camera
Main camera
20 MP (OIS, Autofocus, BSI sensor)
Aperture size: F2.4
Focal length: 26 mm
Sensor size: 1/2.5"
20 MP (OIS, Autofocus, BSI sensor)
Aperture size: F2.4
Focal length: 26 mm
Sensor size: 1/2.5"
Pixel size: 1.12 μm
20.7 MP (Autofocus, BSI sensor)
Aperture size: F2.0
Focal length: 27 mm
Sensor size: 1/2.3"
Flash
Dual LED Dual LED LED
Video recording
4K UHD (30 fps), QHD, 1080p (30 fps)
OIS, Continuous autofocus, Video light, Video calling, Video sharing
4K UHD (30 fps), 1080p (30 fps), 720p (30 fps)
OIS, Video light
1080p
HDR, Continuous autofocus, Video light, EIS
Front
1.2 MP
Video capture: 720p
1.2 MP
Video capture: 720p (30 fps)
2 MP
Video capture: 1080p

Connectivity & Features

Bluetooth
4.0 4.0 4.0
WLAN
a,b,g,n,ac,dual-band
802.11 a, b, g, n, ac
a,b,g,n,ac,dual-band
Hotspot
802.11 a, b, g, n, ac
a,b,g,n,ac,dual-band
Hotspot, Wi-Fi Direct
802.11 a, b, g, n, ac
USB
microUSB, USB 2.0 microUSB, USB 2.0 microUSB, USB 2.0
Sensors
Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor Accelerometer, Compass, Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor
Hearing aid compatible
M4/T4
Location
GPS, A-GPS, Glonass, Cell ID, Wi-Fi positioning GPS, A-GPS, S-GPS, Glonass, Cell ID, Wi-Fi positioning GPS, A-GPS, Glonass
Other
NFC, Computer sync NFC, Tethering, Computer sync, OTA sync NFC, ANT+, Tethering, Computer sync, OTA sync

Multimedia

Headphones
3.5mm jack 3.5mm jack 3.5mm jack
Speakers
Earpiece, Loudspeaker Earpiece, Loudspeaker Earpiece, Loudspeaker
Features
Album art cover, Background playback, Music recognition, Preset equalizer, Dolby Headphone Album art cover, Background playback, Preset equalizer, Dolby Headphone Album art cover, Background playback, Music recognition, Custom equalizer
Screen mirroring
DLNA DLNA,MHL,MirrorLink,TV-out
Radio
FM FM, Stereo, RDS FM, Stereo, RDS
Additional microphone(s)
Noise cancellation, Video recording Noise cancellation, Video recording

Cellular

4G (FDD) Bands
4, 13 1, 3, 7, 8, 20 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 20
3G Bands
5, 8, 2, 1 1, 2, 5, 8 5, 8, 4, 2, 1
Data Speed
LTE Cat 4 (150/50 Mbit/s), HSDPA+ (4G) 21.1 Mbit/s, HSUPA 5.76 Mbit/s LTE Cat 4 (150/50 Mbit/s), HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s, HSUPA 11 Mbit/s LTE Cat 4 (150/50 Mbit/s), HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s, HSUPA 5.76 Mbit/s, UMTS
SIM type
Nano SIM Nano SIM

Phone Features

Notifications
Music ringtones (MP3), Polyphonic ringtones, Vibration, Phone profiles, Flight mode Haptic feedback, Music ringtones (MP3), Polyphonic ringtones, Vibration, Flight mode, Silent mode, Speakerphone
Other features
Voice dialing, Voice commands, Voice recording, TTY/TDD Voice dialing, Voice commands, Voice recording

Regulatory Approval

FCC approval
Date approved: Sep 30, 2013
FCC ID value: PYAB
Date approved: Sep 30, 2013
FCC ID value: PY7PM-0450
Measured SAR
Head: 0.26 W/kg
Body: 0.35 W/kg
Simultaneous Transmission: 1.58 W/kg
Wireless Router: 0.75 W/kg
Head: 0.75 W/kg
Body: 0.77 W/kg
Simultaneous Transmission: 1.33 W/kg
Wireless Router: 1.15 W/kg

Availability

Officially announced
Feb 12, 2014 Oct 22, 2013 Sep 04, 2013
Prices (MSRP)
$749

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