Nokia Lumia Icon vs Samsung Galaxy S4 vs LG G2 specs comparison

By Daniel P.

Feb 13, 2014, 3:02 AM

With its 5" display and great Lumia 1520-esque specs, the Nokia Lumia Icon seems to have hit the sweet spot for Windows Phone lovers. It is way more compact than Nokia's phablet, yet still offers the same top-shelf hardware. It's inevitable that we pit it against the reigning 5" champs from Korea - Galaxy S4 and LG G2.

With a 5.39 x 2.79 x 0.39" body, against the 5.45 x 2.79 x 0.35 dimensions of the G2, and the more compact 5.38 x 2.75 x 0.31" chassis of the S4, the Icon sits somewhere in the middle. It's a tad wider and chubbier than the S4, while the G2 is only slightly taller than the Icon, but has a larger, 5.2" display, so the round goes to LG here.

When it comes to displays, we have 5" Full HD AMOLED screens on both the S4 and Icon, with 441ppi pixel density, against the 5.2" LCD panel with 423ppi on the G2. Knowing Nokia's ClearBlack displays with high brightness mode and excellent viewing angles, the screen is likely to be a tad better than the S4 one in terms of maximum nits achievable, probably putting it on an even keel with the G2 in that respect, but with lower reflectivity ratio, meaning good outdoor visibility.

The Galaxy S4, as the oldest phone, is powered by a Snapdragon 600 processor, while the Icon and the G2 sports the next-gen Snapdragon 800, though in real-world terms that's unlikely to be of much significance. All sport 2 GB of RAM, while the Icon and the G2 come with 32 GB embedded memory and no memory expansion slot. The S4 counters with just 16 GB, yet it offers a microSD card option.

Nokia Lumia Icon seemingly has the best camera, as it sports a 20 MP shooter with superior optical image stabilization, against the 13 MP shooter with OIS on the back of the G2, and the same resolution camera on the S4 that has no image stabilizing. We should wait for the first samples, though, before drawing any conclusions, as the G2 and S4 both offer excellent mobile photography.

Nokia's handset, however, also has the great advantage of sporting the record four HAAC microphones, just as on the Lumia 1520, for recording distortion-free stereo sound on your videos, so besides shake-free footage, it will also offer excellent sound to go with it. Thus, as far as hardware goes, the Lumia Icon seems to have the upper hand against these two, except in the battery department. All that is left now is for Nokia to release the Icon in more locales, rather than keeping it only as a Verizon exclusive.